Professor of archeology, expert on the occult, and how does one say it..obtainer of rare antiquities.

Rating: 10/10 (8 March 2000)

The ultimate peak of the adventure film, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a movie so masterfully-crafted that a type of magic seems to shine out from every frame. Steven Spielberg, one of the most talented directors of all time, has also given us some of the other greatest American movies ever made, from Jaws to Schindler's List, and in Raiders of the Lost Ark he shows us the film-making edge that has made him so extremely successful.
Raiders follows the exploits of Indiana Jones, part time archeology professor, full time fedora-wearing, pistol-slinging, whip-cracking adventurer. Set in the late 1930s, Jones is hired to track down the Biblical artifact known as the Ark of the Covenant, a chest in which the mythical Ten Commandments sent down by God are said to have been kept. The Nazis are after it too, their expedition led by the villainous Belloq, Indiana's career-long nemesis.
Everything about Raiders of the Lost Ark clicks in place with complete perfection. The script is fantastic and Spielberg's direction is flawless, a style which has influenced countless other movies since. The action sequences are heart-thumpingly exciting and full of edge-of-your-seat, such as the brilliant famous opening scene which introduces us to Indiana as he attempts to uncover a golden tribal idol.
The performances are all beyond excellence here as well. Harrison Ford creates one of the cinema's most memorable characters in the heroic Indiana Jones, a rugged warrior of the arts who all women love and who all men want to be. The beautiful Karen Allen is excellent as well as the two-fisted Marion Ravenwood, and Paul Freeman lends a smug sense of devilish satisfaction to each word he speaks. Other great performances include John Rhys-Davies as Jones' friend Sallah and Ronald Lacey as the cold, menacing Toht.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the best movie experiences a film fan can ever have, and it deserves its place among the best ever.
I give Raiders a 10 out of 10, and I recommend it to any and all fans of film in general