+9
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK might be the final gasp of joy I've retained from childhood. I know why I liked it then, I know why I like it now. And my grandmother, who suffered through the Empire Strikes Back for the benefit of my boredom, also brought me to this. And since she liked it, there were no repercussions in saying I Iiked it too.It is incredibly direct story telling, but it wraps its obvious narrative beats in completely unexpected details about boobytraps, snowblind bars, snake pits, secret eye lid messages, propeller deaths and, ultimately, what's in the ark itself. That finale may have made my face melt as well when I was a kid, and possibly the most overwhelming experience I'd had in a theater up until that time. Maybe ever.
Even if Raiders happened to have been completely ordinary filmmaking, just furthering the cult of Harrison Ford alone would have made in an important film. Has an actor so effortlessly walked towards heroism? Not in my generation, at least.I'm sure I imagined I'd grow up to be judy like him, and hence, all of my current anxieties and disappointments explained in a nutshell when I didn't remotely.
Not on my list, because what am I, a kid? But super great movie.