Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - immortality question

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I was watching The Last Crusade yesterday and was wondering why Indy and his dad weren't immortal after drinking from the Holy Grail. Did the knight mean that you are only immortal if you don't cross the seal, like the Grail itself? That must be it because Indy aged and in the last movie they said his dad died.

 

[Jeyl]

I was watching The Last Crusade yesterday and was wondering why Indy and his dad weren't immortal after drinking from the Holy Grail. Did the knight mean that you are only immortal if you don't cross the seal, like the Grail itself? That must be it because Indy aged and in the last movie they said his dad died.

That is regrettably one of the reoccurring themes when you recycle the Raiders storyline. The bad guys are doomed from the start, but nobody knows it yet.

 

[SSgt Burton]

Did the knight mean that you are only immortal if you don't cross the seal, like the Grail itself?

That was how I understood it- that immortality came with a "price", which was you couldn't return across the great seal.


Kevin

 

[dbuck]

I agree with the 'crossing of the seal' penalty, which is a heckuva lot better then the 'wrong grail' penalty.

 

[Wolfsburg]

Yeah, my understanding was he would only be immortal if he didn't cross the seal.

 

[DuneMuadDib]

I think it's a case of the Grail can't cross the seal, but you have to drink from the Grail periodically to keep the immortality up. You couldn't just drink once then toss the cup and live forever in that room. Still functionally the same answer, but a bit more nuanced.

 

[Treadwell]

I think it's a case of the Grail can't cross the seal, but you have to drink from the Grail periodically to keep the immortality up. You couldn't just drink once then toss the cup and live forever in that room. Still functionally the same answer, but a bit more nuanced.

This!!

 

[Lord Boron]

I think it's a case of the Grail can't cross the seal, but you have to drink from the Grail periodically to keep the immortality up. You couldn't just drink once then toss the cup and live forever in that room. Still functionally the same answer, but a bit more nuanced.

This is what I always assumed. Kind of a tease when you think about it.

 

[Gigatron]

I think it's a case of the Grail can't cross the seal, but you have to drink from the Grail periodically to keep the immortality up. You couldn't just drink once then toss the cup and live forever in that room. Still functionally the same answer, but a bit more nuanced.

Why would your immortality run out? Seems like it would be a "for life" kinda deal. "Immortality - you live forever...until you don't". How would you know when your immortality is running out? I guess you could do things to test it out, but it seems kinda risky. Suppose one day you test it out, and, whoops, all the juice is gone, and now you're dead. I took the warning as "you're immortal, until you cross the great seal".



Last Crusade, is a really fun movie, until you get to the challenges. Then it's like Lucas/Speilberg stopped paying attention.

For instance, in the first challenge; the penitent man. How does "the penitent man kneels before God", become "the penitent man tucks and rolls before God"? What clue gave Indy the idea that after you duck, you need to do a somersault? Was God holding auditions for Cirque du Soleil: Heaven?

Then, the second challenge; Word of God. When Indy steps on "J", he falls through, and we get an undershot of the walk way. We see there are only a few pillars (presumably under the correct letters). But when Indy is dangling, there are no supporting pillars - he should have fallen to his death. He pulls himself up on what looks like a letter "P" (which I believe is "R", in latin). Considering there are even less Rs in Jehovah, than there are Js, why didn't he fall through?

Admittedly, I really did like the optical illusion of the third challenge. Even though I know it's there, it's still cool to see.


Then the final challenge - picking the grail. If I was Donovan, I'd be like "woman, this is my life we're talking about. Could you maybe spend more than 8 seconds looking through this ancient Pier 1 catalog, before deciding which grail is real?". I get Indy's line of thinking - ***** was a man of simple means, so therefore, he wouldn't have anything fancy. But just because you eat off of paper plates when you're by yourself, doesn't mean you don't break out the fancy china when company is over for an important dinner. For all Indy knows, maybe ***** had a big ol' Snoop Dogg cup, for when he had friends and family over for dinner.

-Fred

 

[rodneyfaile]

They can excavate an entire city on an archeological dig in Raiders, but the Grail isn't worth going back for? I'd get a bobcat and go to work!

 

[Jeyl]

Then, the second challenge; Word of God. When Indy steps on "J", he falls through, and we get an undershot of the walk way. We see there are only a few pillars (presumably under the correct letters). But when Indy is dangling, there are no supporting pillars - he should have fallen to his death. He pulls himself up on what looks like a letter "P" (which I believe is "R", in latin). Considering there are even less Rs in Jehovah, than there are Js, why didn't he fall through?

I actually found out the falling through the floor bit was something created in post production. When Indy's foot goes through the letter J, it's actually a pit full of spiders that crawl all over him.

LINK

 

[cboath]

The knight basically says you can't cross the seal, "that is the price of immortality".

The grail slows/stops the aging process. The process can continue outside the seal, but the cup cannot pass the seal. They never said how long the process would last. If it requires a drink a day, it kinda binds you to the cave to reap the benefits.

 

[Treadwell]

My take is you still need to drink water, and have sustenance. Nothing to eat there, but the grail water takes care of that. So you're drinking immortality water all day every day. It's an energy drink!

The optical illusion thing is awesome, although what little I know of art history has me doubting anyone working out a perspective illusion prior to the Renaissance. Also, centuries of dust accumulation on the walkway would've given it away. And it would only work when the sun was in the ideal position.

 

[Father]

I agree with the 'crossing of the seal' penalty, which is a heckuva lot better then the 'wrong grail' penalty.

Does that mean that the crusader that was sitting there all that time was that old when he went into the chamber? Or does immortalityjust mean live forever, not remain the same age forever. He was old and feeble and could barely lift his sword.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

For instance, in the first challenge; the penitent man. How does "the penitent man kneels before God", become "the penitent man tucks and rolls before God"? What clue gave Indy the idea that after you duck, you need to do a somersault? Was God holding auditions for Cirque du Soleil: Heaven?

I figure in the penitent man scene he just kneeled and then saw another blade coming and rolled.

Then, the second challenge; Word of God. When Indy steps on "J", he falls through, and we get an undershot of the walk way. We see there are only a few pillars (presumably under the correct letters). But when Indy is dangling, there are no supporting pillars - he should have fallen to his death. He pulls himself up on what looks like a letter "P" (which I believe is "R", in latin). Considering there are even less Rs in Jehovah, than there are Js, why didn't he fall through?

I always think the same thing. I figure they just thought people wouldn't read too much into it and go with it.

For all Indy knows, maybe ***** had a big ol' Snoop Dogg cup, for when he had friends and family over for dinner.

:lol I kind of thought that Donovan was someone who knew his stuff, but maybe all he was was a collector.

 

[dbuck]

Does that mean that the crusader that was sitting there all that time was that old when he went into the chamber? Or does immortalityjust mean live forever, not remain the same age forever. He was old and feeble and could barely lift his sword.

He was immortal thanks to the grail, but still he aged, poor guy.

It is thought he was born around 1066.......Which means he could not speak modern English. "He chose poorly" might simply be put as : rædléas