Review of Raiders of the Lost Ark (66)

Plot
Renowned archeologist and expert in the occult, Dr. Indiana Jones, is hired by the U.S. Government to find the Ark of the Covenant, which is believed to still hold the ten commandments. Unfortunately, agents of Adolf Hitler are also after the Ark as Indy embarks on a quest that takes him from Nepal to Cairo.

Jason's Thoughts
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a movie that has everything.  It has drama, comedy, suspense, a little bit of mystery and a whole lot of action.  In fact, one could say that Raiders of the Lost Ark is the template that most action movies have borrowed from since then.  What makes this one stand apart from the rest, though, is that it's perfectly mixed together and it's all very memorable.

I remember watching Raiders of the Lost Ark as a young child and a few of the scenes stuck with me my entire life.  I hadn't seen this film in over a decade, maybe even close to two decades, but I can still recall certain scenes as if I had just seen them yesterday.  Scenes such as Indy being chased down by a boulder,  or Indy bringing a gun to a sword fight, or the horror of a madman whose skin is melting from his face are all things that I'm never likely to forget.  Even so, I was still entertained after watching it again as Raiders of the Lost Ark has that type of longevity and appeal to it.

Watching it again as an adult, I was amazed at the level of violence it contained, especially for a PG movie.  Of course, this movie was released when there wasn't a bridge between PG and R so this one must have squeaked through even though the blood flows freely during a fight scene near the airplane and the ending as nearly as horrific as any horror movie I have ever seen.  In all honesty, ratings don't matter much to me as they may for others, but I have seen movies more tame than this get a higher rating.  Movies with the rating of PG nowadays seem more to me like rainbows and lollypops, neither are present in this film.

The one aspect that I feel was missed upon was the character development.  Indiana Jones himself was done well, however, the secondary characters I felt were all lacking.  There wasn't much explanation as to who Indy's rival, René Belloq, was or why the two were enemies.  Indy's former love interest, Marion, also got the shaft in my opinion.  Other minor characters are also introduced throughout the film with little explanation given as to who they are and why they are here.  In my mind, that is the one flaw of the entire film.

With that said, the action more than makes up for it and Raiders of the Lost Ark is a rare movie that stands the test of time, even after repeated viewings.  Not many movies can lay claim to that.

Crystal's Thoughts
Ahhhhhh, finally, a movie that was quite interesting and kept me so involved that I didn't once look at the minutes ticking by on the clock as I had found myself doing with some of the others on this list.  Of course, I had Harrison Ford on the screen, who's acting is always a joy to watch, may it be when he was in his late 30s or now as he approaches 67.  Well, minus Blade Runner.   He was good; the film simply wasn't.

In addition to his presence, the film was filled with action, which made it exhilarating for me.  As I've blogged before in these reviews, I don't like movies that seem to just putz along or are three hours long when 90 minutes would have been sufficient.  I personally have never seen Raiders of the Lost Ark before this viewing, so for me, it reminded me a lot of National Treasure.  Yes, yes, yes.  I know Raiders of the Lost Ark was the original idea.  I couldn't help relating it to those movies though as I did see those first.

I did remind myself during it though that it was created over 30 years before National Treasure.  For that, Raiders of the Lost Ark was quite elaborate in its visual presentation and stunts.  A quick run down of the all the "extras" listed for this movie on the IMDB database online clearly shows how much was involved in the production.  I wish all the movies we have to partake in on this quest could be as lively as this one.  An easy, fun watch for all, and hey, it's rated PG (parents beware, per today's standards, it wouldn't have been given a simple PG). 

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