Kerri Battles the AFI’s Top 100 — #66: Raiders of the Lost Ark

Roughly 10 months ago, I began what I knew would be a two year challenge to make it all the way through every movie on the AFI’s list of the Top 100 Movies of the Last 100 Years. It may not sound like much of a challenge to watch one movie a week and, really, it’s not. What’s been much harder is NOT watching some of my favorite movies over a span of two years until I reach them on the list. This week, some of that waiting finally paid off. This week, I got to sit down and watch one of the greatest and most entertaining action films of all time. And, after all that time spent avoiding a single viewing, finally watching Raiders of the Lost Ark again was like welcoming home a long-lost member of the family.

It’s 1936 and Professor Indiana Jones has just returned to the university where he ostensibly teaches Archaeology after the spoils of an almost-successful grave-robbing trip were stolen by his rival, Rene Belloq. He’s met by his old friend Marcus Brody and a couple of G Men in suits. The G Men are looking for Indy’s former mentor, Abner Ravenwood. It would seem that this Adolf Hitler fellow has something of a preoccupation with the occult and is currently seeking the legendary Ark of the Covenant (the magic box that housed the original Commandment tablets from God). The Nazis have found the lost city of Tanis, rumored to be the burial site of the Ark, but need Abner to help them find its hidden chamber. You see, within the city, there is a Map Room. At a certain time of day, the sun hits this room and, through the Staff of Ra, creates a beam of light that identifies the secret chamber. Abner had the headpiece of the staff — the important part — so, with fame and glory on his mind, Indy heads to Nepal to find him. Instead, he finds Abner’s daughter and his (totally underage at the time) former flame, Marion. He also unwittingly leads the creepiest Nazi you’ve ever seen right to Marion’s door. As she kicks Indy out for, you know, stealing her innocence and abandoning her flat 10 years earlier, Creepy Nazi enters and threatens her face with a red hot poker. Indy saves Marion and the two escape to Cairo as her place in Nepal burns to the ground. In Cairo, Indy’s old friend Sallah promises to help them. During some downtime in the market, Marion is kidnapped. He and Sallah discover that, while the Nazis may have found Tanis, their archaeologist for hire, Belloq (bum Bum BUM!), has them digging in the wrong place for the chamber. Indy and Sallah sneak into the crowded dig site and, gathering a crew of laborers, begin digging in the correct spot. It takes a preposterous amount of time, but Belloq, proving that all of his career success is based on literally taking priceless artifacts out of the hands of Dr. Jones, finally notices the oddball crew of men digging where they shouldn’t be. He takes the Ark for the Nazis and traps Marion and Indy in the chamber with thousands of snakes. Thankfully, Indiana Jones’ fear of snakes is greater than his love of precious historical artifacts, so he crashes a 50 foot statue of Anubis into a wall and they escape. The Nazis kidnap Marion again and Indy exerts a valiant effort to recover her. He threatens to blow up the Ark with a grenade launcher unless she’s freed. Unfortunately, Belloq calls his bluff, knowing full well Indy won’t destroy history. The Nazis take Indy and Marion as their captives to a small island where they plan to test the Ark before presenting it to the Fuhrer.  It works as well as they’d hoped as, when they lift off the lid, the power of God pours out and melts the faces off of everyone who lays eyes on it. Except Belloq. His head explodes. Marion and Indy manage to survive by closing their eyes because … reasons. In the end, The US Government takes the Ark and locks it in a crate marked DO NOT OPEN in a cavernous storage facility where it can safely gather dust for the rest of eternity.

If you needed to read the above paragraph this week to understand anything else that’s about to come, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. Because that means you’ve never seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, which means your entire life has been lived without the joy of experiencing one of the greatest pieces of cinematic art the Pop Culture Hive Mind has ever had the privilege of absorbing. If you think that sounds extreme, then you tell me what you’d call it when Hollywood finally takes everything you ever thought you even might want to see in a movie sometime and crams it all into one thrilling 112 minute ride. Because I don’t think just “Action/Aventure” really cuts it. If you’re not also at least adding in Romance, Comedy, Period Piece, War, and Sci-Fi/Fantasy, you’re really not even beginning to capture everything that Raiders is about. I tried really hard to be objective this week as I watched the film I’ve seen countless times and would place in my own personal Top 10 without a second thought. It’s certainly not without its flaws. You can argue that Indiana Jones is the only reason they’re all in this mess or that he actually bears no weight on the outcome at all. You could also argue that Indiana Jones is potentially a Pedo because, seriously, Marion is probably supposed to be 25 or 26 and she hasn’t seen Indy in a decade. Do the math. But, as fun as it may be to point these out and debate their implications, they don’t actually detract from the quality of the story. We all still want to watch this less-than-reputable professor take on giant boulders, feisty broads, the entire Third Reich, and even the wrath of God, while some of John Williams’ greatest scores set the sensational mood. And those questionable characteristics and dogier plot points only help to make his sudden but inevitable win feel earned rather than granted. Because we all know deep down that Indiana Jones will never lose.

It’s easy to collectively dismiss the Indiana Jones and the movies as just better-than-average action movies at best, especially in a post-Crystal Skull world. In fact, that’s probably the exact category in which those movies should be placed. But Raiders of the Lost Ark isn’t one of those movies. It’s a clever and detailed homage to pulp stories of the 30s that centers on compelling and layered characters. It also definitely is not called Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, despite what certain re-release marketing campaigns and boxed sets may have you believe. Make no mistake about that. When Spielberg and Lucas started adding the Indiana Jones and thes, the Academy stopped giving them little gold men for it. If that doesn’t tell you something, then … just go watch the damn movie and let it speak for itself. — KSmith