Why aren't Indy and his dad immortal?

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I've been rewatching all the Indy movies (minus the recent one, which I have no interest in) and was wondering why Indy and his dad aren't immortal or have extended life spans. They both drank from the grail, but theories online are that once the grail passed the seal, the "deal" was negated. The other theory is that you have to drink from it regularly to either have a long life (Grail Knight). The only other thing I thought about was that maybe it only extends your natural life and disease/illness aren't included in that. I don't think it's explained how Henry Jones Sr. died, but it could have been something like cancer. Any ideas?

Also I would think he would have let Brody and Sallah drink right after!

 

[OzReturner]

I always assumed that the caveat of immortality was that you had to stay in that canyon temple. You leave, and the deal is negated, as you mentioned.

 

[NeoRutty]

I always took it that you had to continually drink from it…

The one knight protected it, and regularly drank from it, so was immortal… but still aged.

If it was a one shot the others would have drank from it and would also still be alive… not had tombs…

 

[Captain Dunsel]

I've been rewatching all the Indy movies (minus the recent one, which I have no interest in) and was wondering why Indy and his dad aren't immortal or have extended life spans. They both drank from the grail, but theories online are that once the grail passed the seal, the "deal" was negated. The other theory is that you have to drink from it regularly to either have a long life (Grail Knight). The only other thing I thought about was that maybe it only extends your natural life and disease/illness aren't included in that. I don't think it's explained how Henry Jones Sr. died, but it could have been something like cancer. Any ideas?

Also I would think he would have let Brody and Sallah drink right after!

“You have chosen wisely. But the Grail cannot pass beyond the Great Seal. That is the boundary, and the price of immortality.”

GRAIL KNIGHT TO INDIANA JONES

I always took it that once you passed the Great Seal, you gave up your immortality.

Great Seal

"You have chosen wisely. But the Grail cannot pass beyond the great seal. That is the boundary, and the price of immortality." ―Grail Knight to Indiana Jones[src] The Great Seal was a marking metal point inside the Temple of the Sun.[1] When Indiana Jones recovered the Holy Grail from the temple...

indianajones.fandom.com

 

[blewis17]

I always took it that you had to continually drink from it…

The one knight protected it, and regularly drank from it, so was immortal… but still aged.

If it was a one shot the others would have drank from it and would also still be alive… not had tombs…

Let's face it... While the film is fun and a solid sequel to ROTLA, the last act of Indy 3 really doesn't make "sense" in its own universe. It quickly falls apart when you start asking basic questions.

 

[NeoRutty]

Let's face it... While the film is fun and a solid sequel to ROTLA, the last act of Indy 3 really doesn't make "sense" in its own universe. It quickly falls apart when you start asking basic questions.

I always thought it was weird that the statement wasn’t “the penitent man kneels and then does a fun roll before God”

 

[Lightning]

The other theory is that you have to drink from it regularly to either have a long life (Grail Knight).

It appears that the Power of the Grail is to heal everything that is wrong with you at that moment. So Henry and Indy become perfectly healthy 60ish and 39 year olds respectively. They age normally from that point. By drinking from the grail regularly, the Grail Knight can reverse starvation and any other ailments but he's still a (perfectly healthy) 700 year old man. That's why his brothers didn't last long after leaving, even a healthy 200 year old man won't last long after beginning to age normally.

 

[fifthchamber]

I always thought it was weird that the statement wasn’t “the penitent man kneels and then does a fun roll before God”

I always enjoyed the idea that the "Penitent man kneels" idea is that a basic kneel, WOULD keep you alive, but the trap is designed to "trick" muslims or those who would kneel "differently", if Indy had JUST knelt, the top and front blades would have missed, if he'd knelt fully, as in Islam, he'd have died because of the front blade, and because he was a little forwards but caught it, he rolled instead, and just made it....But a "basic kneel", would have got him through that trap fine...

It's a movie, so none of it REALLY makes much sense, but that idea kinda means something, the idea that it's for Christians, not for Muslims, so, one and not the other, depending on their method of "kneeling before god", would have gotten through....

Meaningless, but fun....

 

[NeoRutty]

I always enjoyed the idea that the "Penitent man kneels" idea is that a basic kneel, WOULD keep you alive, but the trap is designed to "trick" muslims or those who would kneel "differently", if Indy had JUST knelt, the top and front blades would have missed, if he'd knelt fully, as in Islam, he'd have died because of the front blade, and because he was a little forwards but caught it, he rolled instead, and just made it....But a "basic kneel", would have got him through that trap fine...

It's a movie, so none of it REALLY makes much sense, but that idea kinda means something, the idea that it's for Christians, not for Muslims, so, one and not the other, depending on their method of "kneeling before god", would have gotten through....

Meaningless, but fun....

Didn't think of it that way... good call!

by the way, if you haven't seen Skeleton Crew there's a nod to that trap.

 

[fifthchamber]

Didn't think of it that way... good call!

by the way, if you haven't seen Skeleton Crew there's a nod to that trap.

Yeah! I spotted that one! It's rather fun to see those callbacks when they throw them out!

