<P> The film was released in North America on May 24, 1989, in 2,327 theaters, earning $29,355,021 in its opening weekend . This was the third - highest opening weekend of 1989, behind Ghostbusters II and Batman . Its opening day gross of $11,181,429 was the first time a film had made over $10 million on its first day . It broke the record for the best six - day performance, with almost $47 million, added another record with $77 million after twelve days, and $100 million in nineteen days . It grossed $195.7 million by the end of the year and $475 million worldwide by March 1990 . In France, the film broke a record by selling a million admissions within two and a half weeks . </P> <P> The film eventually grossed $197,171,806 in North America and $277 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $474,171,806 . At the time of its release, the film was the 11th highest - grossing film of all time . Despite competition from Batman, The Last Crusade became the highest - grossing film worldwide in 1989 . In North America, Batman took top position . Behind Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Raiders, The Last Crusade is the third - highest grossing Indiana Jones film in North America, though it is also behind Temple of Doom when adjusting for inflation . Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 49 million tickets in North America . </P> <P> The film opened to mostly positive reviews . It was panned by Andrew Sarris in The New York Observer, David Denby in New York magazine, Stanley Kauffmann in The New Republic and Georgia Brown in The Village Voice . Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader called the film "soulless". The Washington Post reviewed the film twice; Hal Hinson's review on the day of the film's release was negative, describing it as "nearly all chases and dull exposition". Although he praised Ford and Connery, he felt the film's exploration of Indiana's character took away his mystery and that Spielberg should not have tried to mature his storytelling . Two days later, Desson Thomson published a positive review praising the film's adventure and action, as well as the father--son relationship's thematic depth . Joseph McBride of Variety observed the "Cartoonlike Nazi villains of Raiders have been replaced by more genuinely frightening Nazis led by Julian Glover and Michael Byrne," and found the moment where Indiana meets Hitler "chilling". In his biography of Spielberg, McBride added the film was less "racist" than its predecessors . </P> <P> Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said the film was "the wildest and wittiest Indy of them all". Richard Corliss of Time and David Ansen of Newsweek praised it, as did Vincent Canby of The New York Times . "Though it seems to have the manner of some magically reconstituted B - movie of an earlier era, The Last Crusade is an endearing original," Canby wrote, deeming the revelation Indiana had a father who was not proud of him to be a "comic surprise". Canby believed that while the film did not match the previous two in its pacing, it still had "hilariously off - the - wall sequences" such as the circus train chase . He also said that Spielberg was maturing by focusing on the father--son relationship, a call echoed by McBride in Variety . Roger Ebert praised the scene depicting Indiana as a Boy Scout with the Cross of Coronado; he compared it to the "style of illustration that appeared in the boys' adventure magazines of the 1940s", saying that Spielberg "must have been paging through his old issues of Boys' Life magazine...the feeling that you can stumble over astounding adventures just by going on a hike with your Scout troop . Spielberg lights the scene in the strong, basic colors of old pulp magazines ." The Hollywood Reporter felt Connery and Ford deserved Academy Award nominations . </P>

Indiana jones and the last crusade where was it filmed