Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Old School Adventure Flick

Fresh off the success of The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas decided to resurrect another variety of 1930s serials; teaming up with Steven Spielberg, Lucas wrote a story about an adventurous archaeologist in the 1930s who searches for ancient relics and battles Nazis. It sounds a little silly, but ended up being incredible. Raiders of the Lost Ark uses some tried and true cliches and outrageous plot devices (I have a hard time believing the burn on that one Nazi's hand was accurate enough for what they eventually did with it), and yet everything came together. The entire opening sequence has ALMOST nothing to do with the rest (OK, so it sets up Indy as an adventurer and introduces Belloq), and yet it is one of the most famous and parodied cinema sequences in the past 25 years.

Harrison Ford, who was almost not cast in the role of Indiana Jones, is perfect as the completely human hero. Jones is an ordinary man who takes on extraordinary adventures; he knows how to handle himself in a fight, and is certainly more intelligent than the average person, but he is not invincible, nor is he infallible. Jones makes mistakes and loses fights, but he always finds a way to survive. Sometimes, he even needs to resort to some slightly dishonorable methods to stay in the fight (allow me to bring attention to the scene with the big guy with the scimitar).

All three of the Indiana Jones films are adventure films, but Raiders is considered to be the one with the purest sense of adventure. The characters of Sallah and Brody are intelligent characters who add to the proceedings (as opposed to being mainly comic relief; sorry Last Crusade, I still love you, but it's true), while Marion Ravenwood is the best foil for Indy. She is just as brave and adventurous as Indy, and can handle herself in a fight. But she is also a real woman, just as Jones is a real man, with flaws and shortcomings. One of which is her ability to hold a grudge.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a nearly perfect action adventure. It helped define the genre, and unlike many of the imitators, has brains behind the fights and explosions. The story is compelling and exciting. That's not saying that the action sequences aren't great, because they certainly are. From the opening sequence in South America to the truck scene, Indy constantly finds himself way over his head and often escapes with plenty of bruises. What I find most interesting is that the ending completely defies the action-adventure genre (which is extremely strange, since this movie is pretty much responsible for defining said genre) because Indy does NOT save the day. In fact, Indy and Marion don't really do much of anything during the climax except try desperately to avoid being included in it.

All three of the Indiana Jones films are great, and Raiders serves as the perfect entry point into Jones' world. The story is a classic globe-trotting adventure tale, and it introduces not only one of cinema's most iconic characters (it is hard to think of whips and fedoras without thinking of Jones) as well as one of the most recognizable theme orchestrations.

Up next: The dark horror film...