Raiders of the Lost Ark Movie Review 1981

Classic '30s-style adventure reminiscent of early serials spawned two sequels and numerous rip-offs and made Ford a household name as dashing hero and intrepid archeologist Indiana Jones. Set in 1936, Indy battles mean Nazis, decodes hieroglyphics, fights his fear of snakes, and even has time for a little romance in his quest for the biblical Ark of the Covenant. Allen is perfectly cast as his feisty ex-flame Marion, more than a little irritated with the smooth talker who dumped her years earlier. Asks viewers to suspend belief as every chase and stunt tops the last. Unrelated opening sequence does a great job of introducing the character.

Distribution

Paramount Home Video, 5555 Melrose Ave., 5555 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90038, Phone: (323)956-5000, URL: http://www.paramount.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 115 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Adventure Drama, Big Battles, Great Escapes, Nazis & Other Paramilitary Slugs, Indiana Jones, Big Digs, Producers: George Lucas, Highest Grossing Films of All Time, Top Grossing Films of 1981, Snakes, Middle East, 4 Bones

Screenplay

George Lucas, Philip Kaufman

Cast

Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Wolf Kahler, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott, Ronald Lacey, Anthony (Corlan) Higgins, Alfred Molina

Cinematography

Douglas Slocombe

Director

Steven Spielberg

Music

John Williams

Producer

George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd., Paramount Pictures

Awards

Oscars 1981: Art Dir./Set Dec., Film Editing, Sound, Visual FX; AFI 1998: Top 100, Natl. Film Reg. 1999.