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Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is a sheer stroke of genius. From the soundtrack to the action sequences, it spawned the action adventure genre (from which we get so much fodder here at Dodgy Movies, Reviewed) and gave life to everybodies favourite whip toting archaeologist. Indiana Jones together with Star Wars really gave the world Harrison Ford, and made it much easier to convince woman to go watch dodgy films. Yup, they also appreciate eye candy.
Indiana Jones was probably the first great geek lead movie character. A lecturer in archaeology who happened to have a knack for acquiring rare antiquities, all men wanted to be him, all woman wanted to be with him. Even though it took me a good twenty years after watching my first Indiana Jones Movie, I finally managed to get a hat just like his. Humming the theme tune while paying for something definitely gets you some very strange looks, and, not surprisingly some envious ones too.
Raiders of the Lost Ark had it all, gun fights, fist fights, explosions, giant rolling rocks, funny action sequences, face melting and Nazis, the ultimate bad guy. Russians, Arabs and terrorists all have their place, but for truly terrific villains you need goose-stepping swastika-toting fanatics. No accent says bad guy like the guttural one all movie Germans seem to have. You’d think they would have learned to speak English without an accent just so that you didn’t realise they were baddies, but no, they’re way to arrogant for that, just how it should be.
Dodginess
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is an easy movie to rate, both when it comes to dodginess and rewatchability. For dodginess, it manages to score the maximum, 5, on the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Rating. If I had to choose the most awesome moment in the film, it would be easy. It also manages to get the dodgiest moment, so that makes this section real easy. The face melting scene that occurs after the Nazi’s open the Ark has to be the best sequence in the film. Even though by today’s standards it looks a little cheesy, it’s still cool.
Rewatchability Rating
In case the sheer volumes of praise I’ve already heaped on Raiders of the Last Ark hasn’t given you an indication of just how much I love this film, I’ll spell it out for you. It’s fantastic, and the rollercoaster ride of action that comprises the film guarantees that you won’t get bored of it. It scores a 5 on the rewatchability index.
Most Memorable Quote
Let’s face it, watching Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark for the dialogue is like climbing into an elevator to listen to the music. You can do it, but it’s not the real reason you’re there. There are still a couple of lines that manage to make an impression even though your brain is paying almost no attention to the audio that accompanies the awesome light show. “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage” has become a lot more relevant now that they’ve made a 4th Indiana Jones Movie. But the line that really stands out is “Good God!” “Yes, that’s what the Hebrews thought.” If you don’t know what this is referring to, you really need to watch this film.
Final Thoughts
Watch it, often.