My Review of The Raiders of the Lost Ark

Rating: 10/10 (15 March 2010)

Film: Raiders of the Lost Ark: Indiana Jones Actors/Actress: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, and Paul Freeman Release Date: June 12, 1981
The Raiders of the Lost Ark is a fantastically imaginative film full of adventure and suspense as the theme roars in each scene, the good guy versus his arch enemy evil itself. Harrison Ford plays as the handsome archaeological professor, Indiana Jones, who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances beating indomitable odds. The Raiders of the Lost Ark being the first Indiana Jones film in the quadrilogy depicts Indiana as a bright and naive man of science. Greatly intrigued by the biblical history of an artifact known as the Ark of the Covenant, Indiana Jones sets forth on a quest to retrieve the artifact in the hopes of divulging the originality of the 10 Commandments. Along the way Indiana is reunited with his once love the ravishing Marion Ravenwood, played by Karen Allen, and the two fight their way to the Ark as they dodge and mortify Indiana's rival, the deceitful Renee Belloq played by Paul Freeman, who is grouped with a faction of Nazis. After many struggles to regain possession of the Ark, the overzealous Renee attempts to test the power of the Ark once it is in his control and results in the supernatural demise of Renee and his fleet of Nazis. Finally rid of their opponents, Indiana and Marion are able to secure the Ark into the hands of the top secret section of the United States government, only to have the Ark placed in a classified government warehouse to hopefully never be compromised again.
The theme of Indiana Jones is one seen many times in many action films; he is the hero in the fight of good versus evil. Indiana is a very powerful hero in the film. He is intelligent, wise and, knows so much of the world. Indiana is a man of science and his actions are always based on reason. It helps that Indiana's stud like looks makes him a man that other men admire and women adore. What really makes Indiana the hero is his uncompromising desire to restore order and fight evil no matter the cost. As seen in the film, Indiana risks his life numerous times in order to gain possession of the Ark. He strives to gain control of the Ark but it is not for himself. All great heroes do not feel that they need more power that is the role of the villain. It is the hero in the films that believe justice is the key to a civilized world and thus the hero helps restore order to the government. Just as seen in the film, Indiana presents the Ark to the government in hopes that it will be studied by the brightest minds. However, like all good heroes, Indiana wants to believe purity in his government but he has his doubts, which are proved justified at the end of the film when the Ark is simply tucked away, never to be spoken of again.
Two very powerful chosen techniques in the film were lighting and music. The lighting was very important in the film because it caused the audience to feel anxious and drawn into the moment. There are several scenes when the lighting is simply a warm yellow glow that reveals the characters faces in somewhat serious moments. The audience is focusing on just the faces of the characters and it is then that the audience is almost waiting for a cue, a reaction from the characters to know what is going to happen next. I believe that the filmmakers chose to use a warm yellow lighting instead of a more white or blue light because the yellow gives a warm but ominous tone. A lot of the scenes the only light in the room is suppose to be from torches of fire, so it is only proper to use yellow lighting. Also many times it looks as if the lighting is coming from above the characters heads but also on an angle giving a small sliver of the characters faces a shadow on the side. I believe this gives the characters more of individual presences and sort of announces their possible thoughts by just focusing on the reactions on their faces.
The other powerful technique as stated before is music. The music chosen in the film is sometimes upbeat and worthy of being a theme song for a hero. At other moments the music is slow and creepy. The music really seemed to help set the mood for the audience. The faster that the beat of the music boomed the fast the heart of the audience beat and the speed of Indiana's feet seemed to correspond as well. The slower pulsing music slowed down the hearts of the audience and usually the footsteps of the characters as well. Also the height of the volume varied with the music. The more adventurous parts had louder music, it almost made me want to get up and start running. The scenes that required quiet and sly feet, the music was soft and disturbing. All in all, the music is one that the audience can probably still hear in their head long after the movie is over. I cannot imagine anyone thinking of the great hero Indiana Jones and not hearing the delightful theme song carried in his films as he fights evil for the sake of the good.