Review: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Rating

Director

Steven Spielberg

Screenplay

Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas, Philip Kaufman

Length

1h 55m

Starring

Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott, Alfred Molina, Wolf Kahler, Anthony Higgins

MPAA Rating

Review

With his megahit Jaws literally defining the blockbuster, Spielberg further proved that he was unquestionably one of the great entertainers of the late 20th Century with Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Renowned archeologist and expert in the occult, Dr. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is hired by the U.S. Government to find the Ark of the Covenant, which is believed to still hold the ten commandments. Unfortunately, agents of Hitler are also after the Ark. Indy, and his ex-flame Marion (Karen Allen), escape from various close scrapes in a quest that takes them from Nepal to Cairo.

The opening scene sets the tone for the adventures to come as Indy finds his way to an ancient golden idol which he hopes to rescue without setting off the trap but to no avail. He runs, a giant boulder chasing him through the narrow corridors of the cave until he dodges out of the way in the nick of time. While the film never quite matches that excitement, it remains a riveting watch from beginning to end.

Harrison Ford’s skill as an actor has often been mischaracterized thanks to his myriad blockbuster roles like Star Wars but he brings a certain effortless charm to this role, one that’s both brave and vulnerable. He never lets the character become a caricature and that elevates the film beyond some of its genre trappings and admittedly corny jokes. While George Lucas was involved in the screenplay, it was Lawrence Kasdan and Philip Kaufman that kept the one-liners to a minimum and focused on credibility and forthright conviction even against some of the outlandish concepts at play in the film.

Before Indy, the adventure genre was limited to the likes of Tarzan, Robin Hood, and Allan Quartermain, among the most popular. With this film, a new breed of action-adventure film was born, feeding much of the popular successes of the 1980s from straight action to sci-fi varieties.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a reminder that creativity and originality can breed innovation. The staid genre variants that preceded it felt familiar and often disappointing. Some films that came in the wake of Raiders did as well but for a brief, glorious moment cinema was fresh and vivacious. This along with the likes Star Wars, Beverly Hills Cop, and Back to the Future formed the backbone of popular culture for two decades and remain popular to this day. It’s no wonder folks look at the halcyon days of the 1980s and demand more even if the law of diminishing returns ultimately wins out.