"Raiders of the Lost Ark" was the movie that made a dramatic impact on me. I hear some people saying, "huh?" Yes, you read that correctly. True, I do consider "Casablanca" the greatest movie of all time, but I never would have appreciated it had I not been enthralled by the saga of Indiana Jones.
You know how when you're a kid you can watch things repetitively to the point of obsession? I did that with this movie. My family had a VHS copy (remember VHS?) and I watched it again and again to the point where I wore it out. So why? What was it about this classic blockbuster from the 1980s that made me return to it again and again? There are many reasons.
First, it contained action sequences like I had never seen before. The first time I saw Indiana Jones running from the boulder in the temple, I was hooked. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The image remained firmly in my mind and I still think back fondly on the first time I saw it.
Second, I had never seen anything so exciting in my life from beginning to end. To borrow a cliche, the movie had me at hello. Even as a kid of nine I was not bored once during this movie. It was so brilliantly written, acted, directed, etc. After the boulder sequence I was on the edge of my seat to see what would happen next. I never thought it would get better after that. But then... there was the escape from the Well of the Souls and of course the truck chase.
Third, and this is going to sound trite, but it had one of the coolest heroes on screen. I had never seen or heard of Harrison Ford before, but little did I know between this and "Star Wars" that he was going to be one of the actors I would be appreciating for years to come. The whole movie sinks if the lead character is dull. No chance of that here. Indiana Jones is heroic, but not perfect. He's always in just a little bit over his head, but he's also smart, likable, and not bad to look at. As an aside: my dad bought a fedora when I was a kid. I used to wear it around the house and look for things that looked like artifacts so I could pretend I was Indy. But I digress...
Fourth, how could you not love Karen Allen? Marion was a great female lead. Smart, tough, sexy, she had it all. She stood toe-to-toe with Indy for toughness but then she could also be a great romantic leading lady.
Fifth, script: need I say more? The number of lines I quote from "Raiders"... well let's just say there are a lot of them. My favorite? "Asps, very dangerous. You go first."
Finally, it was the movie that made me appreciate all the hard work that went into movies. Shortly after seeing it for the first time I saw a documentary on the stunts of "Raiders." I couldn't believe people did such a thing for a living. People actually get paid to nearly get themselves killed working on films? And all the work that went into those special effects, such as the aforementioned boulder sequence and the scene at the end with the Ark and those melting faces of Nazis. Plus, I played the cassette tape of the soundtrack over and over. This was the first step in appreciating the genius that was John Williams.
In closing I would like to thank Steven Spielberg for bringing movies into my life. You're throw-back to Saturday matinee serials made me realize what I wanted to do with my life and that was become a film critic. And of course thank you to Harrison Ford for being my first movie crush.
You know how when you're a kid you can watch things repetitively to the point of obsession? I did that with this movie. My family had a VHS copy (remember VHS?) and I watched it again and again to the point where I wore it out. So why? What was it about this classic blockbuster from the 1980s that made me return to it again and again? There are many reasons.
First, it contained action sequences like I had never seen before. The first time I saw Indiana Jones running from the boulder in the temple, I was hooked. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The image remained firmly in my mind and I still think back fondly on the first time I saw it.
Second, I had never seen anything so exciting in my life from beginning to end. To borrow a cliche, the movie had me at hello. Even as a kid of nine I was not bored once during this movie. It was so brilliantly written, acted, directed, etc. After the boulder sequence I was on the edge of my seat to see what would happen next. I never thought it would get better after that. But then... there was the escape from the Well of the Souls and of course the truck chase.
Third, and this is going to sound trite, but it had one of the coolest heroes on screen. I had never seen or heard of Harrison Ford before, but little did I know between this and "Star Wars" that he was going to be one of the actors I would be appreciating for years to come. The whole movie sinks if the lead character is dull. No chance of that here. Indiana Jones is heroic, but not perfect. He's always in just a little bit over his head, but he's also smart, likable, and not bad to look at. As an aside: my dad bought a fedora when I was a kid. I used to wear it around the house and look for things that looked like artifacts so I could pretend I was Indy. But I digress...
Fourth, how could you not love Karen Allen? Marion was a great female lead. Smart, tough, sexy, she had it all. She stood toe-to-toe with Indy for toughness but then she could also be a great romantic leading lady.
Fifth, script: need I say more? The number of lines I quote from "Raiders"... well let's just say there are a lot of them. My favorite? "Asps, very dangerous. You go first."
Finally, it was the movie that made me appreciate all the hard work that went into movies. Shortly after seeing it for the first time I saw a documentary on the stunts of "Raiders." I couldn't believe people did such a thing for a living. People actually get paid to nearly get themselves killed working on films? And all the work that went into those special effects, such as the aforementioned boulder sequence and the scene at the end with the Ark and those melting faces of Nazis. Plus, I played the cassette tape of the soundtrack over and over. This was the first step in appreciating the genius that was John Williams.
In closing I would like to thank Steven Spielberg for bringing movies into my life. You're throw-back to Saturday matinee serials made me realize what I wanted to do with my life and that was become a film critic. And of course thank you to Harrison Ford for being my first movie crush.
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