RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: The Best Action Movie Ever Was Released 40 Years Ago Today
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As kids of '70s divorce, Paulie Walnuts and I had the same parental arrangements as most kids from the era when the marriage-ending practice was destigmatized. We lived with Ma and spent one night a week with the old man. We would typically get dropped off at the Knights of Columbus where we would run around the building and feed Pac-Man quarters in the Members Bar (Murph broke a million once---he swallowed a key worth 5000 when he was at 996,000+ but the score stayed the same). On lucky days, we'd get dropped off at whatever firehouse pops was working at. This meant fucking around in a BFD firehouse and, on rare occasions, going out for an actual, live run.
When he was done with work, we'd head off to whatever adventure was on tap. Though I didn't keep stats, it felt like we went to the movies 75% of the time (the other 25% was betting quinella boxes on the pups at Seabrook---shoutout, Yankee). I saw just about every significant movie from my childhood with my dad and brother. I say 'just about' because pops didn't do sci-fi. Which made it slightly ironic that he wanted to see RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK considering its star was coming off of the two-biggest sci-fi movies ever at that point and the director's most recent hit was about UFOs and otherwordly beings. I was just psyched to see Han Solo in a movie made by the guy who made JAWS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND.
But this would be no routine weekly trip to the Revere (or Somerville) movie theater. This was a benchmark event. The thrill-filled lengthy opening scene forever seared itself into our brains. The dashing archaeologist avoids booby traps and swipes an idol then the shit really hits the fan, our jaws agape as a humongous rolling stone chases our hero back into the jungle before he barely escapes with his life. Whew. I need to catch my breath and we're only 10 minutes in.
Over the next 1:45 or so, we are treated to the greatest action-adventure movie ever made. There was nothing nearly this good before RAIDERS. And while there have been some worthy challengers since (DIE HARD, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, THE FUGITIVE), none have been able to bump it from its throne. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK is essentially one rollicking set piece after another with exposition scenes serving as refractory periods before the next big action. The McGonagle gents had a new cinematic standard with which to measure everything that followed as did much of the world.
RAIDERS went on to make more money than any other movie in 1981 and won over seemingly every critic. It was a behemoth. And it was a behemoth because it was so goddamn good. So naturally, it did not win Best Picture.
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This is when the Academy really had a stick up its ass.
Ford was already a box office star after his pair of turns as the charismatically bad-ass space smuggler Han Solo. But Indiana Jones pushed him into a new realm and the one-time set carpenter was now spearheading Hollywood's two biggest and most influential franchises. Over the next two decades, he would further cement his status an action hero icon with monster hits THE FUGITIVE, AIR FORCE ONE, PATRIOT GAMES, plus the pair of Indy sequels.
Karen Allen, best known heretofore as Katy from ANIMAL HOUSE, turns in stellar work as Marion, the daughter of Indy's former colleague with whom Jones has had relations and the two clearly still have feelings for each other. In our intro to Marion, the scene establishes that she's not here to be a wallflower.
For my 10th birthday, there was only one thing I wanted: a VHS cassette of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. I was blessed enough to have a VCR in the house already and I wanted nothing more than to be able to pop on RAIDERS whenever I damn well pleased. And it's exactly what I got. I know you're not supposed to look a gift horse in the mouth but I was slightly disappointed when I opened the gift. My mother was a very frugal sort back in the day (Ma taught me how to save it, pops taught me how to spend it). So instead of getting my own brand new copy in the expected box with the iconic archaeologist on the cover, I got a brown clamshell case with the local video store's logo on the front and an apparently pre-viewed copy inside. Eh. Beggars can't be choosers. I had my very own RAIDERS to watch whenever I wanted. So I did. Often.
The movie has a timeless quality, epic performances, and an all-time John Williams soundtrack that make it forever irresistible. When it pops up on Paramount seemingly every week, I'm automatically #shawshanked whether there's 100 minutes left or 10. I always like to watch the "Snakes!" scene just to try to catch Ford' reflection in the glass that separated him from the cobra.
It's almost impossible to pick a favorite scene because there are so many incredible ones. Sliding underneath the truck while going 50MPH. Fighting the gigantic bald Nazi next to a running plane. The chase through the village that led to perhaps the funniest moment in the movie.
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The film is just a flat-out awesome time and what going to the movies is all about. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK also gave me and the old man a terrific bonding moment and we still talk about it 40 years later. With no hockey on tonight, there's only one thing to watch.
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK airs on the Paramount Network at 7PM ET.