Raiders of the Lost Ark

With Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on its way in 2008, I thought it was time to take a look back at my favourite series of adventure films ever. Raiders of the Lost Ark started it all, of course, back in 1981. With Steven Spielberg in the director’s chair and George Lucas producing and writing, Raiders of the Lost Ark was born out of a desire to create the ultimate adventure film and give the genre a boost of energy and gutsy bravado. The idea was to take all of the conventions of the adventure genre and blow them up to create a big-time film and, with Raiders of the Lost Ark, it happened in spades. The film started a franchise of Indiana Jones films and injected new life into the genre, starting an avalanche of like-minded films that continue to this day.

The story behind Raiders of the Lost Ark began way back in 1973 as George Lucas had written a story called “The Adventures of Indiana Smith.” The idea, much like his idea with Star Wars, was to recreate the feel of the old-fashioned 1930s serials. The idea was discussed and tossed around with various Hollywood people for a while. Eventually, Lucas went to Hawaii to escape the throng of attention he was receiving from the release of Star Wars. He met his friend Steven Spielberg there, who was taking a holiday after completing Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Lucas and Spielberg, so the story goes, were building a sand castle when Spielberg mentioned that he wanted to direct a James Bond. Lucas, ever the opportunist, spoke up with his idea for a hero that was better than Bond and the idea for Raiders of the Lost Ark took shape. Indiana Smith became Indiana Jones and the project began.

Spielberg and Lucas disagreed about the characterization of Indiana Jones. Lucas wanted Jones to be a type of James Bond playboy, hunting down women much in the same way that he would hunt down artifacts. Spielberg, on the other hand, felt that the role was complex enough with Jones being a professor and archaeologist. Spielberg did want to add a sort of dark element to Jones, with perhaps a bout of alcoholism and a Bogart-style edge. This idea fell away during the final production of the draft and the Indiana Jones we all know and love was a keeper.

Harrison Ford stars as Indiana Jones, but the process to get him there was hardly easy. Lucas objected to Spielberg’s idea that Ford play Jones, mainly on the basis that he didn’t want Harrison to become his De Niro, as an obvious reference to Scorsese’s use of De Niro in many of his films. Lucas wanted a lesser known actor and Tom Selleck was put at the top of that list. Selleck was cast and put into the role, but later had to bow out due to commitments to the television series Magnum, P.I. Finally, just three weeks away from filming, Spielberg was able to finally convince Lucas to put Ford in the role and the rest is history.

The plot of Raiders of the Lost Ark is simple enough, so I won’t spend much time discussing it. Indiana Jones (Ford) is an adventurer, professor, and archaeologist who pursues the Ark of the Covenant after being dispatched by the American government. Jones must get to the Ark before the Nazis, who was intent on using the Ark as a great weapon with the power of God inside, reach it. This leads to many sequences of high action involving snakes, fights, fires, explosions, and one cliff-hanger after another. Along for the ride is Indiana’s ex-flame Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) and Sallah (John Rhys-Davies), Indy’s old friend.

Raiders of the Lost Ark was released on June 12, 1981 to roaring success. It was made for around $20 million and earned $384 million worldwide in 1981, making it the highest grossing film of that year by a long shot and making it, at the time, one of the highest grossing films ever made. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It ended up winning four of those awards, including awards for Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction. Raiders of the Lost Ark was also extremely well received by critics, with Roger Ebert putting it on his list of “Great Movies” and many critics considering the film a welcome return to the adventure genre.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my favourite films. Watching it last night in surround sound with all of the snakes, bullets, explosions, and punches flying around was a jubilant film experience that reminded me why I love movies. Ford is amazing as Jones, a two-fisted hero for all time with wit and creativity to match. His ability to get in to and out of situations is remarkable, as is his never-say-die attitude. Ford’s Jones serves as the inspiration for countless film heroes, which is considerable stuff knowing that the original intent was for Jones to simply be a sort of stripped-down James Bond.

There is much to discuss when it comes to Raiders of the Lost Ark and piles of trivia and cool information about this classic adventure film. To cut to the chase, however, most people have likely seen this film and know what they’re getting. For raucous adventure, endless cliff-hangers, brilliant fight sequences, amazing effects, and the brashest hero in film history, Raiders of the Lost Ark simply can’t be beat.

Trailer: