The Ultimate Action Film, Spielberg's Best

Rating: 10/10 (20 February 2014)

When Jaws was released in 1975, it became a global phenomenon, gaining universal praise, (Hey look, praise for a movie released by Universal) grossing over $400,000,000, keeping many out of the water, and made a star out of its director, Steven Spielberg. His 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind was released to similar success, and is now one of the classic of the science-fiction genre. His next film, however, 1941, was a colossal bomb, showing that as good as he was, he wasn't invincible. So for his next project, he turned to his friend George Lucas (Director of Star Wars), and told him of his plans to direct a James Bond movie. Lucas then presented a similar character he had come up with, Indiana Smith, a homage to adventure serials from the forties and fifties. The two then collaborated on the project, with Spielberg directing and Lucas producing, and created what is now known as Raiders of the Lost Ark. (With the protagonist changed from Smith to Jones)
For the two people on the planet who have not seen this movie, here is the basic premise: In 1936, Indiana Jones is an archaeologist who is recruited to find and retrieve the lost Ark of the Covenant, which is essentially "a radio to God", which could make whoever carries it invincible. The problem is that Hitler is also interested, and evil Nazis are trying to recover it for their army. What ensues is the greatest adventure film ever made. (I'm not exaggerating at all)
The movie has so many strong points I don't know where to start, but I'll begin with the obvious: Harrison Ford is the best possible pick for Indiana Jones imaginable. He doesn't just play Indy, he IS Indy. He is both awesome and yet barely able to make it through the movie's many fight scenes. (Well, except the one fight that is played for laughs) You like him so much that you want to see him win. It's because of how he barely does this that you realize, "This could be me in this scene!" He brings the right amount of relatablility and awesomeness to the role. Maybe the movie could work with someone else in the role, but it wouldn't be anywhere nearly as awesome.
Everyone else is good too; Karen Allen is excellent in here, (She seems a little stubborn and like a damsel in distress at times, but Willie in Temple of Doom is a hundred times worse) Paul Freeman as Belloq is a fantastic villain (He's almost like Indy; he's an archaeologist looking for the Ark but is just more evil), John Rhys-Davies is pretty entertaining to watch as Sallah, and Denholm Elliot's Marcus Brody (Possibly related to Martin in Jaws) is a good father figure in here (But don't worry, we'll get Sean Connery later).
This movie just looks incredible. The set design is very engrossing, the cinematography is tremendously well shot, and the stunts and other effects are so well integrated you can't tell which is which (Just like Jurassic Park).
The movie also sounds good too. The soundtrack by John Williams is amazing. He really knows how to make iconic themes almost effortlessly (No wonder he's my favorite film composer). And the sound effects are pretty good too.
But finally, we get to the best parts of this movie: The script and action sequences. It is very well written, taking place in a period where the Nazis (The only villain more evil is the devil; wait, I've found a villain for Indy 5!) are going to be part of the story no matter what, and it completely embraces its simple adventurous tone by going all-out in order to make this as entertaining as possible. And boy does it deliver! We get one great action scene, another great one, some exposition that manages to not be boring, more action, more action, some more action, some humor here, a little setup here, action, action, action, humor and action (You know what scene I'm talking about), action, action, action, awesome John Williams theme here, action, a little more action, and a breathtaking climax. (Complete with a shot that takes a page from Citizen Kane's book) So yeah, Raiders of the Lost Ark is the essential action movie, and definitely Steven Spielberg's best film. If for some odd reason you haven't yet seen this, (gasp!) watch it immediately, and if you have, watch it anyway! This is a perfect 10/10, and easily in my top 10 favorite films.
And if you want to know my order of preference for the Indiana Jones movies, here it is: Raiders, Last Crusade, Temple, Kingdom.