CONTINUED FROM PART 1...

The visual effects were very advanced when this movie was made in 1981, but they are pretty dated by today's standards. Now that the effects are dated, the film more closely resembles those old adventure serials. However, this fakery works for the movie, not detracts from it. Because the spirits of the ark are so obviously matted in, it's almost like they exist in another spiritual plane from the humans and physical world around them, heightening the eeriness of the scene. This is also true of the aforementioned scene in which the Well of Souls is found. The storm forming behind the characters is also an obvious visual effect, but because it has spiritual connotations, it's made all the more effective to the otherworldly aesthetic of the film. I'm not sure if this is something Spielberg meant to do or if it's an accident, but it's a quality that the other Indiana Jones movies lack.

The film's supreme, long-lasting achievement lies within its main character, Indiana Jones, one of the great and indelible heroes of the movies. He is a tough-as-nails adventurer, like all action heroes should be, but he is also human. When he isn't off on some dangerous journey, he teaches as a bookish archeology professor. Even though he commits some amazing feats, like going underneath a truck and getting back on it, he suffers injuries just like the rest of us do. He is extremely beat-up after he retakes possession of the ark. Also, like all of us, Indy has phobias. His is snakes: "Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?" Harrison Ford, the one and only, gives Indy such a cool and effortless charisma that it's hard not to love him.

The supporting characters are exceptional too. Marion serves as both the tough, tomboyish sidekick who can handle herself as well as the attractive girlfriend who needs to be saved sometimes. Sallah is the lively foreign friend who is an essential asset to Indy's mission. I love it how when he gets excited, he suddenly bursts into song. There's also the creepy and malicious Nazi always dressed in black, Major Toht (Ronald Lacey).

Then there's Belloq, who is not the usual one-dimensional villain. There is an intriguing and meaningful scene in which Belloq says to Indy, "Our methods have not differed as much as you pretend. I am a shadowy reflection of you." True, both Indiana and Belloq are expert archeologists who will do almost anything to get what they want, but Indy uses his skills for good while Belloq uses them for evil. Belloq, unlike his Nazi friends, has some compassion though. He has affection for Marion, perhaps because she is Indy's girlfriend and he always wants what Indy has. Early in the movie, before he takes away the golden idol from poor Indiana, he remarks, "Dr. Jones. Again we see there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away." Put together, all of these elements makes Raiders of the Lost Ark an unceasingly fun, exciting, and entertaining adventure film.