Raiders of the Lost Ark Review

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2014)

Up until recently, I had not seen any of the Indiana Jones movies. I bought the box set of all four films for Christmas and I decided that I would work my way through the series. I have been told by many that the Indiana Jones movies were great, however I was a bit skeptical. After seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark, all of my doubts are gone.
I was transfixed from start to finish. The movie begins with Jones pursuing an ancient artifact in what seems to be South America. The opening scene is exciting and compelling. The action is entertaining, while not appearing to be extremely over the top. Jones is not able to secure the artifact that he is pursuing and returns to his job as a college professor.
The rest of the movie focuses on Jones' quest to locate and retrieve the Ark of the Covenant, a precious artifact that dates back to the biblical era. There is a heightened sense of urgency to find the Ark because the Nazis are also after it. The body of the movie contains Jones' adventure of finding the Ark. The path of his trip takes him through Nepal and Egypt.
I will not go into detail about the rest of the movie, however I will comment on what I liked the most about Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The cinematography and visual effects were excellent. The sound was amazing. I personally enjoyed Jones' style of overcoming obstacles in the movie. Jones did not simply use brute force or an abundance of advanced weaponry to defeat his enemies and find the Ark; he used his intelligence, his bull whip, and his revolver. Jones is the definition of resourceful in this movie. Jones also uses the help of a few friends during the movie. These individuals were instrumental to his success.
Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. It was visually pleasing and entertaining from start to finish. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes history and also anyone who enjoys a good adventure movie.