Raiders of the Lost Arc Evaluation

With over thirteen awards and dozens of nominations, Raiders of the Lost Ark certainly stacks up as one of the best action-adventure movies of all time.  Directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford, this film combines all the elements needed to be considered exemplary in all areas.

                This movie tells the 1936 tale of historian-adventurer Indiana Jones (Ford). His journey begins in Peru as he fends of booby traps, including the commonly duplicated rolling boulder, in order to retrieve a priceless gold idol.  Upon escaping he is surrounded by pesky French archaeologist Rene Belloq (Paul Freeman) and his men, who take the idol and force Jones to make another cunning escape.  As he returns to the States, he finds that the Nazis have made ground on locating the Ark of the Covenant, an artifact that could greatly aid Hitler in his global conquest.  The U.S. government asks Jones to beat the Nazis to the Ark, in order to protect the population from its awesome power.  With a stop in Nepal to gain information and the eventual accompaniment of and old girlfriend (Karen Allen), Jones is off to Cairo, the location of the Nazi dig.  Facing assassins, Nazis, snakes, and more booby traps, Jones stops at nothing to reach his goal, in a series of events that leaves the audience in awe.

                An action-adventure film can be defined as, “a genre of film specializing in violence and intrigue” (allwords).  Raiders of the Lost Ark delivers these two elements to the audience in an effective and compelling manner.

                Throughout the film, violence is present.  Whether it be fisticuffs between Indiana Jones and a group of Arab assassins, or a Nazi worker, diced like tomatoes by a plane propeller, this movie made for quite the excitement.  Although the special effects may be out of date in comparison to those of the modern movie era, they give the film a more vintage feel, one than can be better appreciated by a more mature audience.  Additionally, the violence is not without purpose, nor is it overwhelming for the viewer.  All too common these days are movies that center on gore and guts; these movies generally have very little entertainment value.  However, Raiders of the Lost Ark uses fight scenes and explosions to further the ideas of the plot.  By showing the Nazis’ souls being taken by the Ark, it is didactic to show the negatives of searching for too much power.  This purposeful violence makes the film a quality action adventure film.

                The entertainment of this movie is also increased by the great interest that this movie sparks in the minds of its viewers.  The topic, however irrelevant to the daily life of most people, is one that interests almost everyone.  It contains aspects of mystery, history, as well as humor to appease even the most serious of critic.  The multitudes of appeals that can be made from this movie really go to further its qualifications as a great action adventure.

                While some may argue that this film is out of date and not comparable to the so-called “great” action adventure movies of the past few years, the topic and content of Raiders of the Lost Ark are timeless.  With every view of this movie, new lessons can be learned, new historical connections can be made, and new humor can be laughed at.  This movie is indeed a classic, and should therefore be appreciated for its quality, and not ridiculed for its age.

                All in all, Raiders of the Lost Ark is obviously one of the greatest action adventure movies of all time.  The violence and intrigue in the plot, and passion of the actors make this film one for the ages.