Raiders of the Lost Ark

Released: June 12, 1981

Studio: Paramount

Genre: action

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 248.20 Worldwide: 389.90

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: 868.70 Worldwide: 1251.70

Directing: Steven Spielberg

Screenwriting: Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas, Phillip Kaufman

Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman

Review:

This “fast-paced action/adventure flick” ^VD brought together the talents of famed directors Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and George Lucas (Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back). “The result was the ultimate action movie with the ultimate action hero – Indiana Jones, the asp-kicking adventurer with quip and whip at the ready.” ^TV It was a “thrilling, entertaining homage to 1930’s cliff-hanging adventure serials/films at Saturday matinees” ^FS hailed as “one of the greatest action films ever made.” ^FS

Harrison Ford followed up his performance as Han Solo in two Star Wars movies with this nearly as iconic role as Jones, an archeologist a “pre-WWII comic-bookish, globe-trotting…adventurer/archaeologist” ^FS “with a flair for dramatic situations.” ^A98 He “is enlisted to locate the Biblical Ark of the Covenant before the evil agents of Hitler use its powers to win the war.” ^FS

“When Spielberg was directing for Paramount Pictures on this venture, he incorporated the studio's mountain logo, dissolving it into a real summit, which served as the opening shot of the film. Artfully done, it set the stage for the adventure about to unfold.” ^MSN

“The film’s opening sequence is a white-knuckled” ^FS “thrill ride” ^TV “in a South American rainforest and cave with poisonous darts and a threatening boulder.” ^FS “Any other movie would have considered [it] a climax: For Raiders, [it] is just the beginning” ^TV “as he escapes one life-threatening situation, fight, scrape, and chase after another” ^FS The movie also “includes the best snake scene since Genesis” ^TV “and the mysterious wrath of God in its finale.” ^FS

Sources:

^A98 American Film Institute (1998). “AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Movies”
^FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films”
^MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud
^TV TV Guide (August 8-14, 1998 issue). “50 Greatest Movies on TV and Video”
^VD Video Detective (1997). “Top 100 Films of All Time”

Awards/Honors/Lists:

Dave’s Movie Database Lists:

Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists:

Box Office:

Awards:

Oscars:

Wins: 4 – Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects. Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing

Nominations: 8 – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score