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Since 1981, Indiana Jones has been the gold standard for cinematic adventure, for unparalleled action, smarts and suspense, hair-breadth escapes and huge laughs, all wrapped up in filmmaking on the grandest scale.

Now, 15 years after his last treasure hunt, cinema's greatest archaeologist, played by a pitch-perfect Harrison Ford, returns in Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, a new adventure packed with everything we love about Henry Jones Jr. Directed by James Mangold, who deftly handled another ageing icon in Logan, it promises dastardly villains, memorable sidekicks — some old, some new — imaginative set pieces and a surprisingly emotional undertow in what looks like the character's final hurrah. 

In the grand tradition of Indiana Jones adventures, Dial Of Destiny begins with a full-on opening sequence with the intrepid archaeologist back in the '40s, once again battling the Nazis — this time in a castle jam-packed with jeopardy.

Using a (much improved) version of the digital de-ageing technology used on Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, the effect is remarkable — it is like finding footage from a previously lost Indiana Jones adventure. 

The action then switches to late '60s America, with Indy on the verge of retirement, a man out of step with the age of rock music, radical politics and massive technological advances.

Just like the original Raiders, which drew from Hitler's real-life penchant for occult artefacts like the Lost Ark Of the Covenant, Dial Of Destiny weaves fact within the fiction.

The key element of truth involves the former members of the Third Reich, who were participating in the race to get a man on the moon. Out of this real-life scenario, writers Mangold, David Koepp, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth's screenplay spins a yarn rooted in history, one riotous action sequence taking place within the ticker-tape parade held for the homecoming astronauts returning to Earth (in actuality the scene was shot in Glasgow). 

Just as Indiana Jones is all about globetrotting escapades, so the supporting cast is suitably international. Fleabag herself, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, plays Indy's goddaughter Helena who drags Indy to the action but, true to the previous depictions of women in the series, is much more than she seems. Danish star Mads Mikkelsen plays the lead bad guy, Jürgen Voller, a character partly inspired by Wernher von Braun, Nazi aerospace engineer and co-creator of the V-2 missile.

Boyd Holbrook, best known for Narcos and a Mangold collaborator on Logan, is Voller's muscle Klaber, alongside Thomas Kretschmann as a Nazi from Voller's past. On Indy's side, we have Toby Jones and Antonio Banderas as old cohorts, as well as the return of the legendary John Rhys-Davies as Sallah, back for the first time in the series since 1989's Last Crusade. 

Series creators George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are still on board as executive producers, ensuring that authentic Indy feel — compounded by the return of legendary composer John Williams, whose blaring brass and slicing strings tell Indy when to run and when to duck. That iconic theme is enough to make the hairs stand on end. The mix of old and new — series firsts include a helicopter and sea snakes (why did it have to be sea snakes?) — mean that Indy's last crusade could well be his best.   Ian Freer

In The Know

1

James Mangold had discussions with Harrison Ford about starring in Le Mans 66 (known as Ford Vs. Ferrari in the US). The pair first worked together on 2020's Jack London adaptation The Call Of The Wild, with Ford starring and Mangold producing. 

2

Composer John Williams previewed his score for the film, playing the theme for Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Helena at a concert at the Hollywood Bowl in September. "When you hear a piece of music like that, you realise he's actually going to do a lot of the work for you," Waller-Bridge told Empire magazine. 

3

The wrap party for Dial Of Destiny was held in Shoreditch in February 2022 – it was aptly named The Last Brewsade. 

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Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny is released on 28 June — Book Now