Will Rank Among The All-Time Adventure Stories

Rating: 10/10 (23 October 2006)

All three Indiana Jones stories were entertaining but this first one was still the best. I would think most people would agree with me on that. They would also agree this film has some very memorable scenes, famous scenes - like the opening one with the gigantic boulder chasing Harrison Ford - to the ending scene with the Ark of the Convenant opened - that will be Hollywood classics for years. In fact, to sum it all up: hundreds of years from now, I wouldn't be surprised if this is still considered one of the great adventure films of all time.
The action scenes are varied, which means a lot. You don't get the same kind of jolt of adventure. You get fist fights, battles with snakes, with airplane propellers, guns, knives, poison dates, fires, supernatural plague-type winds, chases through city streets, caves, mountains....you name it, it's all in here.
This movie can wear you out, which is almost a negative. The music can get too loud, the action too much, Karen Allen's mouth too profane; the credibility too much to believe, the theology too weird, etc, but no one can deny this is a fun ride all the way through. You take none of it seriously and just enjoy the adventure.
Coming on the heels of Star Wars, this really made Harrison Ford a mega-star. It didn't do much for the rest of the cast but it sure boosted Ford's stock.
After a long wait, this finally came out on DVD in October of 2003 and it looks great!