Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), directed by Steven Spielberg.
quote
It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage.
The grandaddy and still the best of the modern retro-adventures (setting aside Star Wars (1977) as the space opera equivalent). The sequels can't match the original charm and excitement. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) tries to copy the formula but a copy is never as fresh.
The best feature of the story is the looming mystery of the Ark itself -- a holy relic that will not be messed with. Egypt adds a Biblical background, as if we were traveling in history itself.
Also good: the return of guilt-free fun, hearkening to a more innocent age. Harrison Ford and his character make the movie work.
The not so good: in reviving the children's adventure serial, the filmmakers sometimes think their audiences are willing to be more child-like than they probably are. The stock characters sometimes seem less "fun" than "cheap and easy": child-like Arabs, dastardly nazis. The silly fighting stunts in the market with the comic score.
Notes:
I'm embarrassed to say it, but this is the first time I noticed the opponent in Marion's drinking contest was an Aussie climber with other mates to encourage him. I thought they were Nepalese locals. This makes it much funnier.
Indy really goes to the dogs when he thinks Marion is dead. She must be the one.
My personal precious moment: Indy and Sallah causally strolling through the nazi dig, hiding in plain sight, just getting it done.
Belloq is a good villain. Charming but vicious, yet not as bad as the nazis. In the end he really does care about the Ark.
Poor snakes!
Indy is given three verbal warnings not to seek the Ark, by people he should listen to. Then there is that monster desert storm.
As always: as an archeologist he is a one-man wrecking crew.
More violence here than in the old matinee serials.
The long one-damn-thing-after-another action sequence that starts with actually finding the Ark: there has never been anything like it. People try, but the balance of stunts, humor and excitement is hard to accomplish.
A big thrill at the time: on the freighter deck, Marion is obviously naked beneath that white satin dress.
Available on Blu-ray.