 

[batguy]

The final act of 'Last Crusade' lost me with the camouflaged bridge across the chasm. I couldn't buy it even as a kid. They needed to invent a more plausible trick there.

 

[Treadwell]

The final act of 'Last Crusade' lost me with the camouflaged bridge across the chasm. I couldn't buy it even as a kid. They needed to invent a more plausible trick there.

I buy it in that it's possible, but those things only work when viewed from one teeny tiny spot in space. If Indy was any taller or shorter than who created it, or was standing a little back or to the side, the illusion is broken.
Not to mention that hundreds of years of dust would have covered the bridge, making the colors no longer blend in.
And it was painted pre-Renaissance, when perspective began to be understood.

 

[Darth Lars]

In Indiana Jones canon, Indiana Jones was born in 1899. This had been calculated from Harrison Ford's age in Raiders from the year the movie was set. 1936 - 37 = 1899.

In the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which was set in then present day when it was aired: Indiana Jones was played by George Hall, who had been born in 1916. 1916 - 1899 = 17.

So, from that you could surmise that the Grail would have at least rejuvenated him about 17 years.

 

[ScourgiousJinx]

I always wondered what happened to the bullet. Did the "magic" peroxide holy water remove it, destroy it, did it just heal the wound leaving the bullet intact or did the bullet pass through him?

 

[ScourgiousJinx]

The final act of 'Last Crusade' lost me with the camouflaged bridge across the chasm. I couldn't buy it even as a kid. They needed to invent a more plausible trick there.

That's just the tip of iceberg. I was never really a huge fan of The Last Crusade. Was always my least favorite for a slew of reasons.

Some of these are moronic as is usually the case of in these types of videos...

 

[batguy]

Yeah, 'Crusade' is easy to rip apart if you want to.

'Temple' came soon after 'Raiders' and a lot of stuff in it was unused ideas from the first one. Those two movies felt close. Then 'Crusade' came after a 5-year break and the tone was different.



The invisible bridge just bothers me specifically. Anybody knows at a glance that it wouldn't work. IMO they could have done the idea in a better way. At least make the scene dark & foggy and put the bridge a few feet down. Obscure his view of it somehow.

It was a 'test of faith'. The details of how the magic trick works are not critical. The only critical part is how the challenge appears. Indy must commit to stepping out into the abyss with no visible way of surviving it. And no supernatural help. Indy has to survive within natural laws, at least for the important challenges.

 

[OzReturner]

I always wondered what happened to the bullet. Did the "magic" peroxide holy water remove it, destroy it, did it just heal the wound leaving the bullet intact or did the bullet pass through him?

I think it's still in there, based on the lumpish mound of flesh remaining after the peroxide healing.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

If ya’ll have problems with The Last Crusade, please allow me to entice you with these spectacular subsequent offerings that are nearly perfect specimens of impeccable writing and timeless, memorable characters that enrich the franchise…

 

[NeoRutty]

I buy it in that it's possible, but those things only work when viewed from one teeny tiny spot in space. If Indy was any taller or shorter than who created it, or was standing a little back or to the side, the illusion is broken.
Not to mention that hundreds of years of dust would have covered the bridge, making the colors no longer blend in.
And it was painted pre-Renaissance, when perspective began to be understood.

1. I studied art in college… I’ll never understand how we suddenly understood perspective.

If you’re drawing what you’re seeing, why would you make it all flat and call it a day?

I remember a teacher showing this lady lying across a couch and her body SUPER LONG. “They hadn’t yet understood anatomy and perspective”

I asked if it was not possible that the artist was a great painter, but just couldn’t draw. maybe he started with drawing the couch too long and messed up from there…

Got told I was wrong. Still don’t get it.

2. As for dust on the bridge….

That old knight just went for leisurely walks, dusting the bridge…. Fixing letters on the floor… polishing cups… retrieving grails from chasms… leaving bodies cuz gross.

If my friend Jirish has taken instagram pics in front of that place, more people than Indy found it and prob set off traps.

 

[Michael Bergeron]

1. I studied art in college… I’ll never understand how we suddenly understood perspective.

If you’re drawing what you’re seeing, why would you make it all flat and call it a day?

I remember a teacher showing this lady lying across a couch and her body SUPER LONG. “They hadn’t yet understood anatomy and perspective”

I asked if it was not possible that the artist was a great painter, but just couldn’t draw. maybe he started with drawing the couch too long and messed up from there…

Got told I was wrong. Still don’t get it.

I also studied art, but history as well.

If you look at things like Greek sculpture, and even some ancient paintings/frescos, it's clear that they understood perspective and anatomy perfectly fine. But representing photorealistic scenes wasn't what they were after, particularly in medieval times. Paintings were about symbolism and conveying a message to illiterate populations rather than beauty, so the emphasis was being as clear as possible, often at a distance.

Consider it like an artistic choice rather than a limitation. Of course, there's always less than stellar artists occupying the scene as well. Sculpture was considered to be the higher art with more permanence, so if you were really good, you likely didn't paint/draw much. The Bayeaux tapestry wasn't made by artists, but rather noblewomen for instance.