Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark
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This film has been preserved in the National Film Registry in 1999.
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 Adventure has a name; and it's Indiana Jones!
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Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, and Denholm Elliott. Ford portrays Indiana Jones, a globe-trotting archaeologist vying with Nazi German forces in 1936 to recover the long-lost Ark of the Covenant, a relic said to make an army invincible. Teaming up with his tough former lover Marion Ravenwood (Allen), Jones races to stop rival archaeologist Dr. René Belloq (Freeman) from guiding the Nazis to the Ark and its power.
Lucas conceived Raiders of the Lost Ark in the early 1970s. Seeking to modernize the serial films of the early 20th century, he developed the idea further with Kaufman, who suggested the Ark as the film's goal. Lucas eventually focused on developing his 1977 space opera Star Wars. Development on Raiders of the Lost Ark resumed that year when he shared the idea with Spielberg, who joined the project several months later. While the pair had ideas for set pieces and stunts for the film, they hired Kasdan to fill in the narrative gaps between them. Principal photography began in June 1980 on a $20 million budget and concluded the following September. Filming took place on sets at Elstree Studios, England, and on location mainly in La Rochelle, France, Tunisia, and Hawaii.
Though prerelease polling showed little audience interest in the film, especially compared to the superhero film Superman II, Raiders of the Lost Ark became the highest-grossing film of 1981, earning approximately $330.5 million worldwide and played in some theaters for over a year. It was a critical success, receiving praise for its modern take on the serial film, its non-stop action and adventure, and the cast, particularly Ford, Allen, and Freeman. The film was nominated for several awards and, among others, won five Academy Awards, seven Saturn Awards, and one BAFTA.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is now considered one of the greatest films ever made and has had a lasting impact on popular culture, spawning a host of imitators across several media, and inspired other filmmakers. The United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1999.
Plot
With the Nazis are rumoured to have pinpointed the secret resting place of the fabled Ark of the Covenant, the sacred artefact that holds the Ten Commandments, the U.S. government enlists the help of the American archaeologist, university professor, and man of adventure, Indiana Jones. Assumed to contain an unfathomable destructive force, Indiana travels to the dangerous mountains of Nepal, and then, to mysterious Cairo, where he teams up with his old flame, Marion, and his friend, Sallah. But, this is a frenzied race against time, and the road to the coveted relic passes through Indy's scheming arch-rival, Dr René Belloq, and the sadistic Gestapo commander Major Toht's armed-to-the-teeth army. Can Indiana Jones prevent the Ark from falling into the wrong hands?
Why Indy Swings His Rope
- Interesting premise about an archaeologist attempting to find the Ark of the Covenant before it falls into Nazi hands.
- Memorable and well-done action sequences.
- Amazing score by John Williams.
- Indiana Jones himself, is one of the greatest movie heroes of all time.
- A lot of awesome fights, especially, the bar fight scene.
- Despite the film being mostly serious, it has a lot of touches of humor.
- The special effects are well done, such as the ghosts.
- The performances are spectacular, especially from Harrison Ford.
- Great pacing.
- Interesting locations.
- Beautiful cinematography.
- Fantastic direction by Steven Spielberg. This is one of his most iconic movies.
- Awesome and now iconic scenes such as: The opening sequence with Indy stealing the golden idol, Indy shooting the swordman, Indy using the staff of Ra to locate the ark, the car chase, the melting face power.
- Memorable quotes such as:
- Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?
- It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage.
- I HATE SNAKES, JOCK! I HATE 'EM!
- Now you're getting nasty.
- Lightning. Fire. The power of God or something.
- Didn't any of you guys ever go to Sunday school?
- Marion, don't look at it. Shut your eyes, Marion. Don't look at it, no matter what happens!
- The scene where God unleashes his mighty power against Belloq and the nazis is very terrifying to the audience, complete with closeups of Belloq and his lieutenants’ faces melting, exploding, etc.
- Due to the film's box office success and being one of the greatest films ever made, it spawned four sequels which are Temple of Doom (1984), the Last Crusade (1989), Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) and The Dial of Destiny (2023).
Bad Qualities
- While the pacing is great (as mentioned above), the movie can get a bit slow and boring sometimes but otherwise a great film to watch.
- Some continuity errors. For example, when Jones and Marion enter the pit of snakes, it's night. Then, a few minutes later, the time changes to day.
- Although very terrifying (as mentioned above), the scene where the Nazis' faces melt off is really graphic and violent for a PG-rated film.
- Big Plot Hole: Even if Indiana Jones wasn't in the story, the Nazis would've still stolen the ark and gotten their faces melted by God.
Trivia
- The scene where God kills all of the Nazis was cut in a UK airing of the movie in 2021, which angered a lot of fans.
- When the film was in post-production, Motion Picture Association gave it an R rating due to Belloq's head explosion until it was obscured by the Ark's flames to get a PG one. It was remained lost until in 2013, Will McCrabb uploaded two still images of the uncensored version on Twitter.
- George Lucas conceived of the Raiders story around the same time that he came up with the idea of Star Wars. After becoming preoccupied with the latter, he offered the synopsis to his friend, director Steven Spielberg.
- Tom Selleck was Lucas’ first choice for the male lead. But Selleck had recently been cast in the title role of the television drama Magnum P.I. and its producers were unwilling to release the actor from his production schedule.
- Debra Winger reportedly turned down the role of Marion Ravenwood, which eventually went to up-and-coming actress Karen Allen.
- In order to capture “Indy” being chased by a rolling boulder, the crew attached the boulder prop to an arm-like contraption that allowed the rock to spin on a hinge and follow the action. However, when the boulder careened down its chute, the stalactite props on set were broken and had to be reconstructed for each take.
- The name “Indiana” was inspired by George Lucas’ dog – an Alaskan Malamute who also inspired the character of Chewbacca in Star Wars.
- George Lucas created a television series about the adventures of young Indiana Jones where the title character intersects with many important figures of the early twentieth century, teaching audiences about history.
Reception
Raiders of the Lost Ark received acclaim reviews from critics and audiences alike and was a huge success. The film currently holds a 95% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average of 9.2 out of 10 and a critic consensus that reads "Featuring bravura set pieces, sly humor, and white-knuckle action, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the most consummately entertaining adventure pictures of all time." Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film a four out of four stars and stated in his review "Two things, however, make Raiders of the Lost Ark more than just a technological triumph: its sense of humor and the droll style of its characters [...] We find ourselves laughing in surprise, in relief, in incredulity at the movie's ability to pile one incident upon another in an inexhaustible series of inventions."
Box Office
The film opened at #1 on its opening weekend of June 12, 1981 with a domestic gross of $8,305,823. The total domestic gross would later go up to $212,222,025. In foreign markets, the film made $141,766,000. The world wide gross was $389,925,971 against its $18 million budget making it one of the highest grossing films of all time, especially in terms of 1980s films.
Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Picture, but lost to Chariots of Fire. It however won four, as well as a Special Achievement Award for sound effects editing.
External links
Comments
- 1980s films
- Live-action films
- Action films
- Adventure films
- Paramount films
- Classics
- Roger Ebert's 4 star films
- American films
- Box office hits
- Blockbusters
- Best Picture nominees
- Films featured in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
- PG-rated films
- Disney films
- Exceeded Expectations
- Films preserved in the National Film Registry
- Indiana Jones
- Indians Jones films
- Good media
- Good films
- Dark tone films