Raiders of the Lost Ark 25th Anniversary (1 Viewer)

[AlanZ]

I was 9 y.o. when I saw it. I actually remember the day quite well. My mom had the idea of taking our own popcorn, which was quickly confiscated by the guy who took our tickets, lol. I was pretty into the movie, and we had a good laugh because there is a scene where Indy is trying to escape from the bad guys (it's right around the time the bald guy takes the airplane blade to the face) and a tower explodes. Right when it exploded, the whole film went down! The theater lights came on and we were just sitting there wondering what in the world happened. They eventually fixed the problem and we were able to see the rest of the film

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I was just finishing my freshman year of high school when it came out. I didn't see it for the first time until July of 2001, all of my big interest in June was for SUPERMAN II, which also came out that year. Later in the summer, I spent every Friday night going to see either SUPERMAN II or RAIDERS(and the rerelease of ESB once or twice) with a couple of friends. Those were the days...

 

[Agee Bassett]

I was four years old (my parents took me). I remember very little from the occasion. Probably because I saw most of the movie through my fingers (it scared the shit out of me).

 

[Paul_Scott]

I was 14 and consumed since early spring with anticipation for Superman II.
I kept seeing little bits and pieces here and there about Raiders, going back to 1980 and a blurb in Heavy Metal (I think). Seeing the word Raiders (as in Tusken) and the association with George Lucas, I kept thinking it must be some sci-fi concept movie. Then, when the novelization hit the stands with the picture of Indy and Marion staring at each other in the bar, I thought it looked like a western.
Can't say I had a particularly great anticipation for it, as I wasn't a fan of westerns, though I expected it to be decent given the pedigree. I ended up getting to see it in late May at a sneak preview on the biggest screen at my favorite theater (and then stayed in my chair and got to see the 10 pm showing of Outland for free). It was probably the 'sneakiest' preview I've ever been to as there was really no big buzz about it going in. Everything about it was a complete surprise.
It certainly was magical, but I was still stuck in Superman gear, which might have kept me from immediately going overboard with it. The only Raiders memorabilia I bought that Summer was an Illustrated Screenplay (that I got autographed by Jayne Kennedy who was promoting her Playboy pictorial at the same mall) and the novelization and a couple magazines.
It was all Superman, which was funny because SII ended up being a huge disappointment to me even though icouldn't being myself to admit it until years later.

That was a wonderful spring/summer for movies- one of my favorites

 

[Sam Favate]

I was 13, almost 14, and Raiders opened on the same day as my grammer school graduation, so of course, I had to go anyway! Lucas, Speilberg and Ford teaming up was at least as important to me, if not more so, than a silly old graduation. So my best friend (same class) and I were taken to a theater 20 or 30 minutes away to see it. We loved it. With our graduation that night, it made for a very memorable day that we still talk about 25 years later.

I should add that a few weeks later, my father took me to see it again, and he loved it so much that over the course of the summer, he insisted we see it several more times (6 if I recall). In the years prior, he had told me I shouldn't bother seeing Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back so many times over and over. It took Raiders of the Lost Ark for him to get why I was doing that. He even didn't mind standing in lines that sometimes lasted 2 hours to see it again.

I think we take for granted now what a refreshing experience at the movies Raiders was in its time.

 

[Matt Stone]

I was a few months away from being born (Nov, '81). I grew up on Temple of Doom, and Last Crusade was the only one of the bunch that I was able to see theatrically. It wasn't until after I saw Last Crusade that I really discovered how awesome Raiders was.

 

[MikeRS]

9 years old. 70mm Saturday matinee with my dad after seeing mysterious (and even scary) TV commercials proclaiming "From the makers of Star Wars and Jaws". The commercials didn't focus on the character INDY (as the sequels were to do), so it was great discovering him on the silver screen. And that's what I remember most from that first viewing - experiencing one of the great cinematic characterizations, unfold before my childhood eyes.

 

[Britton]

I was about 2 and a half months old.

 

[Patrick Nevin]

I was a few weeks over 2 years old so I could not have seen it in the theater. I think I saw it a year or two after it was released on VHS. I can't remember if I fully saw it the first time or it was bits and pieces over the years. I did watch it fully over 2 years ago and remembered it's greatness. I think on Friday afternoon I will watch it to feel like a kid again. I hope I do feel like a kid again because I will be watching some 80's horror movies that night. I hope I don't get scared.

