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1981
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RAIDERS
OF THE LOST ARK
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STARRING:HARRISON
FORD,KAREN ALLEN,PAUL FREEMAN,RONALD LACEY, JOHN RHYS-DAVIES,DENHOLM
ELLIOT,ALFRED MOLINA,WOLF KAHLER
STORY
BY GEORGE LUCAS & PHILIP KAUFMAN
SCREENPLAY
BY LAWRENCE KASDAN
PRODUCED
BY FRANK MARSHALL
DIRECTED
BY STEVEN SPIELBERG
GENRE:ADVENTURE/ACTION
RATED:AUSTRALIA:M/UK:PG/USA:PG
RUNNING
TIME:115 MIN
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Conceived
by Star Wars creator George Lucas and Phillip Kauffman, and
brought to the screen by writer Lawrence Kasdan and director Steven
Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a fun, action packed
adventure film that features suspense, romance, courageous heroes
and dastardly villains.
Set in the 1930's, Raiders… stars Harrison Ford as Dr.
Indiana Jones, a professor of archaeology and expert of the occult
who is tapped by the U.S. Government to find the lost Ark of the Covenant
- a chest that contains the Ten Commandments - before the Nazi party
does thus giving Hitler unspeakable power. Travelling to Egypt and
infiltrating an archaeological dig sponsored by the Nazi's, Dr. Jones
is joined by his estranged love Marion (Karen Allen) and old friend
Sallah (John Rhys Davis) who must help him find the ark and transfer
it to the United States. All the while, Dr. Jones must contend with
French archaeologist Dr. Rene Belloq (Paul Freeman) who has his own
aspirations of using the Ark for world domination.
Essentially a b-grade movie premise created with a big budget, Lucas
drew inspiration from the Saturday matinee adventures he loved as
a child. Raiders… still remains one of Spielberg's best
and influential directorial achievements, successfully bringing Lucas'
vision to life with an array of impressive set pieces, the clever
use of props such as spiders, snakes, booby traps and skeletons, and
a momentous, rousing score by John Williams.
Then there is the excellent performance by Harrison Ford, who although
not the first choice for Indiana (Nick Nolte and Tom Selleck both
turned down the role), he gives proof that there are some roles some
actors were born to play. With cowboy hat, leather jacket and bullwhip
in tow, Ford plays the adventurer with equal doses humour and heroism.
Ford has described Indiana Jones as someone who "is always getting
in way over his head and just barely getting out by the skin of his
teeth." He is basically making it up as he goes along. He is
not a hero out to save the world, but an archaeologist who loves his
job and is more than willing to risk his neck to save these important
relics not for fame or money, but for their historic value. It is
an admirable and affective quality that wins the audience over instantly.
Karen Allen gives much spunk to her character Marion, a woman who
is far from the stereotypical damsel in distress usually associated
in these films, John Rhys Davis gives a good performance as the warm
and affectionate Sallah, and Paul Freeman is wonderfully slimy as
the sleazy Belloq.
The choice of Nazi's as the bad guys works very well. Of course none
of their extreme politics are mentioned within the film (it would
just be way to out of place), yet they are still very effective with
their power hungry, sadistic sensibilities the perfect villainous
fodder.
Along with Lucas' Star Wars and Spielberg's Jaws,
the cultural impact of Raiders of the Lost Ark is huge. It
is a movie that can be enjoyed by all and -along with the Star
Wars movies - a rite of passage for young movie viewers. It
has withstood the test of time extremely well, it's old school effects
easily matching up to today's high tech CGI standards. But more than
anything else, it is a fun, entertaining piece of cinema. |
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