{"id":873,"date":"2008-06-04T21:24:47","date_gmt":"2008-06-05T01:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=873"},"modified":"2022-10-24T18:04:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T22:04:34","slug":"indiana-jones-last-crusade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/indiana-jones-last-crusade\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana Jones returns to form in The Last Crusade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In order to catch up on the overwhelming backlog of movies I intend to cover here on this blog, this blogger is going to keep it brief with a few disconnected thoughts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re-watching the original trilogy as an adult is an interesting experience; even the first time around as a kid I was right: Raiders of the Lost Ark<\/em><\/a> is excellent, rip-roaring fun, The Temple of Doom<\/em><\/a> is borderline offensive crap, and The Last Crusade<\/em> is thankfully a return to form. Gone are the annoying kids and mean-spirited xenophobia, and back are the Nazi-punching and Judeo-Christian overtones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a fun pre-credit sequence set in 1912 Utah (featuring the late River Phoenix doing a brilliant Harrison Ford impression), The Last Crusade<\/em> is set in 1938. The previous installment was set prior to the first, neatly sidestepping any hint of Indy dumping Marion (Karen Allen). Apparently Spielberg and Lucas stopped caring, and this time just went ahead and implied that he did, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Alison
Alison Doody keeps up with the Joneses<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The biggest area of improvement over the lamentable Temple of Doom<\/em> is in the “Indy Girl” department. After the spunky Marion and the ditzy Willie, we were due for a third stereotype: the femme fatale. Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody) is both a worthy love interest and nemesis to Indiana Jones. And Henry Sr. (Sean Connery) totally hit that! Way to go, old man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did Elsa wait until the most dramatic moment to reveal her true identity, and capture Indy and the diary? The woman has a knack for melodrama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun fact: Each film in the series starts with the Paramount logo mirrored in a landscape or prop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Must read: Indiana Jones and the Fonts on the Maps<\/a>, an analysis of the anachronistic typographic choices made in the films’ iconic animated maps (via Daring Fireball<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In order to catch up on the overwhelming backlog of movies I intend to cover here on this blog, this blogger is going to keep it brief with a few disconnected thoughts: Re-watching the original trilogy as an adult is an interesting experience; even the first time around as a kid I was right: Raiders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2],"tags":[2053,639,1102,1101,1103,1104,1105],"class_list":["post-873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3-stars","category-movies","tag-alison-doody","tag-george-lucas","tag-harrison-ford","tag-indiana-jones","tag-river-phoenix","tag-sean-connery","tag-steven-spielberg"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/indiana-jones-last-crusade-feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-e5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":857,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/indiana-jones-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull\/","url_meta":{"origin":873,"position":0},"title":"Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the second worst Indiana Jones movie","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"May 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is ultimately disappointing, especially if one reflects too much on its plot and basic plausibility, but it not totally without redeeming qualities. It is also far from the worst entry in the franchise (that would be Temple of Doom - blech!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Indiana Jones Kingdom of the Crystal Skull","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/indiana-jones-kingdom.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/indiana-jones-kingdom.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/indiana-jones-kingdom.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/indiana-jones-kingdom.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/indiana-jones-kingdom.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":869,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/indiana-jones-temple-of-doom\/","url_meta":{"origin":873,"position":1},"title":"Indiana Jones seeks fortune and glory in The Temple of Doom","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"June 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In order to catch up on the overwhelming backlog of movies I intend to cover here on this blog, I'm going to keep it brief with a few disconnected thoughts: An opening caption places the action in \"1935.\" Raiders of the Lost Ark was set in 1936, so, The Temple\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":865,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/raiders-of-the-lost-ark\/","url_meta":{"origin":873,"position":2},"title":"They don’t make PG movies anymore like Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"June 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In order to catch up on the overwhelming backlog of movies I intend to cover here on this blog, this blogger is forced to cover Raiders of the Lost Ark with only a few disconnected observations: The 2008 DVD reissues of the classic Indiana Jones trilogy have terribly designed menus;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Raiders of the Lost Ark","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5718,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/tommy-lee-jones-doesnt-bargain-or-negotiate-in-the-fugitive\/","url_meta":{"origin":873,"position":3},"title":"Tommy Lee Jones doesn’t bargain or negotiate in The Fugitive","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"September 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"??? Everyone remembers Andrew Davis' The Fugitive for Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones' chemistry (despite rarely sharing the screen) and its iconic action pieces (especially the train and dam sequences). But all of this must hang upon a plot framework, and the lopsided movie's momentum dissipates as it gets\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Harrison Ford in The Fugitive","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fugitive.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fugitive.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fugitive.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fugitive.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fugitive.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5683,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/brad-pitt-works-out-his-daddy-issues-in-space-in-ad-astra\/","url_meta":{"origin":873,"position":4},"title":"Brad Pitt works out his daddy issues in space, in Ad Astra","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"February 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Maybe this isn't fair, but I couldn't help but associate Ad Astra with Joker. If Joker is a shallow remix of Taxi Driver and King of Comedy, Ad Astra is a bland smoothie of Solaris and Apocalypse Now, with a cavalcade of stars you may remember from Space Cowboys and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brad Pitt in Ad Astra","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/ad-astra.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/ad-astra.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/ad-astra.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/ad-astra.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/ad-astra.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2081,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/mummys-boy-the-mummy-3-tomb-of-the-dragon-emperor\/","url_meta":{"origin":873,"position":5},"title":"Mummy’s Boy: The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"January 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Perhaps it was the mood I happened to be in the day I saw it in 1999, but I will freely admit I loved The Mummy, the first film in the latter day incarnation of the 1930s MGM horror franchise. 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