Latest / All The Right Movies / Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1989) | Ep. 52 - Part 1

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Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1989) | Ep. 52 - Part 1 · All The Right Movies

0:05
This is the manuscript in which the Friar chronicled the night
0:09
story. It doesn't reveal the location
0:12
of the Grail, I'm afraid, but the night promised the two
0:14
markers that have been left behind would.
0:17
This tablet is one of those markers.
0:20
It. Proves the night story is true.
0:23
But as you pointed out, it's incomplete.
0:25
Now the second marker is entombed with the night's dead
0:28
brother. Our project leader believes that
0:30
tomb to be located within the city of Venice, Italy.
0:34
As you can now see, Doctor Jones, we're about to complete a
0:38
great quest that began almost 2000 years ago.
0:43
We're only one step away. You've got the wrong Jones, Mr.
0:48
Donovan. Why don't you try my father?
0:53
We already have your. Father is the man who's
0:56
disappeared. Indiana Jones goes on a
0:59
globetrotting adventure in search of his father who has
1:01
gone missing in his quest for a divine higher power, the Holy
1:04
Grail. Indy's search for the Grail
1:06
leads to an emotional reconnection with his father.
1:09
The third indie film in the series and the last of the 80s
1:12
saw familiar faces return for yet another RIP roaring
1:15
escapade. Spielberg ended the decade on a
1:17
high cement in his iconic character's place in Hollywood
1:20
history. My name is Luke and the two
1:22
fellows who could get lost in their own museum are Wesley.
1:26
No, I respected your pride. And I taught you self-reliance.
1:31
And Matt? The dog You were named after the
1:34
dog. All the right movies are on a
1:39
quest for the grail, and in this sort of race, there's no silver
1:42
medal for finishing second. Hi everyone, welcome to All the
2:04
Right Movies, a podcast on classic and hit films that
2:06
belongs in a museum. Sure does.
2:09
This week we're back in the saddle with Indy, but this time
2:12
he's brought his dad along for the ride.
2:14
Ford, Connery, Spielberg, Alexi Sale.
2:17
It can only be Indiana Jones. And the Last Crusade?
2:21
Brilliant. Now, before we get on the plane,
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appreciate it. Yes, we really appreciate that.
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Thank you so much guys. Two and then Westie, this one
3:41
was obviously your pick, obviously.
3:44
Do I need to ask why you want to talk about?
3:46
No, you should know. You should know why.
3:49
Absolutely no reason why you need to know.
3:51
It's just a magic to this film. I absolutely adore it.
3:55
It's one of my very, very favourites.
3:56
It's probably an earliest memory of going to the cinema.
3:59
So this in 89 when it came out, brilliant, it was unbelievable.
4:03
I left there completely changed what a time I had.
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I just time stood still, the world disappeared and I was just
4:10
engulfed in this character that I'd loved because I'd seen
4:13
Raiders and I'd seen Temple to Doom obviously, and this was
4:16
like it was just a reward to see this on the big screen.
4:19
It's me. One of my sons favorites
4:20
obviously loves Temple to Doom over this one because he said
4:22
he's a bit of a maniac. Of course he's your.
4:24
Son, that's why, of course. Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
4:26
I think I love Tumblr doing before I'd kind of invested a
4:29
little bit more into this one. But it's just a great story.
4:32
It's a great premise and it's a very, very personal film for
4:35
Spielberg, and I think it's a very personal film for everybody
4:37
involved. It's a great father and sons
4:39
story. Easily the funniest of the
4:41
Indiana Jones films. Yeah, it's very, very big.
4:45
It's very, very loud. All the set pieces are amazing.
4:48
All of the actors are amazing. It's an amazing film.
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I absolutely love it. It's one of be very favorites.
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Let's just get into it. Let's do it.
4:54
But before we do that, Matt, why do you want to talk about last?
4:57
Oh yes, sorry. You know.
5:00
The other people here, Sorry, Matt.
5:04
Well, I'm actually surprised it's taken us this long to get
5:06
around to another indie film. To be honest, when we did read
5:09
this, I was a very long time ago.
5:10
So it's. My second podcast, I think.
5:12
That's all I was. I mean, this one, though, what
5:16
can I say about it that just isn't immediately obvious?
5:18
I mean, this and the original trilogy, it's just always been
5:21
there for me. It's always been a massive part
5:23
of my life growing up. Everyone involved in this is on
5:25
absolute top form because everyone, by now, everyone
5:28
involved knows the character inside out.
5:31
The know what the film needs to be.
5:32
That's real sense that the stepper back from the darkness,
5:35
that the broader temple of Doom, this one does have that real
5:37
lightness of touch which it needs, and it's got a real
5:40
emotional core to it. And I've just never, ever, ever
5:43
feel to be just completely entertained by it.
5:45
Yeah, it's a personal reconcile the whole film, isn't it?
5:47
All the way through, Yeah. Yeah, it's magnificent.
5:49
Yeah. I mean, I was like, you 2 fellas
5:51
already an indie note by the time this came out.
5:55
I'd seen Raiders, but I was most familiar with Temple of Doom,
5:57
which I loved, so when this came out I saw that the cinema loved
6:01
it. Naturally, first in line when it
6:02
came out in VHS. It's been with me and it sounds
6:05
like the same for you fellas. It's been with us for over 35
6:08
years. Reeve isn't for the show, You're
6:11
right, Westie. It is hands down the funniest in
6:14
the series. But also, I was struck by how
6:17
emotionally resonant the film is, that relationship between
6:20
Indy and Henry, something that I hadn't fully appreciated
6:23
beforehand. But aside from that, it's just,
6:25
I mean, it's just a classic indie adventure.
6:27
Boys own stuff, taking in some incredible locations, some top T
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action set pieces. It's pretty much perfect
6:34
blockbuster cinema for me. Yeah.
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And on a final note, I never, ever thought that A to my
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podcast back to backwards star Denim Elliot, but here we are.
6:45
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, great.
6:47
But more on that guy later. Because he is unbelievable.
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Gold in this absolutely gold in this the pen you see I.
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Just won't get off this thing. Every line is just absolute
7:01
gold. Amazing Indiana Jones of the
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Last Crusade was written by Geoffrey Bourne, directed by
7:06
Steven Spielberg and produced by Robert Watts for Lucasfilm
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Limited and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
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Filmed in various locations across the globe including
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Spain, West Germany, England, Italy, America and Jordan, it
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was released on the 24th of May 1989.
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Harrison Ford stars as Junior, sorry Indy, Sean Connery as his
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dad and there's a wonderful supporting Castridge includes
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Allison Duty, Julian Glover, Denim Elliot and John Reese
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Davies. Yes, we have our tickets at the
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ready and we're firstly headed to Utah 1912 to catch up with
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the young Indiana Jones. Does anybody here speak English
7:43
at the beginning? The opening of Last Crusade sees
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a young indie stealing the cross of Coronado from grave robbers,
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which lead to an epic cheer scene on a train.
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Yes. As a result, what we get is the
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greatest cinematic origin story of the last 36 years, and it's
8:00
only 11 minutes long. Yeah, Matt first.
8:03
Yeah, that's just my humble opinion though.
8:05
I wouldn't disagree. I love this opening so much.
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Just stunning vistas. First of all, to open this from
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it's like John Ford, like that blue sky.
8:15
It's like Spielberg reassuring everyone, like this is going to
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be dark and gloomy, like Temple of Doom.
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This is going. To be how wide open it is.
8:22
How wide open is It's going to be fun with a capital F And you
8:25
get that vibe straight away because there's just some
8:27
brilliant twisting of expectation.
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So you're tracking the two Boy Scouts through the caves and you
8:32
think like a Spielberg. He's mimicking the opening of
8:35
Raiders, so he's going to hold off revealing Indy's face so we
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can see the jacket, we can see the fedora, but then he turns it
8:41
on the Ted because obviously it's that lovely playing
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expectations and it's someone else completely.
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Wouldn't it have been amazing if he cast Tom Selleck as this guy?
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Oh, that would have been great. That would have been.
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Perfect. That would have been so perfect.
8:56
I do think it's just a little heavy-handed how often Herman
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says Indy's name. He's like Indy, Indy, Indiana,
9:02
Indiana. Yes, we get it.
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This is the young Indiana. We've worked that out by now.
9:06
But it's fine because then it flips on his head because if
9:09
this is Indy, why isn't he scared of the snake that he
9:11
picks up? It's a brilliant set up for a
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joke that we're going to get in about 10 minutes time, which
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this film does brilliantly. It sets up so many jokes, and
9:19
the PFS are all excellent. I think the slapstick is funny,
9:22
with a horse moving out of the way when Indy goes to jump on
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it. But what I really get from this,
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and the thing I always really want to talk about, is River
9:29
Phoenix, because I think we'd all agree he doesn't really look
9:32
like a young Harrison Ford. But he nails the mannerisms when
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he's taken the cross and he's about to climb back up and he
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just looks back and grins. That's pure house and Ford
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somehow. It is.
9:43
Just captures him when he runs out of The Cave and he sees all
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the other scouts have gone. That line delivery, everybody's
9:49
last but me. Again, that's just such a
9:51
Harrison Ford S delivery. It's remarkable performance from
9:55
Phoenix in the film. It's just after such a cracking
9:57
start. Phoenix was drafted in on
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suggestion of Ford. He'd work with him on the
10:01
Mosquito Coast and thought that he looked like him as a kid and
10:04
that Phoenix could do a really great impression of him.
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Which, as Matt was saying, he really does.
10:08
Yeah, he does. Yeah.
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I mean it's probably the most inspired casting choice ever.
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Probably only match by Sean Connery is is in his dad.
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This film is just a perfect casting master class.
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Yeah, he's a cast, if you will. He river Phoenix just, I mean,
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to die for in this film, Yeah, it's amazing, sensational.
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And it goes from there into one of the first action set pieces
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of the whole film, and it starts on a really high bar.
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And I'm really pleased to say it doesn't really drop from here.
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And there was some expectations on Phoenix's shoulders to really
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pull this off as a set piece and as a kid doing it.
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And he really does every single step of the way here.
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Not only is his deliveries line delivery perfect, but he said
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his facial expressions are perfect, but also his
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physicality is perfect. Great moment where his horse
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jumps over the camera and then he's pursued by the two cars
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before he gets on the train. That's the same view as Raiders
11:01
when he jumps over and then the vetoes are running after him.
11:03
Spielberg's using that again just to.
11:05
Yeah, just to remind you. And I love the way this whole
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film just discounts Temple of Doom, completely indigious, Hogs
11:10
bad. All the things he did with that
11:13
back. Yeah, that's just about that.
11:14
Milk was a bad choice and just has that really good idea of
11:18
linking them all together, which really works for me.
11:20
But there's some bits in here that just really resonate for
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the character. The snake, he falls into the
11:25
snake pit and you just think that he's not that bothered to
11:28
say he's a bit frightened. But then when that thing comes
11:30
out of the water, it's. What the fuck is that?
11:33
Yeah. It's terrifying.
11:35
It's disgusting and that really terrified me.
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When I was a kid, I was, I don't know if I'm going to get over
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this and finish watching this film because that would do it
11:43
for me. And I was scared of snakes.
11:45
Since then, the score he gets from the whip when he's
11:48
whipping, he's trying to keep a lion down and it's just actually
11:51
falling forward scar. That's brilliant.
11:53
That lie in itself tests his faith.
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And then he has to take the leap from the lion's head at the end
11:57
of the film. That all ties together.
12:00
I love that you've got hard kids.
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He gives him that line and he's got the heart badge from the
12:04
scouts and he's all got his uniform.
12:05
It's just these little things that just really, really work
12:09
together. There's no real sense of peril.
12:11
You know, these guys aren't going necessarily hurt and they
12:13
just want this cross back. And he's just defiant.
12:16
It's the Indiana Jones defiancy of like, no, I'm right, this
12:19
belongs in a museum. I've got morals, but I'm still
12:22
stealing something with morals. And it's still funny.
12:24
It's great. And he holds on to all of that.
12:27
And then when he gets back to the house and you don't see
12:29
Henry, you just see the finger come up and it's in Greek and he
12:33
knows how to count it green. It's fine and you get them
12:35
really, really wonderful lines where it's just me, he who
12:39
illuminated this, illuminate me, and we'll get that as a payback
12:42
at the end of the film. And it's not the illumination
12:44
that he's looking for. I think it's just a really
12:46
wonderful sequence. Completely sets it up and it's
12:49
just a heartbreaker for me every time I watch this.
12:52
The Phoenix was taken so young and so devastating.
12:56
Absolutely devastating because if anyone else could have made
12:59
this franchise what it should have been, it would have been
13:02
River Phoenix. Yeah, absolutely.
13:04
Yeah. The number like you see and the
13:05
number of setups for the character that we know and love
13:08
over 2 films that is here in this, just this opening scene
13:11
trying to turn the line with the whip.
13:13
Now he's got a whip, and that's his.
13:15
Yeah, that's his thing. That fear of snakes when he
13:17
falls into the box full of snakes, I mean, it's absolutely
13:20
amazing. And that Fedora.
13:21
Yeah, and that guy who gives indeed the fedora, he is simply
13:24
called Fedora in the film Law. In an earlier draft of the
13:27
screenplay, he was actually going to be up in a Ravenwood,
13:29
who as we know, that's Indie's mentor and Marion's father from
13:33
Raiders. Yeah, I mean, it would have been
13:34
a nice tie in, wouldn't it? Yeah.
13:37
It would have been nice tie in, but I think it's just a little.
13:39
It would have been a little bit too tight.
13:40
You need something that just has this mystery.
13:42
They don't know this guy is. One of the characters young Indy
13:45
goes into is called Doctor Fantasy's Magic Caboose.
13:48
Yes. And this is Frank Marshall,
13:50
pseudonym when he's performing magic tricks.
13:53
Don't know why he should be performing magic tricks, but he
13:55
was similarly referenced in Poltergeist, wasn't he?
13:58
It was. Yeah, if you can recall.
14:00
Yeah. And it was Marshall who came up
14:01
with the idea of India escaping through a false bottom box.
14:05
Right. It's a great move all in one
14:06
shot. Yeah.
14:08
Tell you what a great set up you get here as well, which doesn't
14:11
get resolved right to the end. It's just the shot of the dog.
14:13
Yes, because you just see shot of the dog lovey and a dog
14:16
that's setting up one of the best jokes we in advance because
14:20
that wouldn't work at the end if you hadn't seen the dog earlier.
14:23
Exactly. From this moment on the train,
14:26
Michael LAN Thierry, the mechanical effects supervisor
14:29
for the film, he said he found a difficult shooting.
14:31
He said you can't just stop a train if it misses its mark.
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It takes blocks and blocks to stop it and to back it up.
14:36
So he had a real problem doing this scene.
14:38
He said that he hid handles for the actors to grab onto when
14:40
they were moving through the carriages.
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But the interiors were shot not on the train, but at Universal
14:45
Studios in Hollywood, and they were built on inflated and
14:48
deflated tubes to create the effect of the motion of the
14:51
train. Looks legit.
14:53
Yeah, you can tell that at all. And very much like Raiders,
14:57
thousands of snakes were used for this sequence.
15:00
But the container that Phoenix falls into is full of fake
15:03
snakes. Rubber.
15:05
Yeah. Rubber Phoenix.
15:09
Rubber Phoenix. Well, that's going to make it
15:14
in, isn't it? And with Westies joke, we'll
15:20
break from proceedings there and ask our first Patreon question.
15:25
We mentioned Patreon at the top. One of the other benefits is you
15:29
can ask us a question for the film that we're talking about.
15:31
We'll answer it right here. Right now.
15:33
Our first one comes from Kirsty. Hello, Kirsty.
15:36
Hello. Kirsty.
15:37
Kirsty says. I love this film and it might be
15:39
my favorite of the indie series. She said See and Ford and
15:43
Connery have such good chemistry and be that comedic was amazing.
15:46
But she's thinking about the back story here.
15:48
What other good back story setups like this can you think
15:51
of in other films like the one with River Phoenix?
15:54
OK, right. So great setups.
15:56
I think we'll need to use artistic license because this
15:58
one is quite unique. Yes, it is.
16:01
Yeah. But where are you at with
16:02
Kirsty's question, Wesley? The ones that sit with me where
16:05
I get a very good sense of what is to come from the back story
16:09
that's even kind of before the credits of rule is the Departed
16:13
works for me. I think we get a really good
16:14
sense of the back story that where the current motivations
16:17
are brilliant. Magnolia, I think that sets up
16:21
everything beautifully. That's about 15 minutes of your
16:24
back story before we get into it.
16:26
Lord of the Rings tells the whole story, Another Paul Thomas
16:29
Anderson effort, There will be Blood.
16:30
I think the opening of that dialogue free sets the story and
16:34
sets the ambitions of Daniel Plainview to see him, what he's
16:37
been through, and 28 Days Later sets up the disease better than
16:41
any other zombie film I've seen, to be honest.
16:43
And it is pretty forgettable, but not really when you think
16:47
how important it is. And lastly, Children of Men, for
16:50
a film that sets the tone in the opening for how that film's
16:53
going to kind of go in the back story to everything that's
16:56
happened. Is it?
16:57
That's up there for me. Then That's my thoughts on that
16:59
one. Wonderful.
17:00
Yeah, great. Westie and Matt.
17:01
I mean, can you decipher wade through that huge list?
17:05
Classic Westie crossover. I mean, amazingly there was only
17:10
one crossover there. I did also see Lord of the Rings
17:13
in terms of other bits of back story that I think is sort of
17:15
really effectively very early. Halloween was the first one that
17:19
came into mind. Just completely sets of Michael
17:21
Myers. Why so dangerous in that
17:23
opening? Another horror one for me, The
17:25
Omen to setting up the early birth mystery of Damien and
17:30
Gregory Peck's character. Nor something that his wife
17:33
doesn't, which sets the whole chain of events off really well.
17:36
And the last one for me is the opening to Unbreakable, where
17:39
you get the background to Samuel L Jackson's character.
17:42
Nice. Yeah, I didn't know there was
17:44
only three. My apologies, I doubled up on
17:45
that. Batman Returns is another good
17:47
one. Well, I've gone for Batman
17:50
Returns. Children of men.
17:55
No, no. There's one crossover from your
17:57
list, Matt, but none from yours. Westie for.
17:59
Me. There you go.
18:00
OK, great. And then, like I said, use an
18:02
artistic license. And I think we're going to be
18:03
talking about The Godfather Part 2.
18:05
Nice. Similar to Indian that it's
18:07
coming in on a sequel telling the story of a character that we
18:10
already know and love and have affection for.
18:12
Obviously it's the equivalent to a whole film as opposed to an 11
18:15
minute scene, but still magnificent stuff.
18:18
Yeah, in the woven back story. Great stuff.
18:21
Like you said, Matt, the opening of Halloween, it's a master
18:23
class by John Carpenter. Technically and narratively, we
18:26
get everything we need in the opening 10 minutes to set us up
18:28
for the terror in Haddonfield for the next 80.
18:31
And finally, I'm sticking with horror, obviously, and going
18:34
with Fred Kruger's back story in Nightmare on Elm Street.
18:39
It's told kind of halfway through the film.
18:42
Nancy's mother tells her what she doesn't want to hear and
18:45
even brings out his glove as terrifying proof.
18:48
And I can visualize the whole scene with the parents of Elm
18:51
Street kids Corner and Freddie and giving them six of the best,
18:54
obviously burning them to the ground.
18:56
Six are the best. Nice take that.
19:00
Take that, you Rascal. Six are the best for you.
19:05
Yeah. Yeah.
19:06
So yeah, I can really visualize that without it being in the
19:09
film, although maybe I'm kind of conflicting that with the scene
19:12
from Freddy's nightmares. The TV show which is has his
19:15
back story is in the opening episode, the pilot episode.
19:19
The remake has it as well, doesn't it?
19:21
The remake has it as well, so maybe I'm getting a little
19:23
confused. But still powerful nonetheless.
19:25
Yes, of course, that always sticks with you.
19:28
The remake. How can I get Freddy Krueger
19:30
into this? How can I get Freddy Krueger in
19:32
the Last Crusade? Here it comes, you will go.
19:38
Well. Thank you for the question
19:39
Kirsty. Let us know what your favourites
19:41
are. Yes, thank you, Kirsty.
19:42
And coming back to Last Crusade after the opening, adult indie
19:46
recovers the cross and returns to his day job.
19:49
And I'm picking up where he meets Donovan Walter, not Jason.
19:55
Can you imagine? Too many broken hearts in the
19:58
world. There's too many that would have
20:00
been. Man, Fucking heartbroken.
