Raiders of the Lost Ark

Tonight I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark in IMAX. It is being released for a week in anticipation of the Blu-Ray release. I love this movie, in fact I am not sure if I love another movie more unreservedly. Here’s why:

  1. Indiana Jones loses his way to victory. He spends the whole movie as a punching bag and yet somehow ends up on top. He’s the type of hero we can all relate to. We root for him because we feel that he really needs it. In fact his seemingly invincible turn was, for me, the major problem in the latest movie.
  2. The movie is constantly engaging and entertaining without insulting the audience. The story moves briskly but the camera confidently lingers steadily so we can really see and understand what is going on, especially in the action scenes. Modern movies could take a cue from this one. Do you hear that Bourne films?
  3. This is the most important point to me. The fact that this Indiana Jones was filmed all over the world and that the stunts involved real people is a big deal that I think we’ve lost in the last decade. Despite the sophistication of modern visual effects nothing is as real and visceral as filming in real locations (The Bourne movies are actually great when it comes to locations) or as a stunt where a person was really dragged behind a truck. It just isn’t the same today and I don’t feel nearly the engagement from many movies that this 22 year old film gets from me every single time. I can see how they did almost everything in this movie, from stunts (have you noticed the track underneath the truck while Indie is under it?) to mattes to visual effects, but I am not taken out of the film one bit. It is evident that real people did everything we see on screen and, speaking as a computer nerd myself, creating action on a computer will never be as cool as what they did in the desert while filming Raiders of the Lost Ark.

So if you are looking for one of the great movie going experiences look up the showtimes for Indiana Jones on your local IMAX screens. It is a limited engagement that only lasts a week. I did not think that I would ever be able to see this film on the big screen, but boy am I happy I did. Don’t miss out.

Authenticity Film