Great Movies- Raiders of the Lost Ark

Forty years ago this month, the #1 hero not named James Bond beat "Superman II" and "On Golden Pond" and every other movie released in 1981(a big year btw). I hope you know that I'm talking about Indiana Jones. The greatest film character of the 1980s has been with me for my entire life, and I'm hoping his adventures(the first three, at least) are a part of yours. You're reading this, so that's a start. Legend has it that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were vacationing together in Hawaii in 1977, when the "Star Wars" creator told the "Jaws" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" director about an intrepid archaeologist he'd been developing for a throwback thrill-ride set sometime in the 1930s. Spielberg was instantly intrigued, and began viewing the project as a "comeback" after the relative failure of his unruly WWII vehicle "1941". Talk about turning a negative into a positive. "Raiders" was a phenomenon, and it's momentum was arguably the catalyst for the most impressive filmmaking career of all time. Join me as I discuss in great detail why you should become one of the Ark's aging worshipers.

Harrison Ford was 37 years old when he landed the role that ensured his professional life after Han Solo. People forget that the films he made between "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back"- "Force 10 from Navarone", "Hanover Street", and "The Frisco Kid"- left no lasting impression on critics or audiences. But Lucas was wary of forging a De Niro/Scorsese-type relationship with his former carpenter and insisted on someone outside his repertory company. Tom Selleck and his mustache were cast in early 1980. The movie gods intervened, when CBS ordered a full season of "Magnum P.I." a few weeks later. Selleck had already shot the pilot and was contractually bound to the series that would make him a Reagan-era TV star. After failing to work out a deal with the network, Spielberg and Lucas turned to a rugged-and-ready Ford, and it's difficult to imagine anyone else wearing Indy's instantly-iconic brown leather jacket and fedora(John Landis' wife Deborah Nadoolman helped pick it out).

Is this the greatest opening scene in the 100-year annals of film? This 11-minute masterclass is a mini-movie, with Dr. Jones in the jungles of Kauai, Hawaii with two questionable cohorts. Yes, that's future Doc Ock Alfred Molina in his big-screen debut. Douglas Slocombe's delectable cinematography is apparent in every frame of the Peruvian temple set at England's storied Elstree Studios. Indy's bravery is quietly and coolly established by his lack of fear and experience in brushing off tarantulas and booby-traps. British production designer Norman Reynolds continued his association with Lucas(he won an Oscar for "Star Wars") with the 22-foot, 300-pound fiberglass boulder that rolls toward our hero and right into movie history.

Ford isn't really afraid of them.

In 1978 script meetings, Lucas suggested that "Indiana Smith" should be a playboy and a martial artist, ideas Spielberg rejected. Steven then wondered aloud if the character should have some interesting complication like alcoholism and/or a gambling problem, ideas that Lucas rejected. They ultimately agreed that Indiana JONES needed to be a good role model. Writer-director Philip Kaufman("The Right Stuff") was informally involved in the early planning stages, and helped the dynamic duo settle on the Ark of the Covenant as the film's central goal. Spielberg and Lucas collectively discovered Lawrence Kasdan, a promising screenwriter tasked with turning a rough outline, teeming with story beats and set pieces, into a shootable script. Kasdan did just that, and became a major player in his own right("Body Heat", "The Big Chill", "Silverado", "The Accidental Tourist").

Kasdan was well aware of the length and the pace that Spielberg had in mind and doesn't allow the film to get bogged down in exposition. That's why an impressed Lucas quickly secured his services for "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi". "Raiders" is 115 minutes, and this university meeting with two Army Intelligence officers is the most dialogue we ever get about the Ark. An occult-obsessed Hitler is a nut on the subject.

There's only one cut from editor Michael Kahn in the nearly two-minute scene where Marcus Brody(Denholm Elliott) makes a nighttime visit to Indy's house- the gun being tossed into a suitcase. "It's like nothing you've gone after before".

