Movie Reviews

Indiana Jones is considered, with good reason, one of the great cinematic action heros of all time. In a way, though, I don't think he is necessarily the reason that the Indiana Jones trilogy (soon to be quadrilogy) is so fondly regarded by so many people. Even more memorable than any of Jones's characteristics, any of his stunts, or any of his quotes are the locations that he finds himself in. When I think about Raiders of the Lost Ark, for example, what I remember most is the booby-trapped chamber and tunnels that he escapes from at the beginning of the film. Then I remember the 'map room' that Indy sneaks into, where he uses sunlight passing through a gem at the top of a staff to create a beam that points to the location of the ark. Or how about the ark-room itself, with it's giant Egyptian statues and, of course, the floor that "moves" with hundreds and hundreds of snakes. Or how about the desert temple at the end, when the contents of the ark are finally revealed...

Few other films manage to impress upon you with such cool and imaginitive locations. I shouldn't discount Harrison Ford as Doctor Jones, however. He does a great job of portraying two different sides of the same character: the nerdy university professor who struggles clumsily to carry his maps and papers from one classroom to another, and the self-assured, courageous adventurer who won't hesitate to pull out a pistol and shoot any sword-wielding maniacs who get in his way.

At times I found the movie maybe just a little slow-moving. There's not much of a story here, expect for various plot-markers that move Indiana Jones from one really cool location to the next. But everything throughout Raiders of the Lost Ark is really cool, so it's hard not to like it.