20:03
This scene, it sets everything in motion for the rest of the
20:05
film. It's a quiet scene, but it's
20:07
it's pivotal. It may be a little innocuous
20:10
like on the surface, but if you really dig down, it introduces
20:13
Donovan, the night shield, the Holy Grail, Indy's dad, and sets
20:16
in the often another adventure. All the iconography of the film
20:20
is now famous for is in this scene.
20:23
Impressive for a scene that goes unnoticed and could have been a
20:26
snooze because it's pretty much all exposition.
20:29
Yeah. And what helps, I think, is the
20:31
performance by both actors, which are very nicely
20:34
understated. But you can see that Julian
20:36
Glover is drawn on his feed, a background when he delivers his
20:39
lines. Things like we're about to
20:41
complete a great quest that began almost 2000 years ago.
20:45
We're only one step away. Not much riding on it then, but
20:50
he easily pulls it off with quiet confidence and not to be
20:53
outmatched by a grandeur. I love it when Indy dips his
20:56
finger in the Moy to clean the 2000 year old stone tablet.
21:00
Yeah, it's great. Priorities.
21:02
Of. Course.
21:03
Great. So a great scene and now we're
21:05
off on another great adventure, keeping up with the Joneses.
21:07
Yeah, nice. So with Henry nowhere to be
21:12
found, Indian Marcus hop on a flight to Venice.
21:14
How will they recognize this doctor Schneider when they see
21:17
him, Westie? Well, I mean, I recognized her
21:20
straight away, and I still do to this very day.
21:22
When I was a child, Marion was straight out the window.
21:25
Forget about her. This is the new kid on the
21:27
block, Willie. Not.
21:28
Not bothered. Elsa.
21:30
Yeah, we're going now. We're talking fantastic
21:33
performance from Allison Duty as well, very, very young when she
21:35
took this role. And I think she just absolutely
21:38
shines in it. Just great.
21:39
Loads of twists and turns of her character and she nails every
21:41
single one of them. I think it just keeps you on
21:43
your toes constantly. And it's great how this talks
21:45
back to the classroom sequence of 70% of archaeology is
21:47
research and some of the library and ex never marks a spot and
21:50
it's not exciting. He's trying to convince his
21:52
students the way he does archaeology itself isn't
21:54
exciting. Whereas us and audience kind of
21:56
go, yeah, yeah, I'm sure it is fine.
21:59
And she says, you know, I'm going to arrange for them to
22:02
stay a little bit open a little bit longer.
22:03
That's going to close in a moment.
22:04
I'll be like, oh wow. She's just got authority here.
22:07
She's just I just wouldn't have even bothered looking for the X
22:10
marks the spot. I would just be like, you want
22:12
to just go and get a coffee and Marcus can go and have a look
22:14
for something now just, you know, let's just let's explore
22:17
this relationship as opposed to the, you know, the grail thing.
22:20
Let's know each other for two minutes.
22:22
Yeah, you do, right When you know, you know.
22:25
All right. But yeah, it's just wonderful.
22:29
X never marks a spot, and then it does, and he's on top of the
22:31
ladders and he points down. He can't even believe it. 10.
22:34
What Spielberg does here, he cross cuts this with probably
22:37
one of the funniest bits in the whole film of that librarian
22:40
stamp in the book and that timing.
22:42
It's so, so brilliant. It's it's almost like just
22:45
really classic first book of like visual sound humor, cross
22:50
cutting film. And it's just that stamp and a
22:53
bang. And then, you know, Ford's
22:55
looking around and this guy's got no idea and he's like
22:58
dingbat Dong. It's just the noise of it's
23:00
funny. It should even reverbs through
23:02
the library should. Be really threatening but it's
23:04
like metallic and it's rock and it's perfect and it makes
23:07
perfect sense and it's just the way he kind of leaves it on top
23:10
of the little looks at it he's. Just like I'm just gonna leave
23:13
that there, yeah. I think I've had enough today.
23:15
Yeah, I feel like that at the end of this work days.
23:18
Yeah. And they're going at the
23:19
Catacombs, which is wonderful. There's a throwback here to
23:21
Raiders, which I always love because there's that little
23:23
subtle tint in the score. And he's like, it's the it's the
23:27
Art of Covenant. You sure?
23:28
Pretty sure just he doesn't look at it for too long because he
23:31
knows you can't look at the arc for too long at the end of
23:33
Raiders. And I love that as well.
23:35
And he just kind of moves past it.
23:36
I've got a little bit of a problem with this petrol that
23:39
they're walking through. I always have.
23:41
And he just thinks it's a really good idea.
23:43
A light, a massive torch. Like if he drops that, we're in
23:45
serious trouble. So just just keep a hold of
23:49
that. Don't drop it just feel on edge
23:51
because one just one match and then you're just the fire
23:55
sweeping through the noise of that sweeping through the sound
23:57
designs incredible underneath and it's like, how does that
24:01
work? Why doesn't fire get underneath
24:02
that? Didn't care it.
24:04
Wouldn't be really. Hot for a start.
24:05
I don't care and it's like right, I found a way out, I'm
24:08
going to open my eyes in petrol water, that's fine, no problem
24:11
with that. Straight out.
24:12
And then the day and it just get that great line again.
24:14
I have Venice and we're into another chase, we're into
24:18
another set piece. It just doesn't stop.
24:20
It's just fantastic for even the smaller bits.
24:22
There's humour, there's character development, there's
24:25
great dialogue, there's great callbacks and then you're into
24:28
an action set piece and it's just one of the other all the
24:30
way through the film. Fantastic.
24:31
For a thing, it's just got everything.
24:33
Yeah, and those rats in the tunnels, they were bad,
24:35
especially for the film. And Spielberg went to the same
24:37
place he did for all the rodents and the creepy crawlies he
24:40
needed for the first two indie films.
24:42
They did go a bit OTT and actually bred 5000 for him, but
24:45
he did only need 2000 of those and the only stipulation he had
24:49
was that they had to be disease free because standard rats are
24:52
just riddled with diseases. Discussing.
24:54
Yeah, do you me rats I'm not that bothered about, but they
24:57
really creep me out because you can feel them, then you know
25:00
that they are real, real creatures.
25:02
Yeah, when it's Nelsa's hair. Yeah.
25:04
Oh God. Oh.
25:04
Yeah, it's when they're crawling all over each other and it's
25:07
like that massive. It's horrible.
25:08
There's one that he steps on as well, but doesn't put all of his
25:11
full weight on. And he starts to like lift his
25:13
foot up. It's great.
25:14
Yeah, and those rats were substituted for mechanical rats
25:17
when the fire whips through the tunnels.
25:19
Yeah. Nice.
25:19
So there were no rats hurt during production of this film.
25:23
You'd see because they're not not moving, they're not moving
25:25
at all. Yeah.
25:27
And like you said, Westie, following the subterranean
25:29
chase, Indian Elsa make it above ground are Venice.
25:32
And they make a run for it and they seize the nearest speedboat
25:36
that can find to make their getaway.
25:37
You know, we've all been in a situation like this before.
25:40
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's very daunting now, yeah.
25:42
Yeah, it's. Exactly the same, isn't it?
25:45
Yeah, it's what also than Julie Christie were doing.
25:49
Imagine like 10 midgets just running out of there diving on
25:52
speedboats. In red Max.
25:54
In red Max yeah, get the fuck out of here.
25:58
Well, this set piece is just a great companion to the tunnel
26:01
sequence. The pace is ramped up and open.
26:03
Open, accompanied by some wonderful music by John
26:07
Williams. Yeah, Indian.
26:08
A fist fight on the back of a speed board on the Grand Canal
26:11
in Venice with a guy brandish and a gun.
26:13
Seems like old times. Yeah, doesn't get.
26:15
Wonderful. Yeah, and then the head honcho
26:18
called Kazim jumps on the board and absolutely means business.
26:22
And this is the set pieces. Great moment when it looks like
26:25
the board has been swallowed up by the propeller.
26:27
It's getting closer and closer and I love that moment where the
26:30
wood panel and roof catches and goes flying up in the air.
26:34
Flips, yeah. Really gives a sense of danger
26:36
that. And that's really Harrison Ford
26:37
isn't. It it is really Harrison Ford,
26:39
Yeah. That's pretty close.
26:41
Even from that lens, that's pretty close.
26:42
But Spielberg loves a perilous propeller.
26:44
You know what in Raiders? The guy getting hung in Temple
26:47
of Doom and now this? Yeah, it's great.
26:49
And in this scene, the two boats that Elsa drives in between were
26:52
cable together to keep things safe.
26:54
So a speedboat full of dummies was launched from a platform in
26:57
the water between the two ships, which is masked by the
27:00
explosion. But they had to do the sun twice
27:01
because the first one wasn't picked up effectively by the
27:04
camera. All right.
27:05
It's really cut well to emphasize the explosion.
27:08
Yeah, and the noise of them just scraping out of there as well
27:11
is. Great.
27:13
Yeah, I love that Go. Between them?
27:14
Are you crazy? Go between them.
27:17
I was in duty, said in Venice. No one told me how to drive the
27:20
boat. I had to go at speed towards
27:22
another boat with a camera on it, and behind the camera were
27:24
Steven and the big honchos from the studio, then George Lucas
27:27
and Frank Marshall all on the same boat.
27:29
I was supposed to get a signal to via left, but I left it a bit
27:32
late and I could see them all panicking now.
27:35
Probably could have gotten away with taking Lucas out to be
27:38
honest. Yeah.
27:39
Yeah. Yeah, and camera trickery was
27:41
used in this scene to make the action look a lot more dangerous
27:43
than it actually was. They made the board extra long
27:46
to keep a minimum safe distance between the actors and the
27:49
propellers. Yeah, and it's shot us at a
27:51
specific angle to make them appear closer to the blades and
27:54
really scans on screen. It really works.
27:57
Fantastic. Kebok Malik and plays the part
28:00
of Kazim in this scene, a member of the Brotherhood of the
28:02
Cruciform Sword. Oh yeah, Spielberg saw him in
28:04
Midnight Express and really like this performance.
28:06
Now, if you're going to keep that light after Temple of Doom,
28:08
don't cast anybody out of midnight.
28:12
Malikiyan might have worked with Spielberg earlier if Fiat hadn't
28:15
intervened. He would have auditioned for the
28:17
part of Salah in Raiders book or Cotton a traffic jam so he
28:21
missed his window. Oh wow, I think he would have
28:23
been good. Yeah, he wouldn't have.
28:25
Loved John Reese Davies, but he's really, really good.
28:27
My soul is prepared. How's yours?
28:29
How's yours? Great.
28:31
And on this Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword.
28:34
Who the fuck are these guys? I don't know.
28:36
Great. Though.
28:38
These are keepers of the grail who will kill to protect it.
28:41
But just why? There's too many questions.
28:44
But I mean, they're full blooded in their beliefs.
28:46
How aggressive are they? Machine guns.
28:49
That's an aggressive move it. Really is.
28:50
It's too aggressive. You're going to protect the
28:52
grail, right? Let's do you want to be
28:54
inconspicuous? That's probably a good idea.
28:56
I'll just brand this on my chest and wear feathers around Vin.
28:59
Yeah. The Brotherhood of Tommy Cooper.
29:05
How do you get the grill just like that?
29:11
It's the best thing you've ever said.
29:12
That's the greatest thing.
29:36
Well done. Yeah.
29:38
These guys, I mean, they're so protective, but they're just so
29:41
cavalier that they'll incinerate everything in the catacombs
29:45
under the library. Yeah, surely that lawn, Do you
29:47
just burn the whole building and ruin everything that is sacred
29:50
underneath it? What are they playing that?
29:53
Really immature. You can't have it.
29:56
Burn it. Yeah.
29:58
So after this, they get the location of Henry from Kazaim
30:01
and that's when Indian Elsa get to that castle.
30:04
And it's all about payoff at this point because Henrys being
30:06
built up so much so far in this film.
30:09
Like he can't disappoint when you first made him.
30:11
And I do feel that this part of the film, it just needs
30:14
something extra because it's been incredibly entertained.
30:17
But so far, it's just been, this is kind of just the way this
30:20
plot points really. Again, isn't, you know, this
30:22
clue, this clue, he meets the woman and now they're going on.
30:24
So they need something different here.
30:26
So Henry's appearance comes to the perfect time.
30:28
And that chemistry between Ford and Connery, it's instantaneous.
30:32
And it takes a hell of a performance to make Harrison
30:36
Ford in the 80s in this role, make him to seem immediately
30:40
bumbling in the net. And that's exactly what Connery
30:43
does. I mean, the first into play
30:45
between them, Junior, yes Sir. Like Ford immediately, just
30:50
because this little kid. Stands to attention.
30:54
Stands to attention and it's so well written because Henry's
30:58
priority. He's hit in the over the head
31:00
with his fast but his priority is clear by the fact he's
31:03
completely ignored. What Indy is saying about his
31:05
head being OK. He's I've never forgiven myself.
31:08
He's not torn by the head, just focusing on the Ross.
31:10
Thank God it's a fake. I mean, it just tells you
31:13
everything you need to know about them and these two
31:15
together with that writing, the comic moments just pop off the
31:19
screen one after another. The Nazis come in.
31:22
Doctor Jones? Yes, in perfect Amazing Henry's
31:26
whole speech about his son not being that stupid to bring the
31:29
diary along with them. Contrasted to the facial
31:32
expression you get from Harrison Ford here.
31:34
Like sorry. Like you have the diary in your
31:39
pocket. I should have mailed it to the
31:41
mark. That line, that line's
31:44
magnificent, and it's just incredible how immediately
31:48
convincing they are as father and son and how quickly you
31:51
understand that relationship. The whole thing is hilarious and
31:54
it ends on such a great note when in the grabs the gun kills
31:57
the Nazis and Henry said gas at it.
32:01
What? You did.
32:03
You did. He's not what he expected his
32:05
dad to be like at all. It's wonderful.
32:07
What I love about the scene as well is that Indie has got scant
32:10
regard for safety or cunning or anything like that.
32:14
He's just bundles into this castle, tells some cock and bowl
32:17
story about being a Scottish Lord.
32:20
Mickey Mouse, how dare you? So he lies about this story
32:27
about being a Scottish Lord. He whacks the guy out to bust
32:29
through windows. How on earth did he think he was
32:31
going to get away with it without being caught?
32:34
Immediately? The guy in the door needs to
32:36
just wake up and raise the yellow in the castle.
32:39
Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's great foreshadowing in
32:42
this scene as well when he spots the fake, which is how they did,
32:45
yes. So what the grail is at the end,
32:47
you kind of spot the fake one, but also he spots out Elsa as a
32:49
fake. And the moment when Henry says
32:51
she talks in asleep about Elsa was completely unscripted.
32:54
And when he said the line filming had to stop because
32:56
everyone was rolling around on the floor laughing, Spielberg
32:59
even conceded right there and then that line was definitely
33:02
going to make the final cut out. Of course.
33:04
See why it's amazing? Yeah, and that scene is amazing.
33:07
The camera does this massive zoom into Indies face.
33:09
It sweeps into her Indies face, he says.
33:11
How do you know she was a Nazi? Talks in asleep and Spielberg
33:14
leaves so much room for silent reaction and you can kind of
33:18
tell that it was ad Lib be considering Ford's face and
33:21
Connery's just a little smirk that he's trying to stifle.
33:24
Yeah, it cuts there, doesn't it? Cuts it off to a separate angle.
33:27
Yeah, it's great. It's wonderful.
33:29
OK, what an opening. We're on a rescue mission.
33:31
But in classic indie style, he's found himself at gunpoint
33:34
immediately. The director.
33:42
Steven Spielberg had an experimental 80s after Temple of
33:45
Doom, The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun followed
33:48
before he was back in the director's chair for 1/3 Indie
33:51
out. And he was obliged to come back
33:53
for 1/3 Bite of the Indie cherry for a few reasons.
33:56
Firstly, when the idea was conceived in the late 70s, he
33:59
gave Lucas his word that he would direct three films and he
34:03
re is true to his word. But also in 1979 he'd agreed
34:06
with Paramount to do 5 indie films.
34:08
And finally, he wasn't happy with how Temple of Doom had
34:11
ended up. He said it was too dark, too
34:14
subterranean and much too horrific.
34:16
I thought it out poultered Poltergeist.
34:18
There's not an answer of my own personal feeling in Temple of
34:21
Doom, which feels a little dismissive.
34:24
Both Spielberg and Lucas later refer to Doom as their divorce
34:27
movie, as production started when they were both going
34:30
through divorce proceedings with their respective wives.
34:32
Can't do anything individually. Can you do everything together?
34:35
That's one holiday. Do you want to get divorced?
34:37
I fucking rights. Let's do the same thing.
34:39
Let's go on holiday 2 moments. I can't do anything without each
34:44
other. I thought I'm.
34:45
Coming out, do you want to go to the Hawaii?
34:46
Yeah, let's do that. Still do it.
34:49
So I guess Last Crusade is kind of like a Temple of Doom
34:52
apologist. Spielberg even had to pull out
34:55
of two potential big directing projects to get behind the
34:57
camera for Indy, and that was Big and Rain Man, which he was
35:01
both heavily linked to. Yeah, yeah.
35:04
And as a result of his disdain for Doom, he set out to lean
35:07
into the torn of Raiders a bit more, and he even drafted in
35:10
denim. Elliot and John Reese Davies
35:11
back into the mix. Yeah.
35:13
Also returning back was Pat Roach, back again after two
35:16
roles in Raiders and one in Doom.
35:18
He plays a gestap or guard here. He was supposed to have a fight
35:21
scene within the Obviously the he loves a good fight scene on.
35:26
The Zeppelin wasn't it. Yeah, that's right.
35:27
But I was taking. This top off for no reason.
35:30
Of course, yeah, why not? Obviously you've got also got a
35:32
scene with indie teaching class which precedes a scene between
35:36
Indian markers following up on a lead, just like Raiders.
35:39
So this feels very much in spirit Raiders.
35:41
But I think it's got a few elements that does set it apart
35:44
so that it's not just a rehash of the original.
35:46
It's not The Force Awakens, for example.
35:48
No, it's definitely not. It's got a much lighter tone to
35:51
Raiders, this one. Yes, there has.
35:54
There's a lot more humor, obviously, and emotion at
35:56
playing in Last Crusade, and what I'm impressed with is
35:59
Spielberg's hand of these just absolutely deft.
36:02
When I think about Last Crusade, it's a rollic, an adventure in
36:05
my head, but when I watch it, the emotion hits really hard.
36:09
Yeah, and look at the difference between the emotions of the
36:11
film. When Indy thinks Marion is dead
36:13
in Raiders, it's just breezed over not 5 minutes after she's
36:17
exploded into smithereens. Salah is very dismissive, like
36:23
ranges. So you just don't believe that
36:26
she's gone. But this film really takes its
36:28
time to make sure you're emotionally invested in these
36:30
characters. Yeah, I know.
36:32
The difference is the love interest.
36:33
Alison Duty plays Elsa, and she said with also being a bad girl,
36:37
it was really designed to view away from the damsel in distress
36:40
from Temple of Doom. Certainly a move for the best.
36:42
And another good move was to reintroduce Nazis into the
36:46
narrative for Crusade, just like Raiders.
36:48
Yeah, obviously. I don't think any of us complain
36:51
about that if we need to see them get their comeuppance.
36:54
Oh, absolutely. Every time.
36:56
So during the book burning scene, Spielberg was actually
36:59
encouraging the Nazi X was to cross the fingers behind the
37:01
backs when they were doing the Nazi salute.
37:04
And in this scene is Michael Shiard playing Hitler and that
37:07
was role he played twice before. He's also famously in The Empire
37:11
Strikes Back, but our UK listeners might know better from
37:14
his performances on TV in Green Chill and Off We The Same Pet.
37:18
That's right, yeah, he said. Raiders as well.
37:19
Was news that you bought Commander.
37:21
That's right. And next to him in that scene is
37:24
blinking. I'll miss it.
37:24
Ron Lacey as good. Yeah.
37:27
Yeah, who played Tot in red? Yeah, a requirement for that
37:31
scene was for hundreds of extras to be kitted out in Nazi gear,
37:34
costume designer Anthony Powell said, his Co designer on a
37:36
mission across Europe to get legit Nazi uniforms.
37:39
I mean, I don't know. We asked for them just quietly,
37:41
The majority of which she found in Germany, which wasn't
37:44
surprising. Yeah, of course.
37:46
Now, I mean, I expect nothing less from Spielberg.
37:48
Obviously, if this film was going to see loads of Nazis
37:51
being busted up, the authenticity has to be spot.
37:54
On it does, yeah. Despite ham which of a bad tears
37:57
it leads in your mouth. Westie, your thoughts on
38:00
Spielberg as director here. Yeah.
