Some of you might already know this about me, but I’ll share it for the rest of the room. I could probably count the number of movies I’ve seen that were made before the year 2001 on both hands. No real reason for it – I just wasn’t a big movie kid growing up. I didn’t really start watching movies until I was in high school and we started going to the mall every Friday night. For some reason, there’s a contingent of the SoBros Network team and fan base that really want me to watch some of the classics of yesteryear. So, I figured I’d do that and document the experiences of seeing some of these classics for the first time. Today, we’re watching the Harrison Ford blockbuster classic, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, from 1981.
It’s a somewhat festive edition of Stoney Sees today! Heading into the summer, we thought blockbuster season was back. IP movie after IP movie after IP movie was slated for release, and it was supposed to be big money at the box office. Well, that hasn’t been the case so far, as efforts from the Transformers franchise, The Flash, and Pixar have all disappointed. Maybe the return of one of cinema’s most famous icons, Indiana Jones, will jumpstart this summer at the movies. That’s right – 42 years after we first met Jones, Harrison Ford is reprising his role for one last go at it in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. We recently got our resident film critic Brandon Vick’s review of the movie on an episode of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast, on which we also went back and relived Ford’s filmography.
On it, I was reminded of a take I had one time when I said that I thought Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a better movie than Raiders of the Lost Ark. I think I said that without having seen this movie. Yeah…that’s just a glimpse into my brain sometimes. I might have watched one of the others and got it mixed up with Raiders of the Lost Ark. I have no idea how my mind works sometimes. Nonetheless, to get into the spirit of the summer blockbuster season and to jog my memory one whether or not I actually did see it, I thought this would be a fine spot to fire up the old ‘Stoney Sees’ gimmick. So, let’s get to it. Time for the live blog part of this thing, where I share my notes I took as I watched the film – a veritable direct link to my stream of conscience as I took this bad boy in.
Live Notes: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Look at this dashing young Alfred Molina
- John Williams can make any movie sound infinitely more adventurous.
- Man, what a graphic death…I thought these movies were for kids? We’re splaying men out in caves.
- Oh, so that’s where Crash Bandicoot got the rolling ball thing from.
- Those are the most uncomfortable looking desks I’ve ever seen. Students had it rough back in 1936.
- Nazis, biblical relics, ancient powers, man…we’re checking a lot of the adventure boxes.
- I’m kind of digging the vibes at this tavern in the mountains of Nepal. Seems like a fine and cozy time.
- Young Harrison Ford absolutely has that machismo working for him
- Oh damn she got that piece ON HER BODY
- What a bat shit crazy bar fight. Setting the damn place on fire.
- Did Steven Spielberg just want to globetrot and decide to write a movie set in luxurious and exotic locations?
- They just gonna let their monkey run away? Cold world.
- Wait – the monkey’s a snitch? Never mind.
- Okay, the kids saving Indiana Jones from getting shot was a bit much, right?
- This movie is making me want a date. Why’s everyone always snacking on dates?
- Yeah, John Williams is the MVP of this movie
- Is this movie why people have irrational dreams about the floor being covered with snakes? I’ll have to remember to just set them all on fire the next time I have that dream.
- Yeah, I actually don’t think I’ve ever seen this movie.
- The sun came up? Are you telling me he spent all night down in that snake pit???
- They even have a Nazi-looking car. They definitely picked the Naziest-looking dude to play the head Nazi dude.
- Man, they are taking this fight everywhere – they got two boats duking it out in the ocean.
- Jones found a rocket launcher and scaled that mountain awfully fast but I think I just need to stop trying to apply logic to this movie.
- I think the dude playing the French guy is actually pretty good.
- I don’t know…I’m not one to mess with ancient artifacts to begin with, but I don’t think my gut reaction would be to just stick my hand down in that thing.
- That dude’s head SPLODED.
- They’re just stashing this thing in a warehouse somewhere?!?!
Final Thoughts
Sometimes, I watch stuff like this and I think to myself, “yeah – this was probably a different experience watching it for the first time in 1981.” Like a lot of the popular blockbusters of the era that I’ve gone back to rewatch throughout the years, I found this one to be a little simplistic and linear in terms of the plot. It relied heavily upon the setting, the sense of danger it instilled, and a high dosage of action set to a phenomenal score from John Williams. It’s easy to see why it was so popular, and with the natural charisma of Ford, it’s no wonder Indiana Jones became an American icon. Spielberg gets credit for creating an all-time adventure movie, but it wasn’t much more than that to me. My star rating: 6.78/10.
Stoney Sees Archives
- Forrest Gump (8.79/10)
- Halloween (9.26/10)
- High Fidelity (3.46/10)
- Street Fighter (2/10)
- Wolf (5.37/10)
- White Men Can’t Jump (4.97/10)
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
Subscribe to the SoBros Network Patreon here – $5/month gets you instant access to an exhaustive content library of articles, podcasts, and videos created exclusively for our subscribers!