Indiana Jones Collection

Adventure

Action

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Paramount Pictures

Lucasfilm Ltd.

United States of America

English

Español

Deutsch

עִבְרִית

العربية

Harrison Ford

Karen Allen

Paul Freeman

John Rhys-Davies

Ronald Lacey

Wolf Kahler

Anthony Higgins

Denholm Elliott

Alfred Molina

Vic Tablian

Don Fellows

William Hootkins

George Harris

Fred Sorenson

Anthony Chinn

Eddie Tagoe

Bill Reimbold

Patrick Durkin

Matthew Scurfield

Malcolm Weaver

Sonny Caldinez

Pat Roach

Christopher Frederick

Tutte Lemkow

Ishaq Bux

Kiran Shah

Souad Messaoudi

Terry Richards

Steve Hanson

Frank Marshall

Martin Kreidt

John Rees

Tony Vogel

Ted Grossman

Vic Armstrong

Peter Diamond

Nick Gillard

Romo Gorrara

Rick Lester

Rocky Taylor

Reg Harding

Harry Fielder

Billy Horrigan

Terry Leonard

Sergio Mioni

Dennis Muren

Glenn Randall Jr.

Michael Sheard

Frank Welker

George Lucas

Howard G. Kazanjian

Mary Selway

Steven Spielberg

Jane Feinberg

Ben Burtt

Richard L. Anderson

Michael Kahn

John Williams

Douglas Slocombe

Norman Reynolds

Mike Fenton

John Fenner

Robin Vidgeon

Martin Evans

Red Lawrence

Colin Manning

Peter Brace

Jack Dearlove

Frank Bruton

Bill Weston

London Symphony Orchestra

Chuck Waters

Martin Grace

Roy Button

Paul Weston

David Tomblin

Patrick Cadell

Bill Welch

Patricia Carr

Danny Shelmerdine

Fred Hole

Ed Verreaux

Michael D. Moore

Gerry Crampton

Pamela Mann

Andrew Garnet-Lawson

George Djurkovic

Ron Cobb

Peter Grives

Sharon Cartwright

Daniel Parker

Sue Wain

John Dunn

Kenneth Wannberg

Deborah Fine

Arthur Carroll

Ken Court

Rita Wakely

Ian Hickinbotham

Gill Case

Simon Atherton

Stephen Hunter Flick

Derek Robbins

Nilo Rodis-Jamero

Ridha Turki

Stella Quef

Chrissie England

Hassine Soufi

Alan Brady

Samuel Comstock

Brian Ralph

Tarak Ben Ammar

Junior Charles

Laurie Vermont

Naceur Ktari

Patricia Blau

Terry Chostner

Michael Larkins

David Kakita

Vincent Joliet

Laura Kaysen

Deitrich Friesen

Thaine Morris

Hassen Soufi

Maile Semitokol

Shirley Lee

Dorothy Marchini

Habib Chaari

Bonne Radford

Louis G. Friedman

Michael Lloyd

Mark Mangini

Wendy Leech

Robert Watts

Leslie Dilley

Deborah Nadoolman Landis

John Ott

Michael Bay

Michael Ford

Bryan Coates

**Trailblazers of a Lost Art**

Little wonder James Cameron and Joss Whelon movies are the biggest box-office earners. They are masters of cinematic rhetoric. The unfolding dramatic situations and controlled dialogue are meticulously contrived. Cameron could probably have potted more if it wasn't for his earnest, simplistic messages (rich bad; nature good). All three movies (_Titanic_, _Avatar_, _Avengers_) plot along comfortably then suddenly spike spectacularly.

But no one has ever laid on the cinematic charm and cajolery like Stephen Spielberg. He was by far the craftiest manipulator of action and melodrama there ever was. He was the progenitor of summer blockbusters and all-ages, all-nations spectacles. At his best he had a gift for re-living and realizing that ethereal and irresistible childhood awe.

