America, Europe, and the Middle East

Location, Location, Location

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade sees Indiana trekking across the globe for the Holy Grail. The movie's production saw its crew lugging equipment across America, Europe, and the Middle East in order to recreate the bevy of locations featured in the film.

Last Crusade's very beginning and very end were shot in the United States. The prologue, featuring young Indiana's Scout trip, was filmed in Colorado and Utah's Arches National Park. According to The Cinema of George Lucas, the final shot of the film, where Indiana, Henry, Brody, and Sallah ride off into the sunset, was filmed in Texas. Who knew the Holy Grail was so close to the Astrodome?

Much of the movie's last act was shot in Petra, Jordan, a fact that's attracted tourists to the "Indiana Jones City" and UNESCO World Heritage site ever since. In fact, it's the country's biggest tourist attraction.

The rest of the movie's main action was filmed in Europe, but not where you might expect. Spain served for the desert scenes, the plane chase, Iskenderun, and the Sultan of Hatay's palace. Several interiors, like those of Castle Brunwald and the Berlin Airport, were shot in England. Meanwhile, the exterior of the Berlin Airport was a naval administration building in San Francisco. And those exterior scenes in Venice were, well, shot in Venice. Sometimes what you see is what you get.

The Bigger, The Better

Indiana Jones never met an elaborate action-movie set piece that he couldn't investigate for clues, riddle with bullets, chase somebody through, or be chased through, and Last Crusade is no exception. If you're keeping score at home, our hero:

• outruns a bunch of bandits on top of, and through, a moving circus train;
• traverses the rat-filled catacombs and sewers of Venice;
• escapes a German zeppelin by airplane;
• survives an Italian speedboat chase;
• fights a Nazi colonel on top of a tank;
• and survives riding that tank off a cliff.

Set-pieces like these aren't just a hallmark of the Indiana Jones franchise, they're a hallmark of action movies in general. Dramas have their bedside sob-fests. Comedies have their pratfalls. And action flicks have their high-speed chases and creature-filled tunnels.