Overall Rating
  Awesome: 88.57%
Worth A Look: 6.86%
Average: 1.14%
Pretty Bad: 1.71%
Total Crap: 1.71%
5 reviews, 145 user ratings
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| Raiders of the Lost Ark |
by Slyder
"Everybody stand up and cheer"
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I’m reviewing history here, personal history actually. You see, this was the first film that I saw that I completely enjoyed and started my love for filmmaking. Yes, I was only 8 years old and I saw it on TV, but ever since that day, I have cherished this film from then on since it made me one BIG and I mean BIG fan. I used to watch this film, along with the sequels like every single fucking day, up to the point of driving my parents crazy. And hell yes, I enjoyed it every single time I saw it because it’s just so damn good and because I always dreamed and wanted to be like him. That's right, get my own fedora, jacket and even the freaking bullwhip and look for lost treasures and adventures; that's how crazy I was for this movie as well as the rest of the franchise. You won’t find a better action film nor another action film like it anywhere and I’ve personally seen a shitload of action films in my youth days. In terms of its respective genre, Raiders of the Lost Ark is cinematic perfection, and unquestionably one of the greatest films ever made.Made as homage to every Saturday-matinee adventure hero we and the older generations used to watch when we were kids, filmmaker’s Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, along with then-writers (and future filmmakers) Lawrence Kasdan and Philip Kaufman, managed to produce an even bigger cultural hero than what they thought with Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones, a hard-hitting, fedora-wearing, bull-whipping, fearless yet flawed archeologist/hero honed to perfection by Harrison Ford, and impossible not to like. Set in the late 1930’s, the opening act in which Indy is in South America trying to recover a golden statue while avoiding all kinds of booby traps and double crosses until he finally looses out to arch-rival Rene Belloq (Paul Freeman) and manages to barely escape from the ire of the natives sets the tone of the film: Fast-paced, adrenaline up to 110%, kick-ass action sequences, and thematic focus on plot.
The plot itself is ludicrous, but it’s supposed to be since the whole point was to make it look a “B-Movie.” It goes a bit like this: Indy is given the assignment from the US government to recover the Lost Ark of the Covenant whom is in danger from falling on the hands of the Nazis whom have discovered the ruins of the city of Tanis in Egypt, where supposedly is the Lost Ark’s final resting place. Of course he tackles on the task not before gaining a partner in Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), who used to be Indy’s old flame 10 years ago, and of course trying to overcome his greatest fear for SNAKES! And also of course, kicking every single Nazi ass there is to kick along the way.
As said before, the plot is dumb and there’s little character development, but Spielberg converted these setbacks into strengths, not only focusing on the plot itself, but by also speeding the pace and giving us some of the greatest action scenes ever put on celluloid. The film is not really a movie but a 115 minute roller-coaster ride, full of nail-biting cliffhangers, humorous moments, and well-constructed action pieces with every action piece paying homage to the adventure heroes of the yesteryears. There isn’t almost a single scene in which the film slows down and for most of those 115 minutes you’ll find yourself on the edge of your seat. The most memorable has to be the truck chase sequence, not only because it’s a kick-ass scene (hell, its one of the reasons why this film won a Best Editing Oscar) but also because it contains some of the finest stunt work ever made, and one of the reasons why this film stands one level above most action films, even today’s action movies despite their use of CGI effects. Two words: It’s real. While today you can create a computer-generated army of several thousands with the simple touch of a key, Raiders’ uses real people in real stunts, therefore making the action sets real, even Ford made several of his own stunts, and YES, that IS him being dragged behind the truck, a stunt which left him with several bruised ribs after that. Nothing, not even the latest modern mainframe computer can beat that. The film at times gets close to defying credibility but Spielberg masterfully exercises restraint whenever those moments come close. There are hardly any flaws since many that one may muster up are simply due to the fact that people take the film way too seriously and not taking it for what it is. The only true flaw is the somewhat dated FX of that time, especially in the climax scene where the Wrath of God is unleashed, but I don’t believe even that affects the film one single bit.
The acting is great. This film was Harrison Ford’s true breakthrough. Sure, Han Solo made quite an impression back in Star Wars but it was a false start since it landed him in crap like Force 10 from Navarrone and the wretched The Frisco Kid and always had to play second banana to Mark Hamill in all Star Wars movies. Ford’s mainstay as a star started here and he sure as hell delivers like no other and its one of his more memorable roles to date. Karen Allen plays the “damsel in not that much of a distress” Marion and is perfectly believable, beautiful and romantic yet hard-hitting. Paul Freeman is of course a required villain as the cunning Belloq, and he has several moments of his own. Wolf Kahler and Ronald Lacey have also some great moments. Oh, and look for a very green and thinner Alfred Molina in the opening act.
EDIT: Oh, and how the fuck could I forget? John Williams's musical score is arguably his greatest, and is easily amongst the top 5 greatest musical scores ever made. I just kicks fucking ass and even to this day, I still tend to hum "The Raider's March" from time to time, it's just that good.In the end, there’s nothing left to say other than to urge you to see this film by all means. Go see the film that saved the dying action/adventure genre from ending up in James Bond hell and spun off several lame-ass imitations like Tomb Raider, the Mummy and the not-so-lame Romancing the Stone. Lucas is a complete hack nowadays and Spielberg has had an off from time to time, but I thank them for giving me one of my most favorite childhood memories of all time; a true classic. 5-5
 del.icio.us 
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=223&reviewer=235
originally posted: 10/13/04 05:00:41
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Trilogy Starters: For more in the Trilogy Starters series, click here.
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USA
12-Jun-1981 (PG)
DVD: 21-Oct-2003
UK
N/A
Australia
N/A
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