When it comes to adventure movies from the dawn of the blockbuster, Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark is as perfect as a movie could get. The brainchild of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, the movie began as a homage to old adventure serials from the '30s and '40s before it became a legend in its own right. However one may feel about its sequels, there is no denying the first installment is an irreplaceable piece of cinema.

In the making-of documentary on the home release, Lucas said that his archaeologist adventurer -- originally named "Indiana Smith" -- predates Star Wars. It was only when on a vacation to Hawaii with Spielberg as Star Wars (later renamed to Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope) opened that he and the director of Jaws agreed to team up for the film. Beyond his expert direction, Spielberg's major contribution to the character was changing his surname from "Smith" to "Jones." The character has since become much bigger than his movies in pop culture -- and not necessarily for the better.

Indy's merits as an archaeologist are called into question and rightly so, since the map room at Tanis is a greater archaeological find than the Ark itself. His effectiveness in the film was also debated for decades, spurned on by The Big Bang Theory in a bit of narrative analysis that's more incorrect and reductive than hilarious. However, looking at Raiders of the Lost Ark (the "Indiana Jones" part of the title came later) as a self-contained film, it stands as one of the best in either Lucas's or Spielberg's already impressive oeuvre. While one particular element didn't age so well, the movie is a joy to watch, whether it's for the first time or the hundredth.

Yes, Indiana Jones Affects the Plots of Raiders of the Lost Ark

Indiana Jones' Incompetence and Mistakes Are the Movie’s Point and Part of His Appeal

To suggest that Indiana Jones isn't an effective hero because he failed a lot is to completely misunderstand the plot of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Perhaps his most heroic act is saving the love of his life, Marion Ravenwood from Major Arnold Toht and his goons. Were Indiana Jones not involved in the story, Toht would've tortured and, most likely, killed Marion, thus leading the Nazis to the Ark of the Covenant even sooner. Much like Princess Leia in Star Wars, Marion is no damsel in distress. She's capable and feisty, and she even saves Indy from being shot in her bar in Nepal.

Truthfully, Indy's relationship with Marion is creepy, given the history stated in the film. Doing the math, Marion would've been a high-school-aged teenager when Jones was her father's student. By today's standards, their wide age gap and romantic past is cause for concern. Of course, in the early 20th Century, it wasn't as uncommon for a 16-year-old girl to be picking out wedding dresses rather than filling out college applications.

Still, Raiders of the Lost Ark is as much Marion's story as it is Indy's. The reason people think Dr. Jones didn't do much to prevent the Nazis from getting the Ark of the Covenant is because Marion is the "treasure" he was really interested in protecting. Even Indy didn't realize this until the movie's end.

From the movie's iconic opening scene, rolling boulder and all, Indiana Jones is a screw-up. He's book smart, driven and physically capable, but he's also something of a loser. His boyish bravado and machismo could even be read as overcompensation. Indy's heroic feats and awesome fights owed more to dumb luck and sly improvisation than flawlessness and impeccable competence. He was arguably never meant to succeed in finding the Ark before the Nazis. This inevitable failure, in turn, saved his life and made him better.

For one thing, what lets him and Marion survive the Ark's opening is that he had the presence of mind to not look into it. Even if he doesn't believe in the myths and legends, he has enough humility to not stare face-first into the raw power of the gods. Indy's role in Raiders of the Lost Ark was not to be an unstoppable and infallible hero, but to be a flawed yet lovable power fantasy who fought for good.

Indy's bumbling personality and heroism stood in sharp contrast to the Nazis' faux discipline, formalities and inhuman definition of perfection. He defied the Nazis' arrogance by acknowledging that some parts of history were not meant for mortal understanding and meant to be "owned." Most importantly, he showed how there were things more important than the pursuit of absolute power.

Raiders of the Lost Ark's "Plot Holes" Aren't Mistakes

Indiana Jones Is a Classic and Mythical Hero Who Demands the Suspension of Disbelief

After four decades of living with this movie, fans of Raiders of the Lost Ark love to point out its "plot holes." None of them have any real merit in a film that ends with spectral energy melting Nazis in the middle of the desert. The biggest complaint was that Indiana Jones was a bad archaeologist, which is, in fairness, true. A sincere archaeologist would've spent the rest of their career studying the meticulous recreation of ancient Tanis in the map room, after all. Indiana Jones is a product of the era in which his films are set, namely when colonialism was still prevalent. He calls himself an archaeologist, but he's essentially a grave-robber selling treasures for money to Western museums.

Similarly, there is the submarine "controversy" and Indiana Jones's survival on the U-Boat. There is a deleted scene that shows Indy holding onto the periscope just above the waterline for dear life. While this was scrapped for budgetary reasons, there are real-life reasons why the U-Boat wouldn't have fully submerged, especially during peacetime (the movie was set in 1936, three years before World War II began).

