Same! Well, I rank them best to worst as: 1, 3, 2 (and almost tied with 2 is the newest one) and... well that's it... that's all the Raiders films in existence! 😂
Gotta love 80's PG lol. I saw this in theaters when I was a small lad, and appsolutly loved it. Indiana Jones fast became one of my childhood heroes. 🤠
It was either that or R rating back then. I guess it was after movies like this that someone finally realised there was quite a big gap between these two ratings. 😂
It was actually Spielberg himself who suggested a PG-13 rating (to bridge the gap between PG and R) to the MPAA. They implemented it for the next Indy movie.
PG doesn't mean kids movie. It means Parental Guidance suggested. PG-13 came out of the gate strong, though. Lots of topless women made it into some early PG-13 movies. It had to be quick, but people noticed. It took a while before PG-13 became what it is now where a film can push the edge of violence or nudity, or language--but never all three if they want to stay in the rating groove.
It also became a meme reply to lots of things I have a friend in England who made a higher tier Star Wars fan film, and at a convention asked a producer from the franchise “what happens to the films made by fans sent to Lucas film, the producer replied - “remember that warehouse at the end of raiders…?” Audience laughed
This series and the Star Wars series are George Lucas' nod to the serial films that were popular in theaters in the 1930''s and 1940's. They were each about 15 minutes long and you would come back each week to see the next part of the story. One story might take 3 weeks to tell, another might take 15 weeks. It might be a crime drama, a western, a war story, an action film, a sci fi film or a romance. It kept the audience coming back to the theaters every week.
Every reactor asks why the dead guy is still moving on the spikes in the cave. It's because the weight of the corpse once the spikes were deployed shifted. Same as why your marshmallow moves on the fire pit stick, the heavy parts droop.
Still a spooky effect the first time seeing it happen. The fact that such a booby trap exists is crazy enough.But yeah, there's a dead person just chilling, and it is a guy they were just talking about.
When the evil sword guy was showing off his skills preparing for a big fight with Indy I thought Indy was in big trouble. Instead of getting intimidated though Indy just shoots him. It was unexpected and audiences could not. stop. laughing! xD
Also great movie lore about this: They were shooting in Tunisia, and Harrison Ford had dysentery and wasn't feeling well, so the original plan for that battle scene, which would have been three days of filming, had to be shortened. Ford and Spielberg both came up with the idea of ending it quickly with a gunshot.
The scenes are shot so brilliantly. You mentioned it could be a silent film, well if you search "Raiders of the Lost Ark in black and white" on RU-vid, you'll find a great 10 minute video showing some scenes in black and white and with no sound, and the movie indeed still works quite well, Spielberg delivers all the information you need visually.
Whimsory, your after-reaction commentaries continue to be completely worthwhile. Your insights are right on, and you typically think of things I haven’t, and I saw this film when it came out and many times since. There’s a lot of crap on the internet, and the quality of your content helps balance the scales a bit. Thank you.
Yeah. Awesome reaction channel. Most just shout nonsense constantly so they can hide the audio of the original and show as much of it as possible, so they can ride the coattails of other peoples' work. They add nothing.
This movie came out when I was 7, and PG was very different than it is now. Not just with the advent of PG13, but in general movies aren't as gruesome as they were back in the 80s. And that's the kind of thing I grew up with, and my parents let me watch, all the time...
Whimsory kept referring to this film as a kids movie because it was rated PG. PG stands for Parental Guidance, which means there are some borderline graphic elements to the film; therefore it was accurately rated. She kept suggesting it would be traumatizing for kids to watch this without realizing it was never meant for children. It was meant for a more well rounded audience that wanted a fun film with tense moments without it being too childlike. I thought this movie was well made, especially for its time, and has become a classic without a doubt. It’s the best of the series by far. Thanks for the reaction, just remember, it’s NOT for children!
Yes. I remember those days. And for some reason, a very serious movie with no violence and no harsh language would get an automatic "R" rating if you showed a woman's nipple...
My parents took me and my older brother to see this when it came out when I was 5. Five for goodness sake! I remember loving it though and it became one of my favourite childhood films. The melty melty heads scene did freak me out a bit but in a scared but actually having fun kind of way. Most kids are tougher than we think when it comes to stuff like this - it's all about the context it's presented in and this is presented very much as a comic book adventure.
