4. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, 115m)

1936: Nazi Interest in the Occult

Alright, I couldn't help myself. Raiders is my favorite adventure movie of all time. Plus, I figured if I could watch a fake movie about a real thing, why couldn't I watch a real movie about a fake thing? Exactly.

Raiders of the Lost Ark - from the creators of JAWS and STAR WARS!!! - is the story of the titular character (Harrison Ford), an archeologist/adventurer, who undertakes a dangerous mission for US Army Intelligence: find the legendary Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis do! Leading the opposition is rival archeologist René Belloq (Paul Freeman) and his Nazi colleagues, headed by the skeptical Colonel Dietrich (Wolf Kahler) and the fearsome Gestapo Major Toht (Ronald Lacey). Along the way, he teams up with an old flame, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) and digger extraordinaire Sallah (John Rhys-Davies). Denholm Elliot is also around.

Now that that's out of the way, I want to say I love the writing in this film, particularly the character introductions: Indy, who's prepared for betrayal at any moment; Belloq, screwing Indy over immediately; Marcus, lurking at the side of Indy's classroom; Marion, embattled in a fierce drinking contest; Sallah, surrounded by his family and always ready to help a friend; even Thot, who goes right for the fire-poker. Further, the dialogue is spot on. There's a great scene early on in the film where US Army Intelligence comes to see Indy and the pacing is just brilliant. There are two men there from the Army and the first pretty much refuses to let the second talk the whole conversation. Any time he says anything, he's interrupted. Indy is the same way with Marcus - not in a dickish way, but in a realistic one. If those two want to talk, they have to keep up. Instead, they must simply get in a word where they can.

And who doesn't get goosebumps when we find out that the Nazis are digging in the wrong place! Genius.

Sound is another area that makes this movie special. Besides John Williams' classic score (likely his best in my opinion, and that's saying something), the sound design is Ben Burtt at his finest. During the fight in Marion's bar, I think it was an inspired choice to make the guns sounds distinguishable from one another; the bad guy's guns have slightly higher-pitched reports while Indy's is deep and meaty. This makes it clear what's going on even when it's not on screen.

The casting is masterfully done as well. We've all heard the story by now of how Tom Selleck was initially offered the role Indiana Jones but had to turn it down due to a conflict with Magnum, P.I. - Ford was, in fact, Spielberg's original choice for the role, but Lucas resisted because he'd already cast him in so many of his movies. However, after Selleck proved unavailable, the other producers interceded on Ford's behalf based on the strength of his acting in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). They obviously made the right choice (Empire is his second best performance, in my opinion, with Raiders as the first). Similarly, Belloq is a great character - the best villains are the ones that don't know they're villains, they feel completely justified in whatever it is that they're doing. That's one of the traits Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo), one of my favorite villains of all time, has in spades and it's one of the myriad of elements that makes Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999) such an exceptional show (a show that, in fact, has many analogues to World War II in its own right). But more on that some other time.

Moreover, this film has the de facto greatest action sequence of all time (the second being the hospital sequence at the end of John Woo's Hard Boiled (1992)): the fight with the German mechanic at the flying wing and the ensuing truck chase. I once read that the filmmakers approached the action sequences as they would any other sequence of the film, by creating a series of problems that need to be overcome. Many action movies make the mistake of filling up on guns and explosions. Raiders, on the other hand, is so effective because of the cerebral nature of the fights: this big guy is coming after me, I can hit him but it makes no difference, I need to switch to the gun but I can't get to it, now things are even more desperate since I have to get Marion out of the plane before it explodes. See what I mean? This increases our emotional investiture in not only what's going on but the characters involved. This gives the sequence it's own unique pacing and even allows for moments of humor. Look at the chase through the market place or the fight at Marion's bar for two other prime examples. Most modern movies will make a fight raw (look how bloody it gets when you bludgeon a person for three minutes) or look cool in some stylized manner (wire-fighting and whatnot) but it's not the same. Don't get me wrong, these other styles have their uses, I just feel like this type of action sequence is one of the things that elevates the Indiana Jones films and, unfortunately, is becoming a lost art. And what set-pieces, the flying wing and the truck - they really use every inch of them; over, under, even the sides!

I also want to praise the new blu-ray transfers. The picture and sound is better than ever. I recall a time (probably on VHS), before I used component video cables, where you couldn't tell the letters were supposed to be hollow during the opening credits. There are a few instances near the beginning where the focus is a little soft for a second or two, but it's difficult to tell if this is an issue with the transfer or merely the way the film has always been. I've seen Raiders in the theatre twice in the past couple years. The first was an old film print where I didn't notice anything, however there were the scratches and whatnot inherent with the passage of time, so it's possible that it simply didn't stand out as much. The second was during a marathon of all four films right before the blu-rays came out and I did notice it then, however what they showed that day was almost certainly from the same transfer so it's impossible to say. Maybe I should've checked out the IMAX version?

Historically, Nazi interest in the occult was was definitely a real thing (look no further than what Himmler was up to at Wewelsburg castle), though one wonders if they were serious about it or merely hoping to use it for symbolic purposes. Either way, I'm positive that the Nazis would have jumped at the opportunity to get ahold of any prominent myth-steeped treasure such as the Ark of the Covenant, Spear of Destiny, or indeed the Holy Grail (just wait, we'll get there eventually). The lure of these objects and the mysteries surrounding them is very powerful and the portrayal of the Nazis (especially the SS) in pursuit of their secrets is a popular one that persists through numerous media today.

Overall, this is a phenomenal movie and one of the all time greats (if not the best). I think, too, that it's interesting to watch Raiders in its proper historical context. Otherwise it's easy to forget that this is still the prewar period, that no one is at war with anyone yet (well, at least if you're, say, eight years-old, and watching it for the first time, and things like years mean nothing to you). And it's nice to see what degree the rest of the world will (or won't) tolerate a Nazi presence. This is simply Spielberg and Ford (and Williams, and Kasdan, and Allen, and Rhys-Davies, and Freeman, and Burtt, and Action/Adventure, etc) at their best. Boom: 6/5.