Design

Mechanical effects supervisor George Gibbs said The Last Crusade was the most difficult film of his career.[4] He visited a museum to negotiate renting a small French World War I tank, but decided he wanted to make one.[1] The tank was based on the Tank Mark VIII, which was 36 feet and 28 tons. Gibbs built the tank over the framework of a 28-ton excavator and added seven ton tracks that were driven by two automatic hydraulic pumps, each connected to a Range Rover V8 engine. Gibbs built the tank from steel rather than aluminum or fiberglass because it would allow the realistically suspensionless vehicle to endure the rocky surfaces. Unlike its historical counterpart—which had four side guns—the tank had a turret and two guns on its sides. It took four months to build and was transported to Almería on a Short Belfast plane and then a low loader truck.[4]