A Modern-Day Treasure-Hunt of Epic Proportions Stylistically Like the Old Action-Serials of the 1930's, 40's and 50's

Rating: 9/10 (11 September 2016)

In the early 20th century, the fantasy-adventure genre was in vogue in the pulp magazines such as "Amazing Stories" and "Weird Tales" where western-society adventurers, typically British and American, replete with safari hat and khaki pants traveled to a far-away locale encountering ancient relics and ancient peoples. There would be a few obligatory scenes where an ancient people with spears would be chasing after the hero. Alan Quartermain was one of the first of these adventure-heroes traveling to distant lands seeking adventure. A few of these adventure-genre stories were produced into films, such as "King Kong", "The Most Dangerous Game" (by the same producers as "King King"), "Four Frightened People", and "Treasure of the Sierra Madre". Even the "Flash Gordon" serials had much in common with these adventure-to-other-lands series. "The Raiders of the Lost Ark" is a late 20th-century updated version of these old adventure films and takes place during the 1930's when Hitler and the Nazis ruled Germany.
Oddly, the adventure films of the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood, circa 1930 to 1960, were relegated to B-film status and the serials. With the possible exception of "King Kong", most adventure films were low budget B-films with lesser-known actors, lower budgets, and relatively mediocre scripts. Many of these offerings were shot on sound-stages in Hollywood. When "Raiders of the Lost Ark" premiered in the early 1980's, the adventure film had received some serious face-lifts. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" set the standard with better scripts, better actors, location-shooting, and larger budgets, incorporating fun, adventure, antiquities, and even some humor into a satisfying cinematic experience.
When he's not engaging in mediocre lectures as a nerdy professor at his university, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford in one of his defining roles) is an archaeological adventurer, seeking antiquities throughout the world for museums in the western world, predominantly for the United States and Britain. His arch-rival is Belloq (Paul Freeman), a French archaeologist who has sold his soul to the Nazis in return for financing archaeological exploits. Jones studied under Dr. Abner Ravenwood, an archaeologist who has gone missing somewhere in Asia. Jones briefly dated his daughter, Marion, before the beginning of the events of the story.
After an altercation with his rival Belloq, losing a gold religious icon-head in Peru, Indiana Jones is approached by the US government to engage in a treasure hunt which has a nearly 2500-year history. The Nazis are after the so-called Ark of the Covenant (not to be confused with Noah's Ark, Joan of Arc, or Archie Bunker), an ornate gold chest which supposedly housed the Ten Commandments brought down from on High by Moses to the Israelites, a.k.a. the Jews/Hebrews of Pre-Christianity. According to Old Testament biblical tradition, the Ark of the Covenant resided in the "Holy of Holies" in the Great Temple in Jerusalem and would only have been seen by the highest priests of the temple. The Ark went missing after the Babylonians conquered the Israelites circa 500 BCE. (Whether the Ark actually existed has been debated for nearly 2000 years. Although some antiquities-hunters and Christian-Evangelicals want to believe the Ark may still exist, more than likely, if it had existed, it was destroyed by the Babylonians who probably melted down the Ark for its gold to create their own treasures and artifacts.)
The Allies believe the Nazis desiring the Ark of the Covenant has to do with their quest for ultimate domination, the Ark associated with divine power. So if the Nazis think they can attain the Ark, the Allies better confiscate it before they do. So US government officials offer Indiana Jones an offer he can't refuse: finance him to find the Ark before the Nazis. He travels first to Nepal where he meets his old flame, Marion Ravenwood, who has in her possession an amulet which turns out to be a crucial piece of the puzzle to find the Ark. The Nazis are also hot on Jones' trail. Marion and Indiana then travel to Cairo, Egypt, where the Nazis are already engaging in a large-scale dig for the Ark. Jones solicits the help of Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) to hire a crew of excavators to find the Ark before Belloq and the Nazis. Unfortunately, Belloq has often been able to take artifact-treasures literally right out of Jones' hands.
One of the all-time great action-adventure films with a humorous script, top-notch acting, and wonderful scenic shots. A few scenes use some of the Old Hollywood devices, like a map with an animated line showing their journey across the globe. Some of the chase scenes go on a little bit long, but there's plenty of other ingredients which keeps the story fresh and moving. Even the love-story which is rekindled between Marion and Indiana is a nice relief from the action. One of the best scenes is how they discover the actual location of the Ark, supposedly hidden in the lost city of Tanis in Egypt not far from Cairo. While Tanis was a real ancient city now in ruins, the idea the Ark would have been placed there seems quite fantastical, considering the Ark was lost when they were conquered by Babylon, not Egypt. The Egyptians probably could have cared less about a Jewish artifact. However, we tend to run with the story all the way.