A timeless classic, Raiders of the Lost Ark hits all the marks for a Born to Watch episode. A movie that we had all watched countless times and it was fun to dig deep into this Spielberg masterpiece.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is an iconic adventure film released in 1981 and directed by Steven Spielberg. It stars Harrison Ford as Dr Indiana Jones, an archaeology professor-turned-adventurer on a mission to recover the lost Ark of the Covenant before it falls into the wrong hands.
The movie starts with Indiana Jones being chased through a Peruvian jungle while trying to procure an ancient artifact known as “The Chachapoyan Fertility Idol” from a mysterious temple ruin. After escaping his pursuers he meets with his old mentor Marcus Brody (John Rhys-Davies) at the American Museum of Natural History where they are presented with their next task: Recovering the Ark of the Covenant before Nazi Germany can get ahold of it and use its powers for evil purposes.
With this information in hand, Indiana embarks on a globe-trotting quest that takes him from Nepal to Cairo and eventually to Tanis in Egypt - home of the mysterious Well of Souls where he must face off against one of Hitler's agents René Belloq (Paul Freeman). During this journey, Dr. Jones encounters numerous perils such as booby traps, snakes and other traps all brilliantly designed by Spielberg’s team and adjusted from original ideas found on actual artifacts uncovered at archaeological sites around the world.
Raiders also has some funny moments as well; such as when Indiana gets struck by lightning because he refused to surrender his hat or when Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) gets angry at him for not recognizing her after years had passed since their last meeting during which she was only sixteen years old while he was already an adult man which leads us to believe that Dr Jones had ulterior motives towards her relationship when they were younger.
Harrison Ford delivers a timeless performance as Dr Jones; charming yet clumsy but always resourceful when faced with any danger – Ford made sure that we could sympathize with his character while still enjoying his wisecracks every time he faced danger head-on without flinching even once. Karen Allen also gives an impressive performance as Marion who goes from being rescued by Indy during one scene to rescuing him later on during another making sure to never be considered just a damsel in distress but instead portrayed as an independent woman capable of taking care of herself regardless if Indy was around or not.
Overall, Raiders is one of those movies you can watch again and again without getting bored due to its clever blend of action, comedy and adventure all beautifully framed under Spielberg’s signature directing style making it one immortal classic that will likely stand test time for many more decades ahead.
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