Breathlessly paced and ticklishly humorous, this is the blockbuster that turned Harrison Ford into a superstar
Breathlessly paced and ticklishly humorous, this is the blockbuster that turned Harrison Ford into a superstar.
Director Steven Spielberg drives along his 1940s-style adventure at breakneck speed and with tremendous panache.
Ford plays intrepid archaeologist Indiana Jones, of course, and Karen Allen matches him as the feisty heroine who follows him through fire, water and a pit of writhing snakes on their way to keeping the Ark of the Covenant out of the Nazis' clutches.
It’s a classic movie that never puts a foot wrong - though Ford landed the role only after Tom Selleck had to turn it down because of his Magnum TV show work.
Twenty-seven years later, Ford and Allen were reunited for the fourth adventure in the franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
The first two sequels are screening on BBC1 over the next two days. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is on Thursday 21 December at 1.45pm and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is on Friday 22 December at 1.45pm.
