Villains in fezzes and Nazis after the Holy Grail. It could only be Indiana Jones (or Monty Python) and it is.

This sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark (Temple of Doom was a prequel) ended the 1980s as well as Raiders kicked the decade off, pitching Dr Jones against his best adversaries, nefarious Nazis.

The plot is an echo of Raiders - the archaeologist must track down the Holy Grail before the Nazis use its powers of immortality to take over the world, but what saves this from deja-vu is the inspired addition of Sean Connery as Dr Jones, Sr to the cast.

Reportedly, Spielberg's arm needed twisting to cast Connery as Indiana Jones' curmudgeonly dad - after all, only twelve years separate him and Harrison Ford.

But the move was inspired, with Ford and Connery sparking off each other and the latter engaging in amusing sexual one-upmanship and a string of patronising putdowns.

Spielberg originally took Raiders because of a lifelong dream to direct a Bond movie, so who else could play Indy's dad than cinema's original 007?

The Last Crusade was also a cast reunion for the Raiders crew, bringing back Denholm Elliott and John Rhys-Davies, allowing both to get up to their ears in Nazis, runaway tanks and booby traps. Even the late Pat Roach returned, making him and Ford the only actors to star in all three original Jones movies (and keep 'em peeled for Grange Hill's Mr Bronson as Adolf Hitler).

Alison Doody as the heroine/villainess is sidelined in favour of the Ford/Connery chemistry, and like Allen and Capshaw before her was another Indy girl whose career didn't survive the movie.

A typically action-packed tale, Spielberg reduced the gore quotient in favour of foregrounding Vic Armstrong's stunningly mounted stuntwork, notably the boy scout prologue with River Phoenix as the young Indy battling crooks through a train of circus animals (explaining how Indy got his fear of snakes and chin scar), a motorbike and sidecar chase and the set-piece desert tank battle that is a textbook example of why old school daring buries CGI cartoons.

Preposterous, exciting and dynamically staged, it's a hell of an act for The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to follow.

Rob Daniel