Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
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harrison ford
Yes, the actual Ten Commandments, the original stone tablets that Moses brought down from Mt. Horeb and smashed, if you believe in that sort of thing... [the officers stare at him blankly] Didn't any of you guys ever go to Sunday school?
~ Indiana Jones
quick fox: B+ | Silver
karen allen
winding dragon
I like logic; I like logically finding logic. Generally, this means I’m much more likely to downgrade films with congruency errors and irrational decision-making. Yet, when it comes to Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, a movie filled with inconsistencies and puzzling jumps in plot, I seem to disregard a lot of that.
My theory is that Raiders of the Lost Ark is just too epic to be constrained to normal rules of “logic.” It’s a nonstop roller coaster ride of death-defying escapades and daring sword fights and heart-pumping adventure. The best part is that the film manages to increase the stakes with every scene, making the audience feel as though Indiana Jones’s life is always on the line, even though at the back of your mind you realize that there’s no way Spielberg would kill off the hero of an adventure film.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is the first installment of the Indiana Jones series starring Harrison Ford as the titular adventure-seeking university professor. (Though he rarely seems to do actual professorial work.) Indy travels to Egypt to prevent Nazis from stealing the Ark of the Covenant, which is believed to hold divine powers due to it once containing the Ten Commandments. Along the way he enlists the aid of a former fling and daughter of a renowned archaeologist, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), and expert Egyptian site digger, Sallah (John Rhys-Davies). All this while going up against Indiana’s archenemy, Dr. René Belloq (Paul Freeman), and Nazi agent, Major Arnold Toht (Ronald Lacy).
There’s many things that make me pause and scratch my head. And because I really don’t want t harp on things I know other people have done already, here’s a short list of some of the things I wonder about:
Why was Indiana Jones in the jungle at the beginning of the movie?
Do Indiana Jones’s students know about his adventures? Or do they just think he misses a LOT of time in the semester? Basically, is he more of an Iron Man or a Spiderman?
Why does the archaeologist Ravenwood believe the Ark is in Egypt?
Who built the model of the digging site and how does Belloq know that model is accurate?
How does nobody notice Indiana Jones and Sallah’s team digging mere feet from where the Nazis are digging?
How long is Indiana Jones stuck riding on top of that U-boat and how does he not catch hypothermia?
What exactly is Indiana Jones planning to do with the bazooka at the end of the film? Why does he commit to a plan that is obviously suicidal?
How does Indiana Jones, who makes it clear he does not believe in the supernatural or spiritual, know to close his eyes to avoid God’s wrath before the Ark is opened?
But like I said before, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the few films that I’m willing to overlook its many negatives and purely enjoy the positives. It’s a fast-paced, thrilling adventure with spectacular stunts and action sequences. I know that Harrison Ford obviously increased his stardom with this film, but honestly, not enough credit is given to the stunt coordinators and stunt doubles. The car chase is one of the most complex scenes ever to come out of the 1980s, and the choreography for that sequence is dazzling.
john rhys-davies