I've always liked Toht as a villain, too -- there are so many nice touches, like the coat hanger scene, or the one where Jones threatens to blow up the ark -- Toht just sits off to the side, bored by the whole thing. Apparently, Ronald Lacey was asked to play the role a little like the actor Peter Lorre, and it shows.
I was 10 when this first came out and was absolutely blown away. I saved every penny I could find and ended up seeing Raiders 18 times in the theater. Fellowship of the Rings was the next film which obsessed me so.
I think I was 14 and had read the comic before I even got to see the movie. I saved up to get the fedora with the pin and I still do not know what jerk stole it (
I was 8 and saw it with my father when it came out. I was blown away as well..3 years later I could not wait to see Temple of Doom in its first week release in 84...I was not disappointed in that either...
Great reaction and discussion! This movie is everything the word "adventure" could mean! Indy and Marion are amazing characters & John Williams did something amazing with the music :)
I saw this when it came out and I was only 6 years old! Rated PG indeed! My dad took me to see it 3 times within a few weeks. I still think that it's the best action movie ever made.
Please consider the original Planet of the Apes from 1968! and the sequels! I checked that greatest films list a while ago and it wasn’t there! That’s some BS!
My parents took me to see this when it came out. I was 8. It left an amazing impression on me. The ending terrified me but I loved all the fun & adventure. My friends & I imitated the main theme whenever we did something crazy or dangerous when we played outside for years! ❤
"Raiders" was imagined and told like a "Boy's Own" pulp adventure serial. It's was epic for it's day and holds up pretty well even today. Good reaction Whimsory 😎
This movie came out when I was 11 years old. I left the theater thinking, "A bunch of Nazis open a box full of Jewish ghosts. What did they think was going to happen?
Marion is almost a gold standard in leading ladies, smart, resourceful yet also flawed and irrational. This movie is really a perfect blend of action, suspense and humour, something the sequels couldn't nail as effectively for me
IDK about that . As much as I love Marion the back and forth banter and onscreen chemistry between Ford and Connery in The Last Crusade make it stand out as the best of them all with Raiders coming a close second.
@@ronweber1402 I agree 100% that Connery and Ford's chemistry was oustanding and the highlight of that movie, but Crusade just leaned too far towards slapstick for my tastes to top Raiders.
yes! i was 9yrs old in the theater when this came out, and it was soooo cool. my big sister covered my eyes when Indy and Marion are climbing through the skeletons in the Well of Souls, but she let me see the melting Nazis. thanks for this one Whimsory!
I was already an adult when this was made but I saw it one afternoon in a theatre. In front of me was a mother and her son. She also covered the child's eyes but she did it with every grotesque or scary scene so the lad probably only saw half the movie. I remember wondering at the time why she bothered bringing him at all.
Yeah, I was 9 when I saw it too. I must admit the "screaming skeleton" scene freaked me out big time, but everything else was just giddiness. I remember being so glad that Han Solo was great in another movie, too.
Kids were just treated differently back in the day. I was born in 1982 and was watching stuff like this and horror movies like Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street. etc etc etc from the age of six and was reading stuff like Stephen King's IT at 9-10 years old. My parents just made sure to explain it was all make-believe and meant to be watched for fun.
My brothers took me to see this when I was 5-6 years old. Scared the s**t out of me. I hated Indiana Jones all my childhood, until I rewatched all of them when I was like 25. From there on I love em and watched em lots of times.
The final scene was the inspiration for the TV series "Warehouse 13". I saw "Raiders of the Lost Ark" when it first came out. I was 21. I was very impressed.
Yeah, my dad took me to see Raiders when I was 7 - my mom never forgave him. It was a seminal moment for me in my love of films, but for some reason we came in late, saw the gnarly ending with the Nazis getting their comeuppance and then stayed to see it again for the rest of the film. I've never been in such a frenzied state of terrified anticipation :O As always thanks for your thoughts!
Oh these movies hold a very special place in my heart. This one and The Last Crusade are brilliant films, I’d even say they’re masterpieces. They just trigger that overly nostalgic and sentimental part of my brain and the endorphins start flowing.
