Raiders Of The Lost Ark Film Review

While the Indiana Jones franchise is now good as well dead and buried thanks to the dreadful Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny. There was once a time where the franchise was awsome that being back in the eighties as even tho it's second film Temple Of Doom is pretty it's first and third film are the ones that people say are the best two films in the franchise with it being the first film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today and so then join me as I review the film that really gave Harrison Ford his other iconic character with the film in question being called simply just "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" enjoy.

The plot of this film is archaeologist Indiana Jones is tasked with finding the mythical Ark Of The Covenant before Germen army forces use it's powers to make there armies unbeatable. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. The films plot is one that is so good that there really is very little wrong with it due to the fact that the plot of the film that whilst yes it could be argued is dumb but it's dumb in a way that's entertaining due to the fact that the makers of this film do put alot more thought and effort into the films plot then what they really should have done as by all rights the plot of this film should have been really bad as it's a throwback plot to an era that not alot of people remember that being the action adventure serial where they did have these over the top and possibly goofy plots and that is something that we got with this films plot only it knew when to stop being goofy and over the top and just let things breathe with that being something that did let the plot of the film flow alot more better then what it really should have done. While yes this films plot does feel underbaked alot of the time with the film picking up and dropping it's plot alot of the time not so much that you forget what the plot of the film is in the first place but enough times that you do start to notice it this isn't something that's a big issue as the films plot is one that's really fun regardless of if it's being focused on or not and infact the films plot gets to be more fun when it is being focused on with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones , Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood and Paul Freeman as René Belloq. Also starring in this film is Ronald Lacey as Major Arnold Toht , John Rhys-Davies as Sallah , Wolf Kahler as Colonel Dietrich , Anthony Higgins as Major Gobler , George Harris as Simon Katanga , Alfred Molina as Satipo , Don Fellows as Colonel Musgrove , William Hootkins as Major Eaton and Denholm Elliott as Marcus Brody.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. To say that alot of this films actors turn in some really good performances would be a huge understatement as they are all just so good in this film with alot of them especially Harrison Ford being perfectly cast in this film as even the actors that are only in minor roles all bring something unique not only to the film itself but to there characters so much so that it is hard to picture anyone else playing these truly iconic characters. With the best actor in the whole entire film being the obvious Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones as while the makers of this film did screen test other actors for the role as they also did with Marion Harrison just captures the essence of who this guy is as a person and is able to bring his own unique charm to the role which is something that does make what would have been seen as being a really unlikable character now seem all the more likable. Heck even him and Karen Allen have some truly wonderful chemistry together something which is key in making there subplot work as we need to buy into the fact that these two characters are falling for each other and the fact that both actors have great chemistry together is something that does help to sell us on that aspect oof the film. With the acting that's in this film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Doing the CGI for this film is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Industrial Light & Magic. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. While thia film does of course use very minimal CGI effects as this film was made in a time where it just wouldn't have been possible for them to have alot of the more complicated effects that we see in films and TV shows made today alot of this films effects do hold up really well due to the fact that there is a certain charm to to them as all alot of them are are these cheap effects that back in the day would have been quite hard for the makers of this film to pull off as they are things like a beam of light or ghosts both of which are things that easier to do these days but they still work in this film not due to the fact that they are new effects but because of the fact that the film goes out of it's way to explain them to us in the first place and due to the fact that even in those most basic of effects there is still alot of love and care put into them with that being something that we don't get to see in alot of films made today as alot of the bigger budgeted stuff like Star Wars and like Marvel they all feel they just come of a factory with there being nothing to make them standout and yet here in this film even tho there are fewer VFX shots then the Marvel and Star Wars films the effects in this film still look as good now as they did back in 1981.

Whilst it would be easy to talk about Indiana Jones himself in this review it makes just as much sense to talk about Marion. With her being not only one of the characters that the more recent films love to keep on bringing back for some reason but also because of the fact that she is an entertaining character in her own right with her actually being a strong female character as she has her own busisness and she is more then capable of standing up for herself even against some of the more rougher and tougher male characters in he film with the character having plenty spunk in her as she is more then able to match wits not only with Indi himself but with alot of the more villainous characters in the film with this being something that is more often then not overlooked. Yet it's the one thing that Kingdom Of Crystal Skull actually got right as she is the type of the character that would look before she leaps heck she demanded that Indi take her on this adventure without knowing fully what he was going after and why he was going after it she was just doing it to make sure that Indi returned the object that she gave him and that's it with the character even having this more softer and gentler side that allows her to be more caring as she and Indi share a very touching scene where she notices all of the wounds that he's got over the years and offers to clean him up which is something that this character and it's something that makes her a stronger character as we get to see more sides of a character yet film makers today would have you believe that in order to be a strong female character you have to be this emotionless robot when infact showing emotion makes you strong in the first place with Marion even being able to drink any man she meets under the table and have this playfully wicked sense of humor about her.

