Country: U.S.A.
Genre(s): Action /
Adventure
Director: Steve
Spielberg
Cast: Harrison Ford
/ Karen Allen / Paul Freeman
Plot
In 1936, the U.S.
Army gives archaeologist Indiana Jones the mission of recovering the Ark of the
Covenant before a Nazi-sponsored expedition does, kicking off a quest that will
take Jones from the mountains of Asia to the deserts of Africa to the high seas
aboard a German U-Boat.
What I Liked
I should begin this
review by stating that very few films have as much sentimental value for me as “Raiders.” I spent countless afternoons watching this
movie (or “The Last Crusade)” or imagining myself as Indiana Jones as I ran
around in the woods or played in a friends backyard.
The thing about
sentimental favorites from childhood, however, is that many of them disappoint
once you get to be an adult. Time
passes, you see better movies, the standards for effects change, the youthful
belief in magic fades, the adult mind criticizes too much. The great thing about watching “Raiders” is
that it was nearly as much fun to watch it this time around as it was back when
I was a kid. That’s because most of the
fun of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is based on quality of craft, which is always
timeless.
Let’s start with the
performances. Harrison Ford is perfectly
cast as Indy. In many ways, he reminded
me of everything that great about a Humphrey Bogart performance: masculine, ballsy,
smart, flawed, and vulnerable. To this
mix, Ford adds a level of self-effacing humor that Bogart’s characters always
lacked, making Jones one of the most well-rounded action heroes in cinema. Jones is cool enough to be envied and
relatable enough to fool you into imagining yourself in his shoes. Despite being a beloved action hero, Jones is
no John Rambo or even James Bond; unlike those characters, he doesn’t always
get it right and usually pays for his mistakes by taking hellacious beating.
Karen Allen reinvents
the action movie girlfriend role as Marion, a tough-talking, hard-drinking spitfire
who rescues herself from distress at least as much as our hero does. Though Marion does wind up in a few classic “tied
to the railroad track” type scenarios, in Allen’s hand the character is more
heroine than victim. She is utterly
convincing in the role, making Marion in many ways the female version of
Indiana. The screwball comedy style of
banter between Indiana and Marion, who is almost always shown to be Indiana’s
emotional and mental superior, has a large amount to do with the film’s
endearing comedic elements.
Combine those two
performances with some of the most thrilling stunts ever caught on camera, exotic
locations, a cacophony of gunfire and explosions, plenty of fist-fights, tasteful
use of shocks and gore, and some of cinema’s most memorable one-liners and you’ve
got arguably the greatest action film every made.
What I Didn’t Like
Indiana Jones is such
an terrific movie action hero, it’s a shame that the filmmakers never truly
came up with a villain to match him. In “Raiders”
he was usually pitted against his professional rival Rene Belloq, a French
egotist who fancies himself the yin to Indy’s yang. It isn’t that Paul Freeman didn’t play the
role right, but just that the part wasn’t written to be very interesting. Most of the villains in the series, Belloq
included, are cribbed directly out of older movies, with nothing about them
that makes them the least bit interesting.
In some ways, this allows room for the on screen action to become Indy’s
most compelling adversary in the form of one death-defying trap after
another. In other ways, it’s a
disappointment that Jones never got the Moriarty, Joker, or Darth Vader.
Most Memorable Scene
The who film is
almost one unforgettable scene after another, accompanied by equally memorable
dialogue. Still, when “Raiders” is
mentioned, the very first scenes that come to my mind is the opening sequence
as Indy and one lone surviving assistant explore an booby-trapped jungle ruin
and try to make off with a golden idol.
The whole thing is a fun homage to the old 1930s movie serials, a
wonderful series of creepy gags, and a perfect introduction to what is to
follow in the next two and a half hours. I’m pretty sure anyone else who has seen the
movie (Is there anyone who hasn’t?) would agree that that opening twenty
minutes or so are the most classic in a classic film series.
My Rating: 5 out of 5
