Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Indy Reviews

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When you think of who the "Poster Boy" for adventure is, you'd be hard-pressed not to have Indiana Jones pop into your head. We're talking about how, before games like Tomb Raider and Uncharted came along, we could live the Indiana Jones lifestyle through them. A big takeaway from my childhood, 'Indiana Jones' was one of the first names I knew in movies, largely thanks to my brother, who was (and I believe still is) a massive fan. If my big deal was 'Ghostbusters,' his was 'Indy.'

What can I say about this movie? 'Raiders' is still a classic, but it is only matched by its eventual second sequel, 'Last Crusade' (in my opinion). Every time I sit down to watch this, it reminds me how they don't make them like this anymore. With a few exceptions, adventure movies nowadays are primarily (and, to be fair, often well-done) CG-heavy. Adventure movies are mostly superhero movies. But if you want to define the adventure genre, 'Raiders' is practically the pinnacle of quality.

The famous and often parodied opening scene plays out, pulling us into the film and telling us everything we need to know about Indy's character. Otherwise, rather unassuming, Indy lives as a professor at Marshall College. One day, he gets a visit from friend and colleague Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott), who takes him to meet a couple of Army Intelligence agents. Here, he learns that Nazis are in search of an artifact of significant power, which we find out is probably the fabled Ark of the Covenant. With it, Hitler's armies could become unstoppable.

Indy gets hired to intercept the Ark before the Nazis get hold of it and unleash a potential Hell on Earth. During this race, Indy reunites with a couple of old friends. First, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), with whom Indy once had a secret relationship. She happens to have a medallion that Indy needs to find the Ark's location, and she soon partners up with him. Second, Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) is a friend of Indy's and is known to be one of the best diggers in Cairo. But Nazis and other mercenaries make their search rather tricky.

Among the more notable of the baddies are Indy's rival archaeologist, Belloq (Paul Freeman), and the far creepier Gestapo Toht (Ronald Lacey), both helping the Nazis reach their goal, each with their reasons for doing so. While as an adult, I can appreciate Belloq a bit more as the main baddie here, as a kid, I always saw Toht as much more sinister and creepy, with his Peter Lorre-like demeanour and a sense of mystery behind him. It's another good example of a film where the perspective changes as you grow up with it.

Overall, no matter how often I watch this movie, certain scenes will always hit me with that feeling I had when I was a kid - cheering on Indy as some superhero without a cape. The opening scene has become synonymous with what the "Adventure" genre should look like. With its practicality, lack of CG, and actual stunts, the car chase scene holds up FAR better than anything they did similarly in 'Crystal Skull.' Even the big, climactic scene that DOES look cheesy by today's standards reminds me how 'Indiana Jones' is responsible for some of my first genuine scares.

'Raiders' is probably the most essential adventure movie ever made. I've always considered it the sort of "set bar" for the genre. Perhaps that's because it was significant in our household, but I mean it when I say there's nothing quite like it. Often imitated, never duplicated, 'Raiders' holds a sort of importance to it when it comes to good filmmaking, complete with a solid story, memorable characters, rivetting scenes complete with music that gets you in the mood to see some action, the list goes on. It's pure entertainment, through and through.

5/5

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