Meet Marion Ravenwood- a feisty Nepal bar owner, the daughter of Indy's mentor Abner, and the love of his life. She was 15-16 when they began a relationship in 1925- an important clarification given some of the dialogue("I was a child!") from a much less sensitive time. Karen Allen beat out Stephanie Zimbalist, Barbara Hershey, and Sean Young because she was in "National Lampoon's Animal House". Jones needs the headpiece from the Staff of Ra. Marion will think about it.

British actor Ronald Lacey oozes menace as a shadowy Gestapo agent sent on an artifact-finding mission by Hitler. Indy redeems himself from that aforementioned heartbreak with a timely save- the slimy Arnold Toht was seconds away from scarring Marion's face with a hot iron. A dangerous fight breaks out in the burning bar that ends with some dead henchmen and a partnership between Indy and Marion. Slocombe's rich lighting helps separate "Raiders" from all those visually dull movies that never came close.

In Cairo we meet Sallah, a hefty Egyptian excavator and one of cinema's better sidekicks. He's married with nine children. Spielberg originally offered Danny DeVito the role but his sitcom "Taxi" wouldn't allow it. Character actor John Rhys-Davies got the career-making part instead, which later led to his heavily-bearded dwarf Gimli in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Davies joins Allen with three appearances in the franchise- the good-natured Sallah assists Indy in 1989's "Last Crusade" and 2023's "The Dial of Destiny".

Spielberg has said that if he had more time and money, he would have made a "pretentious movie". Desperate not to repeat the excesses and overruns of "1941", Indy's introduction benefitted greatly from the perceived limitations of it's production. "Raiders" rarely stops moving, with a set-piece and/or a memorable moment occurring every 10-15 minutes. Ford had dysentery in 130-degree Tunisian heat when it was decided that shooting that swordsman was a smart, sensible way out of a delay caused by drawn-out fight choreography. It got a huge laugh in theaters, and it's simplicity is even more refreshing now than it was in '81. Marion is captured and seemingly killed by Nazis and other hired goons at the conclusion of a street chase. No CGI in that explosion.

Bad dates. An elderly imam deciphers Marion's medallion for a despondent Jones, before Sallah saves him from the same poisonous fate as his monkey friend. This movie does a dozen little things that the 21st Century's unimaginitive F/X-heavy blockbusters just don't.

The Nazis are digging in the wrong spot. Indiana and Sallah, disguised as native workers, infiltrate the dig site in Tanis and use the medallion and a right-sized staff to locate the Well of Souls- the Ark's true resting place. John Williams' multifaceted score is doing so much more than today's mailed-in film music. This beautiful, stylish cinematography with it's sun-drenched vistas(and Indy's Egyptian cloth) is an affectionate nod to 1962's "Lawrence of Arabia". "Raiders" sits neatly on the border between two eras- there's a clear love and respect for the past(Humphery Bogart, Charlton Heston, David Lean) while simultaneously speeding toward a limitless future where ILM, fueled by the gigantic success of this film and the "Star Wars" trilogy, and a new generation of directors(Robert Zemeckis, Ron Howard, James Cameron, John McTiernan) would make anything possible.

Indy lowers himself into a snake pit at the one-hour mark. Spielberg decided that 2,000 snakes were insufficient for wide shots and put in a call for 5,000 more. You just don't get that kind of verisimilitude anymore. I'll take real(non-venomous) snakes over computer clicks any day. I'm not sure if anyone under the age of 70 knows what movie serials are, because they went away in 1956, but "Raiders" truly captures the spirit of those episodic adventures. The next thirty minutes is just incredible.

Marion is alive but Indy can't rescue her just yet. Frenchman Rene Belloq(Paul Freeman) is a rival archaeologist selling his soul to the Nazis. Marion teases him in a tent with her acceptance of drinks and a cinematic white dress. Toht's sinister-looking coat-hanger is one of the many other nice touches that I alluded to earlier.