Still, the moment where Indy emerges from the water onto the surface of the submarine to the cheers of Captain Katanga and the Bantu Wind crew is one of the films' best. Indy is a headstrong hero racing to save the woman he loves. Who cares how he got from there to the pile of crates and tarps he hides behind the next time fans see him?

Part of what makes Raiders of the Lost Ark such a perfect adventure film is how moments of such unreality don't matter. A grounded story about real-life archeology in the '30s needs such explanations and a fealty to realism, but not in what Spielberg and Lucas called their "Raiders Pictures." Indy is as much a classic mythical hero as Luke Skywalker or Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Despite being a pastiche of past films and serials from the early days of movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark is timeless and changed cinema forever. Unlike the brutal action heroes who followed or the square-jawed leading men of the past, Indiana Jones is an imperfect hero who survives on wits and luck. His achievements demanded a suspension of disbelief, and a surrender to imagination.

Indiana Jones Works Best When His World Is as Imaginary as Star Wars'

Raiders of the Lost Ark Elevated and Surpassed the Problematic Films It Was Inspired By

One of the great things about cinema is how meaning can be found in even the smallest details. Case in point, Raiders of the Lost Ark's iconic "sword fight." When Indiana Jones is met with a skilled swordsman all dressed in black. After a display of his skill, Indy merely draws his gun and shoots the man dead.

This scene gets a laugh because it subverts the audience's expectation for a prolonged fight. What made it even funnier was how it was actually an on-set improvisation because of budget and timing. Yet, the scene can also be interpreted as a troubling metaphor for the real-world way the West used technology, especially guns, to colonize and plunder other nations and continents.

That being said, Indiana Jones doesn't occupy the world audiences do. He lives in a world where the Ark exists, along with Shankara stones, the Holy Grail, crystal alien skulls and a time-traveling dial from ancient Greece. In creating this homage to the problematic serials and films of old Hollywood that othered cultures that were deemed "exotic," Lucas and Spielberg's adventurer means that audiences don't need his outdated predecessors anymore.

While this carries through the rest of the saga, Indy's journey from skeptic to believer is a (possibly unintentional way) of subverting the audience's expectations just like Spielberg and Ford did with the swordsman. This pulp adventurer wasn't an extension of his colonial era's white supremacy; he was a righteous but flawed hero who was willing to learn and better himself.

In the movie's opening, Indy loses his prize because he "chose the wrong friends." Belloq was not a good person, and he only wanted these relics for wealth and power, but he at least had enough respect for the indigenous culture to learn their language and use them as his guides. Throughout the film, Indy isn't meant to be some colonizer asserting his will on people, but a curious man who is, at least through Sallah, accepted by the people who are there. After all, when Indy shoots the swordsman, the gathered townspeople cheer.

Indy's character arc through Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels shows that even if he doesn't "win," he survives and enjoys a long life afterward because he comes to respect the power that the belief behind these objects gives them. Conversely, those he fought almost always died as a result of their greed, hubris and unearned superiority complexes.

Raiders of the Ark Is a Fun & Thrilling Adventure That Hits All the Right Notes

Indiana Jones Would Not Have Endured This Long Without the Maestro, John Williams

Just as he did with Star Wars, legendary composer John Williams made Raiders of the Lost Ark work. With the wrong score, the movie's scenes would be as hokey or even offensive as the films that inspired it. Williams' music, specifically the march that became Indy's theme, elevates the film beyond the sum of its parts. Spielberg's direction is masterful, the special effects sequences are legendary, and the performances are pitch-perfect. Yet, only when put to Williams's score do these elements truly take off.

Whether in a crowded theater in 1981 or a high-end TV in 2024, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a film that reaches right into audiences' hearts. The fights and chases brim with fun tension. The cheer-worthy moments are bolstered by the heroic "Raiders March." Even though the audience knows that Marion doesn't die, the second Williams cues her theme, viewers are as mournful as Indy. All these elements create the kind of timeless adventure that kids grow up loving and, when they become parents, show their kids.

While it's not the only great entry in the Indiana Jones franchise, Raiders of the Lost Ark is the only truly perfect one. From its straightforward plot to meticulously shot action, the movie is glorious. If Lucas and Spielberg had left Indiana Jones behind after this film, the industry and fans alike would never have stopped begging them for more of them.

Yet, even for the fan who is disappointed by every successive Indy film, Raiders of the Lost Ark delivers a complete, satisfying adventure. No one knows what the future of Hollywood or blockbuster cinema is in the age of streaming and generative AI. But so long as a copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark is available, people will love it and cinema will endure.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is available to own on DVD, Blu-ray, digital and streams on both Disney+ and Paramount+.