Raiders of the Lost Ark

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1980)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Denholm Elliot, John Rhyes-Davies
Memorable Line(s): “Professor of archeology, expert on the occult, and how does one say it? Obtainer of rare antiquities.”

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a star pairing of two emerging Hollywood power houses, Spielberg and Lucas. Lucas was in the midst of creating a the legendary Star Wars series and Spielberg had just come off “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and was a creative and box office juggernaut. Together they create a wonderful throw-back homage to the serial cliffhanger movies of days gone by.

Complete with a dusty fedora, leather jacket and whip, Indiana Jones (Ford), archaeologist and adventurer is trying to find the ultimate artifact, the Ark of the Covenant. His trek that takes him around the glove, he encounters snakes, vicious Nazis and finally deadly supernatural forces. On top of that he has to deal with an old flame, Marion (Allen).

The script moves at a breakneck pace from complication to complication, but the story is more than the sum of its action. The characters are well drawn with pathos and humor. Indiana Jones is a wonderful invention, academic and swashbuckler all rolled into one, but what elevates this movie above what could have been a less effective adventure movie was the villains. They are deliciously developed ranging from the ruthless competing archaeologist Belloq to the sadistic Nazi interrogator.

Ford wears the persona of Jones like a well worn and comfortable coat. Allen pulls off the feisty Marion quite well and on the whole, all the cast members acquit themselves well.

If it’s an old fashion adventure yarn you want, you can’t go wrong with Raiders of the Lost Ark.