Raiders of the Lost Ark

In 1981, director Steven Spielberg elevated B-movie yesteryear serials to A-level cinema with RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.  Again proving it's not "what it's about" that matters but "how it's about".  An argument I'll make to the end, invisible audience.  It helped that Spielberg worked from a script by Lawrence Kasdan, a director in his own right who penned both literate adult dramas and popcorn fare like THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI.  With RAIDERS, the filmmakers truly created a bona-fide adventure movie that could stand alongside inspirations like KING SOLOMON'S MINES and the Zorro pics, as well as more high minded films ala SEVEN SAMAURAI.  I watched this for about the zillionth time earlier this year and was not surprised that it still crackles with a certain movie magic vitality that has all but disappeared these days. 

Harrison Ford, already a screen icon in the aforementioned STAR WARS movies, dons the fedora as Indiana Jones, an archeologist/university professor who in the 1930s travels to places like Peru, Nepal, and Egypt in search of rare idols and artifacts.  He is summoned in a race against the Nazis to recover the sacred Israelite chest known as the Ark of the Covenant, which contained tablets of the Ten Commandments and is believed by the Germans to grant unassailable power.  Indy will be joined on this quest by his deceased mentor's daughter Marion (Karen Allen), a former lover and a real firebrand.  And  challenged by rival Belloq (Paul Freeman) and Gestapo baddie Toht (Ronald Lacey).....and a whole lotta snakes.

It's funny to think back on when I first heard about this movie.  I recall being indifferent to it.  I even remember a friend making fun of the title and poster.  Boy were we wrong.  That summer a new movie obsession was born, and I later devoured most of its cable airings, also seeking out every "Making Of" doc I could find.  So many scenes were seared into my brain, from the giant rolling boulder to the bent Mercedes hood ornament to the melting faces during the finale, one of my favorite of that era.  Also, that doomed swordsman! Spielberg and editor Michael Kahn engineer the perfect modulation of pace, which doesn't flag even during the talky scenes, which are far more than the usual "shoe leather" - bridges to the next big set piece.   Those action scenes are legendary.  

Ford's laid back weary charm, punctuated by some convincing emoting, is perfect, and his supporting players were well selected. Plenty of spark between the leads.   John Rhys-Davies, as Indy's old friend and colleague Sallah, can't help but enliven any movie he's in.  

Back in the '70s, Spielberg had wanted to direct a James Bond movie, but George Lucas, who wrote the story along with Phillip Kaufman, convinced him to instead helm what would become a blockbuster, beloved franchise, one that will resume this summer as Ford, who's about to turn eighty, returns one final time as Dr. Jones in THE DIAL OF DESTINY.