And so we reach the final part of the original Indiana Jones trilogy: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. This, for me, has always been the pinnacle of Indiana Jones. All of the rough edges of Raiders and Temple have been sanded off and what we have is an exquisite adventure story, packed to the rafters with brilliant characters, exciting action sequences and clever plotting.

Opening with a couple of boy scouts exploring a cave and seeing the back of a man dressed like Indiana is a cheeky way to open the film. Using Indy’s iconic outfit as a trick is an audacious way to start your film and is reflective of how quickly the iconography of the films had become well-known. That the man isn’t Indy and that it is actually one of the boy scouts – a Young Indiana Jones, if you will – is wonderful and the subsequent sequence of this man, a treasure hunter, and his men chasing Indy across a circus train filled with exotic wild animals is worth the price of admission alone. Young Indy is, of course, played by the late River Phoenix and he is marvellous. Bearing in mind he is only on screen for a short amount of time, the fact that he is as believable as a Young Indy as Sean Patrick Flannery is in the series is a testament to his talent. I’m not surprised that this sequence inspired George Lucas to go the whole hog and create a series based around Young Indy as it is a huge amount of fun.

And then, suddenly, we’re back with Harrison Ford and he’s aboard a ship in a storm, again clutching the treasure he originally retrieved in the opening sequence as a young boy. One big ship explosion later and the bad guy is no more and we’re back at the university with Indy teaching and sharing his treasure with Marcus Brody, a glorious return for Denholm Elliot.

Elliot is part of Last Crusade’s greatest strength: its cast. John Rhys Davies is back as Salah; Julian Glover is the villain; Alison Doody is Elsa (for me a better female lead than Marion and most certainly more interesting than Willie); the aforementioned River Phoenix as Young Indy; Robert Eddison as the Grail Knight; Michael Byrne as a wonderfully vicious Nazi Colonel; and – of course – Sean Connery as Henry Jones Senior.

Connery is effortless as Indy’s father. He pitches the humour extremely well and also the disappointment and detachment from Indy. The latter covers a growing respect for his son and its actually quite a layered performance. The interplay between Connery and Ford is superb and I really think their performance and relationship in this film is the pinnacle of the franchise.

Both Temple and Raiders are rollercoasters of films, especially Temple of Doom. Action sequence follows action sequence as Indy travels the world. The Last Crusade is no different – from the glorious circus train sequence to the boat explosion to exploring the crypt under the library in Venice the early part of the film doesn’t shirk in the action. The middle part of the film moves to Hatay in Asia Minor (after a brief and darkly humorous stop over in Berlin that sees Doctor Who legend Michael Sheard cameo as Adolf Hitler) and its all about horse riding, tanks, chases and fist fights. It’s very reminiscent of similar scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark, particularly because of the desert setting.

The final act of the film actually takes some time to calm down and focuses on Indy facing the three trials to find the Holy Grail. It’s a brilliant sequence as it cuts between Indy and Henry Snr working out the meaning of the cryptic clues in Henry’s journal. The climax in the room full of potential grails is, for me, whilst similar to the ending of Raiders, better written and constructed. Glover’s Walter Donovan being given the wrong cup by Elsa and doing the full disintegration bit is a chilling effect. The reveal that it is the simplest cup is a lovely twist on the Grail legend and the way Elsa is written throughout as being torn between her Nazi allegiance and her hunger for the historical significance – and consequential glory – of finding the grail is successfully portrayed by Doody. Her death trying to reach the Grail, is actually quite heart wrenching as she had almost redeemed her previous actions – and that Indy almost falls for the same temptation adds a real sense of tragedy to it.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the best of the original trilogy without a doubt. I know many, many fans loathe Kingdom of the Crystal Skull but I think (with not having rewatched it yet) that a lot of this may be to do with it, rather than not matching the quality of the trilogy as a whole, not matching the quality of Last Crusade. It is almost perfect and it is filled with iconic scenes from discovering the X in the library in Venice to escaping the fire and rats in the tomb beneath it; to getting Hitler’s autograph and thwarting a whole load of Nazis – and even more fire – in a castle filled with secret doors and hidden switches.

Glorious.