Indiana Jones '3' review w/Siskel and Ebert - May 1989

[99fetusfajitas]

If Gene Siskel is a good film critic, then I AM MICKEY MOUSE!! Thumbs down to The Last Crusade? How dare he?

[shutupurgonnamakeit]

Alexandretta...

[Abr022575]

agree w SIskel. I just can't like this movie

[Patrickdenison]

Siskel think ya great - but ur defo wrong on this 1

[squamish4244]

It's funny to see them talk this way now that Last Crusade is considered a classic like the previous two. They were both wide of the mark.

"I should have mailed it to the Marx Brothers."

[sammycut1]

Ebert gave TOD 4 stars. Not sure what Gene thought of it.

[farneyblakeley]

I actually prefer temple of doom for its originality and over the top nature. Spielberg himself says he regrets temple of doom because it's too dark, the pussy. Siskel is spot-on when he says the plot and action and characters all feel part of a package in this one. The last crusade is too slick but is still a good movie

[CoolerKing38]

I've changed my mind. I'm against Ebert now.

[Myndir]

It's true that it would have been better if Connery was a teacher rather than a father, because there wasn't enough time to really develop a family relationship, but there's no doubt about it: this was a very good film and obviously it should have been the last one.

An IJ film is good if and only if it has an intriguing plot. The ToD wasn't intriguing enough, the third was very good and the first is a classic.

[squamish4244]

@Myndir To a lot of people ToD is their favorite.

[InBakerwetrust]

"Maybe Spielberg is wise to end it with this one." HAHA classic

[east4th]

Again these guys are pathetic.

[TheBitchinbabs]

EBERT=UGLY DRUNKARD

FANS=LOSERS

[MYTMIC]

Imagine if Siskel had seen Crystal Skull, yikes!

[nmcvicker03]

a masterpiece.

[RyanStileswliia]

I don't get it.. The Last Crusade was hillarious!

Plus, it had an excellent opening sequence.

[Libraloco73]

I liked it alot I just hated that Sallah and Brody were turned into complete buffoons. Raiders is the greatest film EVER! 'Nuff said.

[924ANTONIO]

Richard Roeper will probably like this film insted of this fuckin moron

[nirdjha2000]

More laughs!!? Last Crusade was pratically a slapstick comedy . . . more laughs!?

[JonathanBones]

I'm really surprised Siskel gave it a thumbs down. Was he having a grumpy day?

[jksonny]

IMO, the main problem with IJATLC is that Jones, Sr. is basically a bumbling professor, played mostly for laughs. The point of having Connery/James Bond as Indiana's father is so he could be a badass, just as tough and smart as his son.

[EuphrasieF]

@jksonny

Personally, that's one of the things I liked about it. It was one of the only times Sean Connery got to play a somewhat comic character. And he still manages to be somewhat badass, including in the beach scene.

[packerfan748]

im one of those crazy people that think temple of doom was the best

[briancurtiswalker]

@4:31 - Damn right, Roger.

[jupiter0225]

"3rd and last" lol. I wish Siskel was still alive.

[pytko3]

This is one of their better discussions about the film they just saw. I think Ebert over-simplifies things, while Siskel was hoping for more than he was expecting. I good movie that concluded a solid trilogy. I personally don't have a favorite Indiana Jones movie of the first three. I like them all equally.

[Cropsy25]

this one has a really good message about faith and believing but i actually found this one kind of boring, i know a lot of people like this one the best but i really didn't think it was as good as the first 2 i love the first 2 they were both different from eachother and i felt this one was just looked a lot like the first one so i kind of agree with siskel i felt we've seen this before i also felt characters wern't as interesting....

[doddsino]

Thankfully, Gene didn't live long enough to see that abortion CGI spot fest.

[peowulf]

@doddsino Yes, I'm sure dying is preferable to watching Indiana Jones 4.

[johann2779]

raiders is the best one

[LazerDude99]

if only they ended it here

[connerspencern]

@LazerDude99 I couldn't agree more.

[mrbrianmccarthy]

Great movie---my favorite of the three indian jones movies.

[Switchbuckle2nd]

I think Siskel's points are very valid here, and oddly enough I think Ebert agrees with them despite his enjoyment of the movie.

[nolanjuice84]

this is best indiana jones movie I think

[KmorrisonNCC1701]

"..it was a great film, but it was also a new film. I had never seen any of that before, There's no way (a sequel) could be as good (and surprising) as that."

