Action, adventure, artifacts and traps.

Rating: 9/10 (9 December 2011)

Harrison Ford plays Indiana Jones, an archaeologist and explorer in the action adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark, set in 1936, the story follows Indy, as he is often called, as he attempts to beat the Nazis in a race to recover the lost Ark of the Covenant. Karen Allen and John Rhys-Davies join Indy in his quest as Marion Ravenwood and Sallah respectively. Paul Freeman plays Dr. René Belloq, Indy's adversary in the movie. The movie follows Indy in South America where he recovers a gold idol, only to have it stolen by Belloq. His next trip is to Nepal where he acquires the headpiece to the Staff of Ra and a partner, Marion, after a battle with Gobler (Anthony Higgins) and his henchmen. Indy and Marion then travel to Egypt where they meet up with Sallah, enter into several skiffs, Marion is believed to have been killed, the Ark is found, stolen, and then retrieved once again. After retrieving the Ark, Indy and Marion board a boat for America but a Nazi sub shows up and the Ark is stolen yet again; Indy, however, sneaks aboard the sub. The Nazi's stop at a secret island to open the Ark, catch Indy, and tie him and Marion to a post. The Ark is opened and spirits attack those who watched, not including Marion or Indy. The Ark is brought to the United States and stored away in a warehouse. The movie is full of action and adventure, with traps and danger at every turn. The editing was paramount in making this movie a reality as different parts of the same scene are in fact in different location. The very beginning of the movie starts in a cave set in South America, but only the outside of the cave was filmed on location. Indy actually runs out of a set in the US and emerges out in a jungle of South America. This is the only way that the traps and special effects can be properly done. The lighting in scenes such as the ones inside the map room and the Well of Souls is important to the film, but for different reasons for each. The map room required the lighting to move as if it were the sun moving across the sky, changing the lighting as it goes. Inside the Well of Souls darkness needed to prevail while still allowing us to see what was going on. If it had been bright inside the Well of Souls the fear the scene is supposed to portray would be lost. In the end of the film the Ark of the Covenant, which was retrieved by Indy, is placed in a crate and stored in a warehouse. This is important as the warehouse in this film is the warehouse from Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, another action adventure film starring Indy, loaded with traps, chases, close calls, and filled with historical belief's tied into its plot.