a landmark in the genre

Rating: 9/10 (30 May 2008)

Harrison Ford (Star Wars) stars as Indiana Jones, an archaeologist who is sent on a mission to find the Ark of the Covenant.
Coming off the epic Star wars trilogy, Harrison Ford and George Lucas teamed up with Steven Spielberg to create an adventure masterpiece in this Oscar winning action adventure.
Ford leads the way as Jones, a cocky and intelligent man who uses rough, dangerous and intriguing techniques to get what he wants and through Ford's acting, do we see a great character and a strong male icon. Now, 27 years on, the icon with hat and whip are famous, as is many scenes, including probably one of the most exciting beginnings ever filmed when Indy goes into a temple and is chased by that boulder, possibly the best action sequence and memorable part of the series.
The writing by Lucas and direction by Spielberg also make the character and the entire film enjoyable and exciting all the way through in a consistent and tense plot. Lucas' attention to detail about the Ark is good and Spielberg's close and fast direction conforms brilliantly to the genre.
I wasn't around when the film was released but can understand by research that it was a landmark at the time of release, a completely knew idea when effects and action were really coming into full effect, like Star Wars brought the Sci-Fi genre out, and this film was a real niche in the adventure genre, and still remains to be today with Indy 4 currently being released and hundreds of thousands seeing it in its opening week.
The plot is consistent with great action scenes, suspense and mystery around every corner and intriguing characters and relationships being built. There perhaps could have been a bit more depth to some of the characters but otherwise it is a truly brilliant action adventure and a landmark in the adventure genre.