It has been a long time since I’ve watched these movies, but man do they actually hold up. From the moment the score first hits, through all the adventure and action scenes, right up to that face melting(ly awesome!) conclusion? There’s a ton of nostalgia, granted, but I still think it holds up even so.
As an introduction, we have it all!
Tomb robbing!
[Indiana needs his bullwhip to swing across a chasm]
Indiana: Give me the whip.
Satipo: Throw me the idol.
[they both see a stone door closing]
Satipo: No time to argue! Throw me the idol, I’ll throw you the whip!
Indiana: [throws the idol] Give me the whip!
Satipo: [drops the whip] Adiós, señor.
A fear of snakes!
[Upon opening the Well of the Souls and peering down]
Sallah: Indy, why does the floor move?
Indiana: Give me your torch.
[Indy takes the torch and drops it in, revealing hundreds of snakes all over floor of the Well of Souls]
Indiana: Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?
Sallah: Asps… very dangerous. You go first.
A mostly grounded world (if larger than life), before edging into the fantastical!
Indiana: The Ark of the Covenant, the chest that the Hebrews used to carry around the Ten Commandments.
Major Eaton: What, you mean the Ten Commandments?
Indiana: Yes, the actual Ten Commandments, the original stone tablets that Moses brought down from Mt. Horeb and smashed, if you believe in that sort of thing…
[the officers stare at him blankly]
Indiana: Didn’t any of you guys ever go to Sunday school?
Characterwise, Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones really makes the movie, but Karen Allens’ Marion and John Rhys-Davies1 are great supporting cast and man Ronald Lacey makes quite the villain.
Plotwise, it’s a pulpy adventure film. The plot is about as clearly good guys (even if Indy is totally looting) versus bad guys, loaded with some awesome action scenes along the way, and a solid ending where the good guys win. And sometimes, that’s exactly what you want.
Overall, a great fun movie. I’m going to rewatch them all now! (The original trilogy. I suppose I’ll have to watch the new ones too? We’ll see.)
… I’ll admit I did not realize until seeing his name who that was. That’s Gimli! Among a ton of other roles. ↩︎