38:02
I mean, like we've said, it's a very, very personal film.
38:05
I think like Jaws as a personal film, I think this is next in
38:08
line for the father and son relationship.
38:10
Just the other side of it. Just, you know, when you've got
38:13
a grown up son and you feel like you've you missed lots of
38:16
opportunities with them growing up and did I raise them right?
38:19
Did I do the right thing? Was it too selfish?
38:21
All of these questions are here, but they're done with such a
38:24
deaf touch, such a light touch, that you kind of watch it and
38:28
go, but it's all right because you've always still got time.
38:30
And I think that's one of the elements of this film that
38:32
really hits home with me, is that as long as you've just got
38:35
5 minutes is enough. And he says that in the actuals
38:38
got 5 minutes is enough to tell people what you want to tell
38:41
them. And once they're gone, they're
38:43
gone. And that's what always hits me
38:44
with this, is that, you know, it's a film about a cup that
38:47
gives you eternal life and you can give somebody eternal
38:51
memories in 5 minutes. You can do that if you express
38:54
yourself. And I think that's what
38:55
Spielberg's trying to say, is that you've got to appreciate
38:58
what's around you and stop trying to chase treasure.
39:00
That doesn't mean anything. That's what I've done with two
39:03
films. And they've both let him down.
39:04
He doesn't. He leaves empty handed.
39:06
It would have just been another rock in the museum and the art
39:09
gets put into a massive warehouse.
39:11
But what he's trying to say with this is that relationships are
39:13
the real treasure in the world, and that's what you should
39:15
always look for. And the museum should be your
39:17
heart for the one of a better kind of phrase of it.
39:19
And, you know, not sound too cheesy, but that's kind of what
39:22
he's getting across without it being that like, oh, God, I know
39:25
what he's trying to say. And he doesn't lay it on thick.
39:28
He disguises it with a lot of action set pieces, a lot of
39:31
peril, a lot of humour and it is complicated.
39:34
Their relationship is very complicated and it starts off
39:37
very aggressive, especially from ND side.
39:40
And this lack of understanding from Henry and it's just them
39:43
learning to understand each other is the true nature of the
39:47
story. And I think that's what
39:48
Spielberg was missing in his life.
39:49
If you watch the fable man's, I mean, I don't think he's dad
39:51
ever understood what he wanted to do.
39:54
His mother did, but I don't think he understood his daddy's
39:57
priorities, his daddy's motivations.
39:58
And I think that was reciprocated from his dad not
40:00
understanding his motivations. And the theme of this is still
40:04
timeless. Yes, it's 1939, but what they're
40:06
trying to see it is still absolutely necessary of.
40:09
Course relevant now, Relevant always.
40:12
Very relevant, yeah. I kind of find it interesting
40:14
that although Elsa is you know, that the the obvious love
40:17
interest, I think Henry has replaced the lady in Indies life
40:22
as the love interest. It is.
40:24
That is a delicious piece of writing that they've both had
40:27
sex with Elsa. It's outrageous.
40:30
And Matt, your thoughts on Spielberg here.
40:33
This is Spielberg and it's blockbuster pomp, isn't it?
40:35
So making a blockbuster now is the second age drum.
40:38
But what stands out to me is his third go around with this
40:41
character is he doesn't feel tired of it yet and he doesn't
40:44
feel tired of the character. I think the reason for that, and
40:47
I think it's the reason the trilogy is so beloved, is that
40:49
he's found different notes to play each time.
40:51
So Raiders is the original. It has the grit, Templar Doom
40:55
this dark, it gets pushed into the horror genre and this time
40:58
on Spielberg firmly pushes it into the comedy genre.
41:00
And I think that's just such a risky move, like the next, maybe
41:04
final mission of possible movies out this year.
41:07
And Can you imagine if Chris McCrory came out and said, well,
41:09
this one even once Dad's going to be in it for the ride and
41:12
there's going to be loads of jokes.
41:14
You think you've got it's. Brian Cox.
41:18
Yeah, that can't be a Mission Impossible movie.
41:21
But this is what Spielberg does he and it pays off beautifully.
41:25
Now, there's obviously comic beats in the previous suit, but
41:28
that just really emphasized here and some of it's in the writing.
41:31
A lot of it is obviously in the dynamic between Ford and Con
41:34
read. But Spielberg let's it flow.
41:36
He doesn't try to play it down, but at the same time is
41:39
happening up the comedy. He still delivers incredible set
41:41
pieces at the same time. And it's Spielberg who adds
41:44
comic touches, like in that opening sequence when he cuts
41:47
away from Indy falling into the box full of snakes.
41:50
It's him that cuts away to this scream outside as the training
41:53
was passed, which is really funny.
41:55
You know, he knows the value of a good comic.
41:57
Good. It's the same when we talked
41:59
about the librarian stamping the book, cutting back and forth
42:01
from that. That's Spielberg and it's really
42:04
funny when Indy and Henry are in the castle and the rooms burning
42:07
down around them. They get in the fight this which
42:09
swivels round Spielberg makes that funny bite just holding on
42:12
them with all the naps. He's completely oblivious.
42:15
So he frames and he cuts a lot of this like he's just making an
42:18
out now comedy. So Spielberg top blockbuster
42:21
farm like you'd expect, but he's just, I don't know, the string
42:23
was ball with the comedy element.
42:25
I think there's all this. It's not just the funniest indie
42:27
film. I think it's just funniest film,
42:28
full stop. Yes.
42:30
Miles funnier than 1941, let's be honest.
42:32
Yes, definitely. The first gag you see when he
42:34
misses the horse is straight out Buster Keaton, isn't it?
42:37
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they've got their roots in
42:40
classic comedy of the Marx Brothers.
42:43
Yeah. And the Three Stooges, you know,
42:45
that kind of comedy. Yeah.
42:47
But this time around, when I revisited this film, I was
42:50
howling with laughter. There are moments which we'll
42:52
get to where I was uncontrollably laughing.
42:56
Usually watching this film, I'm like, yes, very good.
42:59
But there's some some incredibly funny moments.
43:02
Yeah, there is. Yeah.
43:03
Well, I'm going to end on Spielberg with a comment from
43:05
Victoria Armstrong, stunt coordinator and Ford stunt
43:07
double. Yeah, he said.
43:09
My last impression of Stephen was in Almira.
43:12
He always wanted to have good light for an hour before sunset.
43:15
You ran your bollocks off. Stephen coming along his quads
43:18
in. Come on, guys.
43:19
Come on guys, you're killing me. Let's move faster.
43:21
We've got to move faster. Can totally see him doing that.
43:24
Yeah, yeah. The cast.
43:32
The main cast of Last Crusade takes us to some familiar
43:35
places, and we're starting in the only obvious place Matt
43:38
Alexi sail as the Sultan of Hentai.
43:41
Go Yep, Korea high, obviously. Indie obviously for you, Matt.
43:46
Yes, and it is tricky in a way, because what else is there to
43:48
say about House and Father's Indiana Jones?
43:51
It's similar to how I feel about Spielberg, really.
43:53
This is him in his blockbuster pomp.
43:55
No man has ever looked better than Father's indie in the 80's.
43:59
The key thing about him is, and I think we all know in real
44:01
life, House and Ford can be a bit of a grouch, but if he
44:04
trusts the director and he likes the script, you'll get greatness
44:07
for him. You'll get magic in the
44:09
performance. If one of those things is
44:11
missing, you don't get the full fault.
44:12
You get it interested house and Ford.
44:15
Now he obviously trusts Spielberg by now, but you can
44:17
tell he just loves this script and it comes down again to what
44:21
I said about Spielberg. Really it's the fact that this
44:22
lets him be really funny And again, yes, he has comic moments
44:26
and readers and in temple to do it.
44:27
But this one, it really lets him play them up throughout the
44:30
film. So whether it's a scenes with
44:31
Elsa Venice, leave me alone. I don't like fast women, you
44:36
know? It's just some beautiful comic
44:38
deliveries from Ford. Throughout this, he can inject
44:40
physical humor, mostly with his facial expressions.
44:43
When the tank goes over the Cliff and everything's, he said.
44:46
Just that stumble, the way he stumbles up behind everyone and
44:49
that look on his face. Yeah.
44:51
That was beautifully done. He's really enjoying being funny
44:56
here, and never more so than when he gets to playoff with
44:58
Connery. You can tell those two, they
45:00
must have gone on like a house on fire.
45:02
Yeah. So yeah, for third time around,
45:05
Ford is still getting new juice out of the character, and it's
45:07
just a delight to see. It's just magic, isn't it?
45:10
The whole thing, it's just lightning in a bottle from
45:13
everybody involved. Obviously, Ford's known for
45:16
being a physical actor, but he took this to new heights in Last
45:19
Crusade. It's him on the horse, riding
45:22
alongside the tank. Granted, the tank was only going
45:24
around 10 miles an hour, but still dangerous.
45:27
Yeah, I don't want to do it. No, no, no.
45:31
It's also him hanging from the barrel, the gun on the side of
45:34
the tank, dangerously close to the wall.
45:36
Yeah, the crew were just out of shot, shovel and dirt and clear
45:39
on top of him. Right, you can tell us why,
45:42
because that angle is so important.
45:43
It really. Is you need it to be him?
45:44
Yeah. It is Ford's regular stunt
45:47
double. We mentioned him, Victoria
45:48
Armstrong. He pulled forward aside and told
45:50
him to give it a rest so he could get some work done.
45:53
Take it easy. He later said that if he wasn't
45:59
such a great actor, he'd make a great stuntman.
46:01
Yes, and John Reese Davies was full of prayers for Harrison
46:05
Ford, he said. It was very interesting to see
46:07
the way that the very determined assert of young Harrison had
46:10
matured into the laid back superstar who allowed himself to
46:13
be upstaged by a man he obviously adored and revered.
46:17
Yeah. That's clear to see, yeah.
46:19
And the scene where India is teaching class, he makes
46:21
reference to a Doctor Tyree. Archaeology is a search for
46:24
facts, not truth. It's truth.
46:26
You're looking for Doctor Tyree's philosophy because it's
46:28
right down the hall and this is a reference to a former
46:30
philosophy teacher of Ford's William Earl Tyree.
46:33
Yeah, nice little reference. You know, like what you were
46:35
saying, Matt, He sometimes gets labeled criticized as being a
46:39
bit of a grumpy bastard, a bit of a grouch.
46:40
Yeah, But he clearly has respect for those that came before him
46:44
and a great reputation among his peers as well.
46:47
Yeah. So Ford, excellent in familiar
46:49
territory. Is there a more iconic character
46:51
in movie history? I wouldn't have thought so.
46:53
Not for me. No.
46:57
Now over to an inspired piece of casting.
47:00
Who else could play Indiana Jones's dad, the James Bond?
47:03
Westie. Yeah.
47:05
I think that's the first thing I've got written down here, is
47:07
that James Bond reference that must have got everyone so
47:10
excited. I mean, Connery at this point is
47:12
probably sick to death of being referred to as James Bond.
47:15
He's like, that's not all I want to be remembered for.
47:17
I'm, I'm, you know, I'm an actor.
47:18
I can act that can do certain things.
47:21
He's happy playing this really soft character and the emphasis,
47:24
like I said, is on his intelligence, not on his
47:27
physique. Even though he was runner up Mr.
47:29
Universe at one point, you know, and he was James Bond and we're
47:32
talking about iconic movie characters.
47:34
But what he does here and the fact that he allows that to
47:37
happen is to me, spellbinding. I take, I've taken it for
47:41
granted watching it so young, watching it in 89 and taking for
47:44
granted how incredible this casting is and this parent is
47:47
because there's not a lot of years between them anyway, so it
47:50
shouldn't really work. But they have so much respect
47:53
for each other. And Connery is, I think, over
47:56
Ford wants to play and he's got a point to prove because he
47:58
wants to play this against type against every single role that
48:02
he's played before. And if I was sitting, I mean, if
48:05
you're sitting now and you think, right, OK, we're going to
48:07
do in the Indiana Jones film and we've just seen Raiders and
48:10
we've just seen Temple of Doom, and we're going to have his dad
48:12
in there, right? And it's going to be James Bond,
48:14
right? Your first thing you write down
48:15
is a huge set piece with him and his dad punching Nazis left,
48:18
right and center, kind of swinging off each other and use
48:21
the end to have the physicality of both of them.
48:23
That's where he gets the punches from.
48:24
It's not it's where he gets his softness from.
48:26
It's where he gets his intelligence from.
48:29
He's intelligence where he gets his library from.
48:30
It's where he gets 70% of his archaeology from.
48:33
That to me is unprecedented genius, the way that the flip
48:38
that character of Connery on its head and not once do you
48:41
thinking fend for himself. No, you don't think this is
48:44
James Bond? He gets pushed back in that
48:46
tank, you get money. He throws the bag and Indian
48:49
throws the bag and he's on the board and he's just like throws
48:51
it off. He's just this kind of bolshie
48:53
dad who's always right but can't physically prove it.
48:56
Doesn't stand up physically. He's just emotionally correct.
48:59
You know what, it just works so well, even when you're writing
49:04
the screenplay, right? You get to the end and you know,
49:07
Marcus gets shot, so they have to team up together and sort out
49:11
all the traps. And then Henry play kind of
49:13
breaks free and shows that he's got this physicality and he uses
49:16
the whip to swing across the code.
49:18
None of that happens. Whereas in my head, that's just
49:21
the most obvious thing to do and they don't do it.
49:23
Keep it grounded to keep it level.
49:25
And that's how, again, the longevity of the film, why it's
49:28
lasted so long, because it's against type.
49:30
And every time I see it, it's incredibly refreshing and I get
49:32
something new from it every time.
49:34
It's just beautifully, beautifully realized.
49:37
Yeah, it is. I mean, it's just the way the
49:39
characters are written is just wonderful.
49:41
Yeah. As we've been alluding to and as
49:43
widely known, Spielberg was a a massive James Bond fan.
49:48
He always wanted to direct a Bond film.
49:50
And he was twice rebuffed by Coby Broccoli when he went to
49:53
him, cap in hand, asking to direct a Bond film.
49:56
Yeah, after Jaws and after close Encounters.
49:58
Wow. Crazy.
50:00
How dare he? All right, how dare you?
50:04
How dare he. George Lucas pitched the
50:10
character of Indeed to Spielberg as being better than Bond.
50:13
How thick. The irony is that the ultimate
50:15
James Bond actor came on to be in These Dad, which works on
50:18
obviously a number of levels, not least that indie may not
50:21
exist if it weren't for Kobe Broccoli stupidness.
50:25
Yeah. Exactly, and Spielberg said he
50:27
had Connery in mind for Henry from the offset and contacted a
50:30
friend of his, Peter Hyams, who is currently directing Connery
50:33
in the Presidio, to put them in contact.
50:35
Connery initially rejected the offer hand because he didn't
50:38
like the way he was written and partly because Lucas is notes on
50:41
Henry was that he was a Lawrence Olivier type of person, and Ford
50:44
also said Connie thought the character was too thinly drawn.
50:48
Yeah, he had reservations about the age difference as well,
50:51
widely regarded that he was only 12 years older than Harrison
50:55
Ford at this point. But the character was being
50:58
written as being 29 years older than Indy, Right.
51:01
So to age him up, he's got a white beard, whereas Indy is
51:04
clean shaven. Costume designer Anthony Powell
51:07
dressed him up like his grandfather and used tweed suits
51:09
and that fishing hat. Yeah, love it.
51:12
And he wore rimless glasses that were custom made because
51:15
Spielberg wanted to see all of Connery's face on screen.
51:18
Of course you got Connery's face.
51:20
You want to see it all? Yeah, of course.
51:22
And Connery only said yes after being allowed to alter the
51:24
character somewhat. He added in jokes and lines of
51:26
dialogue his notes to Spielberg. With that, Henry has done
51:29
everything that India has done in the past and done it better
51:31
if it doesn't get Connery. I mean, I don't see that on the
51:34
screen really. But fair enough in his head,
51:36
maybe. He does he just live with Elsa
51:38
first? Well, exactly.
51:40
And I imagine he's done it. It was rather wonderful.
51:46
Yeah, really good. And if they couldn't get
51:48
Connery, Gregory Peck was also in consideration, as was John
51:51
Pertwee, Doctor Who, and Worzel Gummich fame, Sean Pertwee's
51:56
dad. Yeah, yeah, it is.
51:58
It seems like a really unusual choice.
51:59
John Pertwee. I mean Gregory, the old Gregory
52:02
Peck. That would work.
52:03
That works for me. Probably a little bit too
52:06
straight but still at work. John Pertwee.
52:09
No, I don't see. Their thoughts, I don't.
52:10
Think so. He just regenerated into Tom
52:12
Baker when you get shot. A big scarf, yeah.
52:17
That's a deep cut for all of you who fans out there.
52:22
To end on Connery, here's a quote from Harrison Ford.
52:24
It was just really great to work with an actor who doesn't give a
52:27
shit. I don't mean about the craft,
52:29
but about his ego. We just clicked.
52:31
Yeah, you can tell. As is commonplace in the
52:36
original Indie trilogy, low key actors are recruited for the
52:39
more villainous roles. First up is Julian Glover as
52:43
Walter Donovan, the American entrepreneur who dupes Indie
52:46
into a quest for the grail, a duplicitous move executed with
52:49
Elsa into as well. Yes, Glover is an English actor.
52:53
He appeared in Count. I mean, look at his filmography,
52:55
countless TV and movie roles. He's in everything respectively.
53:00
He said that he wasn't happy with his accent in this film.
53:03
I don't really have any problem with it.
53:04
Kind of works for me. It's sleazy and it's kind of
53:07
try. He's trying to disguise
53:08
something, he's trying to hide something, and he's trying to
53:10
hide the fact that he's a Nazi, which we'll find out at the end
53:12
when you see he's bad. Sure it works for me.
53:14
I've always thought he sounds a little bit Irish.
53:16
When he's in The Cave, yes. When he's talking about, you
53:20
know, they're welcome to have it.
53:21
He just goes a little bit Irish. See what you mean now?
53:27
I was thinking maybe. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
53:29
You've nailed it there. I know exactly what you mean.
53:31
Yeah, he does. Yeah.
53:32
I don't think that he's like the perfect performance by any
53:35
stretch. And he's quite forgettable,
53:37
really. Yeah.
53:38
A little bit like Paul Freeman's Belloc in Raiders.
53:41
Maybe Freeman's. I think Freeman's got a bit more
53:44
meat on the boards with the character.
53:45
Yeah, but they're still not Lords for for either of them
53:48
really. For their main villains, no.
53:50
But maybe there isn't enough space in this film for him to be
53:53
a tower and villain. But it's hard to be a tower and
53:55
villain over Nazis, isn't it really?
53:57
They're always the bad guys. Yes, they are.
53:59
Yeah. Suppose that speaks for itself.
54:01
Yeah. If he kind of hammed it up, it
54:03
might have undermined the central story between Indy and
54:05
Henry. I think he does just enough, and
54:08
I do by his demeanor. It's not a huge leap for him to
54:10
go from the good guy Donovan at the start to the one who shoots
54:13
Henry in cold blood at the end. Yeah.
54:15
No, it's just a little hop from one to the other.
54:18
Yeah, it works. By that, Glover said.
54:20
I don't know if Donovan was a nice man, but not many people
54:23
can say they shot Sean Connery. I'll clear it up for you right
54:26
now. Julian Donovan is not a nice
54:28
man. Straight up.
54:32
Nazi is what he is. His nefarious partner in crime,
54:37
to a degree, is Doctor Elsa Schneider, played by Alison Duty
54:41
Westie. Yes.
54:42
Keep yourself a beer here. Just wonderful.
54:45
She is. She is.
54:47
I really, really like how complex Elsa is as a character.
54:50
She flip flops between her Nazi allegiances and her burgeoning
54:54
feelings for Indy, which I do buy.
54:57
Maybe a criticism is that she easily flip flops between the
55:00
two, so we never quite know where her heart lies.
55:02
Maybe until the end. She's absolutely convincing in
55:06
that scene where she dupes Indy in the castle where she's held a
55:09
gunpoint and then steals the diary.
55:11
She's brilliant there. I like the writing of the
55:14
character and I think that Duty doesn't get the praise for
55:17
pulling off this almost dual role.
55:19
I genuinely think she's excellent here and doesn't get
55:22
the praise. Definitely in that rally as
55:24
well. When the beer and the poops and
55:25
she's like, all I have to do is scream.
55:27
She's just really conflicted. What am I supposed to do?
55:31
Who do I want to be with? It's not just about the numbers,
55:35
bad guy or fan fatalities. I'll know real complexities the
55:38
character. She wasn't actually first choice
55:41
or for Elsa, that was an actress who is probably best known for
55:44
her work on UK television, Amanda Redmond.
