Throwback Movie Night: Raiders of the Lost Ark

You might think I'm forgetting the "Indiana Jones and the" part of this title, but no! This movie came out in 1981 and they didn't add Indy's name in the front until later, when they released the subsequent three films that all had Indy's name in front. This was the top-grossing film of 1981 and won several Oscars for its sound and special effects and editing. Harrison Ford plays Indiana Jones and, I'm probably just biased, but it's hard to imagine anybody else playing Indy. George Lucas said he created Indiana to honor the action heroes of the 1930s serials. This is interesting because the 1930s action heroes were often based upon the (often exaggerated) stories and lives of actual explorers of the 1910s like Hiram Bingham III ("discoverer" of Machu Picchu). There's a lot of comparison between Indy and Bingham, but that's not the point of Throwback Movie Night! Back on track, here! The movie was directed by Steven Spielberg and if you aren't aware of who Indiana Jones is, here's a brief overview of this film (personal note: this is my favorite Indiana Jones movie and it was the first time the world met Indy, but three years later they released a pre-quel to "Raiders..." called "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" so if you're going to dip your toes into the Indy saga, I guess you could start there, too. I think this movie is better, though...)

Theatrical trailer, yo!



We meet Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones in 1936 while he's being led through the Peruvian jungle. He will eventually get through a booby-trapped cave and snatch a golden idol before running for his life from a giant boulder. The important part of this is that a) we see Indy's sense of adventure and love of his bullwhip b) we learn that he's scared of snakes. But, this really just a side-show because the actual plot doesn't begin until Jones is back in the USA, teaching archaeology to a classroom full of smitten college girls. He finds out through government officials that Adolf Hitler has a group of Nazis searching for the Ark of the Covenant in the hopes that finding it will make the Nazi army invincible. As if the Nazis weren't bad enough, they've gotten Indy's rival archaeologist, Rene Belloq on the case. Of course, Indy must go! But in order to find the Ark, he needs an ancient headpiece that his old mentor, Abner Ravenwood has in his possession. Well, Ravenwood has died, leaving the important artifact to his daughter Marion, who is running a tavern in Nepal. We learn that she had her heart broken a while back by Indiana and is still bitter about it. Before Marion and Indiana can work out a deal for the artifact, the Nazis show up and Marion's tavern is burned in the brouhaha, but she saves the artifact that is so important in this search for the Ark. The characters all end up in Egypt, where most of the story takes place. There's a lot of adventure (of course), some drama, snakes (!), the ultimate failure of the Nazis (this isn't a spoiler...if you thought the Nazis would somehow come out on top in this, you're delusional), and a rather big let-down at the end. (Although, I'm usually let down by the endings of movies that have funding for sequels and prequels and the writers know that going in.)

Of course I recommend it. I've had the Indiana Jones theme song as my phone ringtone for years now, so saying anything bad about it would be hypocritical on my part. Especially if I said something bad about it and then you were to actually hear my phone ring.

Dun dun dun daaaaaaah, dun dun duuuuun. Dun dun dun duuuuuuuuun, DAH DAH DAH DAH DAH! Dun dun dun daaaaah, dah dah DAH! Dun dun DA dun dun DA dun dun DA dun dun DEEE doo dun dun!