Snakes: Indy Jones Don't Play That Game

Rating: 9/10 (2 September 2007)

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" took me years to appreciate. It's still not one of the best movies I've ever seen, but it's still a great film. Why? Not because of its unbeatable star power (Steven Spielberg directs; George Lucas co-writes the story; Harrison Ford stars), but because of its fantastic action sequences, its wonderfully edge-of-your-seat story, and that amazing music by John Williams.
"Raiders" is the first film in a series about Indiana Jones (Ford), a snake-fearing adventurer who faces off against villains to defend treasures and history. In this film, he must find the sacred Ark of the Covenant-- rumored to hold the fragments of the Ten Commandment tablets-- before the wicked Nazis get their hands on it. And along the way, you'd better believe it's a road fraught with peril and-- you guessed it-- snakes!
Karen Allen and John Rhys-Davies add a lot of color to the cast (as does Denholm Elliott in a brief but memorable role), but it wouldn't have meant anything without a dynamite script, brilliant direction, the music, and beautiful cinematography that goes pitch-perfect with the film's appropriate editorial pace. Moments of the film are a bit on the rough side in terms of styling and visualization, but they don't detract as much as they could from the general feel of the movie.
Which is "fun."