One of the best Action/Adventure movies of all-time,
from George Lucas and Steven Speilburg... "Raiders of the
Lost Ark" is a riveting adventure story that follows a globe
trotting archaeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), who uses
his raw courage, his wits and his fists, in searching for the
mystical, powerful Ark of the Covenant. He finds himself and his
friends encountering Rene Belloq (Paul Freeman) and the Nazis,
romance, and snakes along the way, while through it all, never
loosing his hat!
This masterpiece of a exciting and clever screenplay is by the
talented George Lukas, Philip Kaufman and Lawrence Kasdan, offering
a very entertaining tale with never a dull moment.
The film is a future classic because of the excellent
cast, fun story, memorable music, quick pacing and eye-popping
special effects. The editing, special effects, art direction-set
decoration, and sound effects editing all won Oscars. The film's
pacing is great. It starts fast and never lets up. Unlike many
movies, which have hot openings and closings, but die in the middle,
"Raiders" is composed ALMOST ENTIRELY of high points.
The movie opens on a exciting sequence where
Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) ventures into a booby-trapped temple
in the middle of a South American jungle, in quest of a golden
idol "for the museum." After a harrowing escape from
the temple, his old nemesis and archeologist competitor, Rene
Belloq (Paul Freeman), using the local Indians as back -up, takes
the idol from him by force, right after he rolls out of the temple.
Indiana quickly uses an opportune moment to barely escape, one
step ahead of the poison darts blown at him. Whew!
Back at his day job, a professor of archeology
at a university, Dr. Jones is approached by the federal intelligence
agents, to travel to Egypt, and compete with the Nazis in the
search for the biblical Ark of the Covenant, to get it and keep
it out of the Nazis' hands. So Indiana, followed by Nazi bad guys,
catches a plane to Nepal, to go and see his old flame, Marion
Ravenwood (Karen Allen), the daughter of the archeologist Professor
Ravenwood, who had found the headpiece of Roth, which is needed
as a tool to find the digging spot, in the newly uncovered map
room by the Nazis at Tanis, in Egypt.
The Ark of the Covenant changes hands several
times between Indiana Jones and the bad guys, in between harrowing
struggles and trials, but who gets control of the Ark is decided
by the power behind the Ark, convincingly portrayed by awesome
special effects, that put the fear of God into the film's characters,
and some in the audience as well.
In addition to Ford, who's fantastic as adventuring
archaeologist Indiana Jones, Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood,
excels as not only his romantic interest, but also as a tough
partner, and his co-adventurer. She can fire a gun, drink the
hard stuff, and keep her cool in a crisis, a tough gal to counterbalance
Ford's tough guy. After an action-filled fight between the Nazi
bad guys and Dr. Jones & Marion, that ultimately burns down
her tavern in Nepal, she quips, "Well, Jones, at least you
haven't forgotten how to show a lady a good time!"
Paul Freemand, who plays Rene Belloq, does a
great job portraying an unscrupulous archeologist, who strongly
believes that the ends justify the means, if it benefits him.
Being very self-centered & lacking scruples or principles,
he doesn't care how he gets a hold of archeological treasures.
"Dr. Jones. Again we see there is nothing you can possess
which I cannot take away," Belloq taunts Indiana.
Furthermore, Belloq doesn't mind working with
the Nazis if it means that he gets to examine the Ark of the Covenant,
before letting the Nazis have it. Belloq explains to Dr. Jones,
"Inside the Ark are treasures beyond your wildest aspirations.
You want to see it opened as well as I. Indiana, we are simply
passing through history."
The late Ronald Lacey, who was a talented character actor, does
a marvelous job, playing the menacing Nazi, Toht, with perfect
timing, pacing and delivery. Toht is willing to use a variety
of methods to get what he wants, as Marion Ravenwood found out
and nearly suffered in the tavern scene. This character himself
inadvertently finds a rather painful way personally to bring almost
all the information needed by the Nazis at Tanis to reconstruct
the staff of Roth.
A favorite scene with Toht is when he arrives
at Belloq's tent at Tanis, where Marion was taken. He slowly walks
into the tent. A scary-looking wooden object with a hook is handed
to him, but when he methodically puts it together, it is only
the coat hanger for his jacket. He sweetly says as he stares at
Belloq and Marion,"Well, what shall we talk about?"
Besides the ones mentioned above, there are many
favorite action scenes, that include their adventures surrounding
the actual getting in the Ark of the Covenant hiding place, The
Well of Souls, being locked in and getting out to fight to get
it back. Check out the airplane fist fight sequence and the wild
truck chase.
The Planned Action Scene that wasn't: A favorite
scene of many people takes place between Ford and a gigantic bad
guy wielding a huge sword, when Marion Ravenwood was kidnapped
by the bad guys in the middle of the Egyptian town's outside market.
This huge bad guy moves in Indiana's way, showing him a big deadly
sword, & puts on a display of swordsmanship, showing off.
Indiana, tired from fighting, watches him, thinks about it for
a brief moment, then quickly pulls out his gun and shoots the
guy, solving the problem. (Ford, according to the storyboard,
was supposed to have a big, involved fight with him, but was feeling
pretty sick. So on the spur of the moment, the script was changed).
Director Spielberg, Producer Lucas, and company, traveled the
globe to make this picture. The results really show on the screen
delivering visuals and locations that just couldn't be faked on
the back lot, or in front of a "blue screen."
The musical score in lively, energetic, and inspiring. It was
done by John Williams, and is one of his best movie scores ever,
that really works to enhance the excitement and mood of the film.
This film is highly recommended for those 9 years old and up to
90, if they don't have a heart condition! RAIDERS POSTER
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