Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

The 1930s action-crammed serial was never better served than it is in this spectacular full-length cliffhanger. Raiders of the Lost Ark is not only packed with incredible action in almost every frame, but it is produced with such polish and elan, not to mention humor, that the film achieves instant classic status. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is the stoic but always-on-the-move hero whom no peril can daunt, no woman conquer (well, maybe one), and no obstacle stop. He is pure fantasy—and as such fills an important need. Jones is an archaeologist and university professor in 1936 entering a South American tomb deep within a mountainside to search for priceless artifacts. Once inside, he and his self-serving guide must confront hordes of deadly tarantulas, dodge poison darts and light-sensitive impaling spikes, and swing across a deep chasm (with the help of Jones' trademark bullwhip), in order to reach a small golden idol on a booby-trapped altar. After carefully replacing the priceless artifact with a small sack of dirt of what he estimates to be the same weight, Jones soon realizes that he has miscalculated. The switch triggers thundering tremors and as the huge altar begins to collapse, Jones and his guide race out of the temple. When they once again arrive at the pit the guide crosses first, but as soon as he reaches the other side, the support to which the whip is attached gives way. The guide tells Jones to throw him the idol in exchange for the whip. Jones, realizing that time is running out (a thick slab of stone has begun to descend from the ceiling and will soon block their escape route), obliges. With the idol now in his possession, the treacherous guide tosses the whip aside, stranding Jones. Our hero leaps across the chasm, clings to the other side by his fingertips, and manages to pull himself up. He recovers his whip and squeezes under the lowering wall with barely an inch to spare. On the other side he spots the guide, his body impaled on spikes. Jones grabs the idol, begins again to run from the tomb, but breaks through a vine rope which triggers a colossal boulder rolling down an overhead track on its way to seal off the cave entrance, crushing all in its path. Jones narrowly escapes, leaping to safety outside the cave just ahead of the juggernaut. Once outside, however, Jones finds that he is a prisoner of Belloq (Paul Freeman), another archaeologist, vying with Jones for the world's hidden treasures. Belloq is backed by an army of natives who would as soon spear Jones as say hello. Belloq takes the god and orders his rival killed, but Jones makes a break for the river and leaps into it just as the natives reach the bank. Eluding the spears hurled after him, he swims to an amphibious plane that his pilot has already started up river. As it passes, Jones reaches out, grabs a pontoon, and climbs aboard, manevers himself into the vacant cockpit in front of the pilot, and then shrinks back in horror as the pilot's pet snake curls itself about him. "I hate snakes!" yells Jones to the pilot. "Aww, show a little backbone, will you?" the pilot shouts back above the drone of the motors as the plane clears the river and shoots skyward. It is this opening sequence—wholly unrelated to the main story (a device Steven Spielberg borrowed from the James Bond films)—that establishes the character of the protagonist, rather than contributing substantially to the plot. Once back in the US, Jones is sought out at his university by Intelligence agents, who ask him to look into a rumor concerning the Ark of the Covenant, in which the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed repose. The Ark, say the agents, is being sought by agents of Adolf Hitler ("He's obsessed with the occult.") for use in a plot that will mystically ensure his ambition of world domination. Jones' assignment is to get to the Ark before the Nazis do and to return it to the US for safekeeping. Fortunately, the archaeologist knows of a hieroglyphic medallion that can direct him to the Ark, and he travels to Nepal to retrieve the artifact. There in the Himalayas he finds the saloon run by ex-flame Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), daughter of Jones' mentor, and possessor of the medallion. After nearly dislocating Jones' jaw with a solid punch (he deserted her years ago), hard-drinking spitfire Marion tells him to come back in the morning, agreeing to sell him the medallion for $5000. After Jones leaves, Nazi agent Toht (Ronald Lacey) appears with his band of thugs and, menacing Marion with a red-hot poker, demands she hand the medallion over to him. Jones comes to the rescue and a violent shoot-out ensues, during which the saloon is set on fire. Jones and Marion escape, as does Toht, and the pair fly to Egypt, last known resting place of the Ark. Once in Cairo, Sallah (John Rhys-Davies), an old Egyptian friend, warns Jones about Nazi agents' search for something important hidden in the ancient ruins nearby. After a hair-raising chase through Cairo streets (where Jones dispatches several would-be assassins), Marion is kidnapped, taken into the desert, and held hostage by the ubiquitous Belloq. He is in league with the Nazis and is engaged in their desperate search for the Ark. Jones and Sallah go to the ruins, which are swarming with German troops wearing Afrika Corps uniforms (in fact, General Erwin Rommel's African army did not arrive in North Africa until 1940-41). The ever-present Toht, bearing scars received in the Nepal battle, arrives and hovers threateningly about Marion. Using the medallion, Jones pinpoints an area in an excavated tomb and lowers himself inside to a floor writhing with thousands of venomous snakes—his greatest fear. Managing to keep the snakes at bay with burning torches, he bundles up the Ark so that Sallah and his men can lift it to safety. Just as he does, Belloq, Toht, and Nazi troopers arrive, throw Marion into the snake-infested tomb, take the Ark, and leave Jones and the screaming Marion to fend for themselves. With their torches burning low, Jones desperately tries to find a way out, clambering up the enormous statuary while thousands of poisonous snakes slither about, tongues darting. Before the last torch burns out, Jones tips over the statue which crashes through the temple wall, and he and Marion escape the reptilian nightmare. Believing the Ark has been loaded onto a plane ready for take-off, the pair attempt a daring hijack which ends with several Nazis dead (one minced by the plane's whirling propeller) and the air strip in flames. When Jones learns that the Nazis have actually loaded the Ark onto a truck and are racing away with the prize, he leaves Marion with Sallah and arranges to meet up with them later. He then mounts a horse and overtakes the truck, battling the German soldiers inside, and runs the rest of the convoy off the road. He himself is knocked from the speeding truck but (in a stunt originating with western film daredevil Yakima Canutt) contrives to fall between the wheels of the vehicle, which runs over him without touching him. He fastens his whip to the truck's underside and is dragged along until he can lift himself up, crawl alongside the truck, and leap back into the driver's cab, kicking the last Nazi out onto the road. Reuniting with Marion back in Cairo, Jones boards a boat headed for the US, with the great Ark—which starts to radiate strange lights in the hold. A Nazi sub stops the ship, takes Marion and the Ark aboard, and with Jones as stowaway, sails to a mysterious island. There Jones ambushes Belloq, Toht, and the Nazi troops who are carrying the Ark to the top of a mountain where it is to be opened. Jones threatens to destroy the Ark if they don't release Marion but Belloq calls his bluff, knowing that he would never destroy a relic of such historic significance. Jones surrenders, and he and Marion are tied to a stake while the Ark is ritualistically opened. Jones knows of the dangers of looking into the blinding light emitted by the Ark and he tells Marion to avert her eyes. The Germans, including Belloq and Toht, however, stare at the searing rays and are consumed by fire. The Ark then turns its great light skyward and reseals itself by some kind of divine intervention. Jones and Marion, the only survivors, are now free, their bonds undone by the cleansing fire. They return to the US where the Ark, packed in a crate with only a long inventory number on it for identification, is sent to an enormous warehouse (not unlike the one in the final scene of Citizen Kane, 1941) for safekeeping.

