Credible Credits
Year: 1981
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, John Rhys-Davies, and a whole lotta snakes
Tagline: The Return of the Great Adventure!
Synopsis: An intrepid archeologist must recover the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.
Synopsis: An intrepid archeologist must recover the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.
Review
Was there any question about which film I'd review first? Okay, it was kind of a toss-up between Raiders and Wall-E. But Raiders won because it has been one of my favorite movies longer. Sorry Wall-E; you'll get your turn.
In 2003, the American Film Institute compiled a list of its favorite film heroes. Coming in at #2 was none other than the fedora-wearing, whip-wielding professor of archaeology. Indiana Jones is certainly one of the most iconic, most imitated, and most parodied characters from the silver screen. He is a mild-mannered, bespectacled professor one minute, and a wise-cracking, whip-cracking adventurer the next. And although his adventures are larger than life, Indy remains a fairly down-to-earth character who doesn't always succeed, has a nearly debilitating fear of snakes, and through much of the movie is just making things up as he goes along -- sometimes more successfully than others. And that's what makes Indiana Jones such a fun character. That said, he isn't a particularly heroic fellow. His motives aren't always the best. His actions are occasionally questionable. And his morals ... well, let's not go there. But as a character, he stands out. And that is why he has stood the test of time.
The film is one awesome sequence after another. Right off the bat you've got the jungle temple, laden with more booby traps than you can shake a Hovitos spear at. Spielberg's direction is brilliant. We are introduced to Indy with a bang (literally). He then navigates the various traps, confronts multiple large spiders, and comes face to face with a very dead former rival with such skill and complete composure that not five minutes into the movie and you're thinking this is the coolest guy ever. Of course then everything goes south because his golden idol to sandbag ratio just wasn't up to snuff.
One of my favorite moments in the ensuing escape is when Satipo has abandoned Indy and left our hero with neither the idol nor his trusty whip. So Indy makes a leap across a chasm. He catches the other side and starts to pull himself up with a protruding root. The root gives way and Indy slides back. The look on his face says it all. He's in over his head and he knows it; a fact further emphasized by the gasp he makes when he notices that ridiculously huge boulder rolling after him. The hero with skill and composure is long gone as, covered in cobwebs, Indy is forced to then hand over his hard-earned prize to rival Belloq. And then of course the sequence ends with the terrific punchline. This guy who has braved poison darts, flying spears, deadly spiders, a gigantic boulder, and dozens of incensed natives starts panicking over his pilot's pet snake, "Reggie." Brilliant. Cue John Williams' fantastic Raider's March as our hero flies off into the distance.
And that's just the opening.
I could ramble on and on about all the things that make Raiders of the Lost Ark my tied-for-favorite movie. But I'll resist. I do, however, feel I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge Indy's terrific leading lady. Marion Ravenwood is definitely the best of the Indy females. She's smart, feisty, clever, witty, and good with a frying pan (I wonder if the creators of Tangled got their inspiration from her). And while I'm at it, I suppose I should say a word or two about the villains. Colonel Dietrich and Major Toht (who clearly doesn't know how to dress for the desert but can awesomely make a hanger seem threatening) are pretty cliched Nazi bad guys. But Belloq is far more interesting. He's both genteel and menacing. And as Belloq himself says, he is just a shadowy reflection of Indy. He keeps things interesting.
One last tidbit before I wrap this up. Another reason Raiders holds a special place in my heart is because of a Sunday School lesson back when I was a teenager. Yes, that's right: a Sunday School lesson. I can honestly say I only remember one other specific lesson from all my childhood/teenage years in Sunday School. Certainly I learned from them, but few lessons were themselves memorable. But one week Brother Doug (as we called Brother Snow) brought in the TV and VCR and played the first few minutes of Raiders, where Indy is leading the way through the jungle with his bits of map and up to the dramatic, whip-cracking reveal. The lesson was: as we navigate through life, don't we want a great guide who knows where he's going, what he's doing, has a map, and is prepared for anything? The guide in our lives should of course be the Holy Ghost. And at that point all correlation of course completely and utterly ends. But the lesson has stuck with me well over a decade later. Thank you, Doctor Jones.
Well, that's my review. I suppose I should give some sort of rating or classification. How about NGTO for "Never Get Tired Of."
The film is one awesome sequence after another. Right off the bat you've got the jungle temple, laden with more booby traps than you can shake a Hovitos spear at. Spielberg's direction is brilliant. We are introduced to Indy with a bang (literally). He then navigates the various traps, confronts multiple large spiders, and comes face to face with a very dead former rival with such skill and complete composure that not five minutes into the movie and you're thinking this is the coolest guy ever. Of course then everything goes south because his golden idol to sandbag ratio just wasn't up to snuff.
One of my favorite moments in the ensuing escape is when Satipo has abandoned Indy and left our hero with neither the idol nor his trusty whip. So Indy makes a leap across a chasm. He catches the other side and starts to pull himself up with a protruding root. The root gives way and Indy slides back. The look on his face says it all. He's in over his head and he knows it; a fact further emphasized by the gasp he makes when he notices that ridiculously huge boulder rolling after him. The hero with skill and composure is long gone as, covered in cobwebs, Indy is forced to then hand over his hard-earned prize to rival Belloq. And then of course the sequence ends with the terrific punchline. This guy who has braved poison darts, flying spears, deadly spiders, a gigantic boulder, and dozens of incensed natives starts panicking over his pilot's pet snake, "Reggie." Brilliant. Cue John Williams' fantastic Raider's March as our hero flies off into the distance.
And that's just the opening.
I could ramble on and on about all the things that make Raiders of the Lost Ark my tied-for-favorite movie. But I'll resist. I do, however, feel I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge Indy's terrific leading lady. Marion Ravenwood is definitely the best of the Indy females. She's smart, feisty, clever, witty, and good with a frying pan (I wonder if the creators of Tangled got their inspiration from her). And while I'm at it, I suppose I should say a word or two about the villains. Colonel Dietrich and Major Toht (who clearly doesn't know how to dress for the desert but can awesomely make a hanger seem threatening) are pretty cliched Nazi bad guys. But Belloq is far more interesting. He's both genteel and menacing. And as Belloq himself says, he is just a shadowy reflection of Indy. He keeps things interesting.
One last tidbit before I wrap this up. Another reason Raiders holds a special place in my heart is because of a Sunday School lesson back when I was a teenager. Yes, that's right: a Sunday School lesson. I can honestly say I only remember one other specific lesson from all my childhood/teenage years in Sunday School. Certainly I learned from them, but few lessons were themselves memorable. But one week Brother Doug (as we called Brother Snow) brought in the TV and VCR and played the first few minutes of Raiders, where Indy is leading the way through the jungle with his bits of map and up to the dramatic, whip-cracking reveal. The lesson was: as we navigate through life, don't we want a great guide who knows where he's going, what he's doing, has a map, and is prepared for anything? The guide in our lives should of course be the Holy Ghost. And at that point all correlation of course completely and utterly ends. But the lesson has stuck with me well over a decade later. Thank you, Doctor Jones.
Well, that's my review. I suppose I should give some sort of rating or classification. How about NGTO for "Never Get Tired Of."
Quotable Quotes
- "Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes?" -- Indy
- "Asps ... very dangerous. You go first." -- Sallah
- "It's a date ... ya eat 'em." -- Indy
- "I don't know. I'm making this up as I go." -- Indy
- "Indiana Jones. I always knew someday you'd come walking back through my door. I never doubted that. Something made it inevitable." -- Marion
ISFS
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