Saturday, May 24, 2008

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Review

Hype:  This weekend Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released and is one of the most hyped movies of the summer.  Before I can see that movie I need to watch the first three Indiana Jones movies.  I know I know, what kind of movie buff am I if I haven't seen the Indiana Jones series?  Well now its time for me to conquer this series.  I have heard so many good things about Indiana Jones, I sure hope it lives up to the hype.  Since Raiders of the Lost Ark is the first one in the series, I guess that's a good place to start.

Initial Review:  Raiders of the Lost Ark stars Harrison Ford as the great archeologist Indiana Jones, who is sent to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis do.  First Indy must go Napal and meet up with former love, Marion Ravenwood.  While in Napal, Marion's bar is burnt to the ground by people that are after the same clues as Indy.  Marion and Indy are able to escape and then head to Cairo where the Ark is believe to be.  While in Cairo, Indy is able to find where the Germans are digging in attempt to find the Ark, along the way he find that the Germans are actually digging in the wrong location.  Indy find the Ark but then it is immediately taken away by his arch nemisis Rene Belloq.  From that point on the Ark switches between Rene and Indy multiple times.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is an excellent action-adventure movie that doesn't contain major special effects.  The action scenes are well choreographed and a joy to watch because they aren't filled with a ton of CGI effects.  Indy is a very charsmatic hero and I can see why so many people enjoy him.  The part that really bothered me with Raiders of the Lost Ark was the ending.  What I didn't like about the ending was that it was the only part of the film that contained the CGI and since it was filmed in the early 80s, the CGI is pretty laughable.

Overall I enjoyed Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.  I look forward to see the next films in the series.  Is it a series that I feel I will be a huge fan of like Batman or Lord of the Rings or Star Wars?  Probably not, but I think it will be better than a lot of the other film series out there.

Repeat Viewings: N/A

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