Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Average Rating: 9/10
Reviews Counted: 63
Fresh: 60 | Rotten: 3
Featuring bravura set pieces, sly humor, and white-knuckle action, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the most consummately entertaining adventure pictures of all time.
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 2
Featuring bravura set pieces, sly humor, and white-knuckle action, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the most consummately entertaining adventure pictures of all time.
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Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 816,557
Movie Info
Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is no ordinary archeologist. When we first see him, he is somewhere in the Peruvian jungle in 1936, running a booby-trapped gauntlet (complete with an over-sized rolling boulder) to fetch a solid-gold idol. He loses this artifact to his chief rival, a French archeologist named Belloq (Paul Freeman), who then prepares to kill our hero. In the first of many serial-like escapes, Indy eludes Belloq by hopping into a convenient plane. So, then: is Indiana Jones afraid of
Cast
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Harrison Ford
Indiana Jones -
Karen Allen
Marion Ravenwood -
Denholm Elliott
Marcus Brody -
Paul Freeman
Belloq -
Wolf Kahler
Dietrich -
John Rhys-Davies
Sallah -
Ronald Lacey
Toht -
Anthony Higgins
Gobler -
Alfred Molina
Satipo -
Vic Tablian
Barranca -
Ishaq Bux
Omar -
Anthony Chinn
Mohan -
Patrick Durkin
Australian Climber -
Don Fellows
Col. Musgrove -
Ted Grossman
Peruvian Porter -
William Hootkins
Major Eaton -
John Rees
Sergeant -
Bill Reimbold
Bureaucrat -
Terry Richards
Swordsman -
Pat Roach
Giant Sherpa/1st Mec... -
Matthew Scurfield
2nd Nazi -
Kiran Shah
Abu -
Fred Sorenson
Jock -
Eddie Tagoe
Messenger Pirate -
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Tony Vogel
Tall Captain -
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George Harris
Katanga -
Tutte Lemkow
Imam -
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Frank Marshall
Pilot -
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Jack Dearlove
Mr. Ford's Stand-In -
Steve Hanson
German Agent -
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Malcolm Weaver
Ratty Nepalese -
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All Critics (63) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (60) | Rotten (3) | DVD (39)
Yes, it's as entertaining as you have heard. Maybe more so. Raiders of the Lost Ark is, in fact, about as entertaining as a commercial movie can be.
Top CriticRaiders of the Lost Ark has it all -- or, anyway, more than enough to transport moviegoers back to the dazzling, thrill-sated matinee idyls of old.
The thrills are fully consumed while you're seeing this movie, and it's totally over when it's over. It's a workout. You feel as if you'd been to the desert digs: at the end your mind is blank, yet you're parched, you're puffing hard -- you want relief.
...a crackerjack fantasy-adventure that shapes its pulp sensibilities and cliff-hanging serial origins into an exhilarating escapist entertainment that will have broad-cased summer audiences in the palm of its hand.
One would think that a collaboration between Steven Spielberg and George Lucas would produce something better than this giggly pastiche of a Republic serial...
Whether you swallow it or not, see it for a handful of totally unexpected visual jokes, worth the price of admission alone.
Harrison Ford embodies the persona of Indiana Jones with perfection and paves him as an iconic hero.
This film is a volcano of creative ideas in full eruption -- the modern high action adventure against which all others must now be measured.
Hold on tight, because it starts at full throttle and never lets up.
impossibly good
As action adventure goes, it's about the best there is.
Steven Spielberg's rollicking adventure yarn still looks buoyant and dashing after 30 years.
The boulder has never looked bigger, the guns have never sounded louder and Indy's whip has never cracked sharper than they do here.
If Lucas is Raiders' guts and Kasdan its head, then Spielberg is its beating heart. Little wonder Part IV is still on the cards.
Raiders is a classic and repeated viewings, especially when presented properly on the big screen, only reinforce this further.
Breathtakingly efficient, immaculately constructed... This is the ne plus ultra of blockbuster filmmaking.
It is the classic film [by] Lucas, Spielberg...back before they were replaced by automatons put here by aliens.
Indy's first adventure is a rip-roaring action masterpiece.
Justifiably one of the most indelible adventure films in cinematic history...
It's the perfect vacation-time movie: not a serious moment in its whole two hours but so crammed with laughter, thrills and cinematic sleight of hand that audiences will be sorry when it's over.
