The Man With The Hat Is Back

Today marks 25 years since "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" opened. I remember seeing it and the activity around it like it was yesterday. This was a pivotal film in my movie going life. It opened on a Wednesday, but I didn't make my first attempt to see it until Saturday, May 27. I went to the Echelon Mall with my friend David and his family, but the movie was sold out for the day (remember when that could happen?). Instead we hung around the mall. We went to Sam Goody and I found the soundtrack album on CD. Much like today, I love the music of John Williams, and I bought it without seeing the movie.

That night I listened to the CD many times, one time copying it over to cassette. I may have done that on my first listen, but I can't remember that much detail. I do think it's funny that I used to buy CDs and put them on cassette to listen elsewhere. Now I get CDs and the first thing I do is rip them into my computer. In fact, I rarely even play the CDs. But back to "Last Crusade", as stated I listened to that CD a lot that night. I enjoyed the music but was perplexed by the lack of the "Indiana Jones" theme on it, even though Steven Spielberg said in his note they decided not to use it as much. Still, to a 12 year old kid, I bought the "Indiana Jones" soundtrack, I want the "Indiana Jones" theme! That didn't stop my from listening to this score over and over again.

I remember going out to run errands with my mom that evening and I had that tape with me already and we got a newspaper and I went straight to the movie reviews. "Last Crusade" got three-and-a-half stars. The summary was (and this may be a quote) that it "wasn't as good as 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', but what is"?

I finally got to see "Last Crusade" on Memorial Day, May 29. My mom took David and me to see it in Philadelphia at the AMC Orleans 8. I don't remember much of the actual presentation, but this was the first time I ever saw a movie and I noticed there was music in it that wasn't on the soundtrack album. Where was that great boat fight music in the beginning? Where was that part of the tank fight?

Around this time, I had also been introduced to Criterion Laser Discs by my dad and I was used to letterboxing and I was paying attention to widescreen images for the first time. I remember watching the opening train chase and thinking, "There's no way to show the characters on the opposite sides of the screen without letterboxing".

As for the movie itself, I loved it! While it felt like an apology for the previous film, something I don't think is necessary, there's no denying that as a piece of entertainment it succeeds on almost every level. The pairing of Harrison Ford and Sean Connery was inspired. There's only one person who could be Indiana Jones's father, James Bond! The opening sequence was a lot of fun, even if it once again shows George Lucas's obsession with prequels, and River Phoenix is terrific as young Indy. It's not a perfect film though. Even in 1989, the effects were a step down from the previous two films, and pursuing a religious artifact while battling Nazi's has a familiar ring to it, doesn't it?

The summer of 1989 was a notorious "bloodbath" summer at the movies. "Last Crusade" started it (remember when summer movie season started on Memorial Day weekend?), but also that summer, "Batman", "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier", "Licence to Kill", "Ghostbusters 2", "The Karate Kid 3", "Lethal Weapon 2" and "The Abyss" were all released. "Batman" reigned supreme for most, but for me, my movie was "Last Crusade". I remember being with my summer camp on a trip and we went to the movies. Most of them chose to see "Batman", but a few of us chose to see "Last Crusade". I saw it again a few months later when it was in a second run theater in NJ, The Harwan in Mt. Ephraim (sadly gone now). Even though my dad had sworn off Spielberg movies after "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", he saw that it was playing at the Harwan and took me to see it.

He also bought a new stereo for me as a Bar Mitzvah gift that summer. He asked me to bring over some CDs to his place when I came to visit him and one of the discs I brought was the "Last Crusade" soundtrack. 25 years later, I still have that Kenwood amplifier and Advent speakers, although they are in different rooms now. Both still work and sound great. In fact, as I'm typing this I'm listening to the "Last Crusade" soundtrack album on those very same loudspeakers!

Since 1989, I've seen "Last Crusade" too many times to count. I'm not even sure which was the best. There was the trilogy showing in 2006 at the Ziegfeld, where beautiful 35mm prints were shown. In 2012 there was a rare 70mm screening at the Egyptian. Recently I saw a digital showing in the Cinerama Dome (photo below).

All three were top presentations. Sadly, I'm told Paramount no longer has 35mm prints to loan out for this movie, so from now on it will all be digital. I'm glad I got to experience this film many times on film.

What are some of your memories of seeing "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"? Share them in the comments below. Also, if you enjoy this piece, please consider sharing it on your social network of choice. You can also follow me on Google+, twitter and Facebook.