Raiders of the Lost Ark

In 1977, Steven Spielberg was on top of the world. He and his friend George Lucas were now credited for initiating the blockbuster era with films like “Jaws” and “Star Wars”. However, Spielberg’s early Hollywood films had gone way over budget and he was determined to not make the same mistake again. Then, while building a sand castle in Hawaii, Lucas pitched an idea of his from a few years earlier to Spielberg called “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and the rest is history. This film had a huge impact on the action adventure genre even though that wasn’t the goal. Harrison Ford, the story and John Williams’ music make this film great. The film also contains multiple memorable moments that became part of pop culture.

Tom Selleck was busy with Magnum, P.I. and so after seeing some footage of “The Empire Strikes Back”, Spielberg for a second time suggested Harrison Ford for the role of Indiana Jones. Lucas of course was apprehensive about using a now famous actor but as with his audition for "Star Wars", Harrison won everyone over. To his credit, he truly separates this character from that of Han Solo. The opening scene in South America is well done by Harrison in that the scripted introduction of Indy comes alive in a believable way. In some ways at the start, Indy acts as if this is just another usual day for him. This contrasts the scene in the classroom where Harrison convincingly plays a “normal” teacher. Harrison is good with the action scenes and is also romantic. His costume is quite opposite of what you would expect him to wear as an archeologist. Examples of this include his hat and whip. Harrison creates a James Bond-type character that is still different enough so as to make Indy his own persona. Indiana Jones has become one of the greatest heroes ever to come out of Hollywood. The character is #2 on the American Film Institute's list of greatest heroes being topped only by Atticus Finch. Sallah is another great character as played by John Rhys-Davies. His comic abilities are unique because of his voice. Can you imagine Danny DeVito in that role? Spielberg did offer the role to him first. I also like Karen Allen more than any other actress in an Indy film. Toht is a favorite villain of mine because of how he looks and because of the performance of Ronald Lacey.

This film is very reminiscent of a James Bond film in terms of story and it was the kind of genre that Spielberg wanted a shot at. He wasn’t out to make a blockbuster; he just wanted to tackle what he considered a “B” movie. As in the James Bond films, we have the hero who has the damsel along for the ride and they are up against a huge army led by a man (in this case Toht) who when you see him, you say “Oh, that is not a good guy.” We journey in the film from one place to another on a mission of adventure. I like the irony of the Nazis going after the Ark of the Covenant, which is a Jewish relic. Surprisingly in real life, Hitler was in search of various valuable objects believing that his government was destined to possess it. Treasure hunts have been on the movie screen before but Spielberg gave us the same kind of fun as pirate movie without the pirates. This film made archeology cool and exciting for the first time with booby traps, ancient messages, etc. A rolling bolder and shooting darts were seen in the opening sequence and since then have never left the genre. The exposition scene where we learn all about the Ark of the Covenant is very well written. Another classic moment is the improvised moment when Indy shoots the guy with the sword (It was Harrison’s idea because he was sick and did not want to take time to film a fight sequence). More fun moments include the map room and the snake pit (I love how R2-D2 and C-3PO can be found in hieroglyphics in the Well of Souls.) Then the scene where Indy all alone on a horse takes out all those Nazis on the truck and in other vehicles is amazing. I like how they filmed the scene where Indy threatens to blow up the ark in the same place in Tunisia where R2-D2 was filmed being captured by the Jawas. The story follows classic patterns of rising action and climax with resolution.

John Williams at this point in his career was a three-time Oscar winner with 15 nominations. His music always has memorable themes that have now become world famous and his score for “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is no exception. Indy’s theme during the end credits is my 2nd favorite theme music that Williams has composed after “Star Wars”. This march was only meant to be a closing theme for the film but it ended up becoming much more than that. The theme is so well used whenever Indy has a victory. It was a shame that “Chariots of Fire” came out the same year. It is not uncommon for John Williams to be nominated for an Oscar only to have another musical score win. However, as is also usual, John Williams’ score becomes more memorable over time.

I did see “The Last Crusade” before seeing this film and I like that movie just as much as this film if not a little more. I finally got to see "Raiders of the Lost Ark" on the big screen as part of a digital film festival and that was a lot of fun. I have also seen this movie with a live orchestra. As the first Indy film, "Raiders" is very important for me. It is my favorite film from 1981. I did not become an Indy fan until I was in university and I know that is a sin. This film was nominated for eight Academy Awards (Best Picture, Director, Cinematography, Musical Score) and won four of them (Art Direction, Sound, Film Editing and Visual Effects). Ben Burtt even won a special achievement Oscar for his sound effects editing. It would have been cool if Spielberg had won and the film had won Best Picture. As with the musical score, "Raiders of the Lost Ark” appears though to be better known today then the films that won those awards. The film is on additional AFI lists such as for most thrilling movies at #10 and for greatest overall movies at #66! To have the director of “Jaws” working on a film with the creator of “Star Wars” is a dream match. Then to have these two guys be friends is just heaven. As a result, we have a film that was fun to make, fun to watch and fun to learn about. This of course was only the beginning.

5 Stars