Title: Indiana Jones and the Legend of Excalibur
MacGuffin: King Arthur's sword, Excalibur
Year: 1959
Returning Characters: Sallah*, Short Round*, Jock*
Indy girl: Marion Jones (For Indy)
Sidekick: Mutt Jones
Champagne villain: Thomas Hargreaves (Actor: Liev Schreiber; A wealthy American industrialist with a large private army of mercenaries. He wants to control the world, and feels Excalibur is the way to do it. Insurmountable power and nigh invincibility can be his if he can achieve the Sword. All he needs is to find King Arthur's heir.)
Menacing villains: Agent Griffin Archer (Actor: Christian Bale; Government agent who is initially working as Indy's bodyguard, assigned to him by the CIA, but then betrays him in order to work for Thomas Hargreaves. When they find the sword he shoots Hargreaves in the back and orders Indy to retrieve it for him.) and Col. Vladimir Dyalov (Actor: Tim Roth; competing against both Hargreaves, Archer, and Indy to get Excalibur. He assisted Indy in a mission to Paris during World War II before getting caught up in the Cold War.)
Critters: Scorpions, spiders, snakes, shark, piranhas
Locations: Paris, 1942; New York City; Taiwan; Underneath England
Opening: Set during the Nazi occupation of Paris, Indy and Dyalov are working on a joint venture between Russia and the United States to intensify their alliance, and are sent to retrieve a box containing classified objects from the Nazis holding it. After retrieving the box from the Nazi-occupied Louvre Indy and Dyalov escape via jeep from a horde of Nazis chasing after them. Indy drives the jeep into the back of a cargo plane piloted by Jock. Jock asks Indy and Dyalov if their mission was worth it as Indy opens the box. Indy states "Oh, yeah, it was worth it." Inside is the Mona Lisa.
Sets and setpieces: WWII action sequence in Paris; Dogfight in the streets of New York; A battle between Dyalov's Russians, Hargreaves' mercenaries, and Indy's crew off the coast of Taiwan; A large, sprawling car chase through a city beneath England, in which both Indy and Dyalov's crew both furiously pursue Archer, who is currently in possession of Excalibur; Fistfight aboard the cargo plane containing Excalibur between Archer and Indy as Mutt tries to ward off Russian planes with the machine guns on the plane.
Vehicles: Jeeps, tank, speedboat, manned drill, motorcycles
Grisly death: Man is eaten by sharks. Another is thrown on top of a drill.
Finale: Indy and Archer engage in a fistfight aboard an airplane being shot at by Russians. Indy punches Archer square in the face as he topples over. As he lies on the floor, he notices his gun and starts crawling for it. Indy has his back turned to him and states "You know what, Archer? You can go to hell." Archer grabs his gun, stands up, and spins to face Indy. Just as he does this, Indy stabs him in the chest with Excalibur. Archer staggers. "And take this damn sword with you!" He falls out of the back of the airplane and into the ocean. Only then does Mutt, who is flying the plane, notice the empty fuel tank. Indy overtakes the controls and, for the first time in the series, lands a plane perfectly. When he lands, however, Dyalov and two of his men are waiting outside. Dyalov points a pistol to Indy's head, drags him out of the airplane, and throws him to the ground. He cocks his pistol as his back is turned to the beach. Dyalov coolly states "Goodbye, Doctor Jones." A shot rings out. Indy looks up and sees a bullet hole through Dyalov's chest. He falls. Indy sees Marion Ravenwood holding a sniper rifle. She cocks it as a shell pops out. Indy and Mutt beat up the remaining Russians, leaving them bound and tied for the authorities. They rush to join her on the boat. Mutt offers to take over the controls as Marion sits in the back with Indy.
Last shot: Marion and Indy kiss as Mutt rolls his eyes and drives off into the ship off into the sunset.