Raiders of the Lost Ark

This writeoff, started by kenshin-guy, is dedicated to the first in a series of either games, movies or books. Participants each wrote about the first entry in a series that spawned many sequels or reincarnations. Here are the other writers, visit their epinions, rate them VH and write comments, I'm sure they want that:

-Kenshin-Guy
-eBrown2
-yusakugo
-GasJocket214
-Orestes84
-Xeno3998
-WretchedPyro
-matt_harney
-Gorocco
-Sephiroth2000
-Korova
-Shampoo-Girl
-Kurt_Messick

If you ever wondered where the inspiration for such films as the Mummy and it's sequel, or the Tomb Raider series of games and now the movie (which will suck) came from, it was certainly Steven Spelberg's Indiana Jones film released in 1981. The Raiders of the Lost Ark was a huge success, spawning an excellent sequel and a not-so excellent Last Crusade and promoting the creation of further films and entertainment products in the same vein. It starts of interesting and builds up from there creating a successful masterpiece that will entertain film-goers of even the most jaded ranking; it certainly pleased me...

Indiana's first movie begins with him raiding a lost tomb/cave with a few local guides, one of whom is a spy who almost kills Indy. After progressing past some tough obstacles, Jones obtains a golden statue but has to escape the tomb/cave because it begins to crumble. He barely escapes a slowly falling door, a huge rolling ball and many darts shooting past him only to be caught by Belloq, a fellow archeologist/adventurer who claims that "there is nothing Indiana Jones can have that he can't take away from him". Indiana barely escapes the wrath of a tribe that Belloch commands to attack and kill him.

Later, Indiana is in a high school teaching when a friend of his that works with him on his escapades for archeological breakthroughs and adding stuff to the local museum walks in. Indy has no statue for him, but he has some other jewels and minerals - better than nothing. Him and his accomplice are then taken to a discussion with two regarding a disturbing wave of coded information that came upon the Americans. The Germans - Hitler, are planning on capturing the Ark of the Covenant from Tennes, the rumored final resting place of the historical piece. This is the basis of Indiana Jones' first movie (though not his first adventurer, according to the storyline across all three films, Temple of Doom is the original), he must capture the Ark then return it to the museum from the Germans before Hitler uses it to create a super-army of sorts.

As can be seen, the plot is significanly more interesting than the other two movies, and the execution of storytelling is the best across all three films. Never does the story become convoluted to the point where you have to rewind to catch all the plot elements again, nor is it too simplistic for intelligent people to be insulted. The film ties in all it's subplots excellently; Marion's capture by the Nazis, Indiana's pursuit of Belloq, the Nazis' plans for the Ark are all well implemented into one consistent storyline that develops each plotline eloquently.
There are some interesting plot elements that added to my enjoyment of the film, such as Belloq's fascination with Marion. Overall a great script that's well written and moves along at a brisk pace.

Harrison Ford plays the dashing main protagonist Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and it's his best performance ever in my opinion. His character is subtly charming, wise and funny all at once, and has that true adventuristic feel to his persona. Karen Alley is Marion, a loudmouth, constantly infuriated mistress who nags Indiana throughout the whole movie, only to get captured then b*tch more when she's rescued. A stereotypical tomboy character, she fits the movie well as almost a second comic relief next to Indy, and I guess
eye candy for the male viewership. Paul Freeman plays Belloq providing the movie's main antagonist, as the other badboys don't get nearly enough attention to be developed into significantly evil personalities. Belloq's accented tone and devious grin make him a perfectly detestable antagonist that suits the Nazi organization he's partaking in. There isn't much to say about the rest of the cast, which play very well and bring their respective characters to the screen in style. There isn't one performance by any actor/actress in the movie that I disliked, they all played very well.

Action is plentiful, as one would expect from a film about an adventuring archeologist stealing historical religious arks from Nazis. All of the action is great, suspenseful, intelligently shot and brought to the screen in all the brutal glory. My favorite action scene was the truck chase, where Jones hijacks the truck carrying the Ark and wades through many soldiers, vehicles equipped with artillery and road obstacles. It kept me on the edge of my seat in anticipation of what would happen next, the same of which can be attributed to the other action moments.

There are some things I disliked about the film, but they are minor. First, the whole Ark exploding near the end (moderate spoiler) with special effects imagery featuring ghosts swirling around killing everyone is a little out-of-place in what is an otherwise serious movie. The writer(s) should have come up with a better way to make the Ark destroy the Nazis, instead of this silly effects parade. Another thing is John William's score for the film. It does a great job of adding atmosphere to the surroundings, but the base Indiane Jones theme becomes an annoyance of the highest order after hearing it more than a few times. Too chirpy and zealous for a main theme, and when sung over on a loop, it starts grating on the nerves. Again, these are minor complaints, but enough to chop off a star from an otherwise perfect film review score.

I Highly Recommend Raider of the Lost Ark to action fans. It began a hugely popular series of movies that flooded all areas of entertainment and created a perfect franchise. This movie is great when you just want to watch a well done action movie that has some depth and an awesome cast of characters.