Not the grand-daddy, but maybe the grandchild of all things adventure?

Rating: 9/10 (27 April 2015)

I kid you not: the first 10 minutes of the movie actually made me HATE the movie. I mean, Raiders of the Lost Ark was an Arachnophobe's nightmare - 3 tarantulas clinging at the back of Indiana Jones was enough, but a hundred on Alfred Molina's character? Jesus Christ, bless his soul. So, being an arachnophobe, that ticked me off already and I had to put off the movie for a good night, or two. However, that wasn't really going to stop me from watching one of the greatest movies ever (as said by Empire in its '301 Greatest Movies Of All Time'). And so, I found my courage once again, skipped the part with the tarantulas, and continued on with the movie.
All I can say is: Wow. There's no wonder this movie is one of those movies you just have to watch. It is a complete masterpiece of an 80s classical flick - vintage, kinda'-sorta' cheesy story-wise, a bit of flawed logic here and there, and the protagonist with a beautiful girl at the end. Yes, In the year 2015, we've probably seen it all already and critiquing the themes of this movie in this day and age would not be fair, for sure. But had I been given the chance to watch this movie when it was first released in 1981, I'm pretty sure I would've said to myself: "Boy, this movie will set the bar for many more adventure movies to come... hopefully".
In terms of the cinematography, the acting, the casting, and the story, I could all give those a 3.5 to a 4 out of 5. Nothing spectacular, but still pretty awesome, nonetheless.