Film and Plot Synopsis
In this fifth and final installment of the Indiana Jones series, an elderly Indy is retiring and living a lonely life in New York after suffering a personal tragedy. When he is suddenly visited by his goddaughter, Helena Shaw, Indy finds himself unwittingly thrust into another globe trotting adventurer in search of another ancient artifact. This time, Indy and Helena are in search of Archimedes’ Dial, a device that allows its user to find fissures in time. If Indy is unsuccessful, the always present forces of darkness may use the Dial to rewrite history and change the outcome of World War II.
‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ Movie Summary
Meanwhile, Nazi astrophysicist Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) informs Weber that the Lance of Longinus that they have in their possession is a fake. However, Voller also informs Weber that he has discovered that they have half of Archimedes’ Dial, a legendary mechanism constructed by the ancient Syracusan mathematician Archimedes that allegedly reveals time fissures. Voller believes that these time fissures could allow the Nazis to time travel into the past. Weber is uninterested in the Dial and is more interested in interrogating Indy’s companion Basil Shaw (Toby Jones). Weber has Basil brought onto a train that the Nazis are planning on using to move the stolen antiquities back to Germany. Indy uses a motorcycle to catch the speeding train. Once on board, Indy frees Basil and takes the Lance and the Dial. Before they can escape the train, Indy must battle both Weber and Voller. Ultimately, the Nazis are defeated. Indy and Basil escape the train by jumping into a river before the trains crashes due to a bridge that has been bombed by the Allies. Indy and Basil return to the Allied forces with the portion of the Dial that they stole.
The film then jumps to 1969. A much older Indy is living alone in New York City. No longer working at Marshall College, Indy now teaches at the less prestigious Hunter College. Indy is separated from his wife Marion (Karen Allen), who has filed for legal separation from Indy after the archeologist fell into despair due to the death of their son Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) in the Vietnam War. Indy’s glory days are behind him, and the famed archeologist is set to retire from teaching. Indy’s goddaughter, and Basil’s daughter, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) shows up unexpectedly and begins asking Indy about the Dial that he and her father found during the war. It is revealed that Basil became obsessed with the Dial after the war and had asked Indy to destroy it to prevent future calamity. Indy took the Dial and promised to destroy it. However, Indy ultimately did not and placed it into storage with many of his acquired antiquities. Helena claims that she wants to research the Dial, but once Indy shows her the artifact, Helena steals the Dial.
At the same time, three gun toting thugs, Klaber (Boyd Holbrook), Durkin (Martin McDougall), and Hauke (Olivier Richters), and a CIA agent by the name of Mason (Shaunette Renée Wilson) arrive and attempt to capture Indy and Helena and to steal the Dial. The thugs and Mason work for a much older Voller, who now works for NASA under the new name of Dr. Schmidt. Despite his new job, Voller very much still believes in the Nazi agenda. Helena flees, leaving Indy behind. Indy escapes but a few of his coworkers are killed by the thugs. Klaber and the thugs pursue Indy through the streets of New York while a ticker tape parade celebrating the space race is going on. Indy manages to escape by stealing a police horse and riding it into the subway system. After the escape, the police begin looking for Indy believing he may be responsible for the deaths at the college.
Desperate for help, Indy seeks out the assistance of Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) who is now a cab driver in New York. Sallah tells Indy that Helena is an antiquities smuggler and is likely heading to Tangier to sell the Dial on the black market. Sallah takes Indy to the airport where the archeologist can catch his own plane to Tangier. Sallah offers to go with Indy, but Indy refuses his old friend’s offer choosing to only place himself in danger.
Once in Tangier, Helena takes the Dial to a black-market auction at a hotel. Voller, his henchmen, and Indy arrive a short time later before the Dial is sold. Voller grabs the Dial and flees the hotel. Indy, Helena, and Helena’s sidekick, Teddy Kumar (Ethann Isidore), pursue in small tuk-tuks. Their pursuit is joined by Tangier authorities and Helena’s former fiancé Aziz Rahim (Alaa Safi), who is still bitter about Helena leaving him. Aziz is the son of a Moroccan mobster who wants Helena dead. Voller gets away from Indy, but he is captured by Mason, who has been ordered to bring Voller back to the United States after he was disavowed for going rogue. Voller’s henchmen kill the CIA agents, including Mason, and steal their helicopter.
Indy and Helena determine that their best bet to stop Voller is to find the other half of the Dial. Indy and Helena ascertain that their only option is to search the ancient shipwreck that the first half of the Dial was found on off the coast of Greece. The pair takes Teddy, and they meet up with another friend of Indy’s, Renaldo (Antonio Banderas), who is a professional sea diver. Renaldo takes them into the Aegean Sea where they find a “graphikos” tablet that contains directions to the second half of the Dial. Unfortunately, Voller arrives and captures the entire group. Voller kills Renaldo. Helena offers to translate the graphikos in exchange for her life and some money. While she translates, Helena formulates a plan for her, Indy, and Teddy to escape. They do escape and begin heading to Sicily, still being pursued by Voller and his men.
Once in Sicily, Teddy is abducted by Voller. Indy and Helena begin exploring the Ear of Dionysius cavern in the hope of finding Archimede’s tomb. They find it and the second half of the Dial. They also find a 20th century wristwatch on Archimedes’ skeletal arm. Voller and his men also enter the cavern and find the tomb. Teddy escapes from the henchmen by drowning Hauke in an underground river. Voller and Klaber capture Indy after the famed archeologist gets shot trying to ensure Helena’s escape. Voller collects the second half of the Dial and reconnects the pieces. He informs Indy that his ultimate plan is to use the Dial to travel back to 1939 to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Once Hitler is dead, Voller will replace the deposed German and lead the Nazis to ultimate victory. Voller and Klaber take Indy onto a plane to so that they can fly into a time fissure in the sky. Helena sneaks onto the plane through the landing gear. Teddy steals a separate plane and follows Voller’s plane towards the time fissure.
On Voller’s plane, Indy realizes that Archimedes would not have understood continental drift when constructing the dial. Indy concludes that they will not end up in 1939 as Voller predicts. Voller tries to alter their flight path but cannot before they pass through the time fissure. Once through, Voller and Indy find themselves at the Siege of Syracuse in 212 B.C., the time of Archimedes. The warring factions begin attacking Voller and Teddy’s planes as they pass over the battle. Helena frees Indy, and the pair parachute from the plane just before the plane crashes outside the city of Syracuse. Everyone on the plane, including Voller and Klaber, are killed.
Archimedes inspects the wreckage of the plane and takes a wristwatch from Voller’s body. Archimedes approaches Indy and Helena. Indy and Helena learn that Archimedes created the Dial to bring users from the future through fissures that only lead to his time. Knowing that his efforts will be successful, Archimedes returns the Dial that he found in the wreckage of the plane to Indy and Helena. Helena notices that the fissure is beginning to collapse and urges Indy to come with her to Teddy’s plane which has landed safely nearby. A distraught and bleeding Indy tells his goddaughter that he wants to stay in the past, believing that he has nothing to return to in 1969. Helena refuses to allow Indy to stay in the past and knocks him out with a punch.
Indy awakens several days later back at his apartment in New York in 1969. His gun shot wound bandaged; he finds Helena present watching over him. A few moments later, Sallah and his grandchildren visit Indy with groceries. Sallah is accompanied by Marion, who apparently was called by Helena while Indy slept. Helena, Teddy, Sallah, and his grandchildren excuse themselves so that the married couple can have a moment alone. Indy tells Marion that he is back, and the couple reconciles, ready to confront their grief over the loss of their son together.
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