Raiders of The Lost Ark

Release Date: June 12, 1981

Movie Trailer

CAST:

Harrison Ford: Indiana Jones

Karen Allen: Marion Ravenwood

Paul Freeman: Belloq

John Rhys-Davies: Sallah

Okay, raise your hands: How many of you have not seen this movie?  If you haven’t, you need to turn in your movie fan card right now.  Seriously.  Hand them forward.  Between the release of Star Wars in 1977 and the sequel, The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg had an idea for a movie that recalled the early days of cinema and the 1930 serials.  They wanted to do a James Bond movie set in the 1930’s, so they came up with the idea of a movie called Raiders of the Lost Ark.  The main character was to be called Indiana Smith, but the name wasn’t catchy enough, so Spielberg changed it to Indiana Jones with Tom Selleck in the lead.  Unfortunately, Tom Selleck was cast in the television series, Magnum P.I, so they went with Harrison Ford.  The rest, as they say, is history.

In the jungles of South America, an expedition is underway to find a lost idol.  Lead by archaeologist Indiana Jones(Harrison Ford), the group finds their way to the cave where the idol is located.  After finding the idol and escaping the tomb’s traps, Jones finds himself face-to-face with his arch-nemesis, Belloq(Paul Freeman).  Escaping with only his life and the clothes on his back, Indiana Jones makes his way back home to his university where he is teaching a class on archaeology.  After the class ends, Indy talks to his friend, Marcus Brody(Denholm Elliot), where he’s told that government people want to see him.  They tell him that the Nazis have discovered the city where the fabled Ark of the Covenant may be hidden, so they want him to recover it before they do.  On the way, Indy meets up with his old flame, Marion Ravenwood(Karen Allen)and friend Sallah(JohnRhys-Davies).

I could probably write a college thesis on how amazing this movie is.  Honestly, I could go on forever and ever about this movie.  But I won’t do that, because this is not the place for it.  I literally can’t remember the first time I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark.  I also can’t count how many times I’ve seen it.  It never gets old, and it never gets boring.  Almost every single moment in the film is memorable.  From the opening scene in the tomb to the opening of the Ark, the movie is packed to the hilt with adventure.  Indiana Jones travels from South America to Nepal and Egypt in search of the legendary Ark of the Covenant.  The funny thing about the character is how often he ends up in a life-threatening predicament.  He doesn’t always emerge unscathed, but he always comes out on top as heroes do.  Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones.  No one else can do it.  Sure, Sean Patrick Flannery played Young Indiana Jones in the TV series,  but when it comes to wearing the iconic fedora, leather jacket and whip, no one else pulls it off the way Ford can.

While the main character’s introduction is awesome, Marion’s introduction is by far my favorite of the bunch.  Jones walks into her bar, asking for a medallion, and she socks him right in the jaw.  Karen Allen is simply fantastic.  She gives the character such fire and wit, that Marion is clearly a match for Jones.  She’s tough, beautiful and she has a sense of humor.  That’s a winning combination if there ever was one.  John Rhys-Davies is great as Sallah.  The character is clearly a loyal friend of Indy’s and is always there for Indy, even if it means he ends up dealing with asps.

What is a hero without a suitable villain?  According to Steven Spielberg, there are two kinds of villains in the Indiana Jones films: The champagne villain, which is the guy who is the brains of the bunch and doesn’t get his hands dirty, and the henchman who’s more than willing to do the dirty work.  The henchmen are particularly vile and evil.  In Raiders of the Lost Ark, the champagne villain is Belloq, who is played the ever-reliable Paul Freeman.  He gives the French archaeologist an interesting stature.  The guy is rich and it shows, but he’s also very smart and cunning.  The late Ronald Lacey plays Toht, the henchman.  Lacey is great at playing total scumbags, and Toht is no exception.

The action sequences in this film are second-to-none.  Indiana Jones punches, whips and shoots his way to victory.  The best thing about these action sequences is the amount of humor that’s put into them.  Yes, they are exciting and spectacular with awesome fist fights and explosions, but they are peppered with a great sense of humor which makes them so memorable.  The bar fight is simply brilliant when one of the Sherpas interrupts the shooting and starts beating the living daylights out of Jones.  Stuff like that is brilliantly unpredictable and just adds to the flavor of the film.  The desert chase scene is quite possibly one of the most intense chase scenes I have ever seen.  While Indy’s fight with the German engineer on the plane is fantastic, the greatest fight scene in all of cinema doesn’t actually last very long.

The actual visual effects of the film don’t come into play until the opening of the Ark.  That is an incredibly spectacular sequence.  But it is gruesome, so you may want to cover little Timmy’s eyes for that.  All the effects in Raiders of the Lost Ark are pretty much done practically, with the exception of some of the lightening effects in the film.  The effects in the first three Indiana Jones movies are some of the biggest reasons why these movies have really stood up.  I mentioned the human characters above, but one of the biggest characters of the series is the music by the legendary John Williams.  Besides Star Wars, the main theme in the Indiana Jones films is among the most recognizable and iconic themes in cinema history.  It gives the viewers that sense of adventure that permeates the movie.  It’s thrilling, epic and absolutely perfect.  It’s not just the main theme that’s memorable, but also the music during the desert chase sequence.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is the perfect example of the action-adventure film.  Harrison Ford has two legendary film franchises under his belt.  Star Wars and Indiana Jones are the two biggest reasons for Mr. Ford becoming the star that he is.  Say what you will about the Indiana Jones sequels, but Raiders of the Lost Ark, as far as I’m concerned, is one of the rare movies that is above reproach.  It’s perfect in nearly every way.  George Lucas and Steven Spielberg did an astounding job here.  With great acting, stunts, and visual effects, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the greatest adventure films of all time.  If you don’t have this one in your collection, why not?  It’s a roller-coaster ride and I simply can’t recommend it enough.  10/10.  Go buy it.  It’s rated PG and available on DVD and Blu-Ray.

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