Yes, that's my rendering of the theme to Raiders of the Lost Ark, this week's classic cinema offering at Cinemark, and yet another film that I had not seen in its entirety on the big screen. The first time I saw it was in 1982 or 1983, at the student union theater -- where it cost all of probably 50 cents. I don't remember exactly, but what I do remember was deciding at the last minute to hit the restroom, because "nothing ever happens in the first 10 minutes of a movie; it's just the set-up."
I returned to my seat, and said, confidently, to my friend, who had warned me not to go, "I didn't miss anything, did I?" She looked at me (in the dark) and said, "Yes," and then turned back to the screen. It didn't take me long to realize that I had, in all likelihood, missed "something."
So, this was my chance to see it from the beginning in all its action-packed glory. It's marginally possible that I have seen it from the beginning on television or VCR or even possibly a DVD, but if so, it really, really didn't count. A 19" diagonal boulder just doesn't have the same impact -- figuratively or literally.
This first installment in the now-cultural capital quartet still holds up as far as storytelling, characterization, sets and costuming go. Some of the high-tech special effects seem rather obvious and clunky today, but the re-enactment of Yakima Canutt's classic "drop" stunt is a stunning as ever. Harrison Ford was -- a young Harrison Ford. The Nazis are truly nasty and villainous through and through, as is Indie's bete noir, Belloq; nothing complex or complicated about any of them.
Karen Allen's slightly-better-than-the-girl-next-door look was a refreshing change from the ubiquitous stick-insect stripper we get in so many films today, as was the fact that she was much more age appropriate at only 10 years younger. Finally, a damsel who can be counted on to pick up the nearest object and brain a villain or even, if it comes to it, shoot him in the back.
While the film draws on all of those serials and action films of the past, it also served as an inspiration for many movies and television shows that would come after it, and I'm not just talking about that hack rip-off, Romancing the Stone. The reality is that today, I would never assume that nothing would happen in the first 10 minutes of a movie. Poltergeist owes much to the opening of the Ark, as do so many supernatural-themed movies, and where would Warehouse 13 and its ilk be without, well, the search for lost relics and the warehouse?
I think we need to see Crystal Skull again now, so that I can truly appreciate it's homage-ness.
I took the day off from work to see "Raiders" on its opening day, back in 1981. I was completely blown away and went back to work the next day declaring that a new day in cinema had been born. Of course, it was actually old serialized cinema that had been reborn and repackaged. Still, I was amazed--much as I had been amazed the first time I saw Star Wars and was so stunned that I hid in the theater restroom so I could sneak in a second viewing. Ah, the days before assigned theater seating . . .
ReplyDeleteIn my mind, at least, none of the other Indian Jones movies was as wonderful as the first one, though "Last Crusade" is a lot of fun because of Sean Connery.
Everyone should see "Raiders"--and the original Star Wars, for that matter--at least once on the big screen, so I'm glad you went. I'm assuming this means your foot is doing better (?).
Assigned theater seating? Unknown here. As I've said to Mike more than once, we could just go from theater to theater, if they were ever showing more than one film that we wanted to see.
ReplyDeleteI agree -- the sequels did not live up to the original, and anything with Sean Connery is worth watching.
I saw "Star Wars" at the nearly-brand-new Cinedome in Ogden a week or so after it opened. It was the first really big screen theater in Ogden, and ultramodern, so it was fitting venue. As I recall, there were already moviegoers in costume. And, yes, it was amazing.
Yes, the foot is doing much better. Still a bit stiff in the mornings, but noticeably improved. I'll be having the right one done next Friday (10 days).