Harrison Ford in his prime, playing an extension of his Han Solo character in one of the greatest action movies of all time. Directed by Steven Spielberg in collaboration with George Lucas, this flick set action standards still adhered to today. Ford is a part-time teacher and archeologist that gets the opportunity to go after God's ark of the covenant, which the Germans want for power- to take over the world under Hitler's rule. Yes, the movie is set in the 30's and this just makes it more timeless, being a period piece. RAIDERS never ages and the action scenes never get old. The chemistry between Indiana and Marion (played by gorgeous Karen Allen) is priceless, even hinting at a Lolita-like affair that occurred when both were much younger (listen to the bar dialogue closely!). Jones is very much like Han Solo, full of sarcasm and violent surprises (Indy definitely shot first in the scene where the suave swordsman shows his stuff off before BAM!) and I'm very happy Lucas and Spielberg never went back and tried to "fix" issues with RAIDERS via CGI like they did with STAR WARS and E.T., respectively. Even the ending, where the ark is opened and those patent ILM POLTERGEIST-ish effects show their snazzy stuff, still works...It's not perfect compared to what we're used to seeing today but it's still perfect for this movie and it's era. I revisit RAIDERS at least once a year and it never fails to still inspire me in some way as an aspiring writer and moviemaker. It's fun, well-written, full of action/adventure and horror, and it has flawed characters that you care about. They sure don't make em like they used to, and the first follow-up, TEMPLE OF DOOM, was a major letdown for me. RAIDERS, however, is simply one of the best of its kind of all time. See it again and ENJOY!
Harrison Ford in his prime, playing an extension of his Han Solo character in one of the greatest action movies of all time. Directed by Steven Spielberg in collaboration with George Lucas, this flick set action standards still adhered to today. Ford is a part-time teacher and archeologist that gets the opportunity to go after God's ark of the covenant, which the Germans want for power- to take over the world under Hitler's rule. Yes, the movie is set in the 30's and this just makes it more timeless, being a period piece. RAIDERS never ages and the action scenes never get old. The chemistry between Indiana and Marion (played by gorgeous Karen Allen) is priceless, even hinting at a Lolita-like affair that occurred when both were much younger (listen to the bar dialogue closely!). Jones is very much like Han Solo, full of sarcasm and violent surprises (Indy definitely shot first in the scene where the suave swordsman shows his stuff off before BAM!) and I'm very happy Lucas and Spielberg never went back and tried to "fix" issues with RAIDERS via CGI like they did with STAR WARS and E.T., respectively. Even the ending, where the ark is opened and those patent ILM POLTERGEIST-ish effects show their snazzy stuff, still works...It's not perfect compared to what we're used to seeing today but it's still perfect for this movie and it's era. I revisit RAIDERS at least once a year and it never fails to still inspire me in some way as an aspiring writer and moviemaker. It's fun, well-written, full of action/adventure and horror, and it has flawed characters that you care about. They sure don't make em like they used to, and the first follow-up, TEMPLE OF DOOM, was a major letdown for me. RAIDERS, however, is simply one of the best of its kind of all time. See it again and ENJOY!
