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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant adventure, 23 Oct 2009
Raiders of the Lost Ark is quite simply the best adventure movie ever made. To properly explain why, I'll need to go back in time for a bit of a history lesson.
In the 1930's and 40's, adventure serials were all the rage. America was in love with the notion of intrepid adventurers fighting their way through steaming jungles, trap-ridden tombs and hordes of evil enemies in search of priceless treasures. In many ways, such stories harkened back to even older fantasy legends of sword-wielding heroes exploring lost dungeons, fighting dragons and evil wizards - they dealt with the classic theme of a person on a quest, a journey, forced to overcome many obstacles to reach their goal.
Still, all things change. By the 1950's, Cold War paranoia began to bite and the adventure story fell by the wayside, replaced by monster, science fiction and disaster movies. Gradually cinema audiences forgot about them.
But one person who didn't forget was a young writer named George Lucas. He'd been wanting to make an adventure for a long time, and in 1973 he wrote The Adventures of Indiana Smith. It was a rough draft to be sure, but it was a beginning. Four years later he happened to discuss his ideas with Steven Spielberg, who loved it and eventually signed on to direct. Thus, in 1980 the world was finally treated to Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The film begins with arguably the greatest intro of all time. It's 1936 and Indiana Jones, armed with his iconic fedora hat, leather jacket and bullwhip, is making his way through an ancient temple in the Peruvian jungle. After avoiding a couple of nasty traps, he finally reaches his goal and takes the treasure, only for all hell to break loose around him. The temple starts to collapse, great stone doors begin to close and boulders roll down slopes towards him. Even when he makes it outside, things get no better as he's now pursued by a band of spear-slinging natives, only barely making it back to his waiting plane. It's a brilliantly tense, exciting, heart pounding sequence that perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the movie.
Back in the States, Jones is approached by a pair of government agents who inform him the Nazi's are searching for the lost Ark of the Covenant - a sealed box containing fragments of the original Ten Commandments given to Moses by God. According to legend, the Ark could become a weapon of overwhelming power in the wrong hands. Jones' mission is to find the Ark before the Nazi's do. Along the way he hooks up with Marion - a feisty former lover who has information he needs. Jones' adventures take him from a remote mountain bar in Nepal to the burning heat of the Egyptian desert and finally to a remote island in the Atlantic.
This movie has it all. There are exotic locations, ruthless enemies, fist fights, gun fights, sword fights, giant boulders, spike traps, car chases, submarines, and Pat Roach getting the rough end of an aircraft propeller. And just about everything explodes - cars explode, trucks explode, planes explode, walls explode, even heads explode.
And then there's the Ark itself. I won't spoil the ending for those poor souls who haven't seen it yet, but suffice to say that bad things happen to those who open it.
Jones himself is a fascinating character. Initially he's interested in the Ark only as a historian. People keep warning him how dangerous it is, but he won't be swayed. In his own words, he doesn't believe in all that mystical mumbo-jumbo. But by the end of the film, he's come to realise for himself the Ark's true power, and only his quick thinking saves himself and Marion from a most unpleasant death.
Of course, he's portrayed by Harrison Ford, who displays just enough physicality to make his fights believable, but also shows a more vulnerable side to the character. He can take a beating and keep going, but he'll have the bruises to show it.
The bad guys are interesting. There's Rene Belloq, a French archaeologist and rival of Indiana Jones who plans to use the Ark for himself. There's Dietrich, an SS Colonel determined to fulfil his mission from Hitler. Then there's Toht, a sinister Gespato agent played with absolute genius by Ronald Lacey. His beady eyes, fetish for needlessly intimidating coat hangers and sinister laugh make him a great villain.
So in a nutshell, Raiders of the Lost Ark has everything you could ask for in an adventure movie. It has adrenaline fuelled chases, explosions, a great sense of humour, a cool main character, evil bad guys and great action scenes. Drop what you're doing and watch it now.
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DVD ~ SEAN CONNERY HARRISON FORD
