RAIDERS still packs a punch! Steven Spielberg and George Lucas joined forces in 1981 to introduce us to globe trotting archeologist Indiana Jones. After a great opening in South America, complete with tarantulas, blowguns and giant rolling boulder, Jones is recruited to help find the lost ark of the covenant. The greatest movie villains ever, the Nazis, are also in hot pursuit of the ark for its magical powers. Raiders was always intended as Spielberg and Lucas's tribute to the Saturday morning cliffhanger serials of the 30's and 40's and it succeeds brilliantly. Watching the film now, in a completely remastered blu-ray with 7.1 sound and a pristine picture, its as impactful as it was back in 1981 to this (then 20 year old) film buff. Harrison Ford is excellent (did you know that Tom Selleck was originally cast as Indy?) Karen Allen is a great Marion and Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey and John Rhys-Davies are all excellent bad guys/good guys. The real star here are all the fantastic action set pieces we all remember so well, from Indy's fight scene inside, above and below the truck, climbing down into the snake filled "well of Souls" and of course, the climactic opening of the ark. "Don't look Marion! Whatever you do, don't open your eyes, Marion!" What a great movie! 31 years after it's release, Raiders still thrills, chills and chases it's way to an A+ and a treasured spot in my all time Top 10 films.
(One favorite bit of Raiders trivia: The day they filmed the big fight sequence in the bazaar where Marion hides in the basket and is carried to the truck while Indy battles the gaggle of bad guys, Harrison Ford was ill and battling a very high fever in 120 degree weather. When it came time to film the hardest part of the fight against the huge, black cloaked villain with twin giant sabers, Ford suggested he just yank out his gun and shoot the guy...and a classic moment and biggest laugh in the film was born.
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