The good news is Indy and Marion are reunited and the Ark has been found. The bad news is they have the snake well and the Nazi dig site to escape from. After some bickering about Belloq, they climb back to sunlight where an old-fashioned fistfight with a burly, shirtless henchman(former pro wrestler Pat Roach) awaits our hero. Jones is tired and dirty but still lands some nice crowd-pleasing punches. I always preferred a protagonist that just barely beats his opponent. It's the Rocky Balboa effect, and the struggle further endears us to the character.

Creative villain deaths are a prerequisite for the genre. These giant spinning aircraft blades may have set the standard.

The Ark is loaded into a truck to be transported to Germany. Indy intends to intercept but he's making it up as he goes. Fun fact- Ford's then-wife Melissa Mathison visited the set and was hired by Spielberg to flesh out an idea he had in his head since childhood, about a suburban boy and a cute alien. A year later, he had the screenplay for "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial", the movie that officially made him the most powerful man in the industry.

The eight-minute truck chase is probably the best action scene ever filmed up to this point(George Miller was simultaneously staging similar mayhem in Mad Max sequel "The Road Warrior"). It's a fast-paced, dazzling, creative sequence that you could watch once a week for the rest of your life. Indy gets shot in the left arm, dragged through the dirt, and throws hands with the driver and a passenger. Shout out to veteran stuntmen Vic Armstrong and Terry Leonard- Ford did a few shots himself and bruised some ribs in the process. A victorious Jones has the Ark as we're hurled toward the third act.

Should Harrison have been in the Best Actor conversation for creating one of Hollywood's all-time heroes? It doesn't seem right that he only has one nomination, for 1985's "Witness". This playful exchange on a merchant steamer is probably the best Indy-Marion moment. Allen went on to appear in John Carpenter's "Starman" opposite Indiana Jones runner-up Jeff Bridges(an interesting what-if) and the 1993 cult classic "The Sandlot".

The Nazis board the freighter and find Marion and the Ark. Indy sneaks on a German U-boat and acquires a uniform and a rocket launcher. Belloq is unbothered by the bazooka, because he knows that Jones would never destroy something as historically significant as the Ark. Freeman deserves credit for not allowing that fly on his face to ruin a good take- a tiny but much-discussed tidbit among franchise fanatics.

On a small, solitary island north of Crete, Belloq, Toht, and Colonel Dietrich(Wolf Kahler) experience God's wrath when they open the Ark before it's planned delivery to Hitler. A tied-up Indy tells Marion to close her eyes to the emerging spirits, flames, and bolts of energy. This was Richard Edlund, Joe Johnston, Chris Walas, and the rest of the ILM team's time to shine. Head molds, propane heaters, melted gelatin, and a slower-than-normal camera speed were combined to create this wonderfully warped sequence. Eat your heart out, "Scanners". I'd be remiss if I didn't mention sound effects poineer Ben Burtt's contributions in postproduction.

I'd like to thank Marcia Lucas(George's then-wife) for reminding Spielberg and her husband that the audience needed to see Indy and Marion walking happily arm-and-arm in the film's last few seconds- a moment they were ready to leave on the cutting room floor. Artist Michael Pangrazio gave us the final shot- a matte painting of the Ark getting lost again, in a vast government warehouse filled with nearly identical crates. It's considered one of the most impressive integrations of live-action lighting and painted effects.

"Raiders" was in theaters for nine months and spent nine weeks at #1 for a domestic total of $242 million on a $20 million budget. It was Paramount's biggest hit for over a decade(until "Forrest Gump"). It was the reason you got a VCR in 1982. It's the reason you considered becoming an archaeologist. Ford was a top ten movie star for at least twenty years. That doesn't happen without Henry Jones Jr. "Temple of Doom" and "Last Crusade" made Indy a great trilogy until 2008. I wish it had stayed that way. This is a classy, expertly-engineered model of escapism, and every action/FX-driven film released since contains a trace of it's DNA. I like it a little more every time I think about it. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is one of the world's greatest films.

The Year in Review- 1999

It was the year Brad Pitt and Edward Norton traded blows in David Fincher's pre-millennial mind-fuck. Woody and Buzz were welcomed back, M. Night Shyamalan didn't suck, and Kevin Spacey was creeping on a young woman. Keanu Reeves took the red pill, Tom Cruise was obsessed with sex, and Star Wars owned the early summer. Here are the ten best films in order for 1999.

