Film Review on Raiders of The Lost Ark

“You want to talk to god?  Let’s go see him together, I’ve got nothing better to do.” – Indiana Jones. Whenever people talk about this dialogue, almost every Indiana Jones Series’ lovers, especially those in the 1980s will definitely recall the great film “Raiders of The Lost Ark”.

“Raiders of The Lost Ark” is an American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay written by Lawrence Kasdan. It was produced by Frank Marshall, with Lucas and Howard Kazanjian as executive producers. This film was released on June 12, 1981, and it lasts 115 minutes. The cast are Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies, Ronald Lacey, Denholm Elliott, Wolf Kahler, Alfred Molina, George Harris, Anthony Higgins, Vic Tablian, Don Fellows and William Hootkins.

Basically, this story is an original work of fiction with some additional history elements. George Lucas and Philip Kaufman, the authors of the story, came up with the story with their own imaginations and had added in some historical facts such as the mysterious existence of the Ark.  

There are also a few themes in the film which was quite interesting. For me, exploration is the one of the theme which leads the whole story line to move fluently. If Indiana Jones doesn’t have the courage to discover new things, and the curiosity to find historical sites which have not yet been found, perhaps there will have no anticipation in the film. Other than that, its setting is also another component which was mainly discussed by the audience. Most of the scenes in the film were taken outside the film studio, such as in the jungle, in a small town and so on, in which the scenes in the film were presented in a more real way.         

There were mainly 4 starring in the film. Harrison Ford stars as Indiana Jones, the leading actor in the film. Jones is an archaeology professor who often embarks on perilous adventures to obtain rare artefacts. He claims that he has no belief in the supernatural, only to have his scepticism challenged when he discovers the Ark ; Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood, the leading actress in the film. Marion is a spirited, tough former lover of Indiana's. She is the daughter of Abner Ravenwood, Indiana Jones' mentor, and owns a bar in Nepal ; Paul Freeman as Dr. René Belloq, Jones' nemesis. Belloq is also an archaeologist after the Ark, but he is working for the Nazis. He intends to harness the Ark's power himself before Hitler can ; John Rhys-Davies as Sallah, an Egyptian excavator, who has been hired by the Nazis to help them excavate Tunis. He is an old friend of Indiana's, and agrees to help him obtain the Ark, though he fears disturbing it.

Dr. Indiana Jones is a renowned archaeologist and is specialised in the occult. He is hired by the US government to find the Ark of the Covenant, which is believed to still hold the Ten Commandments, and is the only cimelia which has the extraordinary power that enables people to connect with God. Unfortunately, the Nazis have also noticed the existence of the Ark and they were after the Ark too. Hence, Indiana Jones and his ex-girlfriend, Marion set out on the voyage of exploration. During the journey, they have undergo lots of thrilling escapes,  involved in a series of fights, chases, and traps, which takes them from Nepal to Cairo. Fortunately, they’ve got lots of help from Jones’ best friend, Sallah along the way.

In my opinion, this was really an attractive story and it was one of the most brilliant films which I have ever watched. This film has several strengths — notably the strong cast. Harrison Ford, the leading actor in the film certainly was the best known actor in the cast. He had received lots of awards in his career as an actor, especially with his few famous characters: Han Solo in the “Star Wars” film series and Indiana Jones in the “Indiana Jones” film series. Thus, he had put in a classy performance in this film, and this has increased the realness and vividness of the whole story. Moreover, the leading actress, Karen Allen had given out a relatively natural performance, which added freshness into the movie. She wasn’t as famous as Harrison Ford, but she still performed well in the film due to her past experiences in other films such as “National Lampoon's Animal House”. As a result of her fine acting, she was once again chosen by the director of the “Indiana Jones” film series Steven Spielberg, to play a role in the sequel “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull”.

Besides the consummate skill of both leading actor and actress, Rene Belloq, the archenemy of Indiana Jones, which was played by actor Paul Freeman, also took up a large part in the play. Paul Freeman's symbolic dark, hypnotic good looks and talent for accents have often seen him cast as villains, as well in this film. His skillful acting in the movie has indeed gripped the audiences heart. Paul Freeman has played in few films before being chosen to play in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, but he had never been acting as a villain. Consequently, after the screening of this film, Paul Freeman continued to play the villain in the Hollywood, as he looks suitable in the movie. 