That is the truest statement about sequels and films I have seen. Roger Ebert, you are a wise critic.

[wackiiraqi984]

gee, I wish what Siskel said at 0:33 was true

[The3ninjakids]

How come these two Idiots Think that the best movies are the worst! this was the best Indy jones film ever!

[Doperwtje81]

@The3ninjakids

it's called hindsight, kid.

[SLPIFan]

This is my second favorite of the Indiana Jones films.

[nuriko001]

raiders of the lost ark is actually my least fav;(.. i LOVE last crusade

[blindthrall]

Truck driver Nazi was the toughest foe Indy ever faced. Watch that chase scene and tell me it doesn't look like Indy is losing that fight the entire time.

[LordoftheJimmy]

I've always wondered why Gene was so hard on Action movies. As Roger said, "I don't go to an Indiana Jones film for humanity... I go for action and stunts," Even though Roger breaks his own philosophy when reviewing other films.

I do agree with Gene that an action movie should still have humanity and characters, which is why he gave Terminator 2 a rare thumbs up, but I think Last Crusade does have humanity to it, which is why it's a great film.

[mrbrianmccarthy]

@LordoftheJimmy I've noticed that too about Siskel---he always was unusually stern in his reviews of action movies.

[nickthepharoah]

Gene should just consider himself lucky to have been spared from The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

[lob287]

@nickthepharoah Well said

[JoelH790]

the best INDY film

[ralfsu]

Raiders is the better film, while Last Crusade is more fun. That's my opinion. Love 'em both.

[MrAbe345]

first and last? if only

[Biscuitchris7again]

0:33 Ooops!

[Myfriendfats8]

great movie

[Razersun]

gay movie

[Razersun]

@UtsniatheMightyOne

true true

[Razersun]

@Razersun

true true

[NotoriA101]

I think the father/son relationship elevates the movie above the rest. A fantastic ending to the trilogy.

[tripwilliams2]

I think Siskel's expectations got the best of him on this vote. It's a thumbs up for sure, especially compared to most of today's action films.

[planetkori]

Last Crusade is my least favorite of the three... Crystal Skull being my least favorite of the four. I hated how they turned Marcus Brody into a buffoon just for laughs. I like them in the order they were released. Raiders of the Lost Ark isn't just the best film of the series, it's the greatest film of all time.

[Casarzino]

more wit, more humanity, more laughs??!!? Those are exactly Last Crusade's strengths compared to the first two..

[rigstula]

I couldn't disagree more with Siskel. This movie is one of the best adventure movies ever, and the chemistry between Ford and Connery is great. Last Crusade has great action, humour, acting and music, and even a few touching moments without becoming overtly sentimental.

[homer912]

If only it was the last one...

[xJoeEDangerouslyx]

Should have mailed it to the Marx brothers.

[leafyutube]

In retrospect, "Last Crusade" is now a classic.

[stimpp]

this film blew. it was just another contrived treasure hunt with predictable action scenes and they throw Sean Connery in there to try to add something fresh and interesting but they failed. Gene is right. The relationship between Sean and Harrison was unbelievable and it probably would have been better if Sean wasn't even in the film.

[WCWite]

@KyleGibbons91 Raiders was the best kid.

[jish55]

"This is the third, and LAST Indiana Jones Adventure"

lol if only he knew the horror that would come in 2008.

[lehighmark]

much better than the second movie... much better

[mageslime]

This movie deserves a 8/10 minimum. (I would give it a 9.5/10.) Thumbs down is insane. What more can he ask for?

[Summertimeblues28]

i saw this at the drive in..

[wasteland70]

The first film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, is the best of the four. It was the deepest, the most enterntaining, the best written and had the best female counterpart. I don't even think about Crystal Skull. That was Lucas jack off his ego.

[TampaRed]

A colleague? A colleague?!?! He's no mere colleague. He's Marcus fuckin' Brody!

[leafyutube]

In many ways, I like Last Crusade as much as Raiders. Incredibly entertaining.

[reviewreviewer1]

I dins`t like the first Indi, and I turned the second one of when I saw the human sacrifice scene so I don`t know if I want to see tjis one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AceProductions91]

The father son relationship between them was great....The CHARACTERS were distant, they were playing their part.

[inrwizards]

last crusade is the best! the father son stuff was genius!

[jmartshopper2]

"Maybe Spielberg is wise to end it at this point" Steven should have watched this before even thinking about Crystal Skull.