Lost Ark holds up for many reasons, not least of which is because of Spielberg's consummate skill as a visual storyteller and his ability to draw charged performances from his actors.
The postmodern heir to North By Northwest...Like any deathless classic, Raiders is a perfect marriage of star and material.
...despite the fast pace, the movie is never frenetic or tiring, just pure, unadulterated fun throughout. (Blu-ray edition)
Audience Reviews for Raiders of the Lost Ark
Super Reviewer
Set in 1936, this loving homage to action/adventure serials of the 1930s and 40s follows Indiana Jones- a college professor and archaeologist who, unlike most people in his profession, is also an adventurer who has no problems getting down and dirty to get the treasures and artifacts he needs.
Called upon by military intelligence agents, he sets out on a globe trotting quest to find and recover the Ark of the Covenant (the chest containing the remains of the Ten Commandments) before the Nazis do, who feel that they will be unstoppable if the Ark is in their possession. Joining him are Marion Ravenwood- his embittered former lover and daughter of his mentor (who was an expert on the Ark), and his comrade Sallah- 'the best digger in Cairo'. Along the way, Jones and Co. have to contend with Indy's rival French archaeologist Renee Belloq (who is working for the Nazis), relentless Gestapo officer Toht, a bunch of soldiers, and a ton of snakes (Indy's biggest fear).
Spielberg and Co. intended this to be just a loving B-movie homage to stuff from the past that they loved. They weren't trying to make an amazing work of art. However, the film was so well done that that is exactly what it became, transcending the level of genre pic to masterpiece of artistic adventure cinema.
Pretty much everything about this film shines: the script is tight, with the characterization and exposition expertly laid out with perfect pacing, the technical stuff like cinematography, editing, and all the effects (yay for no CGI!) are superb, then of course, there's the music. Hands down amazing. The score by John Williams pretty much drives the film, and is probably overall, what really makes it work. While the film does have dialogue, it's actually pretty sparse, with most of the film cruising along via visual storytelling, highlighted by the thrilling music cues.
Harrison Ford is terrific as Indy, and among his most iconic roles, this one's probably the best, and that's taking into consideration that I'm a big Star Wars fan. Paul Freeman is amazing as Belloq, who is a terrific character. Yeah, he's the villain, but he's actually quite layered and complex, and not really that typical of a villain. Basically he and Indy are pretty morally gray, but Belloq is a tad bit darker. Arnold Lacey is friggin creepy as Toht, and he really makes your skin crawl. As Marion, Karen Allen is great, and the character is more than just a pure damsel in distress. John Rhys-Davies is fun as Sallah, and it's great seeing Alfred Molina in his film debut as a guide who helps Indy on a mission prior to the Ark quest.
The film is fun, funny, and very thrilling. I've seen it many times, and it never gets old. Yeah, there's a few cheesy moments, but they mostly add to the charm and enjoyment of things. I got the chance to see this on the big screen, and, let me tell you, it really added to the experience, and made me love this film even more.
If you've somehow managed to never see this, you really must. It's crackling good entertainment, and truly one of the best.
Super Reviewer
Movies Like Raiders of the Lost Ark
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- Sallah: Ah Indy why does the floor move?
- Indiana Jones: Give me your torch.
- Indiana Jones: Snakes why does there have to be Snakes?
- Sallah: Asps very dangerous you first.
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- Marcus Brody: An army that carries the ark before it is invincible.
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- Satipo: Let's go. There's nothing to fear here.
- Indiana Jones: [pushes him up against the wall] That's what scares me.
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- Indiana Jones: Jock, there's a snake in the plane!
- Jock: Oh, that's just my pet.
- Indiana Jones: I hate snakes, hate some much.
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- Indiana Jones: Trust me.
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- Toht: What shall we talk about?
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Latest News on Raiders of the Lost Ark
August 15, 2012:
Raiders of the Lost Ark Is Headed for IMAXThe Spielberg classic will celebrate its Blu-ray conversion with a return theatrical engagement.
April 20, 2012:
Five Favorite Films with Lawrence KasdanAs any student of popular American cinema knows, the name Lawrence Kasdan is synonymous with some...
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Foreign Titles
- Jäger des verlorenen Schatzes (DE)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (UK)