55:47
But film wise, you might recognise her for her part in
55:49
Jonathan Glaze's Sexy Beast. But Redmond has a paralyzing
55:53
fever of rats, so she just pulled herself out of the
55:56
running straight away when she got that bit in the script.
55:58
Oh, really? Yeah, she plays Ray Winston's
56:00
wife, doesn't she? In sexually, yeah.
56:03
German actress, Good run. The Greeb came in to read but
56:06
was rejected by Spielberg because she looked just like Amy
56:08
Irving, Spielberg's ex-wife. Too much too soon, I think.
56:13
Just get rid of that. Yeah.
56:14
Just Lucas in the corner, just shaking his beardy face.
56:19
Allison Duty came on board. Haven't made a debut in A View
56:21
to a Kill, which is wonderful. She was 21 when this film was
56:24
shot, which makes her a full 25 years younger than Harrison
56:27
Ford. Wow.
56:28
Yeah, I. Don't think that age different.
56:31
Is that apparent to me? No.
56:32
I don't think it is. It's abhorrent.
56:38
So a good supporting cast, not forgetting Denim Elliot and John
56:41
Reese Davies. But Last Crusade is built on
56:44
that dynamic between Ford and Connery.
56:46
Possibly the most loved father son depiction in cinema would.
56:49
Have said so. Yeah, probably.
56:57
All the right movies. We'll be right back.
56:59
Thank you for supporting us by listening to the sponsors for
57:01
this episode. Thanks for listening to our
57:05
sponsors. And now it's back to the show.
57:11
The middle. We're back in Austria for the
57:15
second act of The Last Crusade, which sees the Jones boy still
57:19
at gunpoint. But Indy has an ears up his
57:21
sleeve and what follows is one of the best visual gags in
57:26
cinema history. Oh yes, Yep.
57:29
Indie laying it on real thick. Marcus is on the trail.
57:33
He knows a dozen languages. He'll blend in, disappear.
57:36
You'll never see him again. With any luck, he's got the
57:39
grill already. Then hard cut.
57:42
Does anybody here speak English? It's that camera just slowly
57:47
moving in before just a dramatic.
57:49
He goes to a low angle just for the drama.
57:51
It's massive. Yeah.
57:53
Totally works. Marcus bumbling around a dusty
57:56
Sun Bleach train station. And if we had any doubts about
57:59
Spielberg trying to recapture the Raiders magic, it's
58:02
confirmed in this scene when Salah shows up in a town that
58:05
just looks like the Cairo set from Raiders.
58:07
Yeah, he's such a welcoming presence on screen, so warm.
58:10
And now he's teamed up with Marcus.
58:11
There's no stopping him. And Marcus reissues him.
58:14
He says it's just you. He said yes, but everything is
58:16
under control. But from when Salah shows up,
58:21
this is one minute comic master class from Denim Elliot hitting
58:26
so many notes when he's making his way through the crowd, he's
58:29
confronted by a woman with a chicken, says no thank you
58:32
Madam. A vegetarian.
58:36
Does anybody understand a word I'm saying?
58:44
I was howling at this. It's his physicality.
58:47
When he kind of when Salah asks him where we're going, he says,
58:50
well, this map should tell us. And he pulls it out of his
58:52
inside pocket. And then he hastily shuffles it
58:54
back in. When the guy pretends in the
58:56
Museum of Antiquity shows up. And then his time and his time
59:00
is perfect. When the guy bows down and kicks
59:03
his head back. It's one of the funniest one
59:07
moments in any film, certainly in Spielberg's career.
59:10
It's your servant, Sir, and I'm his not to be Overshadows as
59:18
well. Salah smashes the guy in the
59:19
face, asking for his papers. Egyptian mail, morning edition.
59:23
Just finish reading myself. Run.
59:24
Run. Yes, yes.
59:29
Did you say run? Good morning, Run.
59:34
So good there is no music. I mean, why on earth the back of
59:40
that truck is set up as a facade to look like the entrance of a
59:43
house escapes me. It's very poppy.
59:45
Yeah, it's just it Hawks back that bit and rareness as well
59:47
doesn't. Nobody hates it.
59:49
But it really fits the tone of this scene.
59:51
And when he bundles them in, what turns out to be the back of
59:54
that truck. So I was kind of like goes
59:55
towards the camera, like, come on.
59:58
With the 2. Fists.
59:59
Yeah, come on. Scrappy do.
1:00:04
Scrappy Dawn. This scene is just absolute.
1:00:08
I mean a master classroom Denim Elliot.
1:00:11
Just. So, so, so funny.
1:00:13
Yeah. Well, the laughs just keep on
1:00:15
coming, because then you've got Henry and Indy tied together,
1:00:19
Henry just grumbling away to himself, whore and tolerable
1:00:21
like a proper old dad. Like, you know that's your dad
1:00:26
when you know he's being served coffee and they've got to put
1:00:29
the milk in raw. This isn't tolerable.
1:00:30
Yeah. And then, like when Elsa says a
1:00:33
goodbye, it's like, I don't know how they've pulled this off
1:00:35
because it should be so the revelation that Elsa has slept
1:00:39
with the pair of them, but it's not.
1:00:41
It's just really funny. It's really funny and that
1:00:45
little smirk Elsa gives herself before she like kisses Indy.
1:00:48
You're just saying well fair player.
1:00:50
But when Elsa whispers and in DZ how wonderful it was, but Henry
1:00:53
thinks she's him and added him. Oh thank you it was rather
1:00:55
wonderful. I mean, it's the comic beats the
1:00:59
comic time and a wonderful It's another example of how hilarious
1:01:02
House and Ford is just through his facial expression, just
1:01:05
three turns his head to glare at Henry like and then Henry
1:01:09
interns get annoyed because Elsa kisses Indy but doesn't kiss
1:01:12
him. Like none of this should work at
1:01:14
all really, yet somehow it doesn't.
1:01:16
It works beautifully, but it's then glorious to see them try to
1:01:18
escape, because what's really great here is the both kind of
1:01:21
crap at this, like Henry just drops the light straight away
1:01:24
and the look on his face like, hmm, what should I do?
1:01:27
I'll try blown on it. Let's see what the floor's on
1:01:31
fire and the chair again, just comedy beats of the highest
1:01:37
order. It's the same as the revolving
1:01:39
fireplace for the Nazis on the other side that you already
1:01:41
mentioned. That great movies like Dead What
1:01:43
Dead What Dead What the Fireplace.
1:01:47
Reply place the Nazi woman just like giving them that smile
1:01:51
before yelling it's. I mean the comedy beats are
1:01:55
quite basic. Put the executor to perfection.
1:01:59
The also in this scene, very, very prominent is the use of the
1:02:03
sound design, which is obviously a commonplace in the indie
1:02:06
series. Big bold sounds.
1:02:08
Yeah, yeah. Sound designer Ben Burke or
1:02:10
created when pulling the sounds together for this film, 800
1:02:13
unique sounds were used, including the sound of friction
1:02:16
against Styrofoam cup, which was digitally enhanced and used for
1:02:20
the fire in this scene. Wow, great.
1:02:22
Also other ones like the sound of a balloon being rubbed made
1:02:25
of the sound of the earthquake tremors of the finale right and
1:02:29
cluck and chicken sound was speed up and used as the chatter
1:02:32
of rats in the catacombs. OK, I'm vegetarian.
1:02:39
But this whole sequence, I mean, it is, it's comedy basics, but
1:02:42
it's just done so well and it's so charming.
1:02:45
Yeah. Yeah.
1:02:46
And again, it goes from humor to set piece, set piece to humor,
1:02:49
humor within the set piece. And this is another great, great
1:02:52
moment, a great action sequence from the time where he's like
1:02:56
just so cocky. You know, if you sit down, the
1:02:58
solution presents itself, falls down the stairs.
1:03:01
It's just so good. And that is so like 3 Stooges
1:03:04
kind of kind of comedy. It shouldn't really work, but
1:03:07
it's so funny. And then he's the speedball.
1:03:10
He throws him the bag. I always loved that Penny say,
1:03:12
oh, for fuck's sake, Dad throws it back.
1:03:15
No, we're not taking the boat. And then there's that great
1:03:18
reveal where they just come out-of-the-box and they're in
1:03:20
that, the motorbike with the sidecar.
1:03:22
And it's like Indy's being crap up the now.
1:03:24
But this is what he's really good at.
1:03:25
We've seen him do this many times.
1:03:27
So he's got to impress his dad here.
1:03:29
This has got to be good. And he actually turns into a
1:03:31
night. I mean how he pulls down that
1:03:33
flagpole just by putting his arm out is ridiculous, not damaged
1:03:38
in the slightest, but just pulls it down.
1:03:40
Great. I'll just let that slide.
1:03:41
So many things you let slide here and he's like literally
1:03:44
turns out when night by joust and one of the Nazis off of more
1:03:47
bike. So he's dad's pretty impressed
1:03:49
with that because the Hawks back to something he understands.
1:03:51
But when they just keep piling on top and he throws that, you
1:03:55
know, the head, the bit of the flagpole into the spokes and the
1:03:58
bike goes up. It's so fantastic.
1:04:01
It's so rewarding. Watch it again, though.
1:04:03
It's clearly just a dummy in this in on the bike.
1:04:05
And he explodes as they drive past.
1:04:07
Fine, not a problem. Oh, it looks great.
1:04:09
And that that is great. But it's overshadowed by that
1:04:12
moment where he's laughing and he's this is what I do.
1:04:15
Look how good I am, how good I am just blowing him up.
1:04:20
Did you see that explosion? He starts just winding his
1:04:22
watch, so unimpressed, just like, yeah, call this
1:04:28
archaeology. Yeah, rubbish.
1:04:29
That was rubbish. But it's after the sequence
1:04:33
again, because we've got the humor, we've got the action, and
1:04:35
then we've got the emotion. And it goes so far into
1:04:38
discussing, you know, how he was let down as a child, and he
1:04:42
doesn't understand it. Neither did mom.
1:04:44
He said, well, yes, you did. Only two.
1:04:45
Well, he's that serious about it.
1:04:47
And it puts that in context of like, that's what he cared about
1:04:51
so much that there was his wife was dying and he just still
1:04:55
didn't tell him because this is how much he believed in this
1:04:57
whole question. And it brings that round and how
1:04:59
much he's neglected in India because of that.
1:05:02
But then he gets to cement his belief of how and why it's so
1:05:06
important with a crucified Jesus behind him out of focus when he
1:05:09
gives the speech in the psycho about the armies of darkness are
1:05:13
going to March across the face of the earth.
1:05:14
Like it's so important. It's just so well delivered and
1:05:19
he gives up and just has to stop believing in what his dad
1:05:21
believed in all of this regret that he's got and how neglected
1:05:24
he was as a child because of this thing.
1:05:26
He's now got to try and understand it and he does.
1:05:28
He gives in to him and he goes for it.
1:05:30
And I just think that's so important.
1:05:32
Hilarious. They've slept with the same
1:05:34
woman. He sets fire to a castle.
1:05:36
They come out of the castle, they're going to go to a boat.
1:05:37
No, they're on a side car and a motorbike.
1:05:40
He just blows up some Nazis. And then they just give a whole
1:05:42
back story of his full childhood and now he's dedicated to his
1:05:44
dad's quest. Yeah, amazing.
1:05:46
It really hits emotionally, that whole speech, that interaction.
1:05:50
Yeah, and that motorbike cheer scene that was inserted well
1:05:53
after production had wrapped because during previews, the
1:05:56
film was testing through the roof with audiences.
1:05:58
But both Lucas and Spielberg felt the film was missing
1:06:01
something at the end of the second act.
1:06:02
So that's why they came up with this cheer sequence, which was
1:06:05
shot in Fairfax, Northern California, which is near where
1:06:07
Lucas lived. I think this felt too talky
1:06:13
without some action. It needs it in there.
1:06:15
It doesn't. Need it.
1:06:16
Yeah, it does. It does.
1:06:17
And it feels a little bit in spirit to the bike chase scene
1:06:21
from The Great Escape. Definitely.
1:06:22
Yes, very similar. Yeah, really.
1:06:24
Does yeah. So the Joneses are free and on
1:06:26
their way to Berlin to retrieve the diary.
1:06:31
Considering the being chased by an army of Nazi troops, India
1:06:35
and Henry make less than low key travel plans and border Zeppelin
1:06:39
out of Germany. That'll do it.
1:06:42
Yeah, Matt, you're up. I mean, it's just so much fun
1:06:46
spending time with these two together.
1:06:47
And it continues on the Zeppelin.
1:06:49
I think it starts with a really underappreciated side guide
1:06:52
because there's two men reading newspapers in a very suspicious
1:06:56
manner. You've got them held up right in
1:06:58
front of the faces and you think, ah, there they are,
1:06:59
that's Andy Henry until injuring Henry walk right past them.
1:07:03
I think Scott doesn't get enough respect for.
1:07:05
I think that's really funny. But once on the Zeppelin, I just
1:07:08
love this because it balances as it has been so far.
1:07:11
To be fair, it balances the came out with some lovely character
1:07:13
beats. I mean, Indy still so desperate
1:07:16
to get his dad's approval, tell him that they've made it, but
1:07:19
Henry just constantly cutting them down to size.
1:07:21
When we're born with Germany behind us, then I will share
1:07:24
that sentiment. And then just back to his paper,
1:07:26
Right. Thanks Dad.
1:07:27
No appreciation I've done so far.
1:07:29
Some kudos just. Yeah, anything.
1:07:31
End of it just. A Well done whatever, yeah.
1:07:34
Yeah, and then it leads in there.
1:07:36
Arguably maybe the most famous moment in the film Indy.
1:07:39
He sees Vogel coming on board, put his arm around the Stuart
1:07:43
obviously somehow just knocks him out I guess and gets his
1:07:45
uniform on before. Punching.
1:07:47
Vogel, which fits. Yeah.
1:07:49
Fits really well and obviously Vogel's on there.
1:07:53
He's checking everyone one by one.
1:07:55
Love that bit where he just uses his cane to fall on Henry's
1:07:58
newspaper. He's really confused.
1:08:00
And he follows it down. And follows it.
1:08:02
Down. Yeah, keeps reading it.
1:08:04
Have you noticed that his newspapers upside down?
1:08:05
Yeah, yes. Yes, as well, yeah.
1:08:10
Yeah. I mean, it's just full of those
1:08:11
beautiful little moments. And then obviously when Indy
1:08:13
punches Vogel and throws him out the window, no ticket.
1:08:17
Everyone goes into that panic. I mean, ticket, ticket, ticket.
1:08:21
I mean, it's just a magnificent gag.
1:08:23
That one is perfectly played by Ford, but it's perfectly set up
1:08:27
and executed by Spielberg. Yeah.
1:08:29
But then you get a little bit of town time here for just a couple
1:08:32
of minutes, and I think the writing needs it.
1:08:35
You need the film to just breathe at this point, to really
1:08:38
establish firmly that relationship between Indy and
1:08:41
Henry. Make it more about the fact that
1:08:43
they've both set without set. And it's that line from Indy
1:08:45
about last time I had a drink together, he had a milkshake.
1:08:49
And the fact that even now, Henry is still barely listening
1:08:51
to him. He's just completely absorbed in
1:08:53
that diary. I mean, that tells you
1:08:54
everything. But I think when Henry defends
1:08:57
himself, do I detect a rebuke? I think he does have a bit of a
1:09:00
point, like having a father who doesn't tell you to eat up, go
1:09:03
to bed, do your homework does teach yourself reliance to a
1:09:06
degree that's really laudable and good parenting.
1:09:09
But not when you take to the point that Henry obviously did
1:09:12
and where he just created this fast distance between the pair
1:09:15
of them. Yeah, it's more of a neglect,
1:09:17
isn't it, than he's. Not a parent, is he?
1:09:19
No, he's not doing it on purpose to kind of to help them grow.
1:09:22
He's just doing it because he's neglecting them.
1:09:24
Yeah, yeah. Exactly.
1:09:25
So you know, it's a little bit roast.
1:09:26
Tinted glasses from Henry's perspective.
1:09:28
Because. You know, you don't want your
1:09:30
children to get independent that quickly.
1:09:32
You always want them to rely on you for some things in life,
1:09:34
which Henry doesn't get. And I think making that point in
1:09:37
an Indiana Jones movie without absolutely hammering it home and
1:09:40
it's still feeling part of and out of, that's really, really
1:09:43
impressive. Yeah, it is.
1:09:45
And Connery said when? And he says, you never taught
1:09:47
me. I say, well, you weren't
1:09:49
interested until you were 19, which is right below the belt,
1:09:52
but probably right on the north. It's a great line as well.
1:09:56
It's very funny, very dismissive.
1:09:58
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You left when you were becoming
1:10:00
interested, when I was an adult. Sure.
1:10:06
Yeah. Like that's Indy's fault, yeah.
1:10:09
Just to go back to that bit where he smashes Vogel up and
1:10:12
throws him out the window. I mean, I mean, how is he forced
1:10:16
to get away with this just. Sits at the table and just has a
1:10:20
drink. And just has a drink.
1:10:21
It's him. He's on there.
1:10:24
Like. He's just Vogel, apparently.
1:10:25
Yeah, not only like a Nazi guard.
1:10:27
And he's like, what? A flight attendant.
1:10:30
He smashes him in the face and then bundles him out of a
1:10:32
window. I don't.
1:10:35
Think Zeppelin's take off particularly quickly either I
1:10:37
would have. No, no.
1:10:38
That scene when Vogel's just raising his first, that's great.
1:10:45
Scooby-doo. Isn't it and?
1:10:50
The sentimentality in that moment that you talked about
1:10:52
Matt, the rather than touching nature of the interaction maybe
1:10:56
slightly tainted when you find out that both Connery and Ford
1:10:59
were not wearing trousers out of shot when they when they filmed
1:11:03
this scene of. Course not.
1:11:04
Why? Why should?
1:11:05
They why should they? Why should they?
1:11:06
It is set in winter, of course, but the film did Spain in the
1:11:09
summer and the set was boiling hot, right, Right, Connery said.
1:11:12
I'm just going to sweat. So I'm, I'm just going to take
1:11:15
my pants off. Ford followed suit, obviously.
1:11:18
Tweed. Yep.
1:11:19
Tweed. Tweet a killer in Spain It's.
1:11:22
A killer in the in the summer. Yeah, it is.
1:11:24
Yeah. From the Zeppelin, Indy and
1:11:27
Henry make their move, which is beautifully visualized by the
1:11:30
shadows moving when the plane turns around.
1:11:32
Yeah, great visual story is him. They've taken us back to
1:11:35
Germany. I love that.
1:11:37
Yeah, I love it. Whom?
1:11:38
And then the music. Just kind of.
1:11:39
Yeah, the escape on what can only be described as a toy
1:11:45
plane, despite how much is at stake here as well.
1:11:49
There's just so much joy to be had in the cockpit of this
1:11:51
plane. It opens with Henry as proud as
1:11:54
can be when he says, I didn't know you could fly a plane.
1:11:57
And he's like, he's beaming, tapping on the shot.
1:12:00
I didn't know you could fly a plane.
1:12:02
Good, he's a schoolboy. And you know, so this is going
1:12:05
to be obviously plain sailing, but then Indy's got the most
1:12:10
pitch perfect reply. Fly yes, Land no.
1:12:15
And then Henry fear completely changes.
1:12:17
Yeah. That's a really funny line.
1:12:19
That's great writing. It is great.
1:12:21
And then they detach themselves from the Zeppelin and Indy turns
1:12:25
around and gives Henry a big thumbs up.
1:12:28
As he turns around, he notices 2 Luftwaffe coming awards and.
1:12:31
Immediately, yeah. So it's absolute life or death
1:12:37
stuff. Indie screaming screaming at the
1:12:40
top of his voice. 11:00 And you too excited?
1:12:43
Fucking watch Calm as you like what happens at 11:00 and Indie
1:12:49
screams The Wall. 12/11/10 11:00 Fire.
1:12:58
But it's another great comedy bit.
1:13:00
Henry's kind of getting into this airborne battle stuff, but
1:13:03
he gets a little bit over exuberant and obliterates the
1:13:06
tail of the plane. It's beautiful, but a bastard
1:13:10
that he just pins it on the other guys.
1:13:14
I'm sorry, son, you're going to. Pin on anyone.
1:13:18
Pin on the Nazis. Yeah, because you're always
1:13:21
going to buy that. Or the Nazis did it.
1:13:23
I did that. What a bunch of bastards.
1:13:25
Nobody will disbelieve that. Contrary to belief, though, he
1:13:29
does actually land the plane, which is great, which is
1:13:32
wonderful. Then you just get that great
1:13:34
moment with this, just a guy just changing the wheels.
