I am almost certainly far from the only person taking this opportunity, in the days before the release of the fifth film in the series The Dial Of Destiny, to be taking a look back at the previous Indiana Jones movies which began in 1981 with Raiders Of The Lost Ark (now sometimes renamed ‘Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark’).
For me this is a film run through with nostalgia as, while I don’t remember my first viewing like I feel I do Star Wars or Back To The Future, it feels like a film that has always been there in my cinematic lexicon – as long as I’ve know about films, I’ve know about Indy – or so it seems.
That said even coming back to it now (and it’s been a while since I sat down with it properly) it is still a wild ride and a joy combining the best of what George Lucas and Steven Spielberg can do.
From the moment we first meet out hero (Harrison Ford, in rare form) where he comes across like Han Solo shooting first but thrown into a pre-Second World War era South American jungle, to the iconic shot of the enormous warehouse at the end, the film rarely stops for breath.
The opening sequence is so well known it’s almost hard not to see it as parody but it’s still genuinely thrilling, and at points suitably horrifying, so gets the blood pumping while establishing everything we need to know about Jones and his archeological rival, Belloq (Paul Freeman).
From there we follow Jones, and his companion, love interest and vocal sparring partner, Marion (Karen Allen) on a globe hopping adventure in search of the titular Ark Of The Covenant.
Much like the early Star Wars films this movie shows how good an ideas man George Lucas could be as he takes some well worn tropes and adds a dash of something combining nostalgia and modernity to create a new and exciting concept based in a kind of b-movie history.
Part of that here is the genius stroke of including the Nazis as the villainous force opposing our hero as they are villains you can’t help but stand against making us root for Indy just that bit more.
Spielberg meanwhile stages a series of increasingly ridiculous action scenes but keeps them all absorbing, engaging and logical in a way only he can while wrangling, for the time, top notch special effects as if they are simply happening – as the film nears its climax there are moments to rival Close Encounters Of The Third Kind in this regard, but in a rather different way.
If I could find any fault here (and really I’m clutching at straws) it’s that a couple of the action scenes feel a little repetitive, but really it’s never enough to cause much issue when you’re wrapped up in the story and there really is so much more good stuff from stunt work, to side characters, to John Williams iconic score, I just don’t have time to look at in depth.
For me Raiders Of The Lost Ark may be the best of the series (we’ll see as and when I watch the rest again how that idea holds up), and a lot of modern action adventure films could learn a lot by taking a few notes from it, as it has a simplicity which often feels lost in modern blockbusters, but delivered without ever dumbing down or being condescending or patronising towards the audience
Along with that there are some moments that are custom made to be the first real cinematic scares for youngsters (delivered in a suitably safe, ‘family movie’ context) and still have a great effect now.
Tommy Girard 