After discussing about the hero, heroin and public enemy number one in the story, there’s also one character which should not be forgotten by the audiences, and that is Sallah, Indiana Jones best friend, played by John Rhys-Davies. I believed that Sallah was the most popular character in the film besides Indiana Jones. John Rhys-Davies had played Sallah into an enthusiastic and vitalise character. In the film, Sallah always acts as a rescuer. Whenever Indiana Jones and his girlfriend get into hot water, Sallah would come to their rescue in time, no matter using what way, using his children or his friends. John Rhys-Davies was actually a prolific actor, he has played as Gimli in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which was given public credit from broad masses of audience.

Another point which is worthy to be mentioned is the setting of the film. In order to present a background which is vivid enough to the audience, Steven Speilberg has took the crew to lots of places to carry out the filming. The production of this film was based at Elstree Studios in England, and it also took place in La Rochelle, California, France (“Cairo” in La Pallice), Tunisia (“Cairo” in Kairouan), Hawaii (“Peruvian” jungle in Kauai), Hertfordshire (“Marshall College” in Rickmansworth). Although the film shooting was costly and time-consuming, but “Raiders of the Lost Ark” has became the year's top-grossing film and remains one of the highest-grossing films ever made, which was a big encouragement and praise to the whole crew of the film. Almost every actor and actress in the film, no matter they were leading or supporting characters, have been awarded for their outstanding performance. By the way, as the crew really made their effort to do filming in real places, the scenery in the film was beautiful and real enough for audience to experience the same feeling together with the characters.

Apart from this, the lay out of this film was arranged smoothly. Every scene not only moves the plot forward, but serves a second purpose as well. For instance, there was one scene when Indiana and Marion were walking through the market streets in Cairo, talking about their past relationship. This is an interpretation which is needed because it helps deepen the audiences understanding of the relationship between Indiana and Marion, but at the same time something else is also going on. While they were talking, the script cuts away several times to show how they were being watched. The bad guys are getting ready to spring their trap. Therefore, it has added tension as Indiana and Marion don’t know about their danger like the audience do, and the story is being moved forward. This was quite an intelligent act, as the story moved fluently while the climax was inserted in the appropriate time and way.

In addition, the script of this film was well-written too. Basically, the dialogue in the film were meaningful, and almost all of them have their own implication. Each of the dialogue mentioned in the film not only has their clear intention which leads the story to move on, but also contain humour elements, which will appear inadvertently, and let the audience sense the funniness while the story line continues to move at a tense pace.

Furthermore, I think that the main theme which has been implemented through the film was wisdom, although exploration leads the story to move on, but without wisdom, Indiana Jones can do nothing with just the curiosity. For me, the scenes that would make my heart-stirring were those scenes when Indiana Jones escaped from danger, using his utmost knowledge and wittiness. I was really impressed by his wisdom and intelligence. I need to admit that it was the very first scene in the film which has successfully captured my attention. From the scene which Indiana Jones enter the cave, face the betrayal of his companion, until he tried to take the idol and make his way out of the cave. All of these have attracted me to continue watching the movie which I didn’t have a good impression at the first time.

In a nutshell, “Raiders of The Lost Ark” was really a good film and it is worth for people to take their time to sit down and enjoy this movie. As a matter of fact, this was a film recommended by my father, which I refused to watch at first due to the production year which seemed quite old to me. However, after watching this film, I would definitely recommend it to my family, friends and relatives, especially those who enjoy the sense of thrill, excitement, mysterious and tense, because this film has combined all the elements which an adventurous film should have.

 I have always thought that the films before 21st century would not be as interesting and lively compared to the films now, but this film has totally subverted my view to those earlier century films. As for the acting, audience would feel fortunate whenever there is at least one actor in the movie that acted well, much less all leading actors, supporting actors and even the minor roles in the movie, including the monkey acted fairly good. Besides that, the story was well-structured too. There wasn’t any dragging scenes in the film, which was good for both the audience and the crews of the film.

Last but not least, this was really and truly a good film for people to watch. Not only because of the wonderful plot and actor, but also the valuable of this film, because this film has been selected as “Top 10 best Action / Adventure Movies of all time” by Bazaar. It has also been named as one of the most classic movies in the film history. Hence, through watching this movie, we will not only experienced the true feeling of tension in the film with the character, but we can also have the opportunity to watch such a nearly perfect movie and feel the greatness therefrom.