Indiana Jones: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Last Crusade

In 1989, the third Indiana Jones film titled Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was released. The film once again starred Harrison Ford as the famous archaeologist, but this time he is joined by Sean Connery, who plays his father in the film. The Last Crusade became the highest-grossing film of the series until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull topped it in 2008.

The Last Crusade is celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year, and even after three decades, there is a lot fans probably don’t know about the movie. Here is Indiana Jones: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Last Crusade.

10 Indiana Jones And The Monkey King

Before a storyline about the Holy Grail was conceived Indiana Jones 3 looked a lot different. Originally the film was called Indiana Jones and the Monkey King, which would have seen Indy go up against a ghost in Scotland in a haunted mansion. The Fountain of Youth would have been the legend that Indiana Jones focused on.

Things were changed up a bit in later revisions of the script, Indy instead searching for the Peaches of Immortality. Needless to say, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg decided to go a completely different route, which was probably for the best.

9 Steven Spielberg Was Worried About Monty Python

With The Last Crusade focusing on the quest for the Holy Grail, Steven Spielberg was worried people might think of another movie: Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the most famous of the Monty Python movies and still holds up to this day.

However, despite the film coming out in 1989, Spielberg was worried people would think of the 1975 film when they watched The Last Crusade. Spielberg once told Entertainment Weekly, “Of course, I was worried that people would hear ‘Holy Grail,’ and they would immediately think about a white rabbit attacking Monty Python.”

8 The Film Had The First-Ever Complete Digital Composite Shot

After Indiana Jones makes it through the three tests leading to the Holy Grail chamber, Donovan and Elsa soon enter the chamber behind him. Elsa gives Donovan a cup she thinks is the Holy Grail, so Donovan drinks holy water from it. She chose poorly, so he quickly ages before turning into a skeleton.

The effect was incredibly complex and is actually considered the first-ever complete digital composite effect in a movie. All three of the Indiana Jones movies have had some incredible special effects, but Donovan’s death is among the most impressive.

7 The Four Horses At The End Of The Film Belonged To The King Of Jordan

There were multiple locations used for Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, but one of these locations was Petra, Jordan. At the time, King Hussein bin Talal and Queen Noor controlled the country. The King and Queen would often visit the set of The Last Crusade after Spielberg offered to let them watch production.

The Queen is said to have given Spielberg a ride to set and the King even lent them four horses. The horses that the heroes ride into the sunset on in the final scene of the movie belonged to King Hussein bin Talal.

6 Pat Roach Returned Once Again

There aren’t very many people that have starred in all four Indiana Jones movies. Harrison Ford has starred in all four of course, but before Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released, Pat Roach had appeared in all three films. Roach appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark as the Giant Sherpa who gets chopped to pieces by the airplane blades. In the second film, he appears as a guard in the Temple of Doom who whips the child slaves and fights Indiana before the mine cart scene.

The actor once again appears in The Last Crusade as a Nazi character named Gestapo, who has a very brief appearance in the movie. Roach likely would have had a cameo in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but unfortunately the actor passed away in  2004 at the age of 67.

5 Amanda Redman Turned Down A Role Because Of The Rats

Alison Doody snagged the role of Elsa in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but she wasn’t the first actress to be offered the role. Originally, Amanda Redman had been offered the gig, but she turned it down. Redman would have had to do the scene in the tomb of the First Crusade Knight where Indy and Elsa are covered in rats.

Unfortunately, Redman has an extreme fear of rats so she had to decline the job offer. Redman is known for movies like Sexy Beast and Mike Bassett: England Manager, so needless to say, The Last Crusade would have been the biggest movie of her career.

4 Real Nazi Uniforms Appeared In The Film

Nazis have been antagonists in both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. The costume designers for The Last Crusade, Anthony Powell and Joanna Johnston, had to meticulously study Nazi uniforms from World War II to make sure the costumes in the film were as accurate as possible.

While they created several Nazi costumes for the film, Powell was actually able to find several real Nazi uniforms that can be seen on screen in several scenes, including the book-burning scene.

3 Sean Connery And Harrison Ford Filmed A Scene Pant-less

Actors aren’t always comfortable while filming scenes for movies, but with as big of a star as Sean Connery was, the crew likely tried to make him as comfortable as possible. In one scene, they actually allowed Connery to film his scene without any pants on (although Connery probably didn’t ask for permission).

The set for the scene where Indiana Jones and Henry Jones Sr. are on the blimp was incredibly hot, so Connery only wore his trousers to stay cool during filming. Ford followed suit so that neither of them were sweating during the scene.

2 Spielberg Had To Pass On Rain Man To Direct Indy 3

It’s safe to say that Steven Spielberg is one of the most successful and most well-known directors in history. He has directed several films like Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, andJurassic Park, all of which earned more than one Oscar at the Academy Awards.

Spielberg has also directed all four Indiana Jones movies, but he had to pass on Rain Man in order to direct The Last Crusade. Spielberg had worked on the script for Rain Man for nearly half a year, before having to leave the project to direct the third Indiana Jones movie.

1 Spielberg Used The Film To Apologize For The Temple of Doom

Before Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out in 2008, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was considered the worst of the three Indiana Jones movies. Spielberg has even said in the past that Temple of Doom is his least favorite of the first three movies and regrets making the second film so dark.

He returned for the third film to make it up to fans and re-capture the spirit that made people fall in love with Raiders of the Lost Ark. Spielberg even brought back Denholm Elliott and John Rhys-Davies from Raiders of the Lost Ark to ensure that this happened.

About The Author

Christopher Fiduccia
(1109 Articles Published)

Christopher is a news writer, editor, and senior trainer at Screen Rant. He graduated from Rock Valley College in 2018 with an Associate of Arts degree and a Media Production Specialist certificate.

After running his own movie blog for over five years, Christopher joined the Screen Rant team in 2018 as a list writer. Christopher is a sucker for ‘80s horror and giant monster movies but has covered a wide range of topics during his employment at Screen Rant.

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