1:13:37
He's got to put a hubcap on, and it just speeds away and they're
1:13:40
in there and you can tell. And this shot is beautifully
1:13:43
done and beautifully shot by Douglas Slowcomb as well.
1:13:46
You can tell Spielberg's went Douglas, North by Northwest.
1:13:49
Yes, we do that. And he's right.
1:13:51
Yeah, we could do that. And it's just the gunfire, and
1:13:54
it's serious. And then that bomb just dropped.
1:13:57
Oh, so good. Because he says Henry goes.
1:14:01
Well, they don't come any closer than that.
1:14:03
It's mash. The land and the creator, it's
1:14:09
just wonderful, really great visually.
1:14:12
And this is one of my favorite exchanges of the whole film of
1:14:15
the whole franchise. And they just land down and the
1:14:18
planes coming in, circling around and coming back for them.
1:14:21
And Henry says these people are trying to kill us.
1:14:23
And he's like, I know dad. It's a new experience for me.
1:14:27
And he's like, it happens to me all the time and then pulls his
1:14:29
hat down. I love that because he's like,
1:14:31
look, this is my world and you're in it now.
1:14:34
And this happens to me all the time.
1:14:35
And he's just furious about it. And then he can't save the
1:14:38
situation. He doesn't know how to do it and
1:14:40
it takes Henry's intelligence and he just sees the birds on
1:14:42
the beach and I'm just like. And then he just.
1:14:48
Turns and he's got that umbrella over his shoulder and he's just
1:14:51
casually walked on the beach. And I honestly could I fill up
1:14:54
every single time when he's. I suddenly run by Charlemagne.
1:14:58
And it's like, but when he just delivers that line in my armies
1:15:01
be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky and it's
1:15:03
like, oh, God, yeah, he actually does that.
1:15:06
He's using his intelligence in a physical way to get us out with
1:15:09
this problem. And it's just the way he walks
1:15:11
past him and Ford just looks at him.
1:15:13
But he's got this look of like or almost of like, oh, what have
1:15:17
I done? I should have listened to this
1:15:18
guy. And he's got he's got some
1:15:21
chops. And if only I'd thought the way
1:15:23
I could have learned a lot more from him.
1:15:24
And you can see this like regret and this almost like, right, I'm
1:15:27
going to start taking this seriously now.
1:15:29
You know, from the escape and the castle to this point, now it
1:15:32
is just an absolute bonding session.
1:15:34
And it just accumulates in this wonderful moment on a beach
1:15:38
that's so recognizable to me. It could be down, you know, one
1:15:41
of our beaches just down the road.
1:15:42
It looks very very similar. To.
1:15:45
Like where I grew up. So it felt like it was home and
1:15:47
it felt like very, very comfortable.
1:15:50
Just so, so well thought through.
1:15:52
Brilliant. It's Henry stepping up in Indies
1:15:55
world as well, isn't? It is, yeah.
1:15:57
Yeah. And they're going.
1:15:58
Wow. OK, yeah, I need to step up and
1:16:00
he's. Got smart?
1:16:00
Yeah. And in the speech scene, real
1:16:03
seagulls we used originally but apparently they are the most
1:16:05
stubborn of all birds and there's wooden budget so they
1:16:08
drafted in doves to replace them instead.
1:16:10
Right. I mean, we know that Only two.
1:16:11
Well, seagulls, yeah. Bastards.
1:16:14
Yeah, so by hook or by crock, Indian Henry of A the icy grip
1:16:18
of the Nazis once again and are headed for Alexandre.
1:16:22
Alexandre, the crew. As you come to expect with a
1:16:31
Spielberg Lucasfilm production, Last Crusade has a top notch
1:16:35
crew work and at the height of their game.
1:16:37
We're starting off with our thoughts on Geoffrey Baum's
1:16:39
screenplay, of which there is a complicated back story.
1:16:42
OK. But our thoughts on the
1:16:44
screenplay first. And what I like is the emotion
1:16:47
in the film, which, you know, we've been talking about the
1:16:49
father son relationship, but that emotion is all the more
1:16:53
unbelievable considering it's a globe trotting romp with an
1:16:57
endless roster of excitement, set pieces and comedy bits.
1:17:01
It's not overly sentimental either, but there's something a
1:17:04
lot deeper going on in this instalment.
1:17:07
Quest for the grill becomes metaphorical of a quest for a
1:17:09
real relationship between father and son.
1:17:11
We've talked about the touchstone moments in this stunt
1:17:13
relationship already and there's more to come.
1:17:16
But the opening interaction between the young Indian and his
1:17:18
dad, the conversation they have in the Zeppelin, the I thought
1:17:21
I'd lost your boy bit, the Let it go moment at the end.
1:17:26
There's a beautiful relationship arc happening between these two
1:17:29
characters almost in secret because it kind of goes
1:17:32
unnoticed as it's masked by this RIP roaring globetrotting
1:17:36
adventure that that they're on in search of the Grail.
1:17:38
It's wonderfully done, really subtle, and the writing of Indy
1:17:42
as a character makes so much more sense with the introduction
1:17:45
of Henry, because we've been on the trail with Indy for two
1:17:48
films before this and we haven't even stopped to think what his
1:17:51
motivations are. Why?
1:17:53
Why would we really? But in Last Crusade, I think
1:17:55
it's safe to assume that Indy has almost certainly chosen his
1:17:58
career path to seek the approval of his dad, forever on the
1:18:03
search for historical artifacts, the most precious of which has
1:18:06
always eluded him, a loving relationship with his father.
1:18:09
That great writing it is. I mean, the dialogue is
1:18:12
fantastic. We'll talk about that later.
1:18:14
But the narrative beats a really, really good.
1:18:16
They're very strong writing in a blockbuster like this, it's it's
1:18:19
not commonplace. No, definitely not.
1:18:22
Matt, your thoughts on the writing?
1:18:23
It's one of those pieces of writing that looks effortless
1:18:27
and you think it's easy because they've already established this
1:18:30
character, but it's anything but, really.
1:18:32
And I think the further sequels definitely prove that.
1:18:35
And the bit I want to focus on is one of the bits that is I
1:18:38
think one of the toughest things to get right, which is to
1:18:42
establish the Mac Guffin and the puzzle elements of the plot and
1:18:46
how they get there. Because off the top of my head,
1:18:50
it'll be interesting. What you guys think is, can you
1:18:52
remember what the Crystal Schools do in Kingdom with the
1:18:55
Crystal School? No, no, no, exactly no clue.
1:18:59
No clue. And remember what the dialogue
1:19:01
Destiny does, but I can't remember how they track it down,
1:19:04
what clues lead to it. This does both brilliantly.
1:19:07
The Holy Grail with eternal life to whoever drinks from it.
1:19:10
That's great, that's easy to understand, totally
1:19:13
understandable stakes in one line.
1:19:15
And it's the same with how they find it.
1:19:17
The clues are easy to follow and easy to comprehend and it links
1:19:20
together beautifully as in what the on what the mean.
1:19:23
So there's the wonderful sense of you're working it out along
1:19:26
with India and everyone else. You're discovering the path in a
1:19:30
way that takes you with it. Finding the markets in the
1:19:32
library. Ah, that's where the 10 is.
1:19:34
I get that. That's where you go.
1:19:36
I understand what they're looking for.
1:19:37
The clues have to get you involved.
1:19:39
And maybe the biggest compliment I can pay the script in these
1:19:42
terms, it makes Take Control, called Robbins, look really
1:19:45
dramatic and really interesting when he's doing.
1:19:48
Oh shit, yeah, that's the next clue.
1:19:49
That's brilliant. Like, say, compared to the two
1:19:52
sequels, which are just so muddled in terms of how you
1:19:55
follow along the adventure and what the stakes are and what
1:19:57
Indies looking for and why is it important?
1:19:59
This is just an absolute class above.
1:20:02
Well, as you mentioned the Mcguffin there, Matt, I think
1:20:05
it's right that we have our third and final question from a
1:20:07
Patreon of ours, and that is the legendary, by all accounts,
1:20:12
Viper 26. Hello Viper 26.
1:20:15
I thought Viper 26. Hello Viper 26, great name.
1:20:19
Obviously he's Incognito, Westy. That's fair enough.
1:20:21
I wish I thought it was his real name.
1:20:22
I wish my real name. Well, Viper says if I may call
1:20:25
him Viper, he says In Raiders, the air plot is the pursuit of
1:20:29
the arc. The B plot is the relationship
1:20:30
between Indian Marion. In Doom, the air plot is the
1:20:33
pursuit of the Shankara Stones. The B plot is the relationship
1:20:36
between Indian Short Round and Indian Willy and Last Crusade.
1:20:39
The Air pot is the relationship between India and his father.
1:20:41
The B is the pursuit of the Holy Grail.
1:20:43
This reverses the plot priorities of the 1st 2 movies,
1:20:46
making relationships the primary plot.
1:20:48
Do you think this plot focus reversal changes Last Crusade
1:20:51
for the better or worse compared to the other two films?
1:20:54
Matt. Wow.
1:20:55
Digest that. Yeah, very good question.
1:20:58
There's going to, I just need to work away.
1:21:00
He's going to this OK, I think for the better if that's what
1:21:05
he's asking. Because I think there's only so
1:21:07
many times you can have a mystical artifact with the power
1:21:11
to destroy civilizations be the focus, and it's still have the
1:21:15
same level of interest or tension.
1:21:17
And you need a story that wraps up Indies character arc.
1:21:21
Readers, the character out there, by the end of that film,
1:21:24
he's a believer. But by the start of this film,
1:21:27
he's lost Marion somehow, long way Temple of Doom, his
1:21:30
character Orcas. Basically, it stops him being a
1:21:33
selfish prick who's just about fortune and glory and he
1:21:36
realizes there's other things to focus on in the world.
1:21:38
So what does Crusade do and where can it take?
1:21:41
And that's new. And I think Crusade story is
1:21:43
about him finally finding his place in the world and finding a
1:21:47
relationship that ultimately is more important than any of the
1:21:51
treasure he could find. And the interest in Spain is
1:21:53
that it's not a romantic relationship.
1:21:55
It isn't. Marion's been kidnapped.
1:21:57
He's got to find Marion, it's father.
1:21:59
Repairing that above reach now for the Grail at the end is the
1:22:02
biggest revelation. India as a character could have
1:22:05
leaves the grip. Your dad's holding your hand.
1:22:07
What are you going to get for it?
1:22:08
What? Are you going to get for it?
1:22:10
Need that hold your hand is much more important.
1:22:12
And if we didn't have the two further sequels, I think it
1:22:15
would be very easy to assume once he's repaired this
1:22:18
relationship with Henry, that's it Randy.
1:22:21
He just hangs up his adventure and boots.
1:22:23
He just stays as a professor. So I think making the
1:22:26
relationship the folks of the plot, it's probably why the
1:22:29
film's as good as it is. I agree.
1:22:31
Yeah, I think it's a really good question.
1:22:32
I think what it's one that feeds into what I what I was saying
1:22:35
about what I like about the writing as we've been talking
1:22:38
about. It's very reminiscent of
1:22:39
readers, but separated by this emotional element, emotion which
1:22:43
I think is very relatable. It's classic Spielberg and it
1:22:46
feeds right into the final sequence for me.
1:22:49
So 3 tests that India has to complete have a double mean.
1:22:52
Obviously there are high stakes because you know, it's death
1:22:55
defying stunts and tricks and traps.
1:22:58
But now he must get through them, otherwise Henry's going to
1:23:01
die as well. His dad's going to die.
1:23:03
That level of emotion is not evident in the first two films.
1:23:06
No, no. In Raiders, for example, the
1:23:08
quest for the ark is just that, the quest for an object.
1:23:10
But he, the grill, eternal life, enlightenment, illumination,
1:23:14
these all tie into or could be metaphorical of a meaningful
1:23:18
relationship between father and son.
1:23:20
Yeah, I think it works for the better and separates Crusade out
1:23:23
not just as a Raiders clone. Yeah.
1:23:26
Yeah. Geoffrey Boehm said, the writer.
1:23:28
He said given the fact that the third film in the series, you
1:23:30
couldn't just end with them obtaining the object.
1:23:33
That's how the first two films ended.
1:23:34
So I thought, let them lose the grill and let the father and son
1:23:37
relationship be the main point. Yeah.
1:23:40
Westie, your thoughts? Yeah, I mean, the do lose the
1:23:43
first two objects in the first two films and then you never get
1:23:45
to take it away. You always, you know, then do
1:23:47
me. He gives the rocks away and then
1:23:49
the arc gets taken off. But I think the difference here
1:23:52
is that Henry's done the work. It's not the process of finding
1:23:55
the Grail, it's the process of why do we need to, what's the
1:23:58
purpose of it? And their relationship is the
1:24:01
Grail. Like you both you guys have
1:24:02
said, I completely agree with everything that's been said.
1:24:04
Their relationship is the Grail. The seal that the grail moves
1:24:07
across is memory. If you forget what that is, that
1:24:10
the, you know, memory lives forever.
1:24:12
Once you create that memory, it stays with you and it can move
1:24:14
with you. But it's your seal.
1:24:16
If you let go of that, if you choose to forget about it, that
1:24:18
it loses all of its power. And I think that's really
1:24:20
important. All of the trials that Henry's
1:24:22
written down, he's researched his whole life, are them
1:24:25
understanding each other, are them working with each other.
1:24:28
You know, it's like life advice that he's finally given him that
1:24:30
he hasn't been able to take. But he gets in these trials and
1:24:33
the illumination that he's looking for is the relationship.
1:24:35
You know, it's that's what it's all about.
1:24:37
And the grail is just a signifier of this.
1:24:39
So I think because of the question and the way it's
1:24:41
worded, and it's a great question, but I think it answers
1:24:44
its own question. It's that the Mcguffin is them.
1:24:47
The grail isn't the Mcguffin, it's the relationship.
1:24:49
That's the whole point of the film, I think for me.
1:24:52
Yeah, it does make the film even better.
1:24:53
And going on to that because of the writing as well, it's
1:24:56
reestablishing the character was nothing to establish.
1:24:59
It's just to fill in all of these gaps in the back story.
1:25:02
Nobody asked for the back story at Indiana Jones, but Jeffrey
1:25:04
gave for one, and it made it even more important.
1:25:07
And that's why I honestly stand by that.
1:25:09
This should have been a trilogy and would have been, in my eyes,
1:25:13
one of the most perfect trilogies ever made if they just
1:25:15
left it the way it was. Yeah, because we had, we now
1:25:18
have closure. We now have understanding of a
1:25:21
character. We now have a character who's
1:25:23
essentially retired and has got, everything's fixed in his life.
1:25:26
He's got his dad back the right off into the sunset.
1:25:29
Everything works. And I think that was in the
1:25:30
writing and I think that was intended.
1:25:33
I think it was done in such a way that Spielberg and now go, I
1:25:35
don't need to make another two films.
1:25:37
Look how perfect this is going to do something else.
1:25:39
Please. I don't need to see me contract
1:25:41
out. I'll do with I'll do it with
1:25:43
River Phoenix and a younger version or I'll do something
1:25:45
else. And I don't think that might
1:25:46
have panned out, but I think it was written this way and that
1:25:49
Henry has spent his whole life doing what Indy did in Raiders,
1:25:53
looking, searching, finding, understanding, because that's
1:25:57
what that film is about. It's the mystery of it.
1:25:59
It's finding it. And then in do, it's the process
1:26:01
of finding it. It's learning who's got it, Who
1:26:03
are the how can we get over? Henry's got all them, all the
1:26:06
answers. He's got them in his diary.
1:26:08
All India has to do is believe in his dad's research, believe
1:26:10
in what his dad believes in, and he will find it.
1:26:12
And that's all in the writing. If you look at it on that level,
1:26:15
it's an incredibly complex film. It is about a relationship
1:26:18
that's ultimately failed. It's over with.
1:26:20
It is done. And if this hadn't happened, if
1:26:23
this just the Nazis hadn't intervened and we're looking for
1:26:25
the grill, they would never have reconciled.
1:26:27
So it is a reconciliation story between a father and a son.
1:26:30
It just happens to be an Indiana Jones movie, and it just happens
1:26:32
to have these great set pieces, and it happens to be about the
1:26:35
Holy Grail. But everything that's underneath
1:26:37
it, it's just so, so clever and so brave to put in as well, like
1:26:41
a swashbuckling, you know, big, boomy action film.
1:26:45
And especially to put it in an Indiana Jones film, which is why
1:26:48
I love this even more than I should.
1:26:50
I don't think a third part of a blockbuster series like this
1:26:52
from the 80s has any business being this.
1:26:54
Good to know, quite honest. Well, there is a fascinating
1:26:57
back story to the progression of the third part of the series.
1:27:00
It'll not surprise any of you listening that there were a
1:27:02
number of stabs at a screenplay before it got to the film that
1:27:05
we know and love. Firstly, George Lucas wanted the
1:27:08
film to be set in a haunted castle in Scotland.
1:27:10
He fleshed out a treatment for the film, and a draft was
1:27:13
written by Romance and the Stone writer Diane Thomas.
1:27:16
Right. But Spiegelberg rejected this
1:27:18
because he did just played a major part in Polk Geist, a film
1:27:21
we've infamously covered on the podcast if you want to go back.
1:27:25
Yeah, if you're a fan, don't. Yeah.
1:27:28
We'll see no more. So therefore Spielberg He just
1:27:31
wasn't interested in revisiting ghosts in any way, shape or
1:27:34
form. So the next iteration have the
1:27:36
Scottish castle is the prologue and not depicted Indian holiday
1:27:40
there and that gets interrupted by a ghost named Baron Seagrave.
1:27:43
And the main story saw Indy travel into Africa.
1:27:46
Yeah, that one. Titled Indiana Jones and the
1:27:48
Monkey King, Outrageous and written by Chris Columbus.
1:27:51
The main narrative revolve around the searching for the
1:27:54
Fountain of Youth, which later got replaced by the Peaches of
1:27:56
Immortality, a story from Chinese mythology.
1:27:59
It included Indies friendship with a 200 year old pygmy, A
1:28:03
cannibalistic African tribe and a chess game between Indy and
1:28:06
the Monkey King where the chess pieces were actual people and he
1:28:09
actually got killed in this version but was brought back to
1:28:12
life at the end. That sounds really ridiculous,
1:28:15
yeah. Yeah, Spielberg backed away from
1:28:19
this due to the backlash of cultural depictions that he
1:28:22
received from Temple of Doom. Yeah, I mean, just reading that,
1:28:25
the cannibalistic African tribe just stop there.
1:28:28
Yeah, just stop there. 200 year old pygmy stop there.
1:28:31
Yeah, it's not what the haunted house idea that based in
1:28:34
Scotland that the lifted that scene where they come into the
1:28:37
castle and he's got that Scottish accent and he sneezes.
1:28:39
I'm gonna go. It's there for one of the
1:28:41
drafts. Lifted that out and said put
1:28:43
that in there. And then it was obviously like a
1:28:45
little nod towards Connery as well.
1:28:46
And yes, it's Scottish. Lovely.
1:28:48
Yeah, right. OK, brilliant.
1:28:50
Well, after all of this, they then revisited an idea that
1:28:52
Lucas suggested sometime before but was rejected for being too
1:28:56
ethereal. He said.
1:28:58
The Holy Grail. Spielberg was unsure about it at
1:29:00
first, he said. Of course, I was worried that
1:29:02
people would hear Holy Grail and they would immediately think
1:29:05
about the white rabbit attacking my life.
1:29:07
Yes, of course. Of course, said my first
1:29:10
reaction was to say to everybody run away.
1:29:16
But he did like the idea of including a father son dynamic.
1:29:20
Of course he did. Of course he didn't, and he gave
1:29:22
the reins to The Color Purple writer Meno MIAs to write a
1:29:26
draft. MIAs has a story credit for Last
1:29:28
Crusade, as does Lucas, and this was then passed over to the
1:29:32
final credited writer, Geoffrey Baum.
1:29:33
Geoffrey Baum had previously penned The Dead Zone and Inner
1:29:36
Space and he also wrote Lethal Weapon 2 in 1989, a banner year
1:29:40
for him. No doubt he's the sole credited
1:29:43
writer, but in between his final draft on the 1st of March 1988
1:29:47
and filming starting 10 weeks later, another writer was
1:29:50
drafted in the tidy of some of the narrative beats and work on
1:29:52
the Father Son dialogue. And that writer was Barry
1:29:56
Watson, but he's actually better known as Nordic playwright Sir
1:30:00
Tom Stoppard. He would later go want to win an
1:30:02
Oscar fair, Shakespeare in Love, and also did on credited
1:30:05
rewrites on, of all things, Revenge of the Sith and Sleepy
1:30:08
Hollow. So it seems like if it wasn't
1:30:12
his intervention, we'd have a completely different film to be
1:30:14
talking about. All right.
