Raiders of the Lost Ark - Oldie but goodie

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
I got a chance to get a free film on Amazon and wound up using it on this film, which (to me rightly) is generally regarded as a classic and one of the best action movies ever made. I won't go into plot details as I think everyone knows what goes down in the film but it does have high points to me including:

a) The characters. Well crafted and well acted from Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones to Paul Freeman's great turn as Indy's nemesis Belloq. Karen Allen also does a nice turn as Marion and additionally both of the lead Nazi's were well cast.

b) A straightforward plot that did well as a vehicle to move the action along.

c) The little touches all over the place that said "this may be a major studio release but it's still something we wanted to do" like the Nazi monkey, Indy shooting the swordsman (yes I know that was unplanned but it was brilliant) and even Marion and Belloq getting drunk together.

d) Excellent pacing with just the right touch of humor inserted to keep the tone correct too.

There also were a couple of funny things that one may not realize the first time they see it but do come out later like:

a) The key events of the film would have played out the same way whether Indiana Jones was there or not. He had no actual effect on the story.

b) At some point Indiana should have realized that the Nazi plan could never work. Based on what already had been revealed in the plot, neither Belloq nor the Nazis could ever open or try to use the Ark safely, and in fact Belloq insisting they open it first on the island actually saved Hitler and the Nazi leadership from what happened to him had they done so in Berlin instead.

And actually, if you think about it, all three Indiana Jones films that have them pursuing a powerful artifact (Temple of Doom really did not) have this same plot element - ultimately there was no way the bad guys could actually use the artifact.

It's not a real quibble, just an observation on a film that is overall great fun.
 
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Rac80

The Belle of the Ball
LOVE that movie! sometimes the old "classics" are the best! :D
 

shavedape

Well Known GateFan
There also were a couple of funny things that one may not realize the first time they see it but do come out later like:

a) The key events of the film would have played out the same way whether Indiana Jones was there or not. He had no actual effect on the story.

b) At some point Indiana should have realized that the Nazi plan could never work. Based on what already had been revealed in the plot, neither Belloq nor the Nazis could ever open or try to use the Ark safely, and in fact Belloq insisting they open it first on the island actually saved Hitler and the Nazi leadership from what happened to him had they done so in Berlin instead.

And actually, if you think about it, all three Indiana Jones films that have them pursuing a powerful artifact (Temple of Doom really did not) have this same plot element - ultimately there was no way the bad guys could actually use the artifact.

It's not a real quibble, just an observation on a film that is overall great fun.

I wonder if they will "fix" the issue of Indy being irrelevant to the story when they do the reboot?
 
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Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
I hope not. The two things I mentioned are part of the charm.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
I hope not. The two things I mentioned are part of the charm.

Indy is beyond "charm". He sort of messed up his legacy with the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull film he did. It's time for him to move on. There comes a point when it becomes pathetic.
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Most of us just act like that film never got made, and that his story ended like it was supposed to with the Last Crusade.

I also see no point in remaking Raiders of the Lost Ark to be honest. There is nothing to improve there - it is already one of the best action films ever made.
 

shavedape

Well Known GateFan
Most of us just act like that film never got made, and that his story ended like it was supposed to with the Last Crusade.

I also see no point in remaking Raiders of the Lost Ark to be honest. There is nothing to improve there - it is already one of the best action films ever made.

I agree but we both know that Hollywood is going through a reboot orgy phase right now. That coupled with the guaranteed draw of such a well known character means a lot of money in Disney's coffers. So chances are good they will reboot Indy just out of greed and if they do I'd much prefer Chris Pratt in the role. I cringe to think how other actors would muck it up.

BTW, not to contradict myself but today I heard that the contractual rift between Spiderman and the Avengers joining up has been fixed. This was due to the fact that the last Spiderman movie bombed in terms of what SONY expected so they had no choice but to hook Spidey up with a winning franchise. So there's no guarantee that reboots will make huge returns on investment, but then again, the reboot of Spiderman came way too soon compared to other reboots that have been successful.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
I just watched this. :) What an awesome movie this was! Great rewatch potential. But not good reboot material. A film like this should not be remade. New writers will undoubtedly change it in ways that ruin it in a reboot. I will not soon forget the wreck they made of the Total Recall reboot. The only reboot I have seen which worked better than the original is The Fly (and The Fly 2). Lost In Space flopped, Star Trek is flopping (not financially though). Batman and Superman give lots of slack because it is easy to retcon things into those franchises (cause there is so much material).

Why not just create a new character who goes after lost artifacts?
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
It is indeed awesome! And I fully agree that it is a natural for a rewatch.

I also agree that this should not be remade. It isn't that old in the first place and the film right now is probably in the top 5 action films ever made (if not higher).
 

shavedape

Well Known GateFan
I just watched this. :) What an awesome movie this was! Great rewatch potential. But not good reboot material. A film like this should not be remade. New writers will undoubtedly change it in ways that ruin it in a reboot. I will not soon forget the wreck they made of the Total Recall reboot. The only reboot I have seen which worked better than the original is The Fly (and The Fly 2). Lost In Space flopped, Star Trek is flopping (not financially though). Batman and Superman give lots of slack because it is easy to retcon things into those franchises (cause there is so much material).

Why not just create a new character who goes after lost artifacts?
It is indeed awesome! And I fully agree that it is a natural for a rewatch.

I also agree that this should not be remade. It isn't that old in the first place and the film right now is probably in the top 5 action films ever made (if not higher).

I think we all agree that Raiders shouldn't be remade but we also know that it no doubt will be at some point. The name recognition alone is enough to generate hundreds of millions in revenue at the box office (billions?). Of course Hollywood is going to squeeze the ever livin' shit out of the franchise. Sadly, that's just how it is these days.

And like I said earlier, since a remake of this franchise is a foregone conclusion I'm at least happy that Chris Pratt is being talked about for the lead role. Hopefully he will get it because there are a ton of other actors that just wouldn't fit the part. So, that's a little ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. :) (Of course I'll be disappointed if they give the role to some douchebag wanker.)
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Maybe they'll show minimal smarts and instead of remaking Raiders itself they will simply film new adventures for Indy. Of course, the problem is that Pratt is younger so anything they film is by nature a prequel. Maybe an adventure prior to Raiders or alternately between Raiders and Temple of Doom.

If they try remaking Raiders it will not go over well as not only would have to resist meddling with the story but a lot of characters were perfectly cast in that film (Belloq, Toht, Dietrich, Marion), and repeating that feat is quite unlikely.
 
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