When the editors of Cougar News asked me to write movie reviews, I thought, “Truly, I have arrived!” OK, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I was excited because I am such a huge movie fan. I tried to think about what sort of reviews I would be interested in writing or scale to use, etc . How about we go with a 10 Paw scale? I’m going to go with whatever movies I just happen to be watching, at least for now. But if you have suggestions, please let me know on Facebook and if you aren’t my friend on Facebook yet, friend me at http://www.facebook.com/collincougar ).
So, with formalities out of the way, let’s dive in, shall we?
Raiders of the Lost Ark : The IMAX Experience [Rated PG]
All right, first, why do you have to call it that? Honestly. “The IMAX Experience”? I don’t know what marketing executive came up with that, but fire them. It’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, folks. We all know what it is. We know you’ve re-released it in IMAX. That’s why we’re going! What other “experience” would we expect to have? Like I’m going to get there and all of a sudden, it’s live-action theater?
But enough of that. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen Raiders. It’s a classic. We all love it and seeing it all shined and polished up on an IMAX screen is awesome. You don’t need me to tell you what the movie is about or how good it is. And if you do, stop reading this immediately and go buy the new box set with all of the movies.
What I really got out of watching this in the theater was a question and an observation. First, the question. What in the world happened to George Lucas? It’s like, the more success and money he got, the more he stopped caring and his movies just got worse and worse. Come back to us, Lucas! Kingdom of the Crystal Skull < Raiders of the Lost Ark.
As for the observation, this movie is a wonderful example of what getting the right actor in the right part can do. Apparently, Tom Sellick, Bill Murray, Steve Martin, Nick Nolte, Jack Nicholson and even Chevy Chase were considered for the part. Harrison Ford was cast with three weeks left before filming. How different would these movies have been with any one of those guys. To me, one of the best parts of the entire set of films is during the chase / fight scene with the swordsmen in Raiders. In the script, Indianna is supposed to whip the swords away from the guys but Ford and the some of the crew had food poisoning and they couldn’t pull the stunt off. It was Harrison Ford who came up with the idea of just shooting the guy. It’s pure Harrison Ford at his swaggering, self-effacing best.
Why you should see it: There’s a giant room full of poisonous snakes on a 70+ foot tall screen.
8 Paws out of 10