Raiders of the Lost Ark is the axis of cinema history. Everything that came after it has been touched by it in some respect, and everything that came before it touched it in some way. There are specific examples of this: the first shot with the mountain where Indiana Jones walks into frame from behind is pulled directly from Kurosawa’s Yojimbo, the line going across a map to indicate Indy’s travels is a repeat of the same trick in Casablanca, the silhouettes fighting in Marion’s bar is homage to a similar scene in The Adventures of Robin Hood, Indy’s daring crawl underneath a Nazi truck while it’s moving is straight out of Stagecoach, the reveal of the contents of the Ark is almost a shot-for-shot replica of a scene from Kiss Me Deadly, and of course the final shot of the film, where the Ark is placed in a large warehouse, likely never to be seen again, is a direct reference to the ending of Citizen Kane. Even Indiana Jones’ mannerisms and appearance are equal parts Alan Quartermain, Humphrey Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and Charlton Heston in Secret of the Incas.

That love and devotion to movies is part of what makes Indiana Jones so exciting to watch. They’re just so much fun and simple. Obviously, the Nazis are the bad guys, and it’s up to the good American guy to keep the holy relic out of their villainous hands. For proof that fun is the most valuable commodity of this movie, it must be mentioned that Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Philip Kaufman came up with exciting scenes that would play out in the movie, and then hired Lawrence Kasdan to write a story around these scenes. Priorities, you know?

Everyone knows how this first scene goes. Indiana Jones recovers a golden idol in a temple in Peru. He survives multiple booby traps and his mercenary crew to escape, only for his rival, Belloq, to take the idol and send the natives after him. Back in the States, Jones learns that the military is aware that the Nazis are in Egypt, excavating for the Ark of the Covenant, planning to use it to make the German army invincible. It’s up to Jones to find the Ark and recover it first. Jones believes his mentor, Abner Ravenwood, holds the key to finding the Ark, so he travels to Nepal and finds Abner’s daughter, Marion, who was once romantically linked to Jones, and learns Abner is dead, but she has the medallion that can be used to find the Ark. Toht, a Gestapo leader, and his henchmen, attack Marion’s bar and set it on fire, but she and Jones kill them all (except for Toht) and escape with the medallion. They travel to Cairo and reunite with Jones’ friend, Sallah, but Nazis attack Jones and kidnap Marion, seemingly killing her. Jones is now more determined than ever to beat the Nazis, so he and Sallah infiltrate their digging site and use the medallion to discover the Nazis are digging in the wrong spot. They successfully uncover the Ark, but the Nazis intercept them and leave Jones and Marion to die at the site. They escape and take over the truck carrying the Ark as it leaves the digging site.

Jones gets the Ark on a boat headed for London, but it’s intercepted by a German U-Boat. The Germans take back the Ark and Marion, Jones stows away on the U-Boat, and they all head to an island where Belloq intends to test the Ark before delivering it to Hitler. Jones stops them and prepares to blow up the Ark before they can use it, but Belloq calls his bluff and argues Jones wants to see what it does as much as everyone else. Jones and Marion are restrained while Belloq performs a ceremony to open the Ark. The Ark unleashes the “power of God” and kills everyone except Jones and Marion because they refused to look upon it. Jones gets the Ark back to Washington, but they just put it away in a warehouse, never to see the light of day again.

There’s plenty to love about Raiders of the Lost Ark. That whole opening sequence is so iconic that it’s been referenced and parodied in several films and shows since then. The theme music is so well-known that you’ve probably been humming it while reading this (if you haven’t, go back and reread this review correctly). I don’t care what the Star Wars nerds say, this is Harrison Ford’s best role ever (and he agrees, you dumb Han Solo fanboys!). It’s also the greatest contribution to movies that George Lucas has had a hand in (if you expected a Star Wars movie in my Top 100, you are sorely mistaken). For the record, I have nothing against Star Wars, I’m just trying to goad my brother who for some reason expected me to have a Star Wars movie on here somewhere. Even though I enjoy those films, it’s pretty obvious where I stand: Indiana Jones is the king of throwbacks.

Bonus Review: The Mummy

The Mummy is an attempted remake of the 1932 horror film, but really it’s the love child of that original horror film and Raiders of the Lost Ark. There are some horror elements – the effects on the mummy, the man-eating scarabs, etc. – but it’s really an action-adventure with a slight romance. That’s thanks to a man named Stephen Sommers, who had long wanted to remake The Mummy, but wanted to incorporate the other kinds of movies he loved when he was younger, which included Indiana Jones. He almost never got his chance. Universal’s attempt to remake The Mummy mostly revolved around a faithful horror adaptation from horror icons like George A. Romero and Clive Barker until they had a string of failures and needed a hit. Then, and only then, did they entertain Sommers’ action thriller. Thank goodness they did. Like Indiana Jones, The Mummy spawned numerous sequels and elevated the rising star status of its lead actor. Maybe now that Brendan Fraser is having something of a comeback, they can do another one.

In 1290 BC in Egypt, the future bride of the Pharaoh, Anck-su-namun, is caught having an affair with the high priest, Imhotep. Anck-su-namun kills herself and Imhotep runs off with her body, intending to resurrect her with a ritual. However, when he goes to perform the ritual, the pharaoh’s guards, the Medjai, stop him, kill his men, and bury him alive beneath the statue of Anubis. Jump to 1926 AD, where Evelyn, a librarian and Egyptologist living in Cairo, receives a box and map leading to Hamunaptra, the site where Imhotep attempted his resurrection ceremony, from her brother, Jonathan. Jonathan stole the box from a man named Rick, who found it while a member of the French Foreign Legion some time ago. Evelyn and Jonathan find Rick in a prison and get him to agree to take them to Hamunaptra if they break him out. Rick gets her to Hamunaptra, but Rick’s cowardly acquaintance, Beni, is also leading a group there. Both parties are warned to leave by the current leader of the Medjai, but they continue on anyway. The parties discover the Book of the Dead, and the remains of both Imhotep and Anck-su-namun. As you can guess, they accidentally revive Imhotep.

They leave Hamunaptra, but Imhotep follows them and recovers his strength with the help of Beni. Rick’s group and the Medjai deduce that Imhotep intends to resurrect Anck-su-namun by sacrificing Evelyn, but if they can find the Book of Amun-Ra, they can kill Imhotep. They return to Hamunaptra as Imhotep is starting to conduct his ritual. Rick saves Evelyn, gets her to read from the Book of Amun-Ra, and kills the now-mortal Imhotep. Beni, who has been trying to gather treasure during the fight, sets off a booby trap that closes up the city and unleashes flesh-eating scarabs. Rick, Evelyn, Jonathan and the Medjai escape just in time.