Also marketed since the year 2000 as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark for consistency with other movies in the franchise.
This movie resembles an old-school James Bond movie, with a bit more of a slapstick vibe – several funny moments that might make you laugh for a just second – and an extra focus on archaeology and the occult. It’s not terribly dissimilar in genre to an old Star Wars movie (another franchise that Harrison Ford was involved in) minus of course the interplanetary travel and aliens. This movie also has a lot in common with the Tomb Raider movies although they’re a bit more modern in their action and special effects.
Harrison Ford does well as Indiana Jones aka Indy, the star and eventual namesake of this movie series. There’s no real martial artist vibe about him, but there are plenty of brief fight scenes throughout the movie, including empty handed fighting, edged weapon fighting and gun fighting, plus car chases, ships, planes, etc. The action is constantly ebbing & flowing, and Ford is consistently entertaining – there’s rarely a boring moment in this movie although there are some slightly uncomfortable scenes for those who are not a fan of horror, but to its credit, this movie doesn’t dwell on such moments nearly as much as most movies tend to these days, which makes it a far more digestible experience who those who just want smooth entertainment.
Karen Allen plays Marion Ravenwood, the lead female in this movie. She does a fair job. Doesn’t wow, bit of a chav, but not terribly bad an actress. Kind of matches the slightly slapstick genre and avoids overpowering the lead character or the script, so it kind of works.
Paul Freeman does quite well as Dr. René Belloq, one of the chief antagonists – the guy who always steals Indy’s treasure once he finds it.
Other supporting cast members generally do a decent job. The Nazi troops towards the back end of the movie were quite convincing, as were the indigenous tribesmen near the start.
All in all, I’m going to rate this an OK movie, considering the genre I’m seeking (martial arts packed smooth action hero movies). The action is fluid but the effects are a bit basic by modern movie standards. Still, it was a massive movie in its day, and spawned one of the highest grossing movie sagas of all time.