[Koyaanitsqatsi]

"the third and last indiana jones adventure" 0:34 i wonder what siskel would say if he was still alive o___o

[Quagile]

Love every film in this series, even Crystal Skull, yeah, I'm serious. It isn't bad, just not as good, its stupid, but then again, isn't the entire series technically stupid? It's fun, great, enjoyable fun, and that feeling is never lost in the series.

[Shirashama]

This definitely ties with Raiders.

[Cropsy25]

most people say this is one of the best ones out of the series like better than 2 and dont get me wrong its still a fun movie and everything but i think the first 1 and the second 1 r much better the first is the best but 2 was a really good sequel because it was a whole new adventure this 1 i felt was 2 much like the first film and not really anything new sry thats just how i felt

[fireflyfan1]

Yet again Ebert > SIskel.

[Videot01]

'And last', a little wrong there Siskel.

[gundammon]

I still don't get the "lack of humanity" commentary, or saying that Raiders had more "humanity" in it. Raiders wasn't a character study, it was an action movie.

[xaxie1]

Lol, he got it abit wrong with the, Last film lol

[cochranexyz]

Damn good movie. I thought it was the end of the series, as everyone else did, I guess. Crystal Skull was not as good but good enough.

[necrocannibalist]

It's always fun see they disagree with each other lol

[mooveetraylaguy]

I once watched all of the original Indy trilogy in one day.

[priley1984]

does anyone know what Siskel thought about Temple of Doom? He thought the first was perfect, went thumbs down to this one? Anyone knew what his thumb was for ToD? Just curious, but I would guess down because of all the scenes of kids being abused, and Siskel was very sensitive about stuff like that.

[AllianceCrusha]

I loved the Last Crusade...Its alot of fun Imo.

[prismgap]

I wonder what their review of Temple of Doom was? I agre with Siskel that Crusade was a little bit of a let down but I still prefer it to Temple of doom. Raiders is just so close to perfect, the others never came close for me. Crusade is the a very distant second for me.

[Faust6688]

Gene also gave thumbs up to Temple of Doom. But I do prefer the Last Crusade and Crystal Skull over Temple, though all of them are great movies, the first Raiders is an action-adventure masterpiece.

[jp3813]

I think Siskel just got tired of the formula. He wanted something more original in the way that Temple of Doom was compared to Raiders. I think Ebert had the same reaction, though he's smart enough to know that Last Crusade is still a great film.

[SeanConnery9000]

Last Crusade is actually my favorite & tied with Raiders.

Temple of Doom was very annoying with the dumb love interest but was way more exciting than the enjoyable but too-much-of-a-parody Crystal Skull

[jp3813]

Personally, Temple of Doom is my favorite sequel. It's not just a retread of the original film and perfectly reflects the idea that Indy has different kinds of adventures rather than just battling w/ Nazis. Apparently, it's also Siskel and Ebert's favorite Raiders sequel.

[SeanConnery9000]

i know right? I hate sequels that repeat the original too well to where it doesn't stand on it's own especially the enjoyable but overrated Die Hard 2

[jp3813]

I like Die Hard 2 better than the other sequels though. I say, if you're going to make a retread of the original, it better be the only sequel in the series.

[SeanConnery9000]

This is true. Robocop, The Crow & Highlander are all examples of what could've been a great franchise but instead it's one cult hit & the rest are unrelated garbage.

I love everything Die Hard. It's impossible to hate any of them & they're way better than the lame forgettable action films of today. The only thing close to being as good as Die Hard is the long-running & still strong James Bond films, Jason Bourne, Taken, Shooter, Indy, Terminator & even the show 24 are great tributes

[holtrax2009]

watching this movie the other day i now see where siskel is coming from with his argument. When you look beyond the great action sequences and the great last scene of the movie it is very similiar to the first raiders film and very formuliac in the way its executed. I never seen this before until watching it the last time.

[Quagile]

Crystal Skull was not bad, it has its problems, but the overall movie was enjoyable, which is wat i want in a movie. Last Crusade was amazing, so i dont know y Siskel gave it a thumbs down

[Speegs23]

You're right it wasn't bad, it was atrocious!

