The Sandbox

A father-son relationship, a timeless adventure, a battle against evil.

In 1989, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, the third installment in the Indiana Jones franchise, was released, starring Harrison Ford as the titular character and Sean Connery as his father. Directed by Steven Speilberg with a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes, the film chronicles archeologist Indiana Jones, who along with his father and some olds friends race against the Third Reich in search for the Holy Grail.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is, quite simply put, a classic. But what makes this film work so well?
For starters, Indiana Jones as a character is more interesting than he's ever been in the Last Crusade. In the first two films, he'd been a one dimensional action hero. This worked in those films, but for the third installment it was time to deepen the mythos. Director Spielberg and writer Lucas made the excellent choice to introduce Indiana's father into the mix. Sean Connery's Henry Jones Sr. provides excellent comic relief as well as great father-son drama. The relationship between the two is easily one of the most interesting aspects of the film.
But the film doesn't only have fantastic character moments- Spielberg and Lucas absolutely hit it out of the park with the action sequences too. Whether a boat chase through Venetian canals, or a battle with a tank in a middle-eastern canyon, the action set pieces in the film are infinity memorable. The film contains a non-stop barrage of edge-of-your-seat life-or-death stunts that will leave you gasping for air.
The film was rightfully a critical and commercial smash upon release and today is considered not only one of the greatest adventure movies, but one of the greatest movies of all time.