Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

When the Nazis plan to use the mystical Jewish artefact the Ark of the Covenant for their own means, the United States Government recruits Archaeologist and University Professor Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) to retrieve it first.

As Raiders opens we are treated to what one can only assume is some kind of dark and damp Amazon jungle. After travelling a little, a dark figure stops to look at a map. Suddenly, the score rises and a figure creeps behind him with a gun. At seemingly the last moment, faster than you can blink: whip, crack boom! The gun is on the floor and Indiana Jones steps into the light. It’s a grim opening for what is surely one of the most light-hearted, albeit violent, action-adventures of all time.

The opening adventure is one that has been imitated repeatedly but certainly never matched. From the spiders, to the spiked fence to the giant ball chasing Indy through the narrow passage ways. Quite frankly there is no denying that Indiana Jones can pull off some thrilling heroics. Quite simply, he’s a cool guy who everyone loves. There are points where even his enemies seem to like him. But he is in their way. And they are Nazis…but more on that later.

It seems clear within minutes of meeting Indy that he is a very human hero. When captured and surrounded by an arrogant French rival and lots of tribes-people pointing arrows at him, the only way he can manage to escape is to slip away when everyone is stunned by the beauty of a golden idol the aforementioned Frenchman Dr. Belloq (Paul Freeman) holds up to show how wonderful he is. Mere minutes later, when in the seemingly safe confines of a plane, he freaks out stupendously when realising he’s near enough sat on a snake. See, if there’s one thing about Indy, it’s that he hates snakes. But all this is why Indy is such a loveable character. He often finds himself in quite absurd situations and at such times he makes no attempt to seem suave. He generally panics and tries the first thing that comes to mind as opposed to sitting down and working out a strategy. At one point when asked what he’s going to do, he even says “I don’t know. I’m making this up as I go along.”

There are many things about Indy that have just changed cinema. One of the most famous is of course the red line travelling across the map whenever Indy travels somewhere. This is not only an interesting and unconventional way to add in a short interlude, but also saves needless conversation in order to determine where our beloved professor is going.

It seems strange when reading that this great adventurer unafraid to kill just about anyone in his way is a University professor teaching kids about archaeology, but for some reason on film it just delivers. Maybe it’s the secret fantasy everybody has harvested about leading some secret double life. Maybe it’s just the great writing and fabulous direction (courtesy of George Lucas, Philip Kaufman, Laurence Kasdan and Steven Spielberg respectively).
Maybe, Harrison Ford could just pass off as both. Who knows, but when in practise, Indy never fails to delight.

Naturally in a film this big, you need a girl and in Raiders, that girl is Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), a chick almost as hard as Indy himself. She can certainly knock back the shots and defend herself. Cue, what simply must be the greatest bar brawl ever. An early sign of greatness within Raiders is that it’s unafraid to venture into the grounds of, essentially, making fun of itself. There are so many daft moments that generally should feel out of place, but because of the simplicity of the whole film (it really is reminiscent of those old television adventure serials at times) everything just slots into place.
In a similar fashion to the cliff-hangers that would end each episode in an adventure serial, there are a number of crazy twists in Raiders which are put simply, shocking. Despite the simplistic approach to making Raiders, Spielberg and Lucas clearly have no problem in breaking a lot of pre-determined rules.

Throughout Raiders, music is used fabulously. Naturally, it would, seeing as it’s a John Williams composition. But it succeeds in doing something very few scores can do: even at the more boring talky bits (none of them are boring but some are obviously more interesting than others), the music manages to help keep you on the edge of your seats. Rather than increase the tension at slow points in the plot, it speeds the slow bits of story up. That’s not to say that suspense isn’t used. The act of building up suspense is matched only by the practise of breaking it in Raiders and it is broken a lot. Sometimes via comedy, sometimes via horror and frequently by pure hardcore adrenaline pumped action.
If nothing else, Raiders can quite happily boast the greatest action scenes ever. At some points in the film, it doesn’t stop for air. It is just spectacular set piece after spectacular set piece. And given Indy is an archaeologist, he certainly doesn’t appear to be afraid of destroying things. Whether it’s pushing baskets down to find someone or knocking a wall over with an ancient statue, Indy will do whatever it takes to find what he wants and that may be what makes the adventure atmosphere so energetic that it puts the audience on a natural high.

With a great cast, better set pieces and what is often over-looked as the greatest twist ending ever, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a simple film with remarkable humour, action and general fun. Certainly a classic.

5/5