The then 39-year old Harrison Ford plays Indiana Jones. We first see him in the middle of a treasure hunt, out in the deep forest of Peru, to retrieve a golden statue, that is heavily guarded by booby traps.(I really wonder why of all the places would you hide an artifact in an enclosed cave that is mostly suspicious for such materials rather than bury it 10 feet below ground.) He carefully replaces the statue for a pouch that has the same weight, thinking that this will fool the “security measures”, i.e. booby traps. He slowly walks away from the altar but the cave starts to collapse. He runs and dodges swift arrows. He jumps from a pit and he has to run after that or else he gets hit by a gigantic rolling stone.
First ten minutes of the story and we are already in adventure.
Apart from being a history professor, Jones is an enthusiastic archeologist. And apart from being an enthusiastic archaeologist, he is also an uncommonly handsome man, even his student drools over him. (Don’t worry, this film has nothing to do with pedophiles). Jones donates his treasures to the museum for the public’s pleasure, but as the film shows, his past treasure hunts has not been succesful. He is stepped over by an archenemy, Belloq, a fellow archeologist who have been fond of pestering Jones up until the end. Despite the failures, he has already received publicity on his past discoveries, as the “obtainer of rare antiquities”.
It is not surprising therefore that one day two U.S. military personnel, on behalf of the U.S. Government, hires Jones to search for the lost ark that is believed to be a “source of unspeakable power”, before the Nazi could turn it against them. This sets off Jone’s mind ablaze and he is then set off across Nepal for another journey.
Directed by Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan (1998), artificial Intelligence (2001)), the film has never been short of action and adventures. The moment you think it is going to end, you realize that the end has not started yet. I can picture out that Indiana Jones has been the father of succeeding action adventure films. By some anonymous decision, according to Wikipedia, it is the best action adventure family film, as it appeals to adults and children.
We must also give thanks to George Lucas for the story, and Lawrence Kasdan for the screenplay. In addition to the charming actors and the classic soundtrack, you’re also likely to be impressed by how the story is told. Close to the end, Jones almost has the ark on his disposal but because of his deep interest in historical objects, he suspends his decision. This leads him to be a captive, and ultimately, for the story, the last confrontation.
During his journey, Jones is accompanied by Marion. I’m glad Marion is not that classy or goody-goody suburban girls. She knows how to run, punch, kick, somersault, almost anything similar to Jones, but still maintains that look for sexual interest.
Despite thirty year of its release, I still see some authenticity. When Jones is chasing to retrieve Marion from the enemies, he clutches on a moving vehicle and makes his way down to the back of the car. This stunt really looks dangerous as Jone’s back is sliding and clashing on the ground. To this day, “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” still remains one of the top of all action films and is classified under the banner “classic”.
I only watched the Crystal Skull. My bandwidth got limited last month because of no signal issue and therefore I cannot download any more movies. Anyway, can you name all of the Indiana Jones movies here so that I can catch all of them from the people I know?
There’s only four:
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Have fun!
I didn’t like any of them they seemed kind of boring.
Great review
I think because it’s plot is different. It’s monotonous because the story focuses on Jone’s goals and nothing else. All adventure. But to say the least, it actually did great to a film it wanted it to be.
Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane, set to the Raider’s theme music!
Are you familiar with the “secret origin” of the infamous scene where Indy just shoots the swordsman?
Harrison Ford and the swordsman has were SUPPOSED to stage an epic hand-to-hand (sort of) fight, but it was ridiculously hot, so Ford said “Can’t he just shoot the guy?”
Classic!
I actually heard of it when I checked the IMDb Trivia section. But I haven’t scene it. Is it in a DVD special features?
Good post Ben! Happy New Year.
Such a fun movie… seen it so many times over the years. A true classic action adventure film. Good one!