the best film made in the history of motion pictures!

Rating: 10/10 (18 November 2001)

2001 marks this legendary, innovative adventure yarn's 20th birthday, and since it is also my #1 favorite movie of all time, I decided it was time for me to write a review of it. This is Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford at their absolute best. Practically every action set piece in this film has gone down in movie history, just like the rousing, incredible score by the great John Williams (JAWS, STAR WARS, E.T., CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND... he's done 'em all!). By the way, I'm not getting paid to write this review, since no one really needs another. I'm writing it simply to express my immense affection and love for it.
This is the true, great roller coaster ride that STAR WARS simply wasn't for me at the time. Harrison Ford, already a star after playing Han Solo, fares considerably better in this role. In fact, this could be the best-cast part that any actor has ever been in, in any movie. If you could say 'born-to-play-this role' about just one role, it would be Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Thank God for Magnum P.I., otherwise Tom Selleck would have taken the role in all the movies (honestly, I think he would've been okay, but it would now be unthinkable to picture anyone but Ford as Indy). The story of the film doesn't have a lot of developments or twists, it's just a roller coaster ride of a movie that never lets up. It would be hard to say that the first, introductory sequence is the best, since there's so much more that the movie offers, but I think it's the best-known to casual moviegoers. It's the one where we first meet one of the all-time greatest screen heroes that is, of course, Indiana Jones. The year is 1936 and we're somewhere in a South American forest. Indy is looking for a gold statue and although he will find it he will get very near to being killed in the process... only to see it being taken away by his arch-enemy called Rene Belloq, played blandly by Paul Freeman. This is the famous sequence where he escapes from a giant boulder, where he finds a miriad of tarantulas on his back, and where picks up the gold statue from the standard carefully but causes the cavern to collapse. After this sensational opening sequence the film slows down a while to show us that Jones also works as professor in college. He is contacted by his superiors and is sent on a mission to find the Ark of the Covenant, an important artifact where Mozes wrote the ten commandments, before the Nazis do (how someone can work as a teacher and an adventurer is beyond belief, of course, but so are many aspects of this movie). He will travel to Cairo in Egypt, and that's where the majority of the movie takes place. On his way there, he goes to Nepal, where he needs to find another artifact that will help in his mission. It is owned by Marion (Karen Allen), an old girlfriend of his, and she initially refuses to hand it over. Soon later a group of Nazis, led by the very creepy Toht played by Ronald Lacey, break into her bar for that same necklace that Indy came for. Eventually the Nazis will cause a fire, fight with Indy and Marion (she's not your typical damsel in distress, she often helps Indy out and takes care of herself), and die under the fire, although Toht turns up again later in the movie. Once in Egypt, Indy and Marion will be thrown into one big action set piece after another. They will be pursued by swordsmen in the marketplace, thrown together in the snake pit where the Ark lies, destroy some Nazi airplanes with undescribable explosions, be engaged in a massive truck chase sequence, tied together with their eyes closed as God exacts his wrath on the Nazis at the film's effects-laden, spectacular climax.

This is truly one of those films that you enjoy so much that you don't even dare to think about something like plot inconsistencies. This wasn't an especially ambitious movie, it only wanted to thrill you, but it was so well made that it became a true movie classic. Part of what made it special was that it was a true labor of love, a happy collaboration between buddies Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, who co-wrote the story and executive produced. The fun they had really shines through: every set-piece is magnificently filmed and thought-up, with a real sense of fun, excitement, and awe that one just doesn't find anymore in contemporary action films. And who could forget that magical scene where we expect Indiana to start fighting a swordsman showing off his skills and he just shoots him? Another truly magical touch is the unforgettable music score. Who hasn't heard of the legendary 'Raiders March' theme? But that's just the half of the magic that Williams produces here. There is a truly awe-ispiring theme going on in the scene where Indy is underground in Egypt in the room that with the sunlights shows him the way to where the Ark is. It's an extremely effective theme that's also heard in the stunning climax.
And of course there is Harrison Ford, who is so confident and simply perfect in his role he should've gotten an Oscar. Unlike many other actors playing heroes, he doesn't hit a single wrong note in his performance. He could never be replaced in that role, while Sean Connery as James Bond, for example, could. It is also clear to me now that a big part of the film's success has to be credited to Ford. And Spielberg was at the absolute top of his form by the time of this film (consider he was nominated for Best Director for this film and the next year for E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL), likewise with Lucas' creativity. John Williams has been Oscarnominated for practically every score he wrote since JAWS. After doing some brilliant work the year before with THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, he went on to write his best music ever for this film. All the best talents in Hollywood at the time collaborated in 1981 to make what I think could be considered the best film of all time. No other film in history has achieved the excitement, sense of wonder, and sheer brilliance of this one. It is the ultimate fun time at the movies, and you have missed out on a part of life if you haven't seen it. [PG]