Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Short description
Set in 1938, the film follows archaeologist Indiana Jones as he takes on the search for the Holy Grail. A wealthy collector's request draws him into the hunt, but his real motive is personal: his father, the medievalist Henry Jones Sr., has disappeared while pursuing the same relic. Following clues his father left behind in a notebook, Indy travels to Venice and teams up with academic Elsa Schneider, along with old associates Marcus Brody and Sallah. They are not alone in the chase, as Nazi agents also seek the Grail and the power it is said to grant.
Steven Spielberg directed the film, the sixteenth of the forty features he has made in chronological order, following Empire of the Sun and preceding Always. Harrison Ford plays Indiana Jones, with Sean Connery as his father, joined by Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies and Julian Glover among a credited cast of 69. Jeffrey Boam and Tom Stoppard wrote the screenplay, and the production companies were Paramount and Lucasfilm Ltd.
Made for 48 million dollars, it returned 474 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 8.2 out of 10 from 860,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.9 out of 10 from 11,368 votes. A critics' rating of 8.2 out of 10 from 138 reviews places it alongside the audience response. The film runs 127 minutes.
What's left behind the scenes
- The stone structure – the Temple of the Grail – is actually an ancient site in the city of Petra, Jordan.
- Sean Connery, who played Indiana Jones' father, is only 12 years older than Harrison Ford.
- During the filming of the airship scene, the heat exceeded 35 degrees Celsius. The actors were soaked through, sitting in jackets and vests, but Sean Connery didn’t miss a beat and, taking advantage of the fact that only the upper bodies of the actors were visible at the table, removed his shoes and trousers, much to the surprise of the entire crew. Ford, initially embarrassed, also followed his example, and the scene was filmed practically in one take. The actors didn't flub a single line, despite the entire crew being in stitches.
- The man named Fedora (played by Richard Young), who put his hat on young Indy, was initially named Abner Ravenwood in the early stages of the script – this was intended to establish the first meeting between Indiana Jones and Marion’s father from the first and fourth films.
- The role of Walter Donovan’s wife, played by Julian Glover, is performed by Ayla Blair, the actor’s wife.
- As in other films in the 'Indiana Jones' franchise, Harrison Ford performed many of the stunts himself. According to his stunt double Vic Armstrong, Ford once had to be taken aside and gently asked not to perform all the stunts himself, but to leave something for Armstrong as well. As Armstrong himself said: 'If he wasn’t such a good actor, he would have been a fantastic stuntman.'
- Harrison Ford worked with River Phoenix in Peter Weir’s drama 'The Mosquito Coast' (1986), and wanted Phoenix to play him in his youth. When Phoenix was asked how he was preparing for the role, he replied that his portrayal of Indiana Jones was based not on the character as such, but rather on Ford himself, so in preparing for the role, he simply observed Ford when he wasn’t in character.
- The four horses filmed in the final scenes of the film near the temple were loaned to the film crew by King Hussein of Jordan (1935-1999) himself.
- A significant portion of the Nazi uniforms in the Berlin scene depicting the mass book burning were authentic uniforms from World War II, not newly made. A large crate containing numerous uniform sets was discovered in Germany, and costume designer Anthony Powell simply purchased it for the filming.
- Harrison Ford suffered a chin injury in a car accident in California around the age of 20; the film shows him accidentally inflicting it on himself – with a trainer's whip.
- Indiana Jones's signature hat, jacket, and whip are currently stored in the National Museum of American History in Washington. They were also there during the filming of 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' (Steven Spielberg, 2008), with copies being used for the actual shooting.
- The temple shown in the film actually exists, located in the city of Petra, Jordan. However, everything shown inside the temple is a product of the filmmakers' imagination. During filming, Steven Spielberg and the crew were guests of King Hussein and his wife, Queen Noor, in Jordan.
- There is a deleted scene showing Marcus and Sallah taking sips from the Grail, which possesses divine power. However, the director ultimately decided not to include this episode in the film. “We don’t need immortals,” Spielberg joked.
- In the dark tomb of Sir Richard – one of the three knights supposedly to have found the Grail – Indiana Jones uses a torch. He uses oil that has accumulated in the catacombs as fuel. As the hero reaches the tomb, burning droplets fall from the torch into the oil. But the oil does not ignite. Later, it is lit by unknown people in fezzes with a simple match.
- During the conversation on the airship, a napkin lying on the table periodically appears in the frame, now on the right, now on the left.
- On the airship, before departure, the professor reads a newspaper upside down.
- During the escape from the airship, the heroes encounter two German planes. In the frame, their role is played by a Pilatus P-2 training aircraft, whose first flight took place only in April 1945, and active use began after the end of World War II.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