1:30:15
Yes, yes. Spielberg is even quoted to see
1:30:18
and Tom is pretty much responsible for every line of
1:30:20
dialogue. I think he's referring to the
1:30:22
dialogue between Indy and Henry there.
1:30:24
But we're going to give you a flavor of the differences.
1:30:27
Here it comes. In Baum's draft, Indian Marcus
1:30:30
find Henry's housekeeper murdered when they search
1:30:32
Henry's house. But when they get to Venice,
1:30:34
India is flirting with Elsa and sipping wine, having a wonderful
1:30:37
time. Just like you would be Westie.
1:30:39
Absolutely no Venice. Yeah, there's quite a few
1:30:45
differences. The hierarchy of the villains
1:30:47
was different. In Baum's version, Donovan dies
1:30:49
in the tank instead of Vogel, who gets taken out by one of the
1:30:52
tests. OK.
1:30:54
Elsa drinks from the wrong cup. Haven't shot Henry and on the
1:30:57
tests there was only one which was easily traversed by walk and
1:31:00
three steps forward. OK, no at all.
1:31:04
And no automatic link to the right and at all either.
1:31:08
And in Stop Art script, Henry comes in on page 53, whereas
1:31:12
previously it was page 76. And Stop Art also added in
1:31:15
memorable moments like everything between Henry and
1:31:17
Marcus and the tank, the heavy-handed stamp from the
1:31:20
librarian that we've already talked about.
1:31:22
And we've been thoroughly unimpressed by Indies antics,
1:31:25
which you know is hilarious. Checking his watch during the
1:31:27
Pike chase at service, all that weird stuff.
1:31:30
But maybe best of all, I did just that incredible moment we
1:31:33
all loved, where India's big and markers up, only for that
1:31:36
hardcore to reveal him toward the out of his element.
1:31:39
Yeah, genius. Yeah, little moments, but added
1:31:42
together they made a huge difference.
1:31:43
Oh yeah. And to end on the screenplay,
1:31:45
Spielberg said, I just thought that the grail that everybody
1:31:48
seeks could be a metaphor for a son seeking reconciliation with
1:31:51
a father and a father seeking reconciliation with the son.
1:31:54
Simple, beautiful. The next two people on the crew
1:32:00
list are all familiar faces. First up, the legendary Music
1:32:03
man and Spielberg's muse, John Williams.
1:32:07
Matt, what can be said about Williams here that hasn't been
1:32:09
already? I mean, that's literally pretty
1:32:12
much my opening line I've got written down here.
1:32:15
There was some questions where we just have to go.
1:32:17
We can't say anything that isn't already being said or isn't just
1:32:21
evidently. Known.
1:32:22
Already known, obvious to everyone.
1:32:24
I mean, it speaks for itself. Of course it's excellent.
1:32:26
We know how iconic the main theme is.
1:32:28
So the question is, what is he at to it?
1:32:30
And the theme for the Grail itself is brilliant.
1:32:32
It's that gift of Williams, just known what the sound for
1:32:36
something should be like in musical form.
1:32:38
You listen, you go. Course that's what the Holy
1:32:40
Grail would sound like. But had a thing, of course it
1:32:42
does. It's got that reverential
1:32:44
religious quality to it. He brings a likeness for all the
1:32:47
action scenes that have Henry, like when the escaping from the
1:32:50
castle, the joy he brings to the music of the young indie
1:32:53
sequence at the start. Yeah, Yeah, it is.
1:32:56
It's obvious. It's John Williams scoring in
1:32:57
Indiana Drones film. Of course.
1:32:59
It's amazing. Course it's.
1:33:00
Great. Yeah, of course it is.
1:33:02
The thing is, you could have got really lazy here.
1:33:04
You could have said that I've done I've done two of these.
1:33:06
Just rehash this and I'll do I'll bring that theme there.
1:33:08
I'll just maybe add a few more notes to short rounds theme and
1:33:11
make that Henry's and just do that for the grail or we've got,
1:33:14
you know, you had so much in his Canon.
1:33:15
But The thing is, I mean, we spoke about John Williams so
1:33:17
many times before. Yeah, we have and we're having.
1:33:19
I've said this before and it's still relevant and it's all I
1:33:22
think of when I think of John Williams and his work.
1:33:24
Like you have a bad day at work and you go in and you can't give
1:33:26
off. You've half assed it a little
1:33:27
bit, haven't you? Everyone's done it before and
1:33:29
you've just went on. Yeah, I'm not doing it a day.
1:33:31
I kind of be asked for this and you just get away with it.
1:33:34
John Williams has never done that his whole career.
1:33:36
He's never gone into work and just went.
1:33:38
I'm not doing, I'm not, I'm not really into this.
1:33:39
Every single thing, it's got 100% every single time.
1:33:42
No matter what film it is, no matter what genre it is, no
1:33:44
matter what he's doing, it's always 100% and this is no
1:33:47
different. It's a completely fresh take.
1:33:49
It's again a re establishing of the character with themes that
1:33:53
he's put in there where he's not scared.
1:33:55
It's like what's this is difficult 56th album by this
1:33:58
point, like how how perfect do you need to be?
1:34:03
It's like people have only got so much music inside of them.
1:34:05
John Williams just feels endless and everything that comes out of
1:34:09
him is top tier genius. It's not not like, oh, I can't
1:34:14
see him lying awake in bed going I've got to match that theme.
1:34:16
Now what am I going to do? He's just wakes up excited going
1:34:19
yes, I get to match that. And that's how it feels is just
1:34:23
effortless. It's wonderful, it's beautiful,
1:34:24
it might, it matches the visuals every single time.
1:34:27
There's not much more to say about it's just it's next level
1:34:29
genius as per usual from John Williams.
1:34:32
Yeah, yeah, it is. And you know, I'm not going to
1:34:34
try and labour this point by any stretch, but yeah, I love the
1:34:37
motifs that Williams brings the party.
1:34:39
Each element has its own identity perfectly intertwined
1:34:42
with the visuals. Similar to what you fellas have
1:34:44
said, the Nazis, the Grail, Indian, Henry, they've all got
1:34:47
their own identity in the score. Yeah, there's a wondrous sense
1:34:50
of adventure that Williams brings to the series as a whole,
1:34:53
which of course is evident here. Again, what I'm most impressed
1:34:56
about is that Williams doesn't lean into his work previously
1:35:00
too much. The Raiders March is pretty much
1:35:03
Indies theme, and there are variations of it here and there,
1:35:07
but they're so subtly woven into the tapestry of the music that
1:35:10
they just go unnoticed. FAD came up with the Raiders
1:35:14
March. Every film that I worked on,
1:35:16
yeah. All of this backwards, Maybe
1:35:18
just rehab for me. I listen to John Williams score
1:35:21
and I think he's not using the same notes as everybody else.
1:35:24
He's got a piano that's got a different set of notes on it
1:35:26
than nobody else has heard that just writes music for him, and I
1:35:29
just can't get my head around it.
1:35:30
There's elegance and grace in this music, combined with menace
1:35:33
in a sense of urgency. It's like a movie called
1:35:35
Playground. It is.
1:35:37
Yeah, who wants to go on the swings?
1:35:40
So a legend in his field, probably the best ever to do it.
1:35:43
Williams once again delivered for Spielberg.
1:35:46
Again and again. Yeah, yeah.
1:35:50
Finally, another trusty pair of hands behind the camera.
1:35:53
Douglas Slow, comas DP, who was 75 years old at the time.
1:35:57
Westie. Yeah.
1:35:58
Big doggy. What do you think of the guy?
1:36:01
This guy is just an enigma of a mystery wrapped in genius, as he
1:36:05
always is. I mean, he shot so many iconic
1:36:08
films, I'm not going to rattle them all off.
1:36:09
Go and have a look at his work and just dive into anything he
1:36:12
shot because it's all flawless. Very recently read the interview
1:36:15
that he did around the time that he made this and he says, you
1:36:17
know, he's just got to stay on his tour. 75 years old.
1:36:20
There's usually says about 300 to 500 setups per film that he's
1:36:23
done. Indiana Jones, Steven Spielberg,
1:36:25
he said there's 1502 thousand setups, That's the difference.
1:36:30
And he says it works with such a pace where he thinks he's got a
1:36:32
little bit of time to light something and then he just hears
1:36:34
Stephen Sharon over turn and over go on, right?
1:36:36
He just hasn't got time to light how he wants to.
1:36:38
He hasn't got time to take his time and the thing that I get
1:36:41
from these three films and especially this one because 89
1:36:44
and the note from the prints that they've made from Raiders
1:36:46
that a lot of it was demanded for like a 70 mil print to be
1:36:49
done on like bigger screens. So yeah, blow up the 35 mil
1:36:52
print with 70. So they had to take that into
1:36:54
account, especially when he's doing action sequences.
1:36:56
He's thinking about the 70 mil print now and I'm gonna have to
1:36:57
blow this up. I'm going to keep the action in
1:36:59
the middle of the frame. So if you kind of does that a
1:37:01
lot, which is then taken by you know, Miller when he does the
1:37:03
Mad Maxi, especially few Rd. keeps everything in central the
1:37:06
frame. So come kind of invented that
1:37:08
this is shot anamorphic again. So he's got to keep the ratio of
1:37:11
the screen, right? If it's going to be blown up to
1:37:12
seven, he's got to keep all that in his mind.
1:37:14
And then Spielberg want to use a lot more close-ups because said
1:37:16
this is sort of more intimate film for him.
1:37:18
And even though it's a big action film and the amount of
1:37:20
close-ups he uses in this compared to Raiders, he said
1:37:23
it's about 30% more close-ups because tall moving camera into
1:37:26
more the character piece. And he said his shot on Kodak 95
1:37:29
and greatest shot on 90939495 was the three film speeds that
1:37:33
the shot at on to this Kodak 95, which is very clean green and it
1:37:37
gives it that beautiful look. It's got this glow to it and
1:37:39
it's really nice. And he used that so he could
1:37:41
blow it up and get the best, absolute best quality from it.
1:37:44
And the thing that blows my mind, any of the Indiana Jones
1:37:47
films and the last 15 years of his career, he didn't use a
1:37:50
light meter. You're shooting film.
1:37:52
You can't. You couldn't see what you were
1:37:53
getting right. You had to just judge you by
1:37:55
your eye. And he just said he didn't have
1:37:56
time. He set the camera to what he
1:37:58
knew it would see and he shot the scene.
1:38:00
Amazing. Unbelievable.
1:38:01
And think of the size, just think of the size of these sets
1:38:04
as well and how much light he's got to put into it.
1:38:07
I feel physically like I'm going to cry.
1:38:09
If I was given that kind of task, like I would just break
1:38:13
down. I would break down completely
1:38:14
and just a puddle and just cry and just don't know how he does
1:38:17
it. But it's just that's the level
1:38:19
of genius here. It's just seamless.
1:38:21
It is mass. Your thoughts on Slogan's work
1:38:24
here. I think he's just as important
1:38:26
to the success of the trilogy as anyone else.
1:38:29
That's a, you know, the look that he brings to them is the
1:38:32
same as the sound that John Williams brings.
1:38:34
It's the the same sharpness that Michael Kahn brings in the
1:38:36
editing. There is, I'll use the word that
1:38:39
W used, but there is a glory to these films.
1:38:41
But it never tips over into being soft.
1:38:44
And he's somebody's completely at home in the action scenes,
1:38:46
like getting up, right. Of course, when Indy's hanging
1:38:49
off the edge of the tank on the gun terrace, he's just as
1:38:51
comfortable keeping the cameras still, like when Indy's taken
1:38:54
the leap of faith, just as comfortable keeping the camera
1:38:57
moving, like during the motorcycle chase.
1:38:58
There's almost a texture to these films.
1:39:01
These films I feel I can reach out, I can touch them and I know
1:39:04
what they feel like on me fingertips.
1:39:05
And that's down to Slocum. This was his last film.
1:39:08
You talk about leaving on a high note.
1:39:09
He couldn't have picked a better one.
1:39:11
Yeah. Go out on a high for certain.
1:39:13
Yeah. I mean, he's just a master of
1:39:15
those huge sun drenched vistas in the indie series.
1:39:18
Yeah, it's in the open in Utah, the wide open landscapes in
1:39:21
Haiti and and Alexandre just leave you breathless.
1:39:26
It's combined with the intimacies of the human
1:39:28
interactions and slogans work to capture the dynamic emotional
1:39:32
depth of the relationship core between India and Henry.
1:39:35
You mentioned close-ups, Westie. Those reveal everything
1:39:39
emotionally for me, particularly on Harrison's face, that there's
1:39:43
no hide in place and he's completely exposed.
1:39:47
He's not the hero that everybody has the perception of for
1:39:51
Indiana Jones here, with the inclusion of his dad.
1:39:53
Yeah, there's a vulnerability, isn't there?
1:39:55
Without doubt, yeah. I think you can see that this
1:39:57
film is just shot with the confidence and experience of a
1:40:00
man who's seen it all, but I think the visuals also belie the
1:40:03
general perception of a 75 year old man.
1:40:07
There's an energy in Crusades that you rarely see these days.
1:40:11
Strangely, Slocum has a a bad memory and he said that that was
1:40:14
the key to his overall success. Yeah, he said that some
1:40:18
cameramen can fall back on the way they lit a certain type of
1:40:21
set on several pitches ago, and they can sort of relax and do
1:40:24
quite easily. He said a typical example would
1:40:26
be a courtroom, the number of times every cameraman in the
1:40:29
world must have shut a courtroom.
1:40:31
But I can never remember how I did it, so every time I come on
1:40:34
set it's as if I'm seeing something completely new and I
1:40:37
scratch my head and wonder how I'm going to do it.
1:40:39
Yeah, nice. So, working with familiar faces,
1:40:42
some of which may have been losing their faculties,
1:40:44
Spielberg has surrounded himself with unique talents which
1:40:47
contributed immeasurably to the success of Indy Three.
1:40:50
Yes, definitely. The end.
1:40:58
Stakes are increased in the third act.
1:40:59
Marcus is being held captive in the belly of that foul beast,
1:41:02
and it's up to Salah and the Jones boys to rescue him.
1:41:06
And this sequence is wonderfully settled with Marcus.
1:41:08
And assuring Donovan that they're meddling empowers they
1:41:10
can't possibly comprehend. Yeah.
1:41:13
Great line. Great line.
1:41:15
Indy, Henry and Salah have eyes on them though.
1:41:18
I love it when Henry tells Indy they get out of sight and he
1:41:21
says dad, we're well out of range and then a missile just
1:41:25
gets launched in their general direction.
1:41:27
Yeah, it goes past them as well. It's the car.
1:41:30
Total Salah's brother in law's car.
1:41:33
Competition for my brother's car.
1:41:36
That's five camels. Can't you count?
1:41:38
I said no camels. That's great, yeah.
1:41:40
Does Salah really think that he can get out of this mess?
1:41:43
If he can get out of this mess, do you think that those camels
1:41:45
are going to be intact? That's.
1:41:47
Crazy 5 Campbells? You're going to cut them all the
1:41:49
way to Alexandre? He's just panicked, doesn't he?
1:41:52
Bless him, run. Run and then the Brotherhood
1:41:56
show up again up to their old tricks trying to kill everyone.
1:42:00
And the bit I love is when Henry gets a rush of blood when he's
1:42:03
left to his own devices by Indian Salah and takes advantage
1:42:06
of the Brotherhood deploy and makes his way into the tank.
1:42:10
It's a rescue old boy. He's clearly taken inspiration
1:42:12
from his son in his brave, stupid.
1:42:15
Maybe a combination of both. He's got an amazing line when
1:42:18
he's being slapped by the leather gloves.
1:42:20
Classic Nazi move. Yeah.
1:42:22
What does the diary tell you that it doesn't tell us?
1:42:24
It tells me that goose stepping morons like yourself should try
1:42:27
reading books instead of burning.
1:42:29
Yeah, deliberately. And then it's matched in a
1:42:33
different tone by Donovan shouting.
1:42:35
Johns is getting away, I think. Not Donovan, not that Jones.
1:42:39
The other Jones dude. He's just.
1:42:43
Just laughing. This is right I.
1:42:45
Love it. Oh, it's great.
1:42:48
Fantastic. And it leads into this amazing
1:42:50
sequence. It is.
1:42:52
It's amazing. It's the essence of what Indiana
1:42:54
Jones is to me. He's outnumbered, the enemy is
1:42:56
technologically superior, and he has no grand plan.
1:42:59
You know, famously, he just makes it up as he goes along.
1:43:02
And the improvisation is brilliant, weaving back and
1:43:05
forth in front of the tank so it ends up taking its own troops
1:43:07
out, using the rock to clog up the gun.
1:43:10
And then it comes to my favorite truck, the film, probably my
1:43:12
favorite moment, full stop, which is when he rides the horse
1:43:15
up alongside the tank on the Ridge and just flings himself
1:43:18
off it to land on the track. And Spielberg knows could after
1:43:23
the impact and not before. That's what makes it great,
1:43:26
because you keep obviously it's fake Armstrong doing this stunt,
1:43:29
isn't it? Yeah.
1:43:30
So it keeps him in the frame. You know, it isn't a cheat and
1:43:33
that's why it's so good. And the thing with the indie
1:43:35
trilogy is because the soul rooted in those 1930s serials,
1:43:39
the all feel like they could be chopped up in a 15 or 20 minute
1:43:42
parts because there's there's always a cliffhanger every 15 or
1:43:45
20 minutes. And this one, when Indie then
1:43:48
gets kicked off the tank and he's caught on the gun involved
1:43:50
with a smack in his hands with a shovel, and then orders the tank
1:43:54
to veer into the wall to Indy will be squashed.
1:43:57
I mean, if that was an actual cliffhanger, you'd be out of
1:43:59
your seat. It's so brilliant, and
1:44:02
Spielberg's ability to juggle multiple moments in a scene like
1:44:06
this, it's just unparalleled. Indy hauls himself back up, the
1:44:09
music kicks in, Brody gets an accidental punched in the face
1:44:13
to send him flying, and he's fallen on the tracks and he's
1:44:16
got to save him with with the whip until Salic can ride up.
1:44:18
All the while, he's smacking Vogel's face into the tank over
1:44:22
and over. And Spielberg just can handle
1:44:24
all those different moving elements and make it seem
1:44:27
effortless. He knows instinctively where to
1:44:28
put the camera. It's massively done.
1:44:30
And just the last thing to mention is the lesson that this
1:44:33
sequence gives us. And it's it's a lesson I can't
1:44:35
believe we have to talk about in the air 2025, but apparently we
1:44:38
do. And the lesson is, if you ever
1:44:40
made a Nazi just punch them in the face, punch those.
1:44:44
Fuckers, you're listening to everyone.
1:44:47
Yeah, taking care of Nazis. One O 1 punches.
1:44:50
Exactly. Yeah, it's an amazing sequence.
1:44:53
It is. It's fantastic.
1:44:55
So this section with the Tank, the film's action centerpiece,
1:44:57
was originally conceived to be much shorter in length and was
1:44:59
included as the behest of George Lucas.
1:45:01
Obviously, two days for allocated a film in the scene,
1:45:04
which later became 10 days Classic George Lucas.
1:45:08
Spielberg decided that it should be about both Jones's working
1:45:11
together to help each other out. Yeah.
1:45:13
And he storyboarded the entire thing and later said that he had
1:45:16
much more fun doing the storyboard than actually filming
1:45:19
it because it looks very complicated.
1:45:21
Yeah. And Effect supervisor George
1:45:23
Gibbs said that Last Crusade was the toughest job of his career.
1:45:26
But to be fair, he also didn't make it easy on himself because
1:45:28
he went to a museum looking for a French World War 2 tank for
1:45:31
the sequence, couldn't find what he was looking for, see, He
1:45:34
ended up building 1 himself, which was then flown over to
1:45:37
Almeva in Spain for the filming. Yeah, like an actual tank.
1:45:41
It wasn't just like a shell or anything like that.
1:45:43
Literal tank. Steel tank.
1:45:46
That was a good one there. Were actually 2 tanks on set
1:45:48
that one and one that was made of aluminium.
1:45:51
It had polyurethane tracks which didn't touch the ground, which
1:45:54
meant that Ford could have his face pressed against them
1:45:57
without any risk to RIP his face off.
1:45:59
OK. The Nazi officer who's looking
1:46:01
at what's happening above through the telescope says
1:46:03
something in Germany was little mate.
