When the dynamic duo of late-'70s popular cinema, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, announced they were teaming to do a film, audience expectations were high. Raiders of the Lost Ark, the result of their collaboration, did not disappoint. This humorous, fast-paced update of the old Saturday morning serials catapulted STAR WARS sidekick Harrison Ford into a whole other galaxy of superstardom as Indiana "Indy" Jones, a handsome University of Chicago archaeology professor. Indy races the Nazis across the globe to find the Ark of the Covenant, a holy artifact from ancient Israel that bestows almost unlimited power on its possessor. Raiders abounds with iconic images, and the action scenes -- from the boulder chase to the saber duel -- surprise, amaze, and zoom across the screen thanks to the Academy Award-winning editing of Michael Kahn. The special-effects wizards at George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic also won an Oscar for creating Egyptian tombs and the wrath of God, among other stunning visuals. Raiders of the Lost Ark set a new standard for action films. And while other films have pushed the action envelope, RAIDERS remains film's ultimate funhouse ride.
An homage to the glory days of Saturday matinee adventure serials and back-lot B-movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the most unabashedly enjoyable cinematic events of the 1980s. Packed with breakneck action, a cheerfully absurd plot involving Nazis and lost treasure, exotic locales, and a bit of romance, Raiders celebrated old-school adventure and made it palatable to an increasingly jaded contemporary audience. One of the most ingenious and stylish action films ever made, it became an almost instant classic, turning otherwise stodgy film critics into gleeful children and pulling in millions of dollars from filmgoers who found it the most thrilling theatrical event since Star Wars four years earlier. That Raiders spawned three sequels, a slew of inferior imitations, and settled into the cultural lexicon is a testament to both its initial impact and enduring appeal, as well as the outwardly contradictory notion that originality can spring from a tried-and-true formula.
