spoilers only give away surprises--GREAT film

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2005)

The first time I saw "Raiders," I waited until it had been out a couple of months and school was back in session (a combination of factors which will probably never happen again, because it seems that distributors now pull movies out of the theaters 3 weeks after they're released, or the day there's a 2% drop in attendance, whichever comes first), went to a REAL movie theater, the kind with a Cinerama screen (which no longer exist), plopped myself down squarely in the center of the theater, and let the film carry me away. It may've been the best movie-going experience of my life. Other than an ending which I felt did not live up to the rest of the film, I loved the whole thing.
My favorite short scene is the fight with the giant in Cairo. Dozens, maybe hundreds of times in my life I have screamed at TV or movie screens when a protagonist throws down a perfectly functional weapon to fight the immense bad guy with his bare hands. When Dr. Jones drew his .45 and popped Goliath, I screamed with joy and almost fell off my seat laughing. Thank you for a hero with brains!!!
This is an all-time great adventure film. I also am very fond of "Last Crusade," but "Raiders" is the mother of them all -- including endless rip-offs, unfortunately -- and a must-see for any movie fan.