Raiders of the Lost Ark was released on June 12th, 1981, is directed by Stephen Spielberg, written by Lawrence Kasadan, produced by George Lucas, and stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, and John Rhys-Davies. The plot of the film is that in the year 1936, an archaeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is tasked by the US Government to search for the lost Ark of the Covenant before the Nazi’s do. With him is an old lover of his, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen). Together, they race to find the Ark before a French archaeologist Belloq (Paul Freeman) and his Nazi allies find it.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is the first in the Indiana Jones series, and is considered to be one of the greatest adventure films of all time. And mostly rightfully so. While I wouldn’t say Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the greatest films ever made, it still is a fantastic film. Raiders is a very fun, fast-paced adventure that never stops and never has a dull moment. This film is the definition of an adventure film, as the film is one big adventure ride. The story in here is great, there’s actually a lot of mystery to it. You feel a lot of mystery just thinking,
“What is this Ark? Are they gonna find it? Are the Nazi’s gonna get it?”
One of my favorite scenes is when at the beginning Indy is in a classroom explaining the Ark and what it is to the US Government people. The scene, with the way it was shot and the music that goes in it, it adds a mysterious feel, an exciting mysterious feel to it. The fact that Indy is searching for this ancient thing, and your just thinking, “Wow. Is Indy really gonna find it? He’s searching for the ancient thing!” I love the mystery aspect to the film.
The film has an excellent, now iconic main character, Indiana Jones, played fantastically by Harrison Ford, who absolutely nails the role as the sarcastic, curious, and ass-kicking archaeologist. Indy is a great character to follow throughout the film, he’s very likable and easy to root for. Another great character in here is Marion, played by Karen Allen. Marion in here was great, she was a very tough character and you tell that she didn’t take any shit (pardon my language) from anyone, she’s not the kinda person you wanna mess with. And I liked that she seemed smart, and at parts was able to outsmart some of the bad guys. Another ally of Indy’s was Sallah, played by John Rhys-Davies, who was also great. The bad guys in here were also great. The French guy was very snotty and easy to hate, but well acted by Paul Freeman, and I think most people agree that this guy is one of the creepiest looking dudes ever:
That guy is really creepy.
Also, I think most people agree that this film has one of the greatest endings ever. I won’t spoil it though. I know what your thinking,
“Jack, this film is 35 years old, and it’s one of the most well known and iconic films of all time.”
Yeah, but still. Though, I’m sure you guys know what scene I’m talking about. Also, this scene…
One of my favorites.
While this review isn’t the longest, I am gonna go ahead and say that Raiders of the Lost Ark is a great movie. I don’t think it’s one of the best movies ever made or anything, but it is iconic for a lot of reasons. This movie does bring back memories for me since I watched it a lot (and it’s sequels, which I’ll get to soon) when I was a younger kid, in fact, they re-released the movie in IMAX for a One Week Only thing, and I saw it with my dad, and seeing this movie on a giant screen was great. Also, I remember when I was younger I had a bunch of Indiana Jones Lego’s that I would play with that I’m pretty sure are all lost now, but I had the epic Lego Indy minifigure. Also, I had the Lego Indiana Jones game on Wii, which was also a lot of fun. So yeah, little kid was really into Indy, and I still am. It’s obviously not the ONLY thing I’m a fan of, but I am definitely an Indiana Jones fan.
One more thing I wanna mention I forgot to is the soundtrack. From my Star Wars reviews, you guys know that I am a John Williams fan, and he also brought a fantastic score to this film. The film has a lot of great music that really added to the atmosphere and world of it, and we all know that the theme song has become iconic.
Overall, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a fantastic adventure film, and it’s easy to see after watching it why this character and this series has become so iconic. I am gonna give Raiders of the Lost Ark a…
8.5/10
I am watching and reviewing all 4 of the Indiana Jones films in celebration of last week’s announcement of Indiana Jones 5 coming in July 2019. Stay tuned for my review of Temple of Doom!
Jack Kroll- Film, Video Game, and TV Discussion 