1:46:06
Yeah, there's no subtitle. He actually says the Americans,
1:46:09
they fight like girls. And then gets walloped, Yeah.
1:46:14
So then from there, this whole set piece has just been
1:46:16
wonderful. And then you just get that
1:46:18
moment and you just think, Oh no, there's the Cliff, right?
1:46:21
It's a big wide shot and you see what's coming.
1:46:23
And that lovely moment where it's just a close up and you're
1:46:26
seeing these kind of stumbling and the tank lifts up and he
1:46:29
falls and you don't know if he's falling off or he's falling
1:46:31
back. And it seems that he's
1:46:32
definitely on the tank. And then it just goes over and
1:46:35
it goes all the way down. I mean, it's not the best effect
1:46:37
in the world, is it? No, it's not.
1:46:39
It's just this moment is wonderful because it's just the
1:46:42
silence in the sound design and it's like, I've lost him.
1:46:45
I've lost 5 and I never told him anything.
1:46:48
And it's like, oh, it just gets me every single time.
1:46:51
He's just talking to Marcus. We just looking always like 5
1:46:53
minutes would have been enough. I didn't tell him anything.
1:46:55
He realizes that he has to do it face to face for to make sense
1:46:58
for the matter. He has to tell him what is in
1:46:59
his heart, not what's in his books.
1:47:01
And it just really hits me every time.
1:47:03
And they're just looking over. And again, there's the action,
1:47:05
the emotion and the comedy. There's the exposure triangle,
1:47:08
all three of them. And he just starts climbing up.
1:47:11
It's fine. We get relief.
1:47:12
They're still looking over Dan Amelia here again, a beautiful
1:47:15
comedy beat and he just doesn't believe his eyes.
1:47:18
He's. Trying to work it out and.
1:47:20
It's just a lovely bit of relief.
1:47:22
But it's just the the way he stood behind, like Matt said
1:47:25
earlier, just this performance from Ford, it's like, I believe
1:47:28
he's climbed up that Cliff. I believe he's fallen off that
1:47:31
tank, climbed up that vine and just went, all right, OK.
1:47:34
And he's made and he's like. And you believe it because
1:47:36
you've seen it done so many times in the last two films.
1:47:39
You've seen them, you know, hanging off a bridge printed
1:47:42
Sheba and then catching a Shankara stone and climbing up a
1:47:45
bridge and getting away with it. You've seen them do it.
1:47:47
You. Can do it, yeah.
1:47:48
And it's just that Hogie gives him that embrace and he just
1:47:51
looks like sore. Child lost your boy I.
1:47:53
Thought I'd lost your boy. And he's like, right, that's it,
1:47:56
Yeah. I'm still not telling him
1:47:58
anything. It doesn't matter, you know,
1:48:00
let's go. Like, come on.
1:48:01
And then it's just the way he crumbles to the floor.
1:48:04
And then there's again a lovely Spielberg comedy moment and the
1:48:07
hat just blows in. Yeah.
1:48:09
It's just a wonderfully emotional moment and humorous
1:48:12
and, you know, action-packed and brilliant and it's the last we
1:48:15
say it. Is the that's what we say, yeah.
1:48:20
And to get the effect of the time going over the Cliff, 1/4
1:48:23
scale model was driven over a 50 foot Cliff and then miniatures
1:48:26
models be used to create the explosion at the bottom.
1:48:28
Yeah, like Wesley said, it's not fantastic.
1:48:31
Probably the worst effect in the film, to be honest.
1:48:33
Yeah, but still. I mean, we can give it a pass
1:48:35
1989 with no digital effect. It's.
1:48:38
Possible that without a doubt not a problem.
1:48:40
So with a great emotional beat, our boys come together as a
1:48:43
stronger whole to fight the might of the Nazis.
1:48:46
Yeah. So with all the crew safe for
1:48:50
now, they head to Alexandretta in the final Test of faith in
1:48:54
the search of the Holy Grail. The Pennant and man will pass
1:48:57
Wesley. He will, and this is what we've
1:49:00
been building up to. It's the tests that Henry's been
1:49:03
waiting his whole life for and doesn't actually get to do.
1:49:06
That whole turn from Donovan, that gunshot, the sound of it.
1:49:10
It's a classic indie sound that. Rings out.
1:49:13
And how can he turn around and say that?
1:49:15
I don't know if Donovan's a nice guy.
1:49:16
I know. He's.
1:49:18
Just. Just evil.
1:49:19
Just turned around and just blatantly shot Henry, but he's
1:49:22
got the Diaries, not nothing else from him and the tests are
1:49:24
just fantastic. I think it's just baffling until
1:49:27
you actually realize how he gets through them and it's just the
1:49:30
way it cuts back to Henry and he's just praying and he's
1:49:33
trying to get through his he feels the pain independent man
1:49:36
pen. And then it's it's them bonding
1:49:37
like I said before, the path of God, breath of God.
1:49:40
Both absolutely brilliant. But them bastards laying these
1:49:43
traps and like Jehovah. Oh, yeah, yeah.
1:49:46
There's a big change just right. And it's so easy.
1:49:51
Go on, go on, you know. Jay.
1:49:56
So good, so confident, isn't it? He's like Jehovah, the word of
1:49:59
God, Jehovah. OK, Jay.
1:50:02
Because it's already been sent over.
1:50:04
The cutaway with Henry saying begins with an I.
1:50:07
Begins with an I and then there's this bit that has so
1:50:09
much controversy because like, the film's perfect up until this
1:50:12
bit. And they're like, really?
1:50:14
You're missing the point completely.
1:50:15
The leap from the lion's head is the bit that lets you down.
1:50:18
Yeah. It's a leap of faith.
1:50:20
Just. It is exactly what it is.
1:50:22
It could be anything. It could be a leap of faith.
1:50:24
Yeah, it doesn't really matter. It's forced perspective, so that
1:50:26
means it's it doesn't mean anything.
1:50:28
It's just a way of explaining it and how it reveals itself.
1:50:30
Then he throws the sand on it. Fine.
1:50:32
My way of thinking is nobody else has done this.
1:50:34
The knight has set these up and nobody else has done this.
1:50:37
So everything's just brand new, everything's fresh.
1:50:39
If it has been painted, if it has been camouflaged and no one
1:50:42
else has bothered because everyone would have got you over
1:50:44
wrong. He's not just going to come and
1:50:45
fix the stone again, is he? And then, you know, there's that
1:50:49
one guy who goes in first, gets his head taken off and it rolls
1:50:52
out because then the blades are that sharp.
1:50:54
They've never been used before. So he's the first person that
1:50:57
gets through all this. But these three tests are
1:50:59
perfect because it's just his lessons to Indy.
1:51:01
Trust yourself. Take a leap of faith.
1:51:03
It's perfect father son advice. And he nails every time.
1:51:06
Yes, he does, and it's so much jeopardy like I mentioned
1:51:09
before, before they get to this, the exterior of this sequence
1:51:12
was shot in Petra, Jordan and now famous location, mostly
1:51:15
thanks to its depiction. In this film, the number of
1:51:18
visitors exponentially increased after Last Crusade, literally
1:51:21
from a few 1000 per year to 1,000,000 per year.
1:51:25
After this film it looks the same so you you get paid off and
1:51:29
it. Was shot during the reign of
1:51:30
King Hussein bin Talal and Queen Nuer and they were invited to
1:51:34
the set and got on famously with Spielberg.
1:51:36
So much so that the King provided production with four
1:51:38
horses and the Queen gave Spielberg a lift of.
1:51:41
Course, yeah. Left to set every now and again.
1:51:43
Yeah, obviously ingratiated himself well within the royal
1:51:46
family, Jordan. Classic.
1:51:49
The first Grail test incorporated a mixture of
1:51:51
practical and miniature blades. The second one was originally
1:51:53
conceived as a tarantula crawling up Indies leg when he
1:51:56
incorrectly steps on the G, which was shot but didn't look
1:51:59
great. This was switched out for what
1:52:01
we see in the film. It's a stuntman hanging through
1:52:03
a hole above a 30 foot cabin. Still Dangerous 30. 30 foot is
1:52:07
very dangerous. Yeah, 8 foot is dangerous.
1:52:12
Yeah, the third trial as well that was created with a mortal
1:52:14
bridge, painted backgrounds and a puppet of Harrison Ford.
1:52:17
Yeah, works out fine for me. Fine.
1:52:19
For me as well. So yes, Indy's made it through
1:52:22
the tests. He meets the night first thing
1:52:25
to say when he comes through into this incredible set.
1:52:28
The design of the set and the design of the costumes in this
1:52:31
cavern are super, Yes, magnificent.
1:52:34
The night looks amazing in his gear.
1:52:36
He's bathed in light from the fire, but he's almost grey,
1:52:39
reflecting his age because he's like 700 years old.
1:52:42
Yeah, he's a bit of a separate light source, isn't he, to give
1:52:44
him that look. They must have.
1:52:46
Yeah, I think he must have. Yeah.
1:52:48
And it's what Wesley was saying before.
1:52:50
It's a dramatic beat. The night stands up and he goes
1:52:53
for Indy, then followed directly by a comic beat when he swings
1:52:57
and completely misses him because he's knackered.
1:53:00
And then there's a light hearted accompaniment of the music as
1:53:03
well. Yeah, but then India is followed
1:53:05
into The Cave very quickly by Donovan and Elsa.
1:53:07
No Fear of going through them tests straight in there.
1:53:11
I mean, I'm thinking about the second one in particular.
1:53:14
Yes, yeah, yeah. He doesn't mark that, does he?
1:53:16
The Jehovah. No, he stops the blades.
1:53:19
He stops the blades, the bridge, but the second one.
1:53:22
I wouldn't fancy me chances. No, Jay.
1:53:28
And then Donovan Burson there with absolutely no respect for
1:53:31
his surroundings or circumstances or what's at play
1:53:34
here. He doesn't even acknowledge the
1:53:35
Knight's existence. And there's a beautifully subtle
1:53:38
moment as he says, I don't know what to pick.
1:53:42
And Elsa says, I'll pick for you.
1:53:44
Thank you, doctor. And this is a lovely moment.
1:53:47
When Elsa hands over the grave of this beautiful, ornate cup.
1:53:51
She looks over at Indy and she kind of like shakes her.
1:53:54
Head. And I'm on your side.
1:53:56
That's wonderful. That's great.
1:53:58
It can be missed it. Can be, yeah.
1:54:01
You've got to keep your eyes filled.
1:54:02
But it's great, and the score swells and then quietens as
1:54:06
Donovan guzzles down on the water.
1:54:08
And a moment of calm before this incredible piece of FX.
1:54:12
The degeneration of Donovan's head is considered the first
1:54:15
ever complete digital composite shot.
1:54:18
Right. Yeah, and he's filmed in various
1:54:20
stages of degeneration with makeup, inflatable pads, which
1:54:24
we used to make his eyes appear sunken in a mechanical wig which
1:54:27
grew his hair. The number of shots were taken,
1:54:29
including puppet heads, and then digitally melded together to
1:54:32
make one seamless, seemingly single shot.
1:54:35
It's amazing because in my head there's cutaways like the is
1:54:37
normally on those kind of things.
1:54:39
Yeah. Yeah.
1:54:40
Because Spielberg didn't want to do that.
1:54:42
He's seen that a million times. Cutaway and come back,
1:54:44
degeneration, cutaway, come back even more.
1:54:46
Yeah, Yeah. Yeah, his skeleton was on
1:54:48
marionette style wires and slammed into the wall to gain
1:54:50
the design effect. It really works.
1:54:52
Yeah, it does, right. I mean, we talked about the
1:54:54
effects work with the tank, which, you know, we give a pass,
1:54:57
but not great. This really works.
1:54:59
Yeah, it's fantastic. His eyes sink into his head near
1:55:02
me. And then Indy chooses wisely.
1:55:06
The cup, very simple cup, the cup of a Carpenter.
1:55:09
What resonates, and I think I think it will resonate with a
1:55:12
lot of people, is the delivery of this by the night.
1:55:16
He chose poorly. You chose wisely.
1:55:20
It's just magnificent delivery. Yeah.
1:55:24
Well, for the night actually, Laurence Olivier was wondered
1:55:27
and he was interested in the role but he wasn't in the best
1:55:30
of health so he couldn't take it and eventually he would pass
1:55:32
away in 1989. Wow.
1:55:34
Yeah, I mean, that would have. That would have added an extra
1:55:36
bit of kudos, wouldn't it? Yeah.
1:55:39
Just for 5 minutes at the end. But instead we've got this guy,
1:55:42
TV and theatre stalwart Robert Edison.
1:55:44
Now he's a worthy replacement. He was 80 at the time, and he
1:55:48
died in 1991, so not long after, right?
1:55:51
And he hadn't been in a movie since the early 70s.
1:55:54
And he was a little nervous onset constantly.
1:55:56
Aston Spielberg, if he was performing correctly, God bless
1:56:00
him. And the answer is yes.
1:56:03
Yes, he chose. Wisely, yeah.
1:56:06
Too right? And then we get to the ending
1:56:08
and and it ends with such such a perfect lassie.
1:56:12
I sometimes cry just thinking about it, about how good it is.
1:56:16
And it's set up perfectly because of how subtle the role
1:56:19
reversal between Indy and Henry has been throughout the film up
1:56:23
until this point, India's basically being the father
1:56:26
figure. He's dealing out the lessons,
1:56:28
he's taken charge. He's, you know, sorting out the
1:56:30
situations, protecting Henry. All Henry cares about is the
1:56:33
Grail. But by the end, Elsa, the greed
1:56:37
has got her, she's broken the seal, the place is crumbling and
1:56:40
then everything changes in terms of the characters.
1:56:43
The grail becomes Indies obsession if he can just reach
1:56:46
out and get it. He's so close and it leads to
1:56:49
the one moment Henry acts like an actual father and I say he's
1:56:52
holding Indies hand while he does it.
1:56:54
What a father should do from birth.
1:56:56
Indiana, Let it go. Just amazing, beautiful
1:57:00
delivery. That's what a father's wisdom
1:57:03
should be. Henry has arrived at his point,
1:57:06
and that's why Indie listens. And I think there's also the
1:57:09
unspoken subtext, which is the cruel irony that while Henry was
1:57:12
obsessed with the Grail, which is the key to eternal life, his
1:57:15
wife was dying and he didn't realize.
1:57:17
Yeah. And I always feel that kind of
1:57:19
fuels his quest to make up for that in a way.
1:57:22
If I can find the eternal life. He obviously can't bring his
1:57:25
wife back, but it'll be a victory.
1:57:27
Yeah, the temple set was built in six weeks and used 80 feet of
1:57:30
hydraulics and 10 gimbals to create the earthquake effect.
1:57:33
It took 20 minutes to reset the hydraulics to the starting
1:57:36
position for retakes, so obviously there were few and far
1:57:38
between I would have thought. Special effects, they are
1:57:41
absolutely outstanding. This looks and feels like this
1:57:44
place will crumble at any moment.
1:57:46
Yeah. But then it's after this, that
1:57:48
scene, which obviously goes back to my opening court.
1:57:50
Henry is calling indeed junior again and salad chimes in.
1:57:53
What does it mean this junior got his name?
1:57:56
Henry Jones Junior. Junior.
1:57:58
I like Indiana. We're named the dog Indiana.
1:58:03
And then my. Name after the dog.
1:58:08
Got a lot of fond memories of that dog.
1:58:11
He's so annoyed, it's so funny. It's so beautifully played
1:58:15
because this scene genuinely feels like this is the last time
1:58:17
you'll see these characters. It really feels like Spielberg
1:58:20
who made his mind up. This is the last time you see
1:58:22
them, so it's going to be perfect.
1:58:24
That's called the Last Crusade as well.
1:58:26
Well, exactly, yeah. Indeed finally at peace with his
1:58:30
place in the world he's with his two best mates.
1:58:32
He's mended his relationship with his father and that last
1:58:35
bit of dialogue after you, junior.
1:58:37
Yes Sir. Couldn't be any more perfect
1:58:40
than the rear de smart striking up as the literally ride off
1:58:44
into the sunset. Yeah, Now if he excuse me, I'm
1:58:48
going to have to go and have a cry about.
1:58:50
It don't blame me. It's so good, man it.
1:58:54
Is so. Good, good.
1:58:56
Perfect ended. Perfect ended.
1:58:58
Perfect. No notes whatsoever.
1:59:00
No notes. You imagine like how Spielberg
1:59:04
felt when that came together. And yet is.
1:59:06
Yeah, yeah. It's the end of one of the most
1:59:09
perfect trilogies for me. It's absolute magic.
1:59:12
Yeah, yeah. So the perfect way to end the
1:59:15
perfect trilogy, really. Our heroes literally riding off
1:59:19
into the sunset, so pleased they didn't come back for any more.
1:59:23
No, of course they didn't. Reception and awards.
1:59:30
With an already established hardcore movie fan base, Last
1:59:33
Crusade was always going to be a home run.
1:59:36
Yes, it wasn't. On a $48 million budget, it
1:59:39
returned 474,000,000 worldwide, making it the highest grossing
1:59:43
film of the year. Wow.
1:59:45
It even beat out the much anticipated and ballyhooed
1:59:48
Batman to top spot in 19. 80 wow it.
1:59:51
Did, yeah. It also ended the 80s as the
1:59:54
third highest grossing film of the decade, behind ET and Empire
1:59:57
Strikes Back. The 80s really were Spielberg
2:00:00
and Lucas's. Yeah, it really was their
2:00:02
playground. Wasn't it?
2:00:03
Yeah, it really was. It also struck the chord with
2:00:06
critics who generally favored its return back to the lighter
2:00:09
side of India after Temple of Doom, Rolling Stone said.
2:00:12
The wildest and wittiest India of them all.
2:00:14
Variety loved the father son dynamic and they're amusing.
2:00:17
Sexual one upmanship quote UN quote.
2:00:20
OK, Yeah. The Hollywood Reporter said that
2:00:23
Connery and Ford should get Oscar recognition right.
2:00:26
Which is bold, yeah. And finally, Roger Ebert.
2:00:30
What do you think? He gave it out of four fellas,
2:00:32
I. Think he's given it full back
2:00:34
here the. Big 444, it was strong.
2:00:38
Not that strong. It was 3.5 out of four.
2:00:40
Oh, OK, right. Yeah.
2:00:42
Still hefty. Yeah.
2:00:44
He was particularly enamoured by the opening scene, seeing it had
2:00:47
the style of illustration that appeared in the Boys Adventure
2:00:50
magazines of the 1940s. He left.
2:00:52
It does, yeah. And looking through a
2:00:54
contemporary lens, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade has 84% on
2:00:58
Rotten Tomatoes and a high 8.2 out of 10 on IMDb.
2:01:01
Yeah. Not surprisingly, Last Crusade
2:01:05
got a smattering of nominations on the award circuit.
2:01:08
Yep, that's right. At the Oscars it won Best Sound
2:01:10
Editing and was also nominated for Best Sound and Original
2:01:14
Score. At the Baftas, it was nominated
2:01:16
for visual effects and sound, and Connery got a Best
2:01:19
supporting Actonaut, which he also got as the Golden Globes.
2:01:22
But he did lose out on both. At the Globes he lost out to
2:01:25
Denzel Washington for Glory, and at the Baftas it went to Rhea
2:01:28
Mcanally for My Left Foot instead.
2:01:31
Right. Yeah, of your hometown.
2:01:32
Vote that one, Yeah. Obviously that's more Bafta's
2:01:35
fodder, isn't? It.
2:01:36
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean Denzel, no argument
2:01:40
with that. Glory is amazing and that's.
2:01:42
Fantastic and that he's fantastic and everything.
2:01:44
Isn't he of? Course he is, I suppose nobody
2:01:46
was expecting too much more than that from an awards perspective
2:01:48
really. Although I think that Denim
2:01:50
Elliot was overlooked in the supporting categories to be
2:01:53
honest. Yeah, I just don't think you had
2:01:54
enough screen time, did he, to make that much of an impact.
2:01:56
I think it's it's in hindsight he's amazing.
2:01:59
And Connery's eating up so much of that screen time.
2:02:01
As well. Otherwise, a spectacularly
2:02:05
successful installment of the indie trilogy, but there was
2:02:07
life left to be squeezed out of the character in the years to
2:02:10
come. Yeah, sequels and influence.
2:02:19
It was framed as the last indie film.
2:02:22
It looks and feels like the last indie film, but was it?
2:02:25
Regrettably, it was not. But before we get to the
2:02:29
sequels, Westie, in the years since, where have you seen Last
2:02:32
Crusades influence and what do you think it's legacy is?
2:02:35
I think its influence is all over any kind of, you know,
2:02:38
tongue in cheek, a little bit of humor, a little bit of action, a
2:02:41
little bit of emotion film that's come out since then.
