Raiders of the Lost Ark

Steven Spielberg exploded in the 1970s with the creation of the summer blockbuster that was Jaws and would go on to find further success with Close Encounters of the Third Kind but he concluded the decade with the critical dud that was 1941. Hoping to learn from his success and failures, he returned to the cinema in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark which was an entirely new property but one inspired by the serial films of his childhood that featured courageous explorers from the 1930s and 1940s. This, of course, became the start of the hugely successful Indiana Jones franchise and I looked forwarded to returning to this some 40 years after its release on another rewatch.

The story follows archaeologist, Jones, assigned by the U.S. government in 1936 to locate the Ark of the Covenant, if it is real, before it falls into Nazi hands as it could unleash a deadly power. His journey will take him from California, Nepal and into Africa on a globetrotting adventure in a race against time using friends and former flings to help him outwit competitor, Belloq, who has been assigned the same mission by the Nazis.

Returning to Raiders of the Lost Ark with John Williams' iconic score is a most welcome experience indeed. Harrison Ford is perfect as the dry humoured Jones and the rest of the cast including Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Denholm Elliot and John Rhys-Davies are all fantastic in a film that looks just as good today if not better by today's standards. We only have to look at the fourth Indiana Jones film to see how CGI can neuter any sense of adventure, whereas the practical effects lend a thrilling sense of authenticity, danger and excitement.

Running just under two hours, Spielberg's direction is perfect and the pacing is great throughout as we meet a colourful cast of characters who all bring something to the overall experience. My only quibble, that I've noticed on each viewing, might be with how the antagonists are spread across the Frenchmen, Belloq, a Gestapo agent and a Nazi officer but feel as though they just needed a little more screentime to develop their characters. Belloq comes off the best and is an interesting villain who has sided with the wrong team but perhaps they are just not all that memorable amongst the many highlights in the film. At the end of the day they serve their purpose and ensure the film runs along nicely. 

This really is the perfect action adventure film through and through, and a fitting tribute to serial films that inspired Spielberg all those years ago. There isn't a scene here that falls out of place or could be cut for pacing reasons; it is airtight. Raiders of the Lost Ark is the gold standard that would set the bar for the likes of The Mummy, Tomb Raider, Uncharted and its very own sequels. If it's been a few years since you last saw this, what are you waiting for?