Pass the popcorn...

...because I'm onto a bloc of 10 films I've seen before, and some of these are among the films that have shaped my appreciation for this art form.

Bopping on through the list of the AFI Top 100 (10th Anniversary Edition) and came upon an old favorite.

Showed it to the boys for the first time.

Not sad about any of this.

Film 46

46.  "Raiders Of The Lost Ark"  (AFI Rank #66)

Not going to lie.  I'm pretty happy this is on the list.  I was 13 when this film hit theatres. I had had my mind blown by "Star Wars," and its sequel, "The Empire Strikes Back," and then...this hit.  To say that those films were instrumental in my youth is an understatement.  "Star Wars" became the constant theme of play for a few years, and sure, by the time this came out, I was older, but certainly no less thrilled by it.

I saw this the first time the afternoon after a sleepover where my buddy and I never actually slept.  I was exhausted, to say the least, but we went off to Yorktown Mall and watched this one sunny summer afternoon.  And...well...I was a 13 year old white kid from an affluent suburb.  This film was meant for me.  My exhaustion and everything that went along with it was gone while I watched this.  It just disappeared.

However, now, as a 47 year old white guy from a not as affluent suburb, it's still pretty much made for me.  Why?  Because I got to share it with my kids.  My kids, who have grown up with films that are a CGI wonderland, with a terrific, splashy superhero film appearing every 6 months or so, or the incredible work of Pixar, Dreamworks, or the stop motion masterpieces that Laika films put out...my kids were going to see a film that relied on practical special effects, rather than greenscreens.  I've introduced my kids to the world of Indiana Jones.

Know what?

They loved it.  Just like they should.

Why?  Because of what makes the films they've seen, an that I've listed above great.  The story.  The attention to detail.  The joy.  The "how did they do that?"  We love our heroes, especially the fallible ones, and we love when they produce moments of pure fantasy.  Indy makes mistakes.  He looks at the idol at the beginning of the film and miscalculates its weight.  Of course, Indiana may have been way off from the start, but we believe that the one handful of sand that Indy pulled from the bag was the reason the weight sensitive trap was triggered.  Why do we believe that?  Because we just know that's what he did wrong.  Indy fucks up, but finds his way out of it.  He does that throughout the film.

Steven Spielberg directed this film, and it's the third of his five films in the list that I have watched thus far.  Filmed as a kind of homage to the old serials, Spielberg borrowed stunts and situations liberally from the pap that used to entertain kids on weekends.  Like the "Indy slides under the truck stunt?"  It was used in the past, only with a stagecoach.  The rolling boulder was borrowed...from Scrooge McDuck.  There are original ideas in the film, sure, but the bulk of it is a clever mashing of lots and lots of greatness from the past.  So.  If we've seen it...why is it so thrilling?  Spielberg is a big reason.  His attention to detail, his knowledge of how to set a mood with clever camerawork, it's all amazing.  Plus, the dude likes to show us a good time.  He's not afraid to entertain, that's for damned sure.

When I put together the order in which I would watch these films, I broke the list into eras.  This was the first movie of the "Modern" era, but it followed an era which started with "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?" and ended with "Raging Bull."  This was an era of great experimentation on the part of filmmakers, and an era where the best parts of the 30s-40s (character, plot, story, dialogue) melded with the technical.  "Raiders..." seemed like the natural break between those eras.  It's not the first blockbuster on the list, but it's the first blockbuster after the 70s started without a gritty underbelly.  This is just plain fun.

There are some real mistakes in the film.  For example, the staff that Indy attaches the headpiece to is supposed to be 6 Kadan high...and Indy says, "About 72 inches." So.  A Kadan is a foot.  Then, the old man says, "Take back one Kadan for God."  So.  The staff is supposed to be 5 feet tall.  Take a look at that picture.  Unless Indy is 3'6" tall...you get the point.  There are lots of mistakes like this.  I notice them.  I'm going to forgive them...this time.  But, they are in there, and I notice.

What is it that gives this film its appeal, though, really?  I've heard it said that Indiana Jones is not necessary for the plot.  That is entirely true.  Every single thing in the plot would happen if Indy had not been there.  The Nazis would have discovered the Ark eventually, and they would have died.  However, the story is not necessarily the plot.  The story is that a non-believer gradually rethinks his casual disregard for all things spiritual/religious, especially as they relate to the treasures that he so casually plunders, and by the end of the film, saves himself and his girlfriend, Marion, by his faith in the power of the Ark.  Don't believe me?  What the hell was the opening scene for, then?  He steals a religious artifact because, well, because it's awesome, and he doesn't care about its significance.  Then, in the end, the non-believers win, and the Ark is buried again.  This time, in a desert of crates, rather than a literal desert. This is a story as old as storytelling, itself.

Beyond all that, the stunts are amazing.  The dialogue is witty.  My favorite line has always been, "I don't know.  I'm making this up as I go."  Which, of course, was followed by the one thing we hadn't seen Indy do yet...ride a horse.  Harrison Ford, as Indiana Jones, became a star of the greatest magnitude.  He appears 5 times on the list of Top 100 films, three times as a leading man.  He's a movie star, and this is a movie star's movie.  Karen Allen is also terrific as Marion Ravenwood.  Pretty enough to be attractive, yet with a certain "attainability" because she's not drop dead gorgeous...Marion pulls at us.  But Allen also makes her limited screen time into a believable character.  Yes, she's vulnerable, but she can handle herself quite nicely in most situations, thank you very much.  Marion is the damsel in distress, but she is not always in distress.  She doesn't want to let Jones do things himself.  "I'm your goddamned partner!"  It's a great character.

Look.  "Raiders..." is a thrill ride.  The good guy wins.  The bad guys lose.  Lots of great stuff happens.  So much so that it seems comic, but we eat it all up.  I imagine, if you are reading this, that you have seen it.  Perhaps take a couple of hours and watch it with a kid.  Or watch it as a grown up.

Whatever.  Just watch it again.  Because your inner kid wants to.

Ebert revisited this film towards the end of his life.  His thoughts are here.  Roger talks about Nazis a lot.  He's right, of course.  I didn't.  I suppose if I'd seen this film as an adult first, maybe I'd have caught that.  I knew Nazis were a big deal, but I didn't see it like Roger.  I watch it as a 13 year old.  Still.  Dammit.  However, he and I share thoughts on most everything else.  Huzzah.