2:02:43
Anything that's got any kind of action bias, anything that's got
2:02:46
any any kind of adventure bias to it has got elements of
2:02:49
Indiana Jones and especially Last Crusade.
2:02:51
That Austria off the top of my head, it was The Mummy franchise
2:02:53
came to mind. I agree, yeah.
2:02:55
Pirates of the Caribbean, especially the first one, yeah,
2:02:58
very similar tone. And that kind of comes into its
2:03:00
own and loses it a little bit later on.
2:03:02
It delves into the more of the, you know, 70% about the old used
2:03:06
in the library. And you get a lot of the Dan
2:03:07
Brown novels, especially The Da Vinci Code, looking for the
2:03:10
clues, calls back with that kind of divine intervention.
2:03:13
So I think it all, it laid across a lot of things.
2:03:16
I mean, national treasure, you go on and on.
2:03:18
It's indisputable. Anything with action, adventure,
2:03:21
a little bit of humor, a little bit of emotion.
2:03:23
It's in the other Jones, really. Yeah, in the decade of the
2:03:25
blockbuster, which Spielberg basically started with Jaws in
2:03:28
75, I think it's entirely appropriate that The Last
2:03:31
Crusade rounded out the decade, is the most popular film.
2:03:34
Yeah. Harrison Ford started and ended
2:03:36
the decade as the biggest movie star on the planet, probably,
2:03:39
which is pretty much a spectacular feat.
2:03:41
And we've talked about his 80s in the past and didn't hit any
2:03:45
bomb notes. I think that's the legacy of the
2:03:47
film and the indie series overall.
2:03:49
Also the prologue of Last Crusade, directly responsible
2:03:52
for the George Lucas produced TV show The Young Indiana Drones
2:03:55
Chronicles from the early 90s. Yeah, I.
2:03:57
Think the influence is more Muddy Waters.
2:04:00
I don't think it's this film stand alone which has had the
2:04:03
influence. I think it's just a series
2:04:04
overall, the original trilogy. And I just think that
2:04:07
blockbusters became a little bit more complicated over time with
2:04:10
a little bit less clarity, A cue which wasn't taken from Last
2:04:13
Crusade. This now feels like a throwback
2:04:16
blockbuster. I mean, I know it was in the
2:04:17
80s, but it's not surprising that it does consider in the
2:04:20
original conceit of the films were a throwback to serials of
2:04:22
the 40s. Yeah.
2:04:25
So yeah, I think. A lot of legacy.
2:04:26
The influence has spawned a lot of cheap knockoffs, I suppose.
2:04:30
Like all good touchstones in culture do.
2:04:32
Really. Yeah.
2:04:33
Agree. What about you, Matt?
2:04:35
Very. Similar, obviously Legacy.
2:04:37
I think it's legacy is probably most people would agree it's the
2:04:40
last great indie film and it should have been left as the
2:04:43
defendant, defendant for the character influenced.
2:04:45
Just exactly what you used to have said.
2:04:46
It's still the benchmark along with Raiders and Temple Doom for
2:04:50
adventure films. It's how you make adventure
2:04:52
films that aren't just about stunts and set pieces, but they
2:04:55
have a great story. And then specifically this one,
2:04:57
it's how you do an adventure film with genuine emotion in it
2:05:00
as well, which I would say the previous suit don't have that.
2:05:03
So I think that's it's Lexi for me.
2:05:05
This is how you make a blockbuster with heart.
2:05:07
Absolutely. Since Last Crusade, there've
2:05:09
been a number of different stories floating around to
2:05:11
continue the indie saga. There are too many to outline
2:05:14
here, but there were two ideas that went quite far.
2:05:17
Yes, they were. Yes, yes, the first one, Indiana
2:05:20
Jones and the Saucer Men from Mars, which is the single worst
2:05:25
title I've ever heard for a film.
2:05:28
Kings up there. This is an idea that George
2:05:33
Lucas was developing in the early 90s, with Die Hard and
2:05:36
Fugitive writer Jeb Stewart holding the pen before Jeffrey
2:05:39
Baum had a bash later on. The idea being that India's
2:05:42
jilted at the older by his bride to be, who it turns out has been
2:05:46
kidnapped because of her work in the discovery of aliens.
2:05:49
The quest is to find her while battling aliens, Russians,
2:05:52
flying sauces and a ticking time.
2:05:54
Bomb. Yes.
2:05:56
And then Indiana Jones in the City of the Gods came very close
2:05:59
to happening. Spielberg and Ford loved the
2:06:02
idea, but Lucas not so much. Frank Darapon wrote and
2:06:05
developed it actually at the turn of the century, and it
2:06:07
included some elements from the Source Man script who was set in
2:06:10
the 50s. India is in possession of a
2:06:12
mysterious crystal skull from a Russian colleague.
2:06:15
Marion is in there searching for the lost city of the gods as
2:06:17
well. And aliens do appear at the end,
2:06:20
but most agree that this was handled much more competently
2:06:22
than the days in the fourth film.
2:06:24
That we did get, yes. Yes, indeed.
2:06:27
Yeah, Darabont said that he wasted a year of his life on the
2:06:29
project. Certainly the whole thing goes
2:06:30
down in flames because George Lucas doesn't like this grape.
2:06:33
Today told Lucas that he was crazy for a jetting His idea.
2:06:37
Yeah, I'm not going to just blow raspberries and shout Star Wars
2:06:40
as he always does. So plot elements that aren't.
2:06:44
Too dissimilar to what we ended up with in 2008 when Indiana
2:06:48
Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out 19 years
2:06:51
after Crusade and 15 years after that in 2023, we've got Indiana
2:06:56
Jones in the Dial of Destiny. Good, bad, or indifferent.
2:07:00
Matt, what do you think of the sequels after Last Crusade?
2:07:04
Crystal Skull, I will all this maintain has a great first half,
2:07:08
the opening in the warehouse, the chase at the university
2:07:10
campus. Great stuff.
2:07:12
We do love those. It's when the film gets to the
2:07:14
jungle at the halfway point and a really genuinely feels to me
2:07:17
like Spielberg directed the First off and then he led George
2:07:20
Lucas. I forgot the second because it
2:07:22
feels very Star Wars prequels, very lightweight.
2:07:25
It's not her fault, But when Karen Allen turns up as Mary and
2:07:27
that's when the tone of the film changes, Yeah, and it just
2:07:30
becomes goofy and lightweight. It doesn't nail what the story
2:07:34
should be or what the stakes are, and there's too many
2:07:36
characters in there. To waste Cate Blanchett like the
2:07:40
way this one does is an absolute crime.
2:07:42
Yeah. On the rare occasion I have
2:07:44
watched this again, I always forget John Hurt is in this and
2:07:47
why. I mean, John Hurt's a great
2:07:48
actor. Wasted, completely wasted in
2:07:51
this. So it's fine to a point.
2:07:53
But after watching the original trilogy, I'm rarely in the mood
2:07:56
to stick this one on. Yeah.
2:07:58
And then dial A destiny. Only saying it the once.
2:08:00
I can't see myself ever revisiting it, to be honest.
2:08:03
For the main thing for me, I just thought they've actually
2:08:07
made an Indian drones film. So that's just quite boring for
2:08:10
the most part. Like some bits are OK, the horse
2:08:13
chase, the marketplace chase, but overall I just found it
2:08:17
really depressing. Like Indy, his son's been
2:08:19
killed, Marion's left him and he just looks like an alcoholic
2:08:22
with no money at the start. Like, who wants to see Indy like
2:08:25
that? And then when you consider how
2:08:27
last goosey it finishes that victory lap into the sunset, I
2:08:31
mean, I mean, even Crystal Skull, it finishes with them
2:08:34
getting married, which you think, right, OK, that's a nice
2:08:36
end. And if they're going to continue
2:08:38
it, fair enough. And Dialer Destiny just finishes
2:08:40
with, well, he's not getting divorced now.
2:08:42
Isn't that good? That's not how an Incheon Jones
2:08:46
film should end. And then I think the element
2:08:49
most people have an issue with is the time travel.
2:08:51
And I actually don't. I was kind of fine with that.
2:08:54
But I think if you're going to bring that into it, really
2:08:57
commit to it. That should be the halfway point
2:08:59
of the film. He ends back in time.
2:09:00
And I honestly think this should have just had it in Berlin at
2:09:03
the time of Last Crusade, because then you would have had
2:09:05
old and young Indy running around.
2:09:07
And I could like Back to the Future too.
2:09:09
Back like Back to Future too. And I just think really into it.
2:09:12
At some point that got lost and they just got Oh no, no, I think
2:09:15
must have had a really bad test screen and at some point about
2:09:18
the time travel aspect and they've just rewritten it.
2:09:20
So yeah, I doubt I'll ever go back to his game because I just
2:09:24
found it quite depressing. Oh.
2:09:26
Damon. Damon.
2:09:28
Yeah, Not too many positives. Westie, do you have any more?
2:09:32
Not many come on this side either, I'm afraid.
2:09:34
I mean, I really wanted to like these.
2:09:36
I mean, you guys know as well as you do really, really wanted to
2:09:40
like these to the probably I just almost, I told myself that
2:09:44
it didn't really exist or that I'd seen something different or
2:09:46
that written in me head and woke up the next day and went,
2:09:48
actually that was all right, I'll go and see it again.
2:09:51
I did try the multiple times, both of them in the cinema.
2:09:54
You always want to see more because it was just fantastic
2:09:57
and it was so enjoyable and it was such a great franchise.
2:09:59
And yes, it probably could have made loads more money, and it
2:10:01
probably did make loads more money and fine.
2:10:03
But not everything's about money, really.
2:10:05
And I would much prefer the last ever thought in my mind of
2:10:09
Indiana Jones would be that John Ford sunset shot.
2:10:12
Yeah. Riding away and that's all I get
2:10:14
from it. That's all you need from it.
2:10:16
And they have tried and unfortunately I think they're
2:10:19
just forgettable. Yeah, just don't watch them.
2:10:21
Watch them. If you like them, great.
2:10:22
But that's absolutely don't hold the torch in the first 3.
2:10:24
Not at all. No chance.
2:10:26
Well, my overriding thoughts on the sequels is that they are
2:10:30
disposable. Fine in isolation, but just not
2:10:33
good enough to hold a candle. The original trilogy, No, I'm
2:10:36
obviously not sticking my neck out with that opinion.
2:10:39
It's a very popular one. Yeah.
2:10:41
But I think a lot of it has got to do with nostalgia.
2:10:44
I've said it about other film series in the past, but these
2:10:46
were just on a hand. They're nothing.
2:10:48
Considering the time that had passed and the core audience had
2:10:51
grown up, they were never going to win us over.
2:10:54
Aside from that, fundamentally, the writing just isn't.
2:10:56
Up to scratch. No, no.
2:10:58
Spielberg had moved on as a director.
2:11:00
Yeah. And I don't think that he even
2:11:02
wanted to do Crystal Skull. And then, you know, the Mangold
2:11:06
helmed Dial of Destiny, some memorable moments.
2:11:09
It pulls at the heartstrings, kind of like you were saying,
2:11:11
Matt. But it just, it's not the
2:11:13
emotion that's in Last Crusade. It's down.
2:11:15
It's down. It's down.
2:11:16
It's Kramer versus Kramer. I think like we've been seeing,
2:11:25
I think there are some good moments in both films.
2:11:27
I'll not necessarily say no to another indie story because I do
2:11:31
love the character. It's never going to take my
2:11:33
opinion of the original 3, so I'm not really full of it.
2:11:36
Really all about any additions to the Canon.
2:11:38
They tell their own story and have their own place in time and
2:11:41
what was going on at that time, so that's fine with me.
2:11:43
The three, they are canonized now and the rest doesn't matter.
2:11:47
Fine. But Wesley, when I think about
2:11:49
the Crystal Skull, the first thing I think of is your
2:11:52
impression of rear Winston shouting Jonesy Jonesy.
2:11:57
There it is. And that is infinitely better
2:12:03
than anything on King of Crystal Skull.
2:12:05
So we have that to be thankful for.
2:12:07
Thank you. You're.
2:12:08
Most welcome. So 2 films after Last Crusade
2:12:12
leaving a lot of people sugaring their shoulders.
2:12:14
They certainly have their moments, and they'll be more
2:12:16
moments added with additional sequels in the future, no doubt,
2:12:19
but the original trilogy will always have an elevated place in
2:12:22
movie history. Absolutely.
2:12:27
All the right movies ranking. Finally, we've passed all of the
2:12:32
tests and before we can ride into the sunset, we're
2:12:34
summarizing our thoughts and scoring the film out of 10.
2:12:37
And for me, this is a top notch, first rate, top of the pile
2:12:42
blockbuster. You know, we've rarely seen the
2:12:45
likes of this kind of blockbuster since 1989, but
2:12:48
calling it that is is doing less Crusader disservice I think
2:12:51
because it plunders emotional depths not seen in the series or
2:12:54
in too many blockbusters previously.
2:12:57
It's also an irresistible rump with incredible action
2:12:59
sequences, A dialogue full of charm and hilarity, top rate
2:13:03
acting and occasion shooting to die for.
2:13:06
It's pretty much perfect. It is the perennial second best
2:13:11
indie and I'm no different. I prefer Raiders and that's the
2:13:14
only thing stopping Last Crusade getting top marks so it's 9.5
2:13:18
out of 10 for me. OK.
2:13:20
Yeah, what about USD, I mean. We know my love for these and
2:13:24
this isn't going to be a surprise to anybody, really
2:13:26
great as is, and I will. I've gone on record many times
2:13:29
and said it's my favorite film of all time, the best film ever
2:13:31
made. And I'll start stand by that.
2:13:33
This comes very, very close to the nostalgia to it, the love I
2:13:36
have for it, the childhood memories that I get every time.
2:13:39
Just just certain scenes come on over, there's a little lick of
2:13:42
music and I just feel 7 again, 8 again and I just feel like so
2:13:46
alive again. And the reason I'm also going to
2:13:48
give this a 10 is because there's never ever going to be
2:13:51
anything like it. Yeah, You're never going to have
2:13:53
a Sean Connery and a Harrison Ford coming together like this
2:13:56
again. It's just never, ever going to
2:13:57
happen. It's not going to hit all the
2:13:59
beats that it needs to hit, and it's not going to be as
2:14:01
successful as this. This is a real success story,
2:14:04
something I'll hold close to me hard.
2:14:06
It's definitely secondary at us, but that's not saying much.
2:14:09
No. It's good and it works and it's
2:14:11
amazing and it's a 10. Impassioned Westie and no
2:14:15
surprise about the score. Of course.
2:14:18
Matt, what about you? I mean, it's part of the
2:14:20
original Hindu trilogy, so of course I love it.
2:14:22
Who doesn't? It's barely aged today and it's
2:14:24
just an absolute joyful romp. And I think that double decision
2:14:29
to give it a an overtly comic edge and be an overtly emotional
2:14:33
journey for indie is what makes the film really sing.
2:14:36
Because plot wise, enemy wise, it is pretty familiar.
2:14:40
Beats here for certainly the first half, but the action is
2:14:45
great. The tank sequence is 1 of
2:14:47
Spielberg's best, the three tests at the end are wonderful,
2:14:51
and Thord and Connery are just absolute dynamite together.
2:14:54
So is it as good as Raiders? And of course it's not.
2:14:58
In most ways. It's a bit softer, it's a bit
2:15:00
familiar, it's following the template rather than
2:15:03
establishing it. But on the other hand, it's
2:15:05
funnier and it's much more emotional, and I think when you
2:15:08
really analyze it and picked it apart like we've done, it's
2:15:11
really brought home how difficult it was for this film
2:15:15
to exist in the way it does. The writing is just superb and
2:15:18
it looks effortless and it looks easy, and I think you have to
2:15:21
really look at what it seems to appreciate the craft that's gone
2:15:23
into it. Is this top marks in the way
2:15:26
that Raiders is? No, but I think you can't have
2:15:28
different kinds of 10s and for the way that this makes me feel
2:15:33
at the end inferred how it wraps the character up.
2:15:35
Or so we thought. It's still a 10 all the way.
2:15:39
Beautiful. Very high score and so far, but
2:15:42
we have our 4th and final score for Last Crusade and that's
2:15:45
coming from our art and followers on X right?
2:15:48
They know a classic when they see one, and there was a lot of
2:15:50
interest in this poll. Here we go.
2:15:53
From Ryan D at Doug under score 85 he said.
2:15:56
Absolute masterpiece. 10 Connery and Ford as father and son is
2:16:00
fantastic. It's a rare film which can get
2:16:02
away with them driving through Salzburg before chancing on a
2:16:05
sign pointing right to Venice 170 miles South and left, the
2:16:08
Berlin 330 miles north and absolutely nowhere else.
2:16:13
That's a good point, never thought about that.
2:16:17
Ian Cusick at Ian Cusick said 8.5 Some of the effects have an
2:16:21
age well always hit at the scene in the tunnel where the small
2:16:25
planes wings have been cut off. All right, Yeah.
2:16:28
It's a great, fun movie but always feels as though it's set
2:16:31
up to say goodbye. Shame they didn't in hindsight.
2:16:35
Yeah, yeah, Mark Crandley at M, Crandley said.
2:16:39
I think it's maybe A5. I have no clue why this doesn't
2:16:42
get the same scrutiny as the other sequels.
2:16:44
It devolves into such silliness, especially in the detour into
2:16:47
Germany. It has a slow pace and fewer
2:16:49
peaks than its two predecessors, and Connery feels out of place.
2:16:54
Wow. All right.
2:16:55
OK, I've heard and I. Wouldn't have thought that in a
2:16:57
million years, but that's that's, I mean, that's.
2:16:59
That's an original. I've heard before.
2:17:01
Yeah, it's an original. Opinion.
2:17:02
Yeah, why not? Love that.
2:17:04
He's another one from P Miller at Steer Ride BMX he said.
2:17:11
Not a fan and I can't wrap my head around why it's held in
2:17:14
such esteem. The father son banter is what
2:17:17
the kids call cringe. I'd rather rewatch Crystal
2:17:21
Skull, although I might say it's not as terrible as Dial of
2:17:23
Destiny I. Mean.
2:17:25
Fair enough, You know that's fine.
2:17:26
Everybody's got their opinion. That's what makes the world go
2:17:29
round. Yeah.
2:17:31
So a great cross section of opinions there.
2:17:33
Some surprising ones, certainly. Yeah.
2:17:35
What do you think last crusades averaged out of 10 on X chaps.
2:17:40
I think it's going to be resoundingly positive, isn't it,
2:17:42
man? I think we're probably going to
2:17:43
have to look at about a nine or a 9.5.
2:17:45
I'll go on 9.5. I think some people won't give
2:17:47
it the 10 because the rate paid is that high.
2:17:50
The one the one looked at the main messages, they'll go 9.5.
2:17:53
Yeah. Oh well, you're on the money.
2:17:55
The pair of you sound working out.
2:17:58
It got a big time 9.5 out of 10 from our followers on XA.
2:18:01
Huge score for a huge film it is.
2:18:03
So with the scores from X and our scores combined that gives
2:18:07
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade a big time 39 out of 40.
2:18:12
A huge score coming next time on all the right movies.
2:18:16
John Westie and Matt will be scale and heights we have yet to
2:18:19
in our history. It is finally here Matt.
2:18:21
A Disney film no doubt. Julie Andrews, Mary Poppins.
2:18:26
Yes, Mary, Mary Poppins. Incredible impressions will be
2:18:30
coming on that one, no doubt. What a.
2:18:31
Treat, that'll be That'll be lots of fun.
2:18:33
Outside of our classic podcast, we are super busy here at ACRM.
2:18:37
Our latest episode of Double Feature came out last week.
2:18:40
We went all AD sleaze as we dug deep into To Live and Die in LA
2:18:44
and Manhunter 2 classic star in the obviously well known William
2:18:48
Peterson. All right, get over it.
2:18:54
A great episode that 12 great. Films.
2:18:56
It was, yeah. Loads of fun that's exclusive to
2:18:59
our supporters on Patreon, as is a brand new episode of our
2:19:02
monthly review show The Watch List, which will be with you
2:19:04
next Friday. So sign up to patreon.com/all
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2:19:41
Thank you so much guys. In between all of our podcasts,
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That's youtube.com/all the right movies and our website is all
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2:20:41
And that is a wrap everyone. It was rather wonderful, wasn't
2:20:44
it? It.
2:20:45
Was rather wonderful. We're going to Castle Brunval to
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view the tapestries. Don't forget to come back in two
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Yes. Thank you so much guys.
2:20:59
We have many deputies. How dare you?
2:21:26
Does anyone here speak English?