If _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ (NOT the sequels... NO, not even the father- son one) was made today, exactly the same way, okay maybe in 3D with updated CGI, it would surely land at the top of the box-office heap. It is essentially the first comic book movie that wasn't a comic book (bespectacled mild-mannered Archaeology prof by day and globe-trotting whip-wielding action hero on sabbatical). _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ (the first and only) is arguably the greatest adventure movie ever cooked up. And we, the abject audience, servile participants of the artifice, were licking its boots. We wanted Spielberg and his Indy to rope us in, reel us into the action, and completely have their way with us. We overlooked the emotional manipulation and contrived trappings because it was a pure freaking joy to watch, a Lucas produced godsend. Harrison Ford was born to play it just as Steven was born to direct it. It's really too bad they had to brand and knock off inferior sequels that, while making oodles of money, tarnished the shine of the unsurpassed prototype.

Indiana Jones was the perfect reluctant action hero on a selfless mission. A whip-snapping, truck-wrangling, swordster-gunning, Nazi- brawling adventurer who was matched only by his headstrong and sassy love interest, one pistol of a gal who could drink any man under the table. Not enough credit has been given to the great Lawrence Kasdan as the writer of this marvellous adventure. The script is as close to perfect as anybody could scribe. Even a dialogue-heavy expository scene (poisoned dates) was infused with a tense element of suspense. Yes, the story was hyper-fictional, completely contrived, shamelessly far-fetched... and altogether delightful. I wasn't expecting much when I went in to watch it back in 1981, but it had me wanting to do do back-flips on the way out. America's own Fab Four, Larry, Steve, Harrison and George, put on an action-adventure clinic.

Possibly the only weak spot in the movie is the climax which had our hero and heroine tied to a stake while God, the almighty Mcguffin from the Old Testament, magically wrapped things up for them. "Don't look" Indy warns, with his patented crooked grin. Are you kidding? We can't possibly take out eyes off of this. With respect to lost Teddy Bears from space and anti-Nazi machinators, Raiders is Spielbergs greatest achievement. It is one of the finest films ever made, of its or any kind. It is, hands down, my desert island movie.

Gimly

I think for a lot of people, Raiders is their favourite (x) movie. Be that their favourite adventure movie, favourite '80s movie, favourite Spielberg movie, whatever. None of those ring true for me, but it is my favourite Indiana Jones movie. I was a mad fiend for Temple of Doom as a kid, and I've managed to make multiple teachers put The Last Crusade on in class, so I'm quite a fan of the franchise, but Raiders is the most enjoyable to me... I've never even seen Crystal Skull... So maybe it's dishonest to say I'm a fan of the franchise... I'm a fan of the trilogy!

_Final rating:★★★½ - I really liked it. Would strongly recommend you give it your time._

Kamurai

Good watch, could watch again, and can recommend.

For Spielberg's American Alan Quartermaine, I can certainly understand what the hype is about, but I've never been a big fan myself.

For starters, Nazis are boring.  I'm sure they were all the rage once upon a time as a classic villain, but it doesn't do much for me.

Harrison Ford, of course, carries the movie, but Karen Allen plays really well with him throughout the movie and is amazing in her own right.

If nothing else, Spielberg is able to shoot a powerful atmosphere, and the movie is captivating and engaging.

It's not something I can watch over and over, but when I do watch it I know I'm going to get drawn in and have a great time.

John Critic

5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My favorite action film of all time due to one of the most iconic death scenes at the end being my personal favorite and being featured in my melt movie lists on many different websites!!!

CinemaSerf

This is trailblazing stuff - a great action film in the vein of earlier Technicolor swashbucklers. Harrison Ford is engaging and hugely charismatic and his battles with Karen Allen and Paul Freeman make for a considered, slightly dark but funny and memorable piece of cinema. So many great films have a depth in the cast that offers a multi-layered approach to storytelling. Spielberg cast John Rhys-Davies and Denholm Elliott excellently as Ford's stalwarts. John Williams has a golden baton when it comes to action-scores (akin to Korngold) and the story clearly has a tint of George Lucas' imagination to it. Historically, there is plenty of fiction but that spoils nothing. Not the best of the series, but a very good start...

Best Movies

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Harrison Ford

Karen Allen

Paul Freeman

John Rhys-Davies

Ronald Lacey

Wolf Kahler

Anthony Higgins

Denholm Elliott

Alfred Molina

Vic Tablian

Box office

More Like This

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The Terminator

King Kong

Batman Forever

The Day After Tomorrow

Poseidon

The Blues Brothers