Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Sallah escape the temple and then ride off into the sunset. Lucas and Spielberg had intended to make a trilogy of "Indiana Jones" films since Lucas had first pitched "Raiders of the Lost Ark" to Spielberg in 1977. After the mixed critical and public reaction to "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", Spielberg decided to complete the trilogy to fulfill his promise to Lucas and "to apologize for the second one". The pair had the intention of revitalizing the series by evoking the spirit and tone of "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Throughout the film's development and pre-production,
Indiana Jones films involving archaeologists, they were portrayed as victims who would need to be rescued by a more masculine or heroic figure. Following 1981, the stereotypical archaeologist is thought of as a male bullwhip-wielding adventurer and professor. The stereotypical image of an archaeologist is also portrayed as an individual usually out doing fieldwork, which is not always the case. Archeologist Anne Pyburn described the influence of Indiana Jones as elitist and sexist, and argued that the Indiana Jones films have caused new discoveries in the field of archaeology to become oversimplified and overhyped in an attempt to gain public interest, which