Raiders

It's been a while since I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark which came out in 1981, and was the first of the Indiana Jones series. Compared to the latest one, the first one is both more serious and more satisfying.

Even by the second film, Temple of Doom, you see Spielberg with more whimsy, from the meal with the monkey's head, to the improbably landing with a lifeboat on the side of a mountain. There's much less of this nuttiness in the original Raiders.

The enemies seem more credible as people, from Rene Belloq, the rival French archaeologist, to Arnold Toht, the Nazi torturer who seems a bit too good at his job. Sallah and Brody also serve as good secondary characters, and Karen Allen is far feistier as Marion Ravenwood.

The final opening of the ark is also much creepier than anything in Indy Jones 4, which is a lot of things flying around but without the emotion of the first, or for that matter, the second or third film.

It honestly feels that Spielberg was saddled with a bad story, but Harrison wanted to make some money on this, and so as a favor, they made a new movie. They should have waited for a better plot.