Rewatchables Reference

• The Young Indiana Jones (River Phoenix) opening on the circus train.
• Finding the Brothers' tomb in Venice – 'X marks the spot,' the rats, the boat chase.
• The ending sequence: Henry getting shot, the three trials, choosing the right grail, 'Indiana, let it go'.

• Nazis as villains – 'you don't get any better for a movie villain'.
• Connery and Ford both sleeping with Elsa – ballsy choice for 1989.
• The Hitler autograph scene – 'really really smart, well done'.

The final horizon/sunset shot with the Indy music – classic Spielberg horizon line.

The Indiana Jones theme kicking in during the final sunset ride.

• Alison Doody as Elsa – too young (21), not memorable enough; her IMDb 'spoke for itself the next 35 years'.
• Marion (Karen Allen) should have been in all the movies; non-Marion female leads are consistently the weak link.

• The special effects, especially the biplane/zeppelin escape – 'felt like two guys in a sound stage'.
• The 12-year age gap between Ford (46) and Connery (58) playing father and son.
• Long fistfights feel dated after modern action films like 'John Wick' 4.

• The River Phoenix prequel should have been its own movie in 1989, with Last Crusade following in 1990.
• There could have been 15 Indiana Jones movies – enough ideas for many more adventures.

• Gregory Peck and Jon Pertwee were backup choices for Henry Jones Sr. if Connery said no.
• Amanda Redmond turned down Elsa due to a real-life fear of rats.
• Laurence Olivier was considered for the Grail Knight but passed away.

• Michael Byrne as Ernst Vogel – 'really working extremely hard in this movie'.
• John Rhys-Davies – always delivering lines 'at the top of his register'.

• The Grail Knight (Robert Eddison) – world-class stage actor who hadn't been in a film since 1948; 'Choose wisely' became a meme.
• Alison Doody – forever 'the lady from Indy 3'.

Greta Scacchi, Sharon Stone, or Michelle Pfeiffer as Elsa – 'go get me one more All Star'.

• Budget $48 million, made $472 million – #1 movie worldwide in 1989.
• Tom Stoppard did uncredited dialogue polish, especially the Ford/Connery exchanges.
• 2,000-7,000 rats specially bred disease-free for the catacombs scene; most Nazi uniforms are authentic WWII uniforms.

• Harrison Ford – discussed as a 'second apex' given his career length.
• The Holy Grail: second apex after the Last Supper/Crucifixion.
• Rats in a movie: possibly apex mountain for rats.

• The Holy Grail has too many conditions – can't take it past the seal, so what's the point?
• Walter Donovan instantly drinks from the cup Elsa chose without taking time to think.

Connery for Best Supporting Actor – this performance warranted another nomination after 'The Untouchables'.

• Is the Holy Grail like HGH for athletes?
• Has anyone ever punched more guys in movies than Harrison Ford?
• What happened to the adventure genre?

'Raiders of the Lost Ark' – 'don't overthink it'.

The Grail cup – 'that would be the fucking coolest thing you can own'.

• Chase what you believe in, not just a prize – 'Elsa never really believed in the Grail'.
• When you've spent your entire life searching for something, take a beat and think about it before choosing.

Bill and Chris: Harrison Ford; Sean Fantasy: Steven Spielberg.

Craig Horlbeck.