1(tie). "Fight Club"(1999) Looking back, 1999 feels like the last gasp of a pretty bold, thematically-exciting cinematic era before Republican politics and 9/11 turned Hollywood into a risk-averse, franchise-fixated safe haven. Director David Fincher made "Seven" look like wholesome family entertainment with his blistering dissection of male discontent and our soul-crushing consumerist lifestyles. Brad Pitt got dirty in the '90s, and his impossibly cool soap-making psycho anarchist Tyler Durden remains his greatest role. Edward Norton looked like he was laying down a legacy with the one-two punch of his nameless narrator and "American History X". Can you imagine anything even remotely resembling Project Mayhem getting produced on a $65 million budget today? A vision THIS unfiltered has to be celebrated in an age of such sterile conformity. Chuck Palahniuk's therapeutic violence and nihilistic spirit gets right in our faces and under our skin and is here to stay.

1(tie). "Toy Story 2"(1999) Despite the groundbreaking success of the 1995 original, short-sighted Disney execs were initially planning to send this sequel straight to video. That was until they realized it was better than every movie currently in theaters. With a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, "TS2" would've done well against just about any movie ever made. It's "The Godfather Part II" of animated sequels, with a deeper story that explores the limited lifespan of our favorite toys. Will Woody choose museum immortality over a few more years with Andy? Tom Hanks and Tim Allen returned to the recording booth to lend their irreplaceable vocals, and our joined by three talented new additions(Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammar, and Wayne Knight). Pixar is the house that Buzz built, and the studio has been an unstoppable powerhouse since the box office bonanza generated by this delightful encore.

2. "The Sixth Sense"(1999) Recent history has made it difficult to heap praise on writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, but I'm not here to talk about "After Earth" or "The Last Airbender". Or "The Happening". Try your best to block out "The Village" and "Lady in the Water", too. I'm here to talk about his 1999 megahit that had eager journalists crowning him the next Spielberg. Things didn't work out that way, but you can't accuse the man of not having talent, and it's on full dispay in the flawless ghost story that was unburdened by the hype and heavy expectations that greeted his later projects. "The Exorcist" was the last scary movie to enter the zeitgeist with this much force, so it's easy to see why we got so excited. Bruce Willis' subtle, understated turn as a sympathetic child psychiatrist hints at the kind of actor he might have been, while Haley Joel Osment is a revelation as the frightened boy that sees dead people. The famous "shock" ending holds up to repeat viewings, so forget about Night's reputation, and put this one back in rotation.

3. "The Matrix"(1999) Cyberpunk subculture, Hong Kong cinema, and the dystopian future popularized by the "Terminator" films were confidantly combined in the Wachowski brothers' instantly-iconic, career-defining achievement. Keanu Reeves put his blank-slate acting style to good use as a restless hacker drawn into a rebellion against sentient machines trying to subdue and enslave the human population in a simulated virtual reality. 'Neo' learns the truth from mysterious fugitive Morpheus(Laurence Fishburne) and leather-clad warrior Trinity(Carrie Anne Moss) until his destiny as the savior of mankind is slowly revealed. I'll admit that I didn't fully grasp these concepts on my first viewing. All I knew is there was a lot of cool stuff happening, in the most imitated actioner since "Die Hard"(not coincidentally, also produced by Joel Silver). A large cult-like fan-base emerged at the dawn of the new millenium, and two sequels arrived with substantial hype(but fewer plaudits) in 2003.

4. "American Beauty"(1999) Daring first-time director Sam Mendes brought the same tar-black comedic approach to his celebrated portrait of a mid-life crises as Fincher brought to "Fight Club" in 1999's equally-ascerbic Best Picture winner. Kevin Spacey's quitely-desperate suburbanite Lester Burnham won him the Best Actor Oscar, completing an unlikely transition from superlative supporting player to unlikely leading man. You think marriage, fatherhood, steady employment, and stability equals happiness? None of that compares to potentially shagging your 17 year old daughter's best friend. The perennially-underrated Annette Bening shines bright as his shrewish wife, and Mena Suvari seemed headed for big things when she bathed in those rose petals. This was the year that a few subversive filmmakers asked us to face some uneasy truths and the world was a better place because of it. Middle-aged malaise has never been captured more beautifully.

