Cheers to Raiders on so many levels. So clean in story, in shot choice, in character, tone, and dramatic tension.
Spielberg (director), Lawrence Kasdan (script), George Lucas (story), and Philip Kaufman (story) all crush here.
I've written before about the Act 1-2 transition specifically, but today I was thinking about the entire movie. The breakdown feels pretty in line with the overall story focus -- Indy and Marion as a team in search of the Ark for the safety of the world.
In the most simple sense, to me it looks like this... Act 1 wraps with an awesome set piece and great action sequence. Indy and Marion unite. Coming into our dig site, seeing Marion is still alive, and finding the Ark room line us up for our story's midpoint. And the truck chase sequence wraps Act 2, gives us a glance of the possible ending, and sets us into our final focus in Act 3, market by a climactic opening of the Ark.
So many classic images and moments from film history wrapped beautifully into such a fun adventure.
Be well. http://www.LionSuit.com (words and image are original)
