Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark product reviews

I grew up watching the Indiana Jones movies and loved them so much so that I own all four movies and have an Indiana Jones marathon every now and again.

Indiana is an archeologist who is both a teacher and an explorer, jetting off around the world to find various artifacts that have great historical meaning. In this movie Indiana is told that Hitler and the Nazi's are searching for the lost ark, that they believe it will help them win the war and so off Indiana goes to try and find it first before the Nazi's an use it for their gain. Along the way there are plenty of fun moments as well as some deaths that whilst not as bad as some deaths today and not the best special effects wise are still gory enough that the kids can wait a couple more years before I introduce them to Indiana.

My favorite part of this movie has to be when a man jumps into the scene waving his sword around and Indiana pretty much just rolls his eyes, whips out his gun and bang! fight over and easily won. This is a fun adventure movie and it still stands well up against movies today, it always had me wondering what other adventures he went on.

After watching the disappointing Indiana Jones 4 (The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), I decided it was only fair to re-watch the original trilogy to ensure that my criticisms were fair. I soon felt my criticisms were very much justified.

Despite being released in 1981, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is far superior to the fourth installment. Within minutes of the film starting, I was smiling away, and fully enjoying myself. The idea of old civilizations surviving without the wider worlds knowledge is intriguing, and in many cases is very much believable. What I enjoyed about this film, is that it is largely based in reality; there is little magic involved. It is all just a race of wits and knowledge to see who can correctly translate the puzzle, and answer the riddle. And that competition keeps the movie lively.

The CGI is noticeable at times, but it is still enjoyable, and you don't really care as much. More emphasis is placed on ensuring the film is action packed, and not just looking good. Watching it now, (over 30 years after its release) it is a great source of nostalgia, with many different quotes and action scenes that have been parodied in other movies and television shows. It was a delight to watch. The Original National Treasure.