Grizzled, determined archaeologist Indiana Jones crouches in front of a bizarre, fascinating golden idol. The John Williams score needles in and out. Jones runs a hand across his stubble, trying to guess the weight of the artifact. He reaches into his sack and pulls out a handful of sand. Slowly, he lets the grains fall, first a bit, then the entire fistful. The tension is thick. Finally, Jones deftly replaces the idol with the bag of sand. Everyone heaves a collective sigh. Then the whole cave structure starts falling apart. After that, well, you know the rest. Something to do with a huge boulder, an indigenous South American tribe and an asshole French rival who would rather steal than earn.

Images such as this are the reason “Raiders of the Lost Ark” has such an endearing legacy and is quite possibly the top action film ever made. It might even be one of the best films ever made, period. The 1981 movie came at a time when the team of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were in their creative prime. Everything in “Raiders” crackles. There are no wasted scenes, no filler, so the audience is treated to a pure sampling of what films are supposed to be — an escape, a thinkpiece, a release, plain-old entertainment. On the eve of the final (?) installment of the Indiana Jones series (a June 21 release in Tokyo), it’s certainly worth revisiting the start of the evolution of a franchise, the film that ultimately panned out as the greatest of the four. Here’s why …

CASTING
Harrison Ford was white-hot when he got the role. We all know it was supposed to be Tom Selleck. Thank God for Magnum P.I. contracts. Though I have heard through fellow film writers Ford is a righteous prick these days, no one was better suited to handle the title character. He’s a good-looking, charismatic everyman. The kind of guy you actually think could exist in real life as this character. Ford injected Indiana Jones with a stellar blend of grit, wit, and morality. The perfect combination for a reluctant hero. Karen Allen was also phenomenal as Marion Ravenwood, though her performance never received its proper due. She’s a leading lady, but she’s no wimp. Not many damsels can drink a huge Nepalese man under the table, open fire on Nazis with a high-caliber aircraft gun or knock some crooked-toothed bandit out cold with a frying pan. She and Ford had great chemistry. But I always contend it’s the supporting players who have the ability to elevate a film from good to great. John Rhys-Davies, Paul Freeman, Denholm Elliott and Ronald Lacey (see my avatar for more on my love for Major Arnold Toht) lend strong aid as minor, yet wholly memorable characters.

MUSIC
A no-brainer. John Williams, Spielberg and Lucas together? That’s movie magic, folks. Pick a scene and you can almost always recall the music that went along with it. The savvy theme song, the romantic strings played when Indy and Marian are together, the mysterious music played whenever the ark is in play or mentioned, and, the pinnacle — the get-fired-up, pounding soundtrack that bursts in when Indy, on horseback, comes blasting down the hill in an effort to take back the ark from a convoy of Nazis.

PLOT
Lucas often talks of the “MacGuffin,” which is essentially the foundation for the entire plot of his film. The main character is always chasing something. In this case, it’s a biblical item, yet it’s somehow believable. Adolf Hitler really could have desired the ark for its supposed powers, pitting Nazi Germany against a fedora-wearing, whip-wielding professor who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. The story just seems to come together without many holes; the creators ask for a little blind faith, but beyond that the writing is crisp and the dialogue is not as contrived as many other action flicks.

If that’s not enough, here are my five favorite scenes:

1. SOUTH AMERICA: It seems somewhat lame to choose this as the best scene in the movie. After all, there’s so much more to come. But from the opening, when the Paramount Picture mountain fades into a real mountain, it’s clear Spielberg spent some time on making the intro special. You don’t see Indy’s face until the bandit pulls a gun on him and he steps into the light. Bloody brilliant. Watch “E.T.” again if you don’t think Spielberg himself was in love with keeping cameras away from faces to increase curiosity. And, I already talked about the part with the idol. I could watch it over and over.

2. TRUCK? WHAT TRUCK?: I discussed the music from this scene, but not the actual action. It starts with Indy on a horse and ends with him completely kicking the shit out out the Nazis. He takes over a truck, gets shot in the arm, somehow survives falling under a moving vehicle, exacts vengeance on the Nazi who threw him under the truck, then bashes the luxury sedan carrying all the Nazi heavies and speeds off with the ark.

3. BALD NAZI: This is the reason Indiana Jones is so money. When a hulking, bald Nazi steps in to fight him, Jones isn’t brave and hardass. In fact, he’s scared and resorts to fighting dirty. It’s only when he lands a flurry of haymakers and blows the guy’s face out that you can see his will. And even then, he gets knocked to the dirt and only gets away after an unfortunate incident involving a propellor.

4. WELL OF SOULS: The snakes add a nice touch, but it’s the banter between Indy and Marian and their clever escape that make the scene memorable. Running on empty and running out of flames, Jones kicks an ancient statue through another wall, comforts Marion after she sees a boa squirming through a skull’s mouth and pushes a huge brick until they see daylight and escape.

5. TOHT HANGER: Marion gets Belloq drunk and thinks she has a way to escape. As she scoots toward the exit of the tent, she runs straight into Toht, who uses a vice grip on her arm to force her into dropping the knife. He then makes an amusing crack about Americans before pulling out what appears to be a choking device. Instead, he smoothly bends it into a coat hanger and has a bootlicking subordinate hang his leather jacket for him. (Runner-up: The scene where Toht intimidates Marion and labels Indiana Jones “nefarious,” just before his “Let me show you what I am used to dealing with …” line.)

As an aside, I am not optimistic about “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” but I am planning to see it at the theater anyway. The franchise took far too much time bickering over scripts and money to create something great. Instead, they have to settle for a geriatric Jones and beg that lamewad Shia LaBeouf will coax high school girls into the theaters. Pretty weak effort, I’d predict.

I would love to hear comments, memories, criticisms, etc. from the community. Do you think Short Round is the bee’s knees? Did Sean Connery’s incessant uttering of “Junior. Junior. Junior” drive you up the wall? Am I a sadistic bastard for loving Toht?

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