Raiders of the Lost Ark
Originally Released in 1981

Starring: Harrison Ford
Actors: Karen Allen Denholm Elliott Wolf Kahler 
Director: Steven Spielberg 
Rated: PG
Screenplay: Lawrence Kasdan.
Run Length: 115 min

Review By: John Barker
- See it or die!

The brainchild of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg was always going to be exciting but this exceeds all expectations. The clever mixture of Spielberg’s Bond interests and Lucas’ mythological excesses makes for a great action/adventure film.

The film establishes the almost legendary character of Dr. Indiana Jones, (Harrison Ford), the eminent archaeologist who while not teaching history at Princeton is chasing after precious artefacts. This adventure sees him trying to find the Ark of the Covenant, the ark in which the Ten Commandments were kept. In order to do this he enlists the help of Marion, (Karen Allen), who has a vital medallion which helps Indy find the resting place of the Covenant. To make matters worst the Nazi’s are also looking for the Ark in a quest to harness its power and conquer the world.

In creating the scenario Lucas and Spielberg have drawn from their childhood experiences of watching Saturday morning serials and have created a movie that is jigsaw of boyhood fantasy set pieces with a simplistic but well constructed plot. The opening archaeological raid is a wonder to behold, the scene is built up in almost Hitchcockian fashion with a huge rock ball chasing Indy being the highlight.

My favourite action scene is adrenaline-fuelled chase after the Ark, which is transported by truck. Indy chases this truck on horseback, surprisingly enough, and then climbs around and ejects the driver, where the passengers of the truck then attack him. This scenario is brilliantly exploited with Indy being pulled under the truck and then regaining control. It is an action scene that you have to marvel at because in lesser hands it would have been just an inconsequential chase.

Raiders of the Lost Ark illustrates a wonderful character building exercise; it has created a household name that rivals James Bond. Indiana is likable because he elicits all the heroic qualities that men respect and women find attractive while at the same time being down-to-earth and intelligent. He is also directly opposed to the Nazi’s, which is always enjoyable as they are perhaps the ultimate incarnation of evil and rejuvenates a patriotic feeling in all of us.

However much we like to think so, no film is perfect, and this is no exception. The romantic component of the film does not really come up to the standard of say Romancing the Stone, (Robert Zemeckis, 1984, US), Karen Allen and Harrison Ford seem to have little chemistry together and the films script and tone hardly help matters. Also I feel that some of the dialogue could have done with more polishing as the film at some points lacks humour and plays it, as they say, a little bit straight.

Anyway, minus the points above this is pleasurable in almost an orgasmic sense and a film that will entertain young and old, and the bits in-between.