5. "The Insider"(1999) The year before audiences were chanting 'Maximus', Russell Crowe was proving his worth in Michael Mann's captivating true story about a tobacco industry whistleblower selling his secrets to "60 Minutes". It's astonishing to see the 33 year old Crowe disappear into the part of pensive fifty-something family man Jeff Wigand in between his macho, star-making roles in "L.A. Confidential" and "Gladiator", as the multi-dimensional Australian left little doubt that he was here to stay. When has Al Pacino's involvement ever NOT been the first big selling point when discussing a film? Talk about a changing of the guard.

6. "Magnolia"(1999) Paul Thomas Anderson reassembles much of the cast of "Boogie Nights"(Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, Philip Baker Hall) for this collection of wildly-different tales of love and loss in the San Fernando Valley. Tom Cruise seemed to be making a conscious effort to shed his normally affable persona(more on that later) and is the standout of this sparkling ensemble as flamboyant sex guru Frank T.J. Mackey. Jason Robards may be the greatest actor that never gets talked about, and his role as Mackey's estranged, ailing father was the last of his long and distinguished career. It may be difficult to pinpoint the overriding theme and message behind PTA's ambitious, emotional epic, but the melodious results are rarely less than engrossing.

7. "Boys Don't Cry"(1999) The tragic rape and murder of a 21 year transgender man in 1993 Nebraska was recreated in devastating fashion, by writer-director Kimberly Peirce in her critically-lauded film debut. Hilary Swank's fearless portrayal of Teena Brandon was quite a leap from "The Next Karate Kid" and "Beverly Hills 90210", and was rightly rewarded with the Best Actress Oscar. Indie darling Chloe Sevigny deserved her Supporting Actress nod for an equally brave performance as Brandon's naive girlfriend. This gritty, challenging story barely scraped together the funds to make it into theaters, to further the "Best Movie Year Ever" conversation for 1999.

8. "Eyes Wide Shut"(1999) Stanley Kubrick's haunting farewell is aging very well, and that was always his intention. Film is about much more than the opening weekend box office, and Kubrick's are built to last. The record length of the shoot(fifteen months), an inappropriate mid-summer release, and tabloid tales of Tom and Nicole made it easy to dismiss "EWS". But Cruise and Kidman were spellbinding as an upper-class couple in the middle of a quiet marriage crisis, that plays out in wholly unexpected ways over two nights in NYC(okay, London). We didn't think we wanted movies like this, until all those sexless superheroes showed up, and suddenly we weren't getting any entirely. My eyes were wide open.

9. "The Green Mile"(1999) It's incredibly fitting that we wrap up this '90s retrospective with the decade's benign poster boy and #1 actor Tom Hanks. The two-time Oscar winner headlined another heartwarming awards contender, when he struck up a friendship with "Shawshank" director Frank Darabont. The most faithful Stephen King adaptation ever(the author's own words) at 189 minutes has an unlikely man attraction, though. Michael Clarke Duncan, whose burly breakthrough as a magical 1930s Death Row inmate bolstered a stacked Best Supporting Actor race(Michael Caine upset Duncan, Cruise, and Osment). Gentle giant John Coffey and his prison pal Paul Edgecomb(and Mr. Jingles) were destined to join Darabont's 1994 classic on the basic cable loop in the 2000s and beyond.

10. "Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace"(1999) Yes, I'm putting George Lucas' much-maligned(and unfairly so) return to the "Star Wars" universe on this list. You can whine about Jar Jar Binks, Jake Lloyd, and the Trade Federation all you want, but the fact remains that you can't talk about 1999 without talking about the unprecedented fanfare that accompanied the decade's runner-up for the box office title(only "Titanic" brought in more $$$ in the '90s). Bashing the prequels is so cliched, so I'll be original and list the positives- Liam Neeson, Darth Maul, the podrace, and the three-way lightsaber battle. The saga is far from over thanks to Disney's deep pockets, so just admit it. You're glad Star Wars didn't end WAY back in 1983.