 

[ZacharyTait]

I was 2 years, 2 months, and 10 days old so obviously I didn't see it first run. The first time I saw it, I believe was on full screen VHS after Crusade came out.

Now of course I have the widescreen DVDs, but it doesn't hold a candle to when I saw Raiders a couple of summers ago on the big screen as part of a local theaters midnight screening series. The fact that the print was well-worn didn't matter to me at all. Seeing Indy on the big screen was a surreal and fantastic experience that I'll never forget.

 

[Adam Portrais]

I was just shy of a year out of being born so...sucks for me. But I will get to see Raiders on the big screen for the first time July 21-23 at the Ballantyne Village theater in Charlotte, NC in their retro film fest (followed by Jaws the next weekend). Can't wait to see one of my favorite films of all time the way it was ment to be seen.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I was 19 at the time, and I saw RAIDERS on a date with a cute girl.

This would be a good time to see a single DVD release of the film, by the way. I'd like to add it to my collection but there's no way I'm going to buy the complete set with the other two sequels I have no use for.

 

[Paul_Scott]

Do what I did and sell 'em off.

 

[Brett_M]

I am such an idiot. I saw this in '81 at Woodfield Mall. In my mind, I imediately jumped to 1982. In any event, 81-82 was an awesome time for genre flicks.

Like some other posters here, I have the opportunity to see this on the big screen in Royal Oak, Mi. The Main Art Theater is hosting a Midnight Madness festival all summer:

New 35mm print! Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction • June 16 & 17
Nicole Kidman & Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge! • June 23 & 24
Redrum! Stanley Kubrick's The Shining • June 30 & July 1
Tequila! Pee-wee's Big Adventure • July 7 & 8
Kermit & Miss Piggy in The Muppet Movie • July 14 & 15
Marlon Brando is The Godfather • July 21 & 22
For the first time in color with bonus Ed Wood shorts:
Plan 9 From Outer Space • July 28 & 29
Michael J. Fox goes Back to the Future • Aug 4 & 5
Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark • Aug 11 & 12
Alfred Hitchcock's original Psycho • Aug 18 & 19
New 35mm print! Monty Python and the Holy Grail • Aug 25 & 26
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas • Sep 1

 

[Todd H]

My favorite movie of all time. It's an absolutely perfect film.

 

[Chris Atkins]

Summer, 1981. I had been begging my parents to take me for weeks. One Sunday, after church, they surprised me by heading straight to the old State Theater in Anderson, IN, for a Sunday matinee. It was sweet!

I saw it again at the old mall theaters in Castleton Square Mall in Indianapolis.

 

[TommyT]

Released when I was 10 but I missed it 1st run so I didn't see it until I was 11 when it played the following summer at the local theatre in my home town. (That place is, incredibly, still open despite a mall-run cineplex only 5 mi away!! I guess there's something to be said for a shorter driving distance AND walking distance!) And I sat there w/my jaw hanging open. Blew me AWAY!!

It's still my choice for the best film of the 80s.

The influence since then is incalculable, probably 2nd only to Star Wars. Think about it, how many films before Raiders had half-a-dozen action sequences in a single film? Pre-'81 the rolling boulder would've been the climatic scene of a single film & the battle on the airfield would've been in the sequel.

 

[Paul McElligott]

Just fired up the DVD last night. Just as good as I recall. Better really. Karen Allen's performance just seems right for the period, I think, like she was playing opposite Bogie in a Warners B-Movie.

 

[Alf S]

I was 17..I saw it at The Continental classic old theater in Denver. I remember watching folks stand up and cheer during certain parts..particulary the beginning when he escaped on the airplane...

Good times!

 

[MikeRS]

It should also be noted (considering this is a HomeTheater forum ) that Raiders is one of those signature VHS releases. When it was released on video in 1983, there was great fanfare - not to mention the synergistic inclusion of a Temple Of Doom teaser.

I percieve Raiders as one of those "killer apps" for the mainstreaming of homevideo.