Greatest action movie ever

Rating: 10/10 (30 January 2008)

Raiders of the Lost Ark just may be the greatest action movie ever. Harrison Ford stars as Indiana Jones, an Archaeologist and adventurer who is asked by the U.S. to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis do. He enlists the help of Marian (Karen Allen) and Sallah (John Rhys-Davies). This leads him on the greatest adventure of intrigue, mystery, and action reminiscent of the Saturday Morning Serials. My only gripes were that the heavies were not that interesting. His archaeologist rival, Belloq, is uninspired and boring. The lead Nazi Generals, are also boring. Of course, the audience will automatically hate them simply because they are Nazis. Their actions are not really vicious. Probably what really sets this movie apart is the believability. Despite Ford becoming a one-man army, he shows his weakness. In one scene, Ford recovers the Ark from the Nazis by catching up with them, swerving to get them out of the truck, beating up the two in the front, and riding underneath the truck to survive. Almost immediately after, he is on a ship and is in so much pain he can barely get his shirt off. We get to see scars on his hand from the fighting. Indiana Jones is human. Raiders works because the story holds up, the humor holds up, and so do the leads. Indiana Jones it the part Ford was born to play, and Allen gives Marian great strength. Finally, the action is unrelenting, and serves the story well. This is the greatest. I will never get tired of watching it.