5 out of 5

Marion: You're not the man I knew ten years ago.
Indiana: It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage.

Raiders is the film that always comes to mind when I think of adventure movies. Not only was it a phenomenon that spawned two great sequels and inspired an entire generation of movie fans, but it is also truly a perfectly well done film.

If you don't already know, the movie is about Archeologist/Professor/Dare-Devil Indiana Jones who goes on many dangerous quests for ancient artifacts around the world in the mid 1930s. Now, Hitler is obsessed with finding the actual Ark of the Covenant which is protected by forces beyond imagination, and desired among all other treasures on earth by those who are good and those who are evil! And is believed to be buried somewhere in Tanis, Egypt. Nazis are combing the desert. Now, Indiana Jones (Indy) has been hired to find the ark and retrieve it before the Nazis find it, thanks to his old friend who just might have a way to find it.

Sallah: Indy, there is something that troubles me.
Indiana: What is it?
Sallah: The Ark. If it is there, at Tanis, then it is something that man was not meant to disturb. Death has always surrounded it. It is not of this earth.

This is still a fun, fast paced action film with light hearted moments. In fact, this whole movie is supposed to be like the old short serial adventure movies from the 30s that have characters just like Indiana Jones: rough, witty, swashbucklers. In those serials, those types of characters would usually be put in ridiculous situations and just barely survive through it. They would wear leather jackets, and carry their trusty whips, and sleep with a fedora over their eyes. What makes these characters (particularly Indy) so interesting is that they aren't supermen. When Indy fights somebody, 90 percent of the time he gets his ass kicked and just barely makes it through at the end. He just does whatever he can to retrieve what he is going after and make it out alive.

What makes Jones different though is that he actually does have a conscience. His arch nemesis Belloq, who is an archaeologist working with the Nazis, is after the ark too. The whole concept of the character Belloq is just brilliant because he is so much like Indy. The two of them both want the same thing. The only difference is that Belloq doesn't care if innocent people die.

Belloq: Jones, do you realize what the Ark is? It's a transmitter, it's a radio for speaking to God, and it's within my reach.
Indiana: You want to talk to God? Let's go see him together, I've got nothing better to do.

As an action movie this is also perfect. Weather Indy is in the middle of an amazing truck chase, avoiding booby traps, or just playing dirty in a fist fight with somebody; he is exhausted, he is hurt, and it looks real. No CGI, just some outstanding stunt work which I can greatly appreciate and have total fun with even if it is the 80th time in my life I have seen it.

I have never been a stranger to the Indiana Jones movies. I grew up with the original trilogy and I do think that this one is the best.

Indiana: Meet me at Omar's. Be ready for me. I'm going after that truck.
Sallah: How?
Indiana: I don't know, I'm making this up as I go.