Film Review: Raiders of the Lost Ark

"An army which carries the Ark before it... is invincible.” – Denholm Elliott

In the fashion of the old-fashioned serials, where a daring hero gallivants from one pitfall to another before closing with a thrilling cliffhanger, Indiana Jones makes his debut exploring an ancient South American temple. After the iconic hand-off scene, the place explodes around him, he hops through all the booby traps to escape, before being chased by natives! And that’s only a prelude; the adventure that follows pits him against all kinds of enemies, and they fight, chase each other, and raid more tombs before reaching a chilling climax. The action is frequent, and must take up nearly half of the film or more, and everything in between is tightly-paced, suspenseful, memorable, funny, dramatic…there is never a dull moment!

The story is great too. Maybe nothing deep or artistic, but the characters are pretty strong and we grow to love them the more we follow them in the movie. The McGuffin-driven quest they go on moves fast and logically, providing a solid platform to showcase the epic action scenes, in addition to the occasional bit of humor, romance, characterization, one or two historical/cultural lessons, and an underlying theme concerning the morality of treasure hunting.

Cinematically, it looks brilliant too. Photography is very strong all the way through, with plenty of interesting angles, steady composition, and interesting lighting effects. The combination of filming, sound design, and authentic locations give the film a natural rough n’ gritty appeal that I don’t think has been effectively reproduced anywhere else (except the next two sequels). Acting is great; Harrison Ford is perfect as Indy, Karen Allen is perfect as Marion, Paul Freeman makes a good villain (and a good foil for Indy’s character), and John Rhys-Davies is lovable. Writing is spot-on. Production value shows a few weaknesses (a few fake-looking sets, old-fashioned special effects), but otherwise has some really strong locales, props, and costumes, and the filmmakers show immaculate attention to detail. Music is classic!

Recommended!

5/5 (Entertainment: Perfect | Story: Very Good | Film: Perfect)

This film appears on my Top 100 Favorite Films list at #5.