"Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) - Movie Review

Before any one is surprised and are asking/thinking how the hell I missed “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, please hold on. I have watched all the three but as blurry images of a kid’s sleepy eyes due to continuous film watching on a festival day (Diwali to be clearer). Not all the three was watched in that manner though but the memory has dissipated in these years and to gear up for the “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” which releases on May 22 2008, my colleague loaned the trilogy. And surely adventure has the name of Jones.

This is adventure marathon making us jump up and down in a heartbeat and be wondered how did Spielberg had the instincts and eyes to put himself among the audience. Sure I did not get upbeat for every stunt sequences but it carries the charm and passing time of wondrous novelty gifted by the crew. I did not know about Steven Spielberg when I was watching for the first time as a kid. Officially I was brought to the knowledge through “Jurassic Park” and then greatly by “Saving Private Ryan”. And going back tracing the evidence in “Jurassic Park”, Spielberg has the quality of empathizing the thrill, fun and fear to his advantage in the viewers.

And Harrison Ford as the witty, silly but daring and immediacy in putting things together in excruciating circumstances has developed a James Bond in rugged clothes. His gadget the whip supplies the first aid kit for impossible survival in the nail biting chasing, shooting and entering the unknown situations. Along with it the chiming score of John Williams rhyme the moods and beat and the echoing cheers from the audience on to the screen for this unusual super hero. Yes, he is a super hero and he lives in a comic world blending the universal events and self proclaiming goodness in him. He serves as the professor neatly attired, trimmed and shaven in the civilized society but in his reign only when his hat, whip and the everlasting bag of unrevealed items attach to him for a bumpy ride.

The silliness in some of the stunt is now more visible due to the resourceful plethora of visual effects the Hollywood has flooded on to the screen. The logical parts of it are more comical than silly though. Yet the special effects are beyond the times and have the same antiquity the film has. The stunts have been extremely risky and the locations they have shot were strenuous on the film crew and actors. Amongst much straining and labouring circumstances, Spielberg managed with an actor ready to do stunts and also providing one of the funniest sword reply to an Arab swordsman. Wiki says that scene was suggested by Ford saying “Why don’t we shoot that sucker?” and that is frustration pouring a creative obligation to get over things fast which has marked the best of the film.

Watching now, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” may not be the classical art or the dramatic theatre class; the old films are admired and attested for. Rather it created a classic in a genre much not known and much not been acclaimed too. Apart from minting money, this film is a landmark in the film history for inspiring that generation to have a zeal for an unknown profession. It lighted a history by showing a fictional one and by that it got into many hearts to make films and may have even take up the career of history and archeology (at least I had it when I was a kid but my laziness is no match for the conveyor belt the society ran).

With a beauty and toughness the years and experiences have moulded her; Karren Allen’s Marion Ravenwood punches Jones in a sort of unexpected comic timing. Ford has that kid’s stupid grin when his character feels proud about conquering something only to be short lived. And making it a period film of pre-World War – II, it dictates how much the world has been passing on the hidden treasures of our history.

This review is more of an article for the character Spielberg created. The film experience of it did not blow me away but it is the Sunday Afternoon movie. Sunday Afternoon movie is something I have defined which suits the mood of it. It is intermediate period of the day getting over by the darkness but still has a little of sullen life left in it. A film in that mood is something which need to be cheery, funny and may start a lively evening. Indiana Jones films are all Sunday Afternoon movie but it became more than that, it did give adventure a name.