“Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” (June, 1981)

It was the summer between the 2nd and 3rd grade when this movie was released. I had caught the trailers on TV and recall the excitement and animated descriptions by the older kids who had been lucky enough to see it in theaters. However, my parents weren’t ballers and it was rated PG so my lil ass wasn’t gonna see it with them no way. Sigh. So without actually seeing the movie I had to settle for playing Indiana Jones from mostly imagination. With a cap gun and an old fishing hat playing as the brown fedora’s stunt double, I was almost set. Of course everyone had to make themselves a fake whip back then too. We used sticks and miscellaneous string, speaker wire, or even yarn (had to tie a small pebble at the end to give it some weight). Heck, if you were really lucky, you had access to an authentic leather one. By show of hands, how many of you including me popped they self in the face at least once? Huh? Just me, eh? Well damn. Guess I’m the only uncoordinated “ghetto geek” in the room.
Anyway… I wouldn’t see Indy in action myself until much later on like on Beta or VHS, I don’t recall exactly. But wow, IT was the shit! There was Han freaking Solo knockin suckas out left and right and crackin that whip like a gangsta! I was mesmerized.

Of course the Temple of Doom Diddy would come out 3 years later and be even better! Shit, sequels just don’t do that type of shit no more. Part two’s, sequels, and now - prequels (oh my!) nowadays seem to be pretty wack. Exceptions of course for the LOTR series, Spider Man 2, X-MEN 2, and maybe 2 or 3 others (the Bourne series comes to mind). Anyway, I digress. I thought the movie was dope back then. Simple as that. Just dope.
So what do I think now? Watching it as an adult ghetto geek on the wrong side of 35? In a word, it’s classic. Dude is still bustin heads like I remembered. And doin it with his bare hands at that! With green screen CG, wire-fu, and an over dependence on firearms and blades that’s rampant in today’s silver screen fare, watchin this cat just chunk ‘em like that was refreshing. Like snackin on something you ain’t had in a minute (shout out to Honeybuns, Slapstix, and watermelon flavored Now & Laters). I admit, yeah, he may have pulled his pistol and capped a few cats here and there, but only when throwin’ hands wasn’t an option. Was it all good? Nah. A few technical flaws, some forced logic leaps of faith (the German sub scene comes to mind), and slight pacing issues were noticeable to my adult eyes. But all in all, not enough to mar this piece. Before I forget special recognition to the costume crew and Lucas for making/allowing Indy to look so grimy and dirty. It totally sells the character. Folks, I definitely endorse re-watching it again. I introduced my 10 year old to it last night and he thought it was pretty cool. Though he did ask me why he (Jones) didn’t just shoot everyone instead of taking the arse kickings he was getting in a few of the fights.
“Son,” I say,”they just don’t make ‘em like they used to no more.”

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