7/10
Starring
Harrison Ford
Karen Allen
Paul Freeman
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Indiana Jones
and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is the first of the Indiana Jones franchise,
which spawned three sequels, a TV series, and numerous video games. It is a
classic that stood above many in the box office, raking in over $380 million.
It also won 4 Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Film
Editing, and Best Art Direction.
The movie pulls
surprise after surprise, like what happened when the Ark was opened. That scene
alone is not something you will expect. From the moment it’s opened until it’s
shut, you will be stunned.
In its
115-minute runtime, the movie packs a bold chase, arrows flying here and there,
a submarine, a car chase, gunfights, drama, comedy, adventure, Nazis, Gestapo,
Arabian men, and spiritual power in high places. All this for your enjoyment,
set across numerous locations.
There’s a scene
where Indy is trapped in the Well of Souls with over 7,000 snakes—now that is a
sight you really want to see. The car chase reminded me of the Mad Max movie The
Road Warrior—it was intense, fun, and dangerous.
The plot centers
around our favorite hero, trying to get a solid-gold idol from the Peruvian
jungle in 1936. He gets it, then loses the artifact to his rival, the movie’s
antagonist, a French archaeologist named Belloq (Paul Freeman).
Indy is
recruited by Army Intelligence to stop the Nazis, who seem to be after the Ark
of the Covenant to gain power to topple the world.
So, Indy saddles
up and heads to Nepal to meet with his mentor Ravenwood, only to discover that
Ravenwood has died. He is left to team up with Marion (Karen Allen), his
daughter, to go to Cairo where they meet Indy’s sidekick, Sallah (John
Rhys-Davies), as they team up to stop the Nazis.
The movie is one
joyride from place to place. It has quite an interesting bunch of characters
that will keep you both thrilled and entertained. One character that caught my
attention was the Gestapo.
Raiders of the
Lost Ark is set to be a prequel to the movie that came after it, as Temple of
Doom was set in 1935. The movie has received numerous accolades, ranking 66th
in the AFI’s Top 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) and 10th in AFI’s Top 10
Thrills.
Ironically, no
studio wanted to fund the movie until Paramount decided to take the risk. So, I
wonder which studio did the duo (Steven Spielberg and George Lucas) go to
first? They missed out on a goldmine.
Here is Indiana
Jones at the very beginning—an intro to the character that we all love and
admire. I believe there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have seen this classic.
While Raiders of
the Lost Ark is an exciting ride, I felt the pacing uneven at times, especially
during the dialogue-heavy scenes, plus Marion or Belloq, could have had more
depth.
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