![]() But it may well be the most entertaining of the series, with its playful tone established in the River Phoenix-starring, Indy-demystifying prologue - which, sadly, also paved the way for The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles - and reaching its apotheosis with the arrival of Sean Connery as Indy's dad, Henry Jones. Perhaps low on confidence and anxious for a hit, Spielberg approached the material with caution (plotwise, it hugs tight to the Raiders formula, rejecting the darkness of Temple Of Doom while, visually, it's the least-inspired of the trilogy, offering very few indelible images or Spielbergian trademarks). Ultimately, he succeeded, producing a movie which stands out like a sore thumb from his middling output of the late-80s to early 90s, and which, while not quite matching Raiders, serves as a fitting end to the Indy trilogy. Spielberg, smarting after yet another Oscar snub, (Empire was nominated for six Oscars, winning none ironically, Crusade bagged one Oscar, for Best Sound Effects Editing), saw Crusade as "consciously regressing", representing a critic-proof chance to show that he could still peddle popcorn. In the end, it all worked out nicely - Rain Man won Oscars for Dustin Hoffman and Barry Levinson, to whom Spielberg passed on his copious Rain Man notes while the Holy Trinity of Spielberg, Lucas and Ford all enjoyed a much-needed hit, in the wake of critical and commercial disappointments (Empire Of The Sun, Willow, and Frantic respectively). ![]() ![]() Disappointed and slightly resentful, Spielberg nevertheless set to work, rejecting several scenarios for the return of the whip-wielding hero, including an outlandish Chris Columbus idea (which saw Indy battle an African Monkey King, at one point chasing a truck while riding a rhinoceros) before settling on the quest for the Holy Grail. In 1988, he was heavily involved in pre-production on Rain Man, when George Lucas reminded him of a gentleman's agreement to make the then-untitled Indy 3. If Steven Spielberg had followed his heart, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade might never have happened.
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