'Raiders of the Lost Ark' is an action-packed adventure film released in 1981. Starring Harrison Ford, it was produced by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg.
Set in the 1930's, the movie is about the quest of adventurous archaeologist Indiana Jones for the Ark of the Covenant (a chest containing fragments of the Ten Commandments). There are other people pursuing the Ark, including Jones' archrival Rene Belloq and the Nazis. The movie therefore revolves around the theme of 'who-gets-the-Ark-first'.
Jones learns that the location of the lost Ark can be pinpointed using the headpiece of the staff of Ra. It turns out that the headpiece is in the possession of Jones' former mentor, Professor Ravenwood, so he flies out to Nepal to seek him. Jones was informed that Ravenwood has died, and that the headpiece is now in the hands of his daughter, Marion Ravenwood. Marion happens to be Jones' embittered former lover.
Before long, Indiana and Marion are on the same quest together, fighting off the group of Nazis and Belloq who will do everything to get their hands on the lost ark. Jones soon arrives at the dig site of the Nazis, and with the help of his sidekick Sallah (a skilled Egyptian digger), is able to infiltrate the map room and pinpoint the exact location of the Ark.
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Figure 1. This scene wherein Indiana Jones encounters the Cairo Swordsman is one of the more memorable scenes of the movie. This scene was spoofed by ToyHollywood.com in this video. |
It turns out that the Nazis are digging in the wrong place, so Jones and his men quickly start their own dig to get to the Ark first. Meanwhile, Marion Ravenwood is held captive somewhere by the Nazis after she was kidnapped in the course of the action.
The Nazis soon discovers that Jones is now digging at the correct location (the underground temple 'Well of the Souls'), and takes over his operation, finally taking possession of the ark. They toss Marion into the Well with Indiana and seals the Well, with the intent of burying them alive.
Needless to say, Jones is able to extricate themselves from the temple. They follow the Nazi to successfully recover the ark and have it on board a ship for delivery to London. This is not to happen because the next morning, their ship is stopped by a Nazi U-boat under Belloq's allies. The Nazis takes possession of the Ark once again, oblivious of the fact that Jones is able to get a ride in their ship as well.
Jones follows the Nazis to an island where a ceremony to test the power of the Ark is to be held. Despite Jones' heroics to stop them, however, he and Marion are overwhelmed by the Nazis and are once again immobilized. This is when they witness the ceremonial opening of the Ark performed by Belloq that unleashes spirits from within the Ark. Jones tells Marion to close her eyes and to never look at the spirits. Everyone else in the ceremony who are not looking away are killed by the spirits. The event quickly ended with the Ark being supernaturally sealed once again.
The Ark is shipped to the U.S. where it is sealed in a wooden crate as a top secret object, and then carted away to a gigantic warehouse filled 'with thousands of other 'top secret' crates, to be 'lost' once more in history.
'Raiders of the Lost Ark' became the top-grossing film of 1981, and has remained one of the top-grossing films of all time. It won 5 Academy Awards after being nominated for 9 of them. Because of its success, several Indiana Jones sequels ('The Temple of Doom', 'The Last Crusade', 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull') and TV series were produced, resulting in a very viable entertainment franchise.
Information on the movie's full credits may be found at:
