Over the Fourth of July, my bonnie Bride and I decided it was a good time to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) as it has been a very long time since either one of us have watched it. I’m not even sure if I’ve watched it in the current century, which is a bit of a surprise.
Raiders of the Lost Ark poster - IMDB
Raiders, as just about everyone knows, is an awesome film that launched yet another great film franchise for Lucasfilms, with Steven Spielberg heading the project. At the time of its release, I don’t think anyone knew, except maybe the fans, that this film would spawn what is now a series of five films as well as a TV series (I have only seen a couple of episodes of the TV series), and cement Harrison Ford’s place as a roguish action hero super-star. Indeed, it is hard to imagine anyone else playing the role of Indiana Jones (except for the kid in Young Indiana Jones). No, I wasn’t one of them, never did do a Indiana Jones costume.
Raiders of the Lost Ark, being a period piece, works well and holds up for watching today, and continues to be a heck of a lot of fun to watch, being a blend of action, adventure, mystery and a bit of subtle humor (“Where doesn’t it hurt?”). Also, at that time, there was a deluge of guys breaking out beat-up Fedoras and roguish grins, just like so many others had been doing with Han Solo since the release of Star Wars in ‘77.
Special effects shot from Raiders - IMDB
Great acting, fantastic and unique story, cliffhangers (literally and figuratively), thrills and chills, and a lot of us went more than a couple of times during its original run. And who didn’t like seeing the evil villains melt? For the time it was made, that was some darn good special effects.
Down in Southern California, Raiders played at the same theater in Grossmont (east of San Diego) for over a year. Surprisingly, at a convention I was at in Los Angeles, Science Fiction Weekend ‘82, one of the execs from Lucasfilm was giving a talk, and mentioned we would be able to see Raiders again with its upcoming re-release. Then some of us mentioned that it was still playing at The Grossmont Theater, jogging his memory of having attended the one year birthday of Raiders playing there, complete with birthday cake. Sadly, shortly thereafter, Raiders was pulled from The Grossmont. But true to the exec’s word, it did show up in general release theaters shortly thereafter.
Photo of some fan-made props from Raiders of the Lost Ark
As a bit of fun, at some of the Science Fiction conventions we go to, there is a Propatorium, and there are usually a few cool items form various films, including some from Raiders. I believe they are all fan-made reproductions, and some pretty nice work.
Thanks for stopping by.
Posted using CineTV