Escapist Entertainment That Makes No Pretense Otherwise

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2013)

This movie is a 1930's adventure, nothing more. It does not hold deep meaning, or fascinating characters, or moral lessons. It's like the epic adventures you see in the old Disney comics. It's what Spielberg made before he developed the desire to make "meaningful" movies such as "The Color Purple" or "Schindler's List", with mixed success.
So what is the story? Indiana Jones is shown trying to retrieve an idol in some remote forest peopled by savage natives, and fails. Then it shows him as a college professor teaching a class. Then he is hired to find the Ark Of The Covenant before Hitler does, and he travels to Nepal to find a woman who holds a medallion which holds the key to finding the Ark. Then she goes with him on a series of wild adventures.
Basically the rest of the movie is a roller-coaster ride. There is little more realism than on the "A-Team" TV show (an example is where Indy is dragged under a speeding truck and yet uninjured). Yet it is an entertaining ride, fast-paced and something you like seeing repeatedly, as I did.