Honorable Mentions- "She's All That"(1999) Freddie Prinze Jr. helped close out the '90s. "Gloria"(1999) Sharon Stone stars in Sidney Lumet's remake of John Cassavetes. "10 Things I Hate About You"(1999) Heath Ledger enters our lives in this high school comedy. "True Crime"(1999) You can always count on Clint. "8MM"(1999) Nick Cage + Joel Schumacher= guilty pleasure. "Analyze This"(1999) Billy Crystal analyzes Robert De Niro. "Election"(1999) Alexander Payne's cult comedy pits Reese Witherspoon against Mathew Broderick. "Office Space"(1999) Work sucks. "Cruel Intentions"(1999) An attractive young cast updates "Dangerous Liasons". "A Midsummer Night's Dream"(1999) Shakespeare with Kevin Kline and Michelle Pfeiffer. "A Walk On the Moon"(1999) Diane Lane does her best when she's unfaithful. "Notting Hill"(1999) Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in a classy romcom. "The Mummy"(1999) Brendan Fraser's franchise starter. "Tarzan"(1999) Phil Collins concludes the Disney Renaissance. "Big Daddy"(1999) Adam Sandler's best comedy? "The General's Daughter"(1999) John Travolta's last stand as a top-tier leading man.

"Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me"(1999) This Mike Myers sequel was much bigger than it's predecessor. "Summer of Sam"(1999) Spike Lee lets us relive New York in 1977. "The Blair Witch Project"(1999) This indie chiller and it's 'found footage' was a pop culture phenomenon. "American Pie"(1999) Teen sex makes a comeback. "Bowfinger"(1999) Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin are a comedy lover's dream. "The Iron Giant"(1999) Old-school animation isn't dead yet. "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge"(1999) Halle Berry beautifies this HBO biopic. "Runaway Bride"(1999) A "Pretty Woman" reunion for Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, and Garry Marshall. "Sleepy Hollow"(1999) Johnny Depp and Tim Burton firm up their friendship.

"Double Jeopardy"(1999) Ashley Judd is the 'fugi-chick'. "Three Kings"(1999) George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg are soldiers for David O. Russell. "Sweet and Lowdown"(1999) Woody Allen and Sean Penn tell the tale of troubled 1930s jazz guitarist Emmett Ray. "Being John Malkovich"(1999) Spike Jonze is cinema's quirkiest auteur. "Bringing Out the Dead"(1999) Nick Cage is a NYC paramedic. "The Limey"(1999) Terence Stamp tears through Los Angeles. "The Cider House Rules"(1999) Michael Caine wins an Oscar for his delivery of one line. "Life"(1999) Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence serve hard time. "Dogma"(1999) Kevin Smith crushes Catholicism. "Any Given Sunday"(1999) Oliver Stone's indictment of pro football. "The World Is Not Enough"(1999) Pierce Brosnan's third stint as 007. "Girl Interrupted"(1999) Meet Angelina Jolie. "The Hurricane"(1999) Denzel Washington is a knockout as imprisoned boxer Rubin Carter. "Bicentennial Man"(1999) Robin Williams reteams with his "Doubtfire" director Chris Columbus. "Music of the Heart"(1999) Meryl Streep gets her twelfth nomination. "Man on the Moon"(1999) Jim Carrey's Andy Kaufman deserved a nomination. "The Talented Mr. Ripley"(1999) Matt Damon as a murderous con man. "The End of the Affair"(1999) Ralph Fiennes romances Julianne Moore in Neil Jordan's WWII-era London. "Galaxy Quest"(1999) "Star Trek" spoof with Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver. "Stuart Little"(1999) Michael J. Fox's cute CGI mouse made $140 million in the U.S.