I was 12 years old in 1981. Let me tell you. To this day. Still might be the Greatest movie experience of my life!!!! I remember thinking and dreaming of it for weeks after!
I am an 53 year old guy and I've watched this movie in the theatre when it came out. There were scary scenes, but the early 80's were different times. There was age restrictions on movies, but no one cared about that. So I was able to watch this movie when I was 11 and also see "Alien" at the age of ten or John Carpenters "The Thing" when I was 12.. The only "damage" movies like that have done to my child soul, was that they have awakens an interest in horror and fantasy movies that lasts till today.
The first three movies are all good. Raiders was my favorite, on my all time top 10 list. My sister and I went to a movie back then and the theater invited everyone to stay for a sneak preview. It was Raiders. There was no internet back then and I had never heard about this movie. Wow!!
Great reaction Whimmy. Kids back in the day loved this movie. One of the greatest movies ever made. I was 13, and it was tons of fun. This and the third one are the best of the series. He's not exactly the world's best archeologist. He destroyed just about every temple he entered.
"Gilgamesh" for Gimli is the best-educated mistaken name I've ever heard 🙂 To be fair to Indy when he abandoned Marion for the Ark - if it gave the Nazis the advantage they expected then you would have to keep it from them at all costs. PS I think the third film is the best. I don't feel sorry for the monkey, he was a Nazi monkey.
I love all three films. Temple of Doom is quite the departure from Raiders, and that stirred up controversy back then. But it’s held it’s own and I love it. Watch for the Dan Ackroyd cameo in Temple, when they arrive at the airport near the beginning. He’s in a safari outfit, standing with George Lucas. Apparently that was Spielberg paying Dan back for Steven’s cameo in The Blues Brothers. Which you should most definitely see ASAP, if you haven’t already. Also, don’t miss the name of the club they escape from at the beginning. 😉
18:54 you actually managed to capture the C-3P0 and R2-D2 hieroglyph on the pillar right next to Salah's shoulder as he lifts the cover over the Ark. Middle left on the screen.
I was 18 and at the National Forensics Tournament in Salt Lake City and I dragged the whole team to this, including the coaches. "Good times... good times..."
@@mcs-bl6sgCorrection..... it's flat out true. Both skull and Dial are straight up garbage. This series was a perfect trilogy with two films of dead weight.🙄
@@brianjones8432 I actually really enjoyed the latest one. I'd rank it fourth, just slightly behind Temple of Doom. My biggest criticisms are ones that I have about many movies today: shot way too dark and very little practical effects or stunts. All the vehicle chases are greenscreened with a general motion blur so we won't notice how bad everything looks. It had everything I want in an Indy film: Indy in his hat with his whip, him cracking wise, a "plucky" sidekick/enemy, vehicles chases, and Indy punching N*zis. It just had to be better than Crystal Skull which I loathed (your mileage my vary).
Hi Miss Whimsory, today you are a woman finally watching Raider's!😀I did see this in the theater when it came out. It was quite an experience! This film and the third film "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989) are my two favorites in the series. The sequels are definitely a mixed bag. The next film: "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984) is actually a prequel to this film. This film is actually based on serials of the 30s and 40s. So, your remark as this could be a silent film is not far off. Wait a minute, they wouldn't have found the ark without Indie. The Nazis had the wrong location for the ark. Great reactions and outro to this classic adventure film, Miss Whimsory!!!🎬👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
John Williams is the Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, and Tchaikovsky of our time. 300 years from now orchestras will still be playing Williams' compositions from movies such as this. It is incredible to be living in a day of such a composer.
@@xenialafleur - Yes, because Lucas gave him the record and said "This is the kind of sound I want." Williams has done "a few" other movies over his 60 year career. You might be familiar with some of them?
@@mickeyrube6623 - Yes, because Lucas gave him the record and said "This is the kind of sound I want." Williams has done "a few" other movies over his 60 year career. You might be familiar with some of them?
@@1001Hobbies Williams is very good at what he does and you'd have to be insane to underrate his work... that said, he doesn't hold a candle to any of the other composers you mentioned. And Mozart is in a league all his own. And Williams would tell you the same thing.
They only made 3 Indiana Jones movies. They stopped making them after the 3rd one, so no need to even go looking for anything after that. It's a good trilogy, and it has a satisfying end in the 3rd movie. I'm glad Hollywood was able to let it be and not dredge the franchise back up to diminish its legacy with any bad or unnecessary sequels.