This film is so outlandish and wild that the viewer must not only suspend disbelief in order to enjoy it but must completely submit to the fantasy. Only that way can the sheer pleasure of the film be experienced. Despite the exteme violence in the movie—Spielberg does not spare the viewer disintegrating corpses, blood, and horrors of all kinds—Jones is properly laconic and single minded and Marion is as feisty as they come. The villains here are not merely bad but disgustingly repulsive, possessing no shred of decency or honor. Toht's Nazi agent is a study in outrageous acting; he imitates a hissing Peter Lorre and a snarling Conrad Veidt, while smiling lasciviously at Marion and adjusting telescopic spectacles. The film's special effects are eye-popping, and Spielberg directs with the fury appropriate for a serial with only an hour left to go before the budget sinks into quicksand.

This most adventurous nonsense to be produced in a decade caught on like wildfire with the public and the critics. Spielberg, who talked with Lucas about his concept for Raiders of the Lost Ark as early as 1977, shot the film in Hawaii, France, Tunisia, and at Elstree Studios in England in a whirlwind 73 days. The at-the-time staggering cost, $22.8 million, showed in every top-flight frame. The film has gone on to make as much as $200 million, according to one estimate, and to become one of the 10 top box office champions of all time. For chills and thrills, this film is hard to beat, even by its astounding sequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). Awards Oscars were given to Raiders of the Lost Ark for Best Art Direction, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects. Nominations included Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score.

Performer/Character

Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones

Karen Allen, Marion Ravenwood

Paul Freeman, Belloq

Ronald Lacey, Toht

John Rhys-Davies, Sallah

Denholm Elliott, Brody

Wolf Kahler, Dietrich

Anthony Higgins, Gobler

Alfred Molina, Satipo

Vic Tablian, Barranca

Don Fellows, Col. Musgrove

Production Credits

Producer: Frank Marshall

Exec. Producers: Howard G. Kazanjian, George Lucas

Assoc. Producers: Kathleen Kennedy,Robert Watts

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writer: Lawrence Kasdan (based on a story by George Lucas, Philip Kaufman)

Editor: Michael Kahn

Musical Composer: John Williams

Production Designer: Norman Reynolds

Special Effects: Richard Edlund, Kit West

Cinematographers, Douglas Slocombe, Paul Beeson (Panavision, Metrocolor)