“Indiana Jones” is back on the big screen. No, Harrison Ford is not starring in a fifth “Indy” movie called “Indiana Jones and We’re Not Really Sure if This IS His Last Crusade”. Instead, Paramount and director Steven Spielberg have decided to re-release the original “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for one week only, exclusively in IMAX. It’s timely because all four “Indy” films are coming-out in a Blu-ray box set on September 18.
While this isn’t the most gorgeous IMAX movie you’ll ever watch, overall the digital remastering and IMAX conversion of “Raiders” does look good. Yes, the wide landscape shots are a bit blurry (those are tougher to do), and the film is still grainy (it was made over 30 years ago!) However, the close-ups are sharp, and you’re able to pick-up on a few unintentionally funny moments (including one late in the film involving a fly) by seeing “Indy” on such a large screen.
One thing that surprised me from seeing “Raiders” again (and it may you as well) is the iconic boulder scene. This is the classic clip we always get when any entertainment show is referring to “Indiana Jones”. For some reason I thought the scene lasted a lot longer than it actually does, which turns out to be only a few seconds. If that scene was shot today it would go on for a minute and a half.
“Raiders” was rated PG in ’81 (the proof comes after the credits with the old-fashioned ratings screen), but it’s a modern-day PG-13. However, if anyone 10 and up hasn’t seen this classic yet, this is the perfect opportunity to take them to see Indy in his prime…and on the big screen!