Raiders of the Lost Ark

I was lucky enough to see this film for the first time as a little kid at the Czech premiere in a completely packed cinema (people were sitting on the stairs), during the deep totalitarian era, when everybody was happy to see something other than a Soviet film (despite the many years of delay). The audience togetherness and the incredible burst of laughter of the whole cinema during Indy's duel with the swordsman is something I will never forget. Beautiful fun. (04/12/2003)

I still remember that fateful day when my and Indy’s paths first crossed. It took place when I was less than seven years old at summer camp. It was a rainy afternoon and there were no outdoor activities. So that the teachers could have some peace, they put on a video for the horde of children. But unfortunately they had nothing animated at hand (causing a wave of tangible disappointment among us little kids) and thus we had no choice but to watch something from a well-worn cassette. At first, some movie started, but they soon stopped it (the biggest mystery of my life to this day; what movie was that?). They fast-forwarded the cassette to half way. Then some strange movie with a gentleman in a cowboy hat started. To make it stranger, it was dubbed by a single adult who was difficult to understand. At first I was terribly disappointed, but then the ball boulder rolled out, the main theme tune sounded, and... And nothing was ever the same again. I met the love of my life (I’m sure my wife will forgive me). This cinematic experience has been surpassed in my eyes just by one movie; and no, it wasn’t Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The day after the screening, the weather was beautiful, but while we were whistling the main melody, we forced the teachers to show us the second movie. The reactions to the soup scene were... But that's another story. (08/20/2006)

If you're seeing the movie for the 100th time, you can peel off any piece you want and still enjoy it. Last time we watched the movie we watched it through the lens of when is the last time Indiana washes up throughout the entire movie. If we assume he showers at Omar's after he's learned the length of the cane from the old man, the last time we see him smelling good (apart from the Washington epilogue) is when he and Omar infiltrate the Nazi camp in disguise. We can't blame him, of course, for not showering in that camp, or during the all-night dig, the subsequent escape from the closed crypt, the battle at the airplane, or the subsequent car chase (so far a pretty intense 2 days), but the fact that he says the hell with it even in the safety of a friendly pirate ship and then just takes a sporadic sea bath while chasing a submarine only to continue chasing Nazis to the center of the island gives the film a whole new reading. The most nerve-wracking scene in it is the one where Indy climbs into the white linen bed in his disgusting sweaty shirt, and Marion's silent agony at the final ritual is definitely grounded in who she has to be chained to the same bedpost with. Yuck. Well, as the popular rapper Tyler Durden says, "I wonder what we're gonna learn tomorrow." (08/30/2021)

My first great adventure film, and if it wasn't for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, it would have remained the greatest. Spielberg has a rare talent for combining a thrilling story, a mystically chilling atmosphere, superbly rendered characters, and a narrative push-off into an explosive whole that is funny, haunting, thrilling and emotional. Dr. Jones, a man of two faces versus Hitler's evil realm in an environment of mysterious and ancient forces. Iconic from the first to the last second, fabulously filmed, the acting, the sound, the tricks... It's kind of a fairy tale, kind of a horror film, and every inch the adventure ride that turns grown men into little boys and little boys into big heroes... So, what do the ladies say? (04/18/2004)

The film that forever changed the adventure genre and added more mystery to it than ever before in this first installment. However, even after many, many screenings, I still have a problem with its restrained pace and I will never include it in the group of the best films in history. Not that Ford's star doesn't shine like never before, but both Raiders of the Lost Ark and later Temple of Doom will always be in my eyes mainly warm-up acts to The Last Crusade. That doesn't change the fact that Indy is one of the most charismatic and likable movie heroes. (04/30/2006)