yakkowarner's Full Review: Raiders of the Lost Ark
This is the adventure movie of all adventure movies. You have an intelligent hero that is willing to risk life and limb for what he believes in....archeology. He is all about the treasure. A one track goal oriented mind that will do whatever it takes to acquire the prize even if it costs him a limb.
This is a collaboration between Spielberg and Lucas, and it worked. They were friends before this and somehow have remained friends (Spielberg actually shot some stuff for Star Wars III) I've heard stories about those two getting into heated discussions over a scene. I'm not sure if it is true, but what ever happened in those discussions really worked. It is a beautiful film that has plenty of action, drama, and character. This is a timeless film that will be watched for generations to come.
Indiana Jones (Dr. Jones) is an archeologist. Basically he digs up old things with a whip and revolver. Not your typical archeologist. He teaches at a local university and travels the world in his spare time. And for whatever reason, every woman he encounters wants him.
The prize is the Ark of the Covenant, which held the Ten Commandments. The Nazi's are after it because they think it can be used as a tool of war. Indy wants it because it is a great treasure that belongs in a museum. And the race is off to see who can get it first.
The acting of the film is great. It was also a role Harrison Ford was proud of. Long before the fourth movie came out he said he was willing to do another Indy film because of how rich he thought the character was. He thought that playing Han Solo was a joke and had openly refused to play that role ever again. And I would agree, Indiana Jones is so much richer and has more character than Han and you see it in these films. Indiana isn't just some 2 dimensional character, he is a complex character that seems to act like a real person. He acts with passion, with purpose, with drive. And you as the audience see that and want him to succeed. He's also not a cookie cutter role, he does change and adapt uniquely to each situation.
The female lead was played by Karen Allen, the same person as in the Crystal Skull. She was absolutely brilliant as the counterweight to Indy. The emotions she expressed seemed so real and captivating. She had the bark of a Rottweiler yet when push came to shove she sunk into the background. She had a difficult role of playing a person that loved Indy as well as hated his guts. All I know is I couldn't pull off what she did.
My favorite character in this film is Sallah played by John Rhys Davies. He has a relatively small role but brings a bit of lightheartedness to the film (and it needed it.) He's the perfect host and family man, but he has spirit & fire in his character. I love him as an actor and loved him just as much here as his role in Lord of the Rings.
Paul Freeman played Belloq. He did a marvelous job at being a bad guy the audience loves to hate. He added his own egotistical flair to it. But I think that role could have been played by a great number of people. Nothing too special here.
Ronald Lacy played a role only he could have pulled off, Toht. This was an evil to the bone Nazi that cared for no one else other than the mission he was on. And in his role is wasn't the big things that made his role memorable, it was the small things. The way he carried himself. The way he laughed. It is casting like this that made the first Indiana Jones film the best of the bunch.
The writing is good. Great is you're comparing it to other George Lucas films. It tells you just what you need to know and continues on with the story. There are classic lines of course but what you're really there for is the action, and the lines don't get in the way of that.
The pacing is also right on the mark. You have a perfect balance of action and dialogue that moves the story forward. And along the way you meet new people and get to actually know them for a brief period of time. The movie concept is based off of serials that George Lucas watched as a child. This would be a short film of some hero saving the day then getting himself into another mess he has to find a way to get out of. They were a continuing story with each short film being a small piece of the overall story. Well George wanted to get that feeling across in this movie; so instead of having one big event, you have a bunch of smaller events occurring in a repeatable pattern. What made this movie unique is that Indy got himself in trouble all the time but each event was unique and Indy solved it differently each time. It wasn't redundant, it was unique.
The only thing I could complain about, and this is a stretch, is the character building of the characters around Indiana. I would like to have seen more development in Sallah and Toht, but this is a minor gripe and in no way hurts the film.
The music done by John Williams is absolutely wonderful for this style of film. I'm kind of at a loss of words here to describe it but it adds to the movie experience. Williams has so much emotion caught up in his score that you feel the movie more so through the score than you do the words. What George lacks in words, John has filled with music. That is what John Williams does, he bring the appropriate emotion out of you for the given scene, from being scared to feeling heroic.
The key players Director: Steven Spielberg Executive Producer: George Lucas & Howard G. Kazanjian Writers: George Lucas, Philip Kaufman, & Lawrence Kasdan Music: John Williams
My recommendation. For a traditional adventure movie, I do not think there is a better one out there. This is the movie that broke the mold and everyone else has been trying to reach it ever since. There have been a lot of good attempts at replicating it but none have beat it, in the sub-category of adventure this is the best there is.
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