"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" got its world premiere on the French Riviera on Thursday, with Harrison Ford walking the red carpet for one last crack of the whip as the world's favourite adventuring archaeologist.

The veteran star, who has vowed this will be the last time he dons the famous fedora, was honoured by the festival with an honorary Palme d'Or on stage ahead of the screening.

Ford, was visibly moved as he accepted the award.

Trailers and teaser images from the film promise some classic Indy action in the streets of Tangiers and Sicily. 

He was joined by supporting stars Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Antonio Banderas.

The 80-year-old star is de-aged for an extended -- and very expensive -- flashback sequence in the $294 million new blockbuster, which is due for general release at the end of June. 

It is the first of the five films -- which began back in 1981 with "Raiders of the Lost Ark" -- not to be directed by Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg passed the reins to James Mangold, known for "Logan" and Johnny Cash biopic "Walk The Line". 

The franchise is now part of the Disney empire, who bought it along with "Star Wars" when they took over Lucasfilm in 2012.

Several fans showed up for a glimpse of the stars wearing fedora hats and leather jackets.

No one would want to be seated behind Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai, who walked the red carpet in a towering space-age hoodie. 

Also on the red carpet was Amazon tribal chief Raoni Metuktire, in full traditional regalia, who was in town to promote forest conservation.

- Long docs -

Oscar-winning "Twelve Years a Slave" director Steve McQueen was also on the red carpet. 

His four-hour documentary about wartime Amsterdam, "Occupied City", which premiered out-of-competition on Wednesday, wowed some critics while boring others to tears. 

Premiering at the festival just after Indiana Jones was "Black Flies", an ultra-tense drama about New York paramedics starring Sean Penn, with an unlikely supporting role for ex-boxer Mike Tyson as his station chief. 

Another lengthy documentary also premiered earlier in the day from a master of the genre, Wang Bing, who offers rarely seen insights into daily life in China.  

His 210-minute film, "Youth (Spring)", came from five years of footage of migrant textile workers around Shanghai and is a rare documentary in the main competition for the Palme d'Or at Cannes. 

Documentaries have done well on the festival circuit recently, with "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed" (Laura Poitras's film about big pharma) winning Venice last year, and "On the Adamant" (about a daycare centre for mentally ill patients) winning in Berlin in February. 

There are 21 films competing for the top prize at Cannes -- the Palme d'Or -- including several previous winners such as Japan's Hirokazu Kore-eda, Germany's Wim Wenders and two-time British winner Ken Loach. 

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