Sublime, Exuberant, Old Fashioned Entertainment!

Rating: 10/10 (6 March 2000)

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK has been one of my personal favorites for as long as I can remember. I have probably seen it over 100 times, and it never seems to get old. This wonderfully comical, old fashioned adventure film is still (20 years later) one of the most exciting, adrenalizing, thrill rides ever crafted for the screen. Easily watchable any time any day, I frequently return to it if I am in need of a surefire smile. For some reason I have always found myself fonder of The Indiana Jones trilogy than I have Star Wars. Both films feature eye popping stunts and special effects, entertaining sympathetic characters and old fashioned acts of courage. But the Indy trilogy has always hit a nerve with me. Directed by the grand master entertainer Steven Spielberg, RAIDERS manages to take every man's most potent childhood fantasies and put them magically on the screen. The opening with the giant boulder, the room full of snakes, the remarkable chase sequence on the truck. If I had to make a list of films that most entertain me every time I see them, Raiders would be at the top. Phenomenal filmmaking that introduced to the world the now legendary character of Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford is the perfect everyman, and he leaves an indelible impression in the role.