[SeanConnery9000]

Finally somebody who gets it. Crystal Skull was meant to be more of a parody/ tribute to these type of films & the franchise in general, however, yes it was a bit predictable & lost tension when we knew the heros couldn't die but it was still tons of fun seeing it in the theater. Temple of Doom is exciting but was overall dumb; Crusade is my favorite & I consider it the best followed by Raiders

[slowpols]

What do you mean with that "the heroes couldn't die"..

[SeanConnery9000]

You never believed that they could get injured or killed since they avoided death all the time.

The previous Indy films while also unrealistic at least placed Jones in enough peril to where it was thrilling & you thought he had the potential of dying.

The Crystal Skull which I liked was more of a tribute to these films and more fantasy-adventure then action-adventure

[spiderpig85]

@SeanConnery9000 Crystal Skull just failed to capture the magic that the original movies had. It was just another blockbuster and really soured the franchise in my opinion.

[SeanConnery9000]

This is what pisses me off about the fans (no personal attack on you) but does anyone honestly expect after 20-30 years for a sequel to recapture ALL the glory & originality that the other movies have?

That's too high an expectation. Star Wars Prequels were cool & they weren't as good or cool as the original trilogy.

Same thing with Die Hard, Terminator & Alien sequels

[spiderpig85]

Yes but why should we lower our expectations?

People should be more critical of movies like this which ride on the backs of great films in order to milk a franchise.

If producers knew how much we are all tired of this blockbuster-sequel phenomenon (Indiana Jones, Alien Resurrection, Alien vs. Predator, etc. etc.), maybe they would leave great films alone and come up with new ideas.

[SeanConnery9000]

True, very true but it's impossible to capture ALL the magic an original film series had and there's always going to be someone who hates it regardless of all the effort.

It truly depends on what was happening in the script development

[RaynorX]

Just wait for Hollywood to stagnate again and maybe they'll get the picture (no pun intended)

[obiwanobiwan13]

I love Crusade; I can see where Siskel's coming from (he's not saying it wasn't good, just that it was a bit of a retread of the Indy formula) but that's the intent of the film.

Indiana Jones is NEVER going to be said to be non-formulaic. It is in the same way a Bond film has the opening action-opening credits-gadgets-action-Bond girl-big ending formula; here every Indy film is more or less opening treasure hunt-intro to item-action/humor-climax.

It's a formula, but a fun one to watch.

[Ndirsc2]

More humanity? What is Siskel talking about? That's exactly what this film has! People like this movie because of the father/son dynamic and the witty banter between Ford and Connery. They had good chemistry together.

[Maztuhmind]

i actually liked the 4th indiana jones. it wasn't as good as the others but it was better than the 2nd.

i'd give this movie 3.5 / 4.

[Comictalent]

Siskel missed the boat on this one. Last Crusade is a tremendous entertainment, not as good as Raiders, but way better than the other two.

[Emapten]

right the fourth one doesn't count it is not in any way affiliated with the first three. I thought temple of doom was bad until "crystal skull". Benjiman button's girlfriend explodes recieving too much knowlege? come on!

[GamerGuitarer]

Last Crusade is awesome, but unfortunatly they made the Crystal Skull, making The Last Crusade, NOT the LAST Crusade, i think they should have left it alone

[navylaks2]

I think Last Crusade is the best of the films becausse of the humor between Connery and Ford, shure the others where good, but this just takes it to a hole new level.

And Kingdom of the Crystul Skull was not as bad as you say, maybe it was a bit overproduced, but it has got the same element as the last 3 films.

There has been more than 20 James Bond films right, dont tell me that you did not think that at least some of them even with Connery in the lead role where bad.

[Hermy1138]

Hands down, my all time favourite movie. Yeah, I've seen Citizen Kane, and other "canon best film ever". But then again I said favourite not best

[woollybully100]

lol not quite i thought the 4th was just ok but it's feels weird referring to the indiana jones series as a quadrology and the 4th will always seem a little seperated from the others. probably due to memory.

[woollybully100]

last crusade is my favorite of the trilogy .

[UltraMovieNerd]

@woollybully100

same here!

[DARTHPIZZAROLL]

@woollybully100 same here.

[Comictalent]

I'm with Ebert on this one. Last Crusade is awesome

[Rbatty2]

Roger Ebert loved "The Temple of Doom" actually, I believe it got 4 stars, the highest rating in his print review. Gene's comments about this being the last were justified since the pre-release publicity indicated the production team were calling it a day. When I see Part 4 I can decide if "Crystal Skull" was one too many. I missed this show in '89, thanks for posting so I could finally see it!