1. Yeah, he is Gimli (and I only have seen him in LotR, Indiana Jones and Sliders, so that are my only impressions of him). 2. Marion Ravenwood is a great character. She is brave, bold and smart. She outsmarts people that are either stronger than her or have the numbers advantage. She also has real weaknesses, what make her human, as well as more relatable, realistic and with the potential of growth. I grew up with a lot of great female characters, including bad ass action heroes (and yes, they existed, not like what Jennifer Lawrence said, that Katniss Everdeen was the first female action hero), that is why I dislike most current female leads. 3. Indi is not a Jerk leaving her there. He was planning to come back, it would have been idiotic to take her with him at that point, the whole camp would have been actively searching for them
Hey, Whimsory! I loved your commentary as always. FWIW: I always considered Marion to be about 30 and Indy about 40 when this film takes place. (Their actual ages during filming.) That would place their prior romance at around 19/29, which, while noticeable, I think (and I think most people would think) is not problematic.
Yep, those were different times. I saw this in the theatre when I was 6. I think we saw it 3 times (we didn’t have a VHS machine yet). Only the melting faces really made any impact on me. Violence wasn’t really a big concern as long as it wasn’t overly gory or disturbing. They had trading cards and action figures out for this, I think by Christmas that year. My brother had the whole set of trading cards and we both got whips that year for our b-days. That lasted until my brother whipped me and somehow opened up a big gash on my neck. Good times! Also, I am the monarch of the sea!
If you want to witness the greatest screamer in movie history, watch the original 1933 version of King Kong. Faye Wray (a Canadian actress) gives a master class in how to be a damsel in distress.
I don't know where Internet theorists get their creepiness ideas. Since I was a kid I had the feeling that Indy and Marion's first affair was conducted while she was in her late teens and he in his early 20s or no more than 25ish. But even had it been a little earlier that would not have been uncommon for the time it was set, nor would it have been surprising for two young people in each other's company for months together on some isolated archaeological dig of her father's, and probably each other's first love.
Being 10 when this movie was released…OMG, there were just SO MANY indelible films that came out around then, with incredible full-theater experiences. Still chasing that high, but never comes close these days, sadly.
My number 1 film. Able to see it on the big screen many, many times when it came out in '81. Got the full outfit and the gear too. There are only 3 Indiana Jones films, forget 4 and 5.
I grew up in the 80s. Movies were different then -- Goonies, Gremlins, Indiana Jones, John Hughes teen comedies like Pretty in Pink, raunchy teen comedies like Porky's -- none of them would be rated PG today, and not even PG-13. Different times.
Your reactions are wonderful :) The first Indiana Jones movie is perfect. And the following are highly recommended, Temple of the doom from 1984 and The last crusade, from 1989 (spoiler: there we see why Indiana hates snakes). The new films were already made 20 years later, and logically they no longer have the magic of the original trilogy.
Thank you for sharing your reaction to this.The red knee tarantulas that bothered you in the first temple are very mild mannered and not dangerous to humans, which is why they were used in this and other movies. Alfred Molina, whose character didn't throw him the whip, has a prominent role in "Spider Man 2."
Whim, this movie was rated PG because in 1981 a PG-13 rating wasn't invented yet. It was either PG, or R. In fact, the sequel to the movie (Temple of Doom; 1984) was also PG, but was one of the landmark movies that helped establish the PG-13 rating, along with Gremlins (another Steven Spielberg production coincidentally). By the way, now that you've started Indiana Jones, the first three in the series are a MUST. I think most can agree everyone should forget about the 4th and 5th movies. They're trash.
Nice work on the research. I love the back story of Indy shooting the guy with the sword. I read about that many years ago and I loved it. I feel bad for the sword guy too but it actually makes a lot of sense in the scene as Indy is fighting off people left and right to get to Marian, and just decides he doesn’t have time for it 😂.
Another engaging and thoughtful reaction, Whimsory! I agree with many of your opinions and observations, especially those regarding the music. Raiders is one of Williams’ finest scores, with my favorite cue being the desert truck chase!
