Following the glory that was 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom left a bad taste in some viewers’ mouths. It still proved to be a success, but it actively turned off parts of the audience and it left the future of the Indiana Jones franchise in doubt.

All involved came back five years later for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. While this movie didn’t quite repeat the popularity of the original and it presented a few flaws, it nonetheless recaptured the spirit of the first film and proved to be a satisfying conclusion to Indy’s run in the 1980s.

Crusade opens in 1912 with an introduction to a teenaged Indiana Jones (River Phoenix). This gives us a glimpse of the distance at which his father keeps him, but mostly it just acts as a fun way to start the flick. From there, the movie jumps ahead 26 years to the adult Indy (Harrison Ford) who soon learns that his dad (Sean Connery) has gone missing during a quest to find the Holy Grail.

Aficionado of rare antiquities Walter Donovan (Julian Glover) recruits him to continue this crusade, though Indy treats it more as a rescue mission to find his dad. This leads him first to Venice, where he searches the catacombs along with his father’s partner, Dr. Elsa Schneider (Allison Doody). They attempt to stay one step ahead of some zealots who oppose their quest for the Grail, and they eventually head toward Austria to retrieve the senior Jones.

When they get to that land, they find Henry Jones Sr. and bust him out of a castle. From there the movie follows the continued trek to find the Grail and keep the Nazis away from it. The quest includes help from Indy’s boss, Dr. Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott), and his loyal assistant Sallah (John Rhys-Davies).

Probably the biggest concern with Crusade stems from its “been there, done that” quotient. Like Return of the Jedi often echoes Star Wars, Crusade bears more than a passing resemblance to Raiders.

Indy goes up against the Nazis again to retrieve a mystical artifact, and this takes him to the same part of the world at the end. Both enjoy the same generally light-hearted tone and a climax that brings Indy up against supernatural forces.

I get the feeling that director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas didn’t handle the moderately negative reaction to Temple terribly well. Its dark tone caught fans off guard and displeased many of them.

Because of this, the pair may have retreated to the safety of the first flick’s attitude. Crusade feels more connected to Raiders, but that’s a mild problem since the pair seem so similar, so it might have been nice to see Crusade stretch a bit more.

However, the results are usually a lot of fun, so I can forgive Crusade its less than creative side - once we get past the first act, at least. From the wild adventure with young Indy and the antics in Venice, Crusade presents a lot of action in its opening 40 minutes or so, but it doesn’t quite connect. The action seems slightly perfunctory and less inspired than I’d like.

Once we get to Austria, though, the movie improves considerably. A lot of this comes from the formal introduction of Connery, as he and Ford enjoy an absolutely splendid chemistry and really click together.

Their rapport helps carry the movie’s slower moments, and they create a nice bond that makes them a wonderful father and son team despite the fact Connery’s only 12 years older than Ford. The pair shine together and create the movie’s highlights.

Yeah, acts two and three of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade occasionally feel like moderate retreads, but Spielberg executes those moments so well that I don’t care. Though the film lacks the freshness of Raiders, it still proves to be a lot of fun during these sequences. Ultimately, Crusade lacks great originality, but it remains a lively and satisfying adventure.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. I felt pleased with this Dolby Vision presentation.

Sharpness usually looked excellent. The only notable exception came from a brief but odd blurriness that affected parts of the frame during a scene with Indy, Sallah and Henry in a car late in the second act.

This was evident on earlier versions as well and seems to be part of the source photography. Otherwise, the picture appeared nicely detailed and crisp.

Jagged edges and moiré effects remained absent, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain felt fairly natural, and I noticed no signs of any defects in this clean and distinctive image.

Colors looked solid. The movie didn’t present the world’s broadest palette, but it included a good enough range of hues that consistently came across as tight and vibrant. The disc’s HDR added heft and dimensionality to the warm, rich hues.

Black levels seemed deep and dense, and low-light shots demonstrated fine clarity and never became too thick. HDR contributed oomph and power to whites and contrast. I felt wholly happy with this appealing image.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade excelled as the mix offered a broad and engaging experience. Music showed nice delineation and spread, and the effects created a good sense of atmosphere.

A lot of directional dialogue appeared throughout the film, and those pieces popped up in a natural way. Effects seemed appropriately placed and blended together smoothly. Those elements moved cleanly across the channels to demonstrate a fine feeling of place.

Whereas both of the first two flicks offered occasional instances of split surround material, Crusade upped the ante in that regard. It didn’t seem to present more active rear speakers than the others - Raiders contributed an awful lot of audio from that realm – but the elements were more naturally blended due to the stereo nature of the surrounds.

These helped bring the back speakers into the flick in a more involving way, and they added a lot to the movie, especially during its many action sequences.

Audio quality appeared fine and never showed its age. Speech was distinct and concise, and I noticed no issues connected to intelligibility or edginess.

Music remained vibrant and dynamic, as the disc once again displayed John Williams’ score with vivacity and solid clarity. Effects were as clean and rich as ever, and they never suffered from any signs of distortion or other problems.

Bass response was deep and firm and brought good punch to the package. The audio of Crusade wasn’t just good for its age. This was an excellent soundtrack that almost never felt like something made 32 years ago.

How did this 4K UHD compare with the Blu-ray from 2012? Audio appears a little more engaging and engulfing.

The Dolby Vision visuals offered superior accuracy, smoothness, colors and blacks. The 4K turned into an obvious step up in quality.

Because it comes as part of a five-disc/four-movie collection, almost no extras show up on the Last Crusade platter itself. We get a teaser and a trailer.

Note that I didn’t give this disc a grade for bonus materials because of its place in the “4-Movie Collection” package. When I review the “Bonus Features” platter, I’ll offer an overall supplements grade.

While Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade doesn’t live up to the heights of Raiders of the Lost Ark, it definitely tops Temple of Doom, and it finishes the 1980s trilogy well. The movie boasts wonderful interactions between its lead actors and seems quite entertaining and enjoyable. The 4K UHD delivers excellent picture and audio. I enjoy the flick and feel very happy with this release.

Note that as of June 2021, you can purchase Last Crusade 4K UHD solely as part of this “4-Movie Collection” set that also includes 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1984’s Temple of Doom, 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and a disc with bonus materials.

It seems likely Paramount will eventually release each of the 4K UHD films on its own, though. For reference, solo issues of the respective Blu-rays came out about 15 months after that boxed set, so a similar timetable seems logical.

To rate this film visit the DVD review of LAST CRUSADE