Raiders of the Lost Oppurtunity...

Rating: Null/10 (15 February 2004)

Classic scenes abound for sure, but unfortunately they're spread around some of the most lull-inducing moments ever. Somehow most of the general world overlooked my problems and cherish this thing. I can almost see how: the huge rolling boulder; the truck chase; and of course, the snakes. Which makes me not hate this, but really look at it as a missed oppurtunity. It starts when Ford retrieves a small statue in the opening moments of the film, painting himself some sort of adventurer. It ends up that he's an archaeology proffessor who makes the occassional globe trotting adventure to pick up nicknacks here and there. His college receives information on the Lost Ark, which is, as one character puts it, "a radio for talking to God". Ford's motto for most things is that it belongs in a museum, so he sets off after it. But in between some dynamite action sequences are far too many dialogue passages that just lose you (or just me, I guess). Take the scene in the college auditorium that goes on and on and on and... Arks and staffs and myths and locations. Just get on with it! Then there's stuff with the Nazis and Allen's character, showdowns in pup tents, among other things. Plus a suprising amount of gore at the end, with melting faces and suctioned bodies. John Williams contributes another classic score which I still whistle twenty years later. I have found a few like me who must fast-forward a lot of the time, but don't take my word, most everyone adores this.