My parents took me to see this in the theaters when it was brand new. I absolutely loved it! Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker and Perseus from Clash of the Titans were my early childhood role models.
"PG movie" It's okay if they're Nazis. I saw this in a movie theatre as a 16 year old in 1981. I can assure you we thought Marion was dead in the truck explosion. It seemed to be the kind of thing where Indy has to lose something and then go on, and what does the story need with Marion at this point, anyway? She's just slowing him down. Plus we didn't yet have that "if you don't see a dead body, then X isn't really dead" thing in movies.
There has been a reassessment of Indy as a hero in recent years in so much as there is less acceptance of going and stealing items from 'primitive cultures'. However the movie clearly knows this at the time as Marcus says the museum will buy the reclics he has 'no questions asked', ie, if they did ask it would clearly be a legal no-no. I think its interesting when we can have morally complicated heroes, rather than super straightforward good guys.
The music IS wonderful, and the actors all take a great script, with great dialogue, and inhabit their characters to the max, and then Spielberg directed the hell out of it. The punching sounds are also perfectly chosen (OTT but not too much). Toht was played by the late, great Ronald Lacey, a versatile character actor with widely varied résumé. I would say he's the poster boy for the talent that came in and did great work on this film. Yes, this is the best one, my favorite one, but watch the rest and form your own opinion. Also; yes, that's Gimli as Salah. Not Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is in The Eternals. Watch that too!
Your description of Indy is spot on. He's not this perfect hero type of guy. He has a shady side but he always ends up doing the right thing in the end. His relationship with Marion is also complicated. You're right, perfectly right knowledge and historical truth means more than anything at this point of his life.
An ever so slight regret about this terrific movie: I really would've liked to have seen the dynamic between Indy and Katanga developed further. Clearly Katanga's a bit of an adventurer himself (an Earthly Han Solo, perhaps?) and you can see him take a liking to Indy, on the basis of one rascal recognising a fellow rascal when he sees one. A very minor criticism, though. A great, great movie.
Yup! Saw it in the theater as a preteen! It was great! BTW there was no PG-13 back then so a lot of stuff got into PG! We weren't quite so protected back then! You're awesome keep up the good work!
Your right However temple of doom should have got a higher rating of had a certain scene cut out. The issue there though is that Spielberg wanted as many people as possible to see the movie so pg it was
LOVE the way you rewatch and research the movie and give an honest and accurate reaction. That era has a lot of believable and strong female characters. Star Wars Raiders Aliens Terminator Check out the list of movies John Williams has scored,it'll blow your mind. Oh,and by the way....... I am the monarch of the sea...... Later tater.
I was 7 when this came out. My aunt worked in a movie theater and would babysit me there, but she also had to manage the theater, so I wound up watching this a lot. I grew up on horror, so at 7 the gore was a bonus for me. This is probably the best film in the series, but the second one, Temple of Doom, is my favorite. I probably saw that in the theater a dozen times. I don't really remember The Last Crusade, except Sean Connery was good in it. And Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is pretty bad. Haven't seen the new one. Very enjoyable reaction, as usual! 🙂
We were way tougher back then as kids not like todays marshmallows. Definitely a kids movie, saw it in theaters and it was awesome. Sad you take so long between movies, you’re the best at reactions. I guess good things take a while to come out.
This likely would have gotten a pg13, but it wasn't invented yet. The next Indy movie was what caused the pg13 to be created from parental outrage. Temple of doom was my favorite growing up. It had a kid for a sidekick, and that kid did the goonies the next year.
Since you asked, of the original 3 films I'd say they're all good, although the second one has certainly aged the worst with its problematic representations. The third one is my favorite.
The Monkey was a Nazi! Don't feel sorry for him ;). Anyway this and The Last Crusade are my favorites of the series. I haven't seen the newest, but even Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has enjoyable moments.
21:26 *uncomfortable laughter* A new and refreshing reaction to what I found as a childhood-scarring fuel for nightmares at 7 when my parents got it on Beta in '83 and my babysitter watched it while my parents were out for dinner! 40 years later I can still remember being put to bed, but sneaking down the hallway to watch the tv from the shadows... just in time to catch the scene when the ark is opened and the lighting bolts melt all the Nazi's faces off (29:45)... I didn't sleep very well for the next few years. 👀
