Raiders of the Lost Ark the Best Movie EVER!

Raiders of the Lost Ark  10+  out of 10 

This isn't so much a review as it is a kneeling at the foot of greatness.

George Lucas –Steven Spielberg  and Harrison Ford  all coming together at exactly the right place and the right time to make a masterpiece.   Add in a John Williams soundtrack and the movie should hang in a museum next to the masterpieces of art. Raiders is by far my favorite movie of all time- so when the opportunity to see it again on the big screen –I couldn't have been more excited.  For me this movie  is as close to perfection as a movie can get.   I doubt there will be another film to come along that will be able to knock this flick off of my top spot of the over 2,000 plus movies I've seen...:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

            The movie starts off with one of the best opening sequences in film as we are introduced to Indy Jones in probably the second best character reveal  (only behind Johhny Depp's arrival as Captain Jack in Pirates)  Indy is looking at a map and one of his hired hands pulls a gun on him only to have it whipped from his hand .Harrison Ford then steps into the light for the first time in a great camera shot.  The opening sequence in action packed and filled with  peril –Giant spiders—deadly darts—giant boulders.   After all this Indy then loses the treasure he just went through all that peril to get to his rival  Belloq  (played by Paul Freeman)

Here are some great photos just from the opening sequence alone (Pictures fromhttp://www.theraider.net/films/index.php)  A great site for anything Indy  --Can't wait until Indy 4  --even though it will never be a good as Raiders.

           

            This film in vintage Spielberg at his absolute best.  Great  camera  movement and  incredible shots.  The action scenes are amazing.   From the bar fight in ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Nepal –to the sword fight in Cairo.  The pacing of the film is near perfect  with the third act becoming a non-stop action filled rollercoaster from the moment the ark is discovered. 

            Locked in the Well of Souls with deadly snakes –Battling Nazis in the Bi-plane sequence.    The truck chase –one of the best in film.  And the great ending with a touch of the supernatural.

Here are more photos of the movie with quotes and stuff

Great shot as Indy meets up with Marion in Nepal

The dude has serious game   (if only i could have Indy's style)

Marion: The bar is closed.
Toht: We are... (laughing slightly)- we are not thirsty.

Toht: Your fire is dying, here. Why don't you tell me where the piece is right now?
Marion:: Listen, Herr Mack, I don't know what kind of people you're used to dealing with, but nobody tells me what to do in my place.
Toht: Fräulein Ravenwood, let me show you what I am used to...

A Sherpa begins to choke Indy while Toht and the Second Nazi watch.
Toht: Shoot them. Shoot them both. Both the Sherpa and Indy hear this. They exchange an alarmed look and together swing Indy's gun toward the surprised Second Nazi and shoot him.

The infamous Cairo Swordfight moment

Marion gets blown up real good!

Indy  recovering from the explosion

Belloq: You and I are very much alike. Archeology is our religion, yet we have both fallen from the pure faith. Our methods have not differed as much as you pretend. I am but a shadowy reflection of you. It would take only a nudge to make you like me. To push you out of the light.
Indy: Now you're getting nasty.

Evil Nazi Monkey   ---You'll get yours

Sallah: Indy... why does the floor move?
Indy: Give me your torch. Indy drops the torch into the Well.As the torch falls to the ground, the "carpet" starts to move. It is an incredible mass of snakes. Thousands of them slithering and sliding, covering the whole floor.
Indy rolls over on his back -- away from the edge of the hole.
Indy: Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?
Sallah: Asps. Very dangerous. You go first.

Ok  every say it --- "Snakes --why did it have to be snakes"

Indy hands a torch to marion.
Indy: Take this. Wave it at anything that slithers.
Marion: (whispers) Thanks... Oh, my God! This whole place is slitherin'!

Indy is not afraid to fight dirty  --the Bi-plane scene.

The truck chase ---one of the best action sequences ever

Marion: You're not the man I knew ten years ago.
Indy: It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage.

Belloq: Yes, blow it up. Blow it back to God. All your life has been spent in pursuit of archeological relics. Inside the Ark are treasures beyond your wildest aspirations. You want to see it opened as well as I. Indiana, we are simply passing through history. This is 

"It's Beautiful"

Now that is what i call a PG movie --in the pre-  PG-13  days

If you haven't already seen Raiders of the Lost Ark   --then you don't like action movie