Review of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) by Tiberio S — 02 Nov 2014

Negate what anybody says about this film getting better and better with time; it most certainly doesn't, and that's what I love about it. It looks like where it came from -- an A-quality B-movie in 1981 for audiences who don't give a shit about shit itself. It encourages a thirst for adventure and knowledge, which is helpful to such an audience - great! 'Crystal Skull' needed to be an intelligent thriller to mean anything to an audience in 2008, that's why it failed. Audiences are a little dumber and a little smarter these days, but they apply new knowledge, stemmed from movies, in unique areas -- that's all still developing. But I urge you to hear modern professionals of archaeology who first took a stab at their career with the excitability from Indiana Jones movies, which I think is pretty cool. At the end of the day, Raiders was a different time, different place, and serves on a strata of history as a great landmark representation of its time and attitude. And it's also the least mindless of the franchise -- archaeologists should be fairly happy that it's the only movie to feature actual archaeological excavations, whereas the other movies treat archaeology like grave robbing.

Indy and his rival Belloq (Paul Freeman) have transitioned from one adventure in South America, to another in Egypt; the search for an infamous Biblical artifact called the Ark of the Covenant, said to contain the stone tablet Ten Commandments. They both have a common enemy - the Nazis, the ones who really want this artifact in their possession. Except Belloq has chosen to work with the Nazis in their quest for the Ark (hoping to screw them in the end) while Indy is firmly opposed, enlisting the help of Sallah (John Rys Davis) whose team of excavators are in fact working for the Nazis and Belloq. They also have a common love interest, the tenacious (this word should appear in every Indiana Jones review!) Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Indy's ex-girlfriend who is along for the ride after her bar in Nepal has burnt down. She also carries an important Headpiece to the Staff of Rah, which will clue them in on the location of the Ark. The freakish Toht (Ronald Lacey) has one-half of the Headpiece burnt into skin after the Nepal-bar incident, but both sides contain the necessary information to exactly locate the Ark, and thus the Nazis are searching in the wrong spot while Indy sets up shop across the street with another excavation team to find the one, true Ark.

While other films in the franchise significantly veer from historical fact (that's not a criticism either), this chapter is interesting in that it uses some amount of historical accuracy to setup its plot. Hitler really was a nut for occultish artifacts, and the Ark of the Covenant was held in the Well of Souls at some point in history (except it's in Jerusalem, not Egypt). But besides all that, this movie is just pure fun. The performances perfectly fit the tonality of the film, and Spielberg's more daring exploits in filmmaking are ever-present; most of us are now familiar with the infamous sword vs gun showdown, something he'd be too cautious to allow nowadays. This is a film for a 1981 audience, when people were less sensitive to ethnic suggestions, and when people felt free to enjoy a little trashertainment (though I wouldn't necessarily call this 'trash,' it fits in somewhere with lesser-minded entertainment).