p e n g u i n d e v i l

A true classic in any sense of the word, I finally successfully cracked open my The Adventures of Indiana Jones boxed set and watched Raiders of the Lost Ark. A brilliant piece of fun it is, and a classic… Both as a modern film and as a blatant take-off of old adventure serials. As a non-stop action/adventure/comedy it includes everything… Nazi’s, u-boats, hidden u-boat bases, back-stabbing, the Ark of the Covenant, exotic locations, blow-guns, old Egyptian corpses and new German ones, romance, close calls, scenes of incredible unlikeliness, a whip and, of course, Harrison Ford in the role that cemented him as a movie star! The first Spielberg/Lucas collaboration and the first of what is soon to become a four movie series… Raiders was a great excitement for us teenagers when it was released and as such, it still holds a good deal of sentimental value.

Though the production values are a big cheesy, being 27 years old, they are still fine, as the whole movie is pretty cheesy. But that’s part of its charm, as are Indy’s one-liners and witticism, delivered with a devil-may-care aplomb, that are somewhat reminiscent of James Bond, and equally charming. Plus there is a cast of characters that is quite memorable.

For any who haven’t seen this. We start off in the jungles of the 1930’s, with our hero, a college archeology professor (who happens to be a rather mercenary archeologist-adventurer) pursuing a golden bust that is locked away in a booby-trapped cave. After the half-dozen or so close-calls that it takes for him to get the bust and get out, he is one-upped by Belloq, a French Archeologist who has befriended the natives.

But back at home, things become more interesting… The US Government enlists his help in what turns out to be a race against the Nazi’s, a race to find the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant (for those with biblical knowledge equally sparse as mine, it’s the fancy box that Moses put the ten commandments in). Indiana, of course, thinks that this is the archeology find to best all finds (boy, if only he could have foreseen the third movie…) and he goes in pursuit. As paths tend to cross in these sort of things, he is again up against the Frenchman, Belloq! That fellow has been enlisted by the Nazi’s, including one of the vilest Nazi’s yet to grace the screen, the scene-stealing Major Toht, (Ronald Lacey as one of those men who could easily be described as an evil toad). Of course, the one thing that Indy needs to succeed in this goal is in the hands of Marion, a jilted lover of a decade past who runs a bar in Nepal. Basically, they team up and head off to Egypt in search of the Well of Souls (the resting place of the Ark) with the Nazi’s either one step ahead or nipping at their heels!

Of course, what they find seems to be more than was expected and the movie ends with both dramatic special effects flair and a funny twist. And it is all worth the fun ride, as Indy is an old style hero who barely just manages to succeed at everything, in a rather dramatic fashion. He is friends with all the right people and goes with all the right hunches. His famous fedora, whip, pistol and leather jacket are not only iconic of this role, but also now iconic of the old fashioned adventurer.