The Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) Dir: Steven Spielberg
Instagram post:
Every so often, it's nice to revisit one of the best trilogies of the 80's, which, of course, begam with this excellent Steven Spielberg and George Lucas adventure. I've seen this many times over the years, but not for a good while. I really wanted to revisit it and see how well it held up this time.
It has, undoubtedly, one of the very best, most iconic, and most memorable, openings in cinema history, which perfectly establishes the protagonist, the genre, and the basic premise of the franchise in an entertaining and effective way. From there, things only get more entertaining, as Indy fights against time and Nazis to get to the Ark of the Covenant.
This does admittedly get a little absurd towards the end, it being about procuring the Ark from the Bible, but these films have never been fully serious - something that helped me enjoy 'The Dial Of Destiny' a lot more than most. Furthermore, some of the scenes in Egypt have become fairly dated, mostly due to the intense stereotyping of Arabic cultures and people.
The practical effects, action sequences, soundtrack, and set design are great for the time, and provide the film with some of the franchise's best ever moments. Despite the stereotyping, I do really enjoy this film a lot. It's a thrilling adventure, which mixes treasure hunting and fighting German soldiers in very enjoyable fashion.
Harrison Ford is, of course, at his his 80's, dry-humoured, action-star, best. A big reason he suits this role so much is thanks to his ability to do both the archaeologist and adventurer sides of his iconic character so smoothly. I think Ford nails both the comedy and serious sides of the film, and is obviously a huge reason for its great popularity and success.
Karen Allen makes for an excellent companion character to Jones, and holds her own in a big way. I love her charisma in this - she's so feisty and resilient. Allen is my favourite of Jones' companions by some distance - I just love how much she stands her ground with the men around her. Her confidence permeates the screen and makes her very memorable.
Paul Freeman actually makes for a fairly good foil to Jones and his friends. I like that Freeman's character acts as though he were Indiana's peer - it makes him feel like a more believable character and threat to Jones' mission. Freeman, for his part, plays the role brilliantly too, and even shows mixes in a little nuance, compared to his character's German colleagues.
There are some very memorable supporting characters in the film, most notably Ronald Lacey, who is an iconic and creepy antagonist, as well as John Rhys-Davies, although his casting has aged a little poorly, in fairness. I also think that both Wolf Kahler and Alfred Molina deserve mentions for their smaller but still memorable appearances.
Overall, this is my favourite film in the franchise, and one of the best adventure films out there full-stop. Sure, some parts of it have began to age a little, but the core sense of adventure and discovery is just unbeatable. The film is undeniably a classic, and continues to make people dream of being an adventurer to this day.
Comments