Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

• When the Grail Knight says, "He chose... poorly", he's not referring to Donovan's selection of the Grail - he never picked the Grail, Elsa did. The Knight is stating Donovan's choice of allies was poor.
  • Or, you know, both.
    • The line works either way. Donovan still believed the False Grail was the real thing. "This truly is the cup of the King of the Kings" and all.
    • However, Donovan still had no idea what the Grail would look like. He would have said that had Elsa picked the actual Grail.
• Henry Sr. talks Indy out of trying to get the Grail by calling him Indiana. Not only is he recognizing him as an equal, by calling him his preferred name, but Henry Sr. had spent his whole life looking for the Grail, and he's decided it's time to go on without it. And afterwards, when Indy asks him what he found at the Grail temple, he says "Me? Illumination.", which is a Call Back to the beginning, as when Henry ignored him while working on the Grail diary, he said "May he who illuminated this, illuminate me...".
• When Donovan recruits Indy to look for the Holy Grail, he says "Find the man, and you will find the Grail.". He not only speaks of the Grail itself, but Indy's relationship with his father, with whom he's been estranged for years. It's this search for the Grail that brings them together.
  • Steven Spielberg said it himself in behind-the-scenes interviews, "the search for the father is the search for the Grail".
• Indy hates his father because he was never there for him growing up, because he was working on his grail diary. But as an adult, despite his Papa Wolf reputation from the previous film, Indy's never there for his children either! As a professor, he has dozens of students wanting to speak with him about his stacks of ungraded exams and papers and numerous phone messages, because he was focused on his own pursuits, such as the Cross of Coronado.
• The results to choosing poorly with the Holy Grail is a no brainer for Catholics & Orthodox. This is why they are so picky about Communion. They aren't being unwelcoming. They are protected those who don't know the dangers. To wit:

So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep [in death]. (1 Cor 11:23-34 NIV)

Fridge Horror

• Elsa Schneider knew that the grail she chose wasn't the right one. Even though Dr. Donovan was the Big Bad, she still murdered someone in the presence of the Cup of Christ.