This is something that really just an issue with this film as its one that's also an issue with alot of the other films in this franchise but this films villains are pretty weak. While yes there not forgettable by any means but there also not that well drawn out as characters and that is something that might have been by design as the villains of this film of naz* helpers and therefor working for a truly evil person and therefor not showing them in any other light is something that does make sense however that also doesn't make them for well written villains as while yes every single naz* should be portrayed as being nothing more then evil there still should be some screen time in this film to help us to get a better understanding of their characters as we get to find out nothing about René Belloq outside of the fact that he and Indi are rivals with us also finding out nothing about Arnold Toht , Colonel Dietrich and Major Gobler with the other two being the best example of this as they do fall into the background heck it's hard to even remember just what both characters even look like as they add nothing to the plot of the film which is something that does make sense as they are essentially side villains with Belloq and Toht being in a way the films main villains and yet even they don't get alot of time to shine with us only getting one brief scene near the middle of the film where Belloq actually shows off a more human side to his character as he does form a genuine bond with Marion and with Toht we get nothing. Whilst the fact that this films villain being undercooked is something that does make sense as they are meant to be people that we hate wholeheartedly there still should have been some level of though and care put into making them be a little bit more memorable then what they already are in the first place. 

Unlike films like Frozen , Frozen II , Inside Out and Inside Out 2 this film actually earns its PG rating as this film was made at a time where having that rating actually meant that you need parental guidance after watching it. Whereas these days alot of the films that are rated PG are films that could have been given U if your in the UK or a G rating if your in America as there's nothing about them that requires them to have that PG rating in the first place. With it being pretty obvious which scenes earn this film it's PG rating as this film isn't afraid to go to those dark and disturbing places with us having alot of scenes that would be seen as being quite scary in modern day horror films like for example Marion wondering around a secret corridor bumping into alot of skeletons with that being something that in it's own right is a creepy scene and then you top that of wit all of the violent scenes alot of which do feature characters getting killed of in brutal ways  they do combine to make a film that if it was made today would be given an R rating. Yet even tho this film is rated PG it still had the courage to show characters quite literally getting there faces melted of that is something that would never be seen today and it's something that makes eighties PG films all the more awsome to watch as then you get to see just what the rating was originally meant to do and that's to encourage you to talk to your parents after watching a film and for them to actually parent you something which parents today aren't willing to do with films like this and Ghostbusters being a thing of the past as today people think of the PG rating is being noting more then a glorified U or G rating and that is something that is never ever going to be the case in the first place.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and fifty five minuets and eighteen seconds. Which is a really solid running time for this film due to the fact that the film does have alot of set up to do interms of its characters with the film even having the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time in the first place as it's clear as day that the makers of this gave this film the perfect running time as this film could only tell this plot with that running time as if you cut even five or ten minuets from this film then it would risk doing alot of harm to the films overall plot. Thus film does also use it's running time in both respects as while yes it could be argued that this film doesn't take the time to full develop it's plot it could also be argued that that's the point of the film due to he fact that this film is meant to be a throwback to the old adventure serials of the fifties and forties think Flash Gordon but with a whip and you'll get the general idea and those don't typically have that well developed plots in them and yet this film does take alot of time in adding small things that do add some development to the plot like Indie telling the two agents near the start of the film how this staff that would need to find works something does come into play later on in the film. The film does also take the time to develop its hero characters as while we won't get to find out that much about Indie until Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade here we do find out that he and Marion did have some sort of pre-existing relationship prior to the events of the film with it being hinted that there relationship was a romantic one and that Indie ended things badly with her something which Marion now has to over come with it being things like that that do make this films hero characters feel more developed and while the villains do feel undercooked the same thing cannot be said for the films heroes but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is an action film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. The film does have alot of really good action scenes in it heck it could even be argued that the films action are the main selling point of the film as we get to see alot of stunts that were barely done before this film and haven't been done after this film as the makers of this film did put alot of thought and effort into giving us some really crafted action scenes all of which work due to not only how much love and attention was put into them but because of the fact that the film uses practical effects to make this films action be as good as it could have been. With the best action scene in the whole entire film not even being an action scene as while it is apart of a pretty good car chase scene the thing that makes that chase scene all the more better is the fact that we see Indie forced under a moving car where he then slowly has to work his to the back of the car all the while really trying not to get ran over by the car in the process. The thing that makes that stunt so good in the first place is the fact that it was done for real with a real stunt man moving underneath a real car with the only thing that they had interms of safety was the fact that there was a hole in the ground for the stuntman to use as a path to do the stunt itself and that was it as if he put his arm in the wrong place at best your looking at a broken arm if he moved to the wrong bit of the car then he wouldn't be here anymore with the rest of the films action scenes being just as good and just as breathtaking in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall it's not that hard to see why this film is still as beloved as it was back in the eighties as this film does have so much goin for it and even the things that this film has going against it don't really effect the film in that big of a negative way as this film is still just as fun to watch even with those faults in mind in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly an 8.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well ten boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Blogger . Com , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.