With the combined talents of George Lucas as producer and Steven Spielberg directing, I don’t think anyone ever doubted that Raiders of the Lost Ark would be another big smash. Between Jaws and Star Wars, the two men had each only recently held the title for the highest-grossing movie of all time, back-to-back, Spielberg handing the baton to his friend Lucas. Their collaboration was practically a guaranteed blockbuster from the moment the contracts were signed. Yet unlike some other pre-packaged hits that quickly fade from popular consciousness after the publicity campaign and hype wear off, Raiders would fully deserve every bit of its success, and then some.

Even with that being the case, I doubt anyone could have suspected that Harrison Ford, at age 80, would star in a new Indiana Jones installment (the series’ fifth) 42 years after the original. Other comparable long-running film franchises (especially action-oriented film franchises) require cast turnover of their leads well before that point. Yet Indiana Jones is such an indelible creation that a fan could hardly imagine anyone else playing the character.

Title:	Raiders of the Lost Ark
Year of Release:	1981
Director:	Steven Spielberg
Watched On:	4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Also Available On:	Blu-ray Disney+ Paramount+ Various VOD rental and purchase platforms

Inspired by explorer/adventurer heroes from pulp literature and movie serials of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, George Lucas conceived the character of Indiana Jones (initially to be called Indiana Smith) in the mold of Doc Savage or Allan Quatermain. A respectable college professor of antiquities studies in his day job, as soon as an opportunity arises, Jones will don his signature fedora and bullwhip to trek around the globe on the hunt for precious ancient treasures and artifacts, which he will then sell to a museum to fund his next adventure. These exploits often pit him in conflict with rival treasure hunters and other disreputable parties (including Nazis, the first story being set in 1936) competing to get to the same prizes first.

One of the most famous action-adventure movies of all time, the plot of Raiders of the Lost Ark hardly needs further recapping more than four decades since its debut. Even after several sequels of variable quality and numerous imitators, the original film remains peerless entertainment. Under Spielberg’s direction, its action and stunt set-pieces are marvelously staged and constructed, and the movie delivers a breathless string of them, one after another. Even more importantly, Ford’s performance is so loaded with charm and charisma that he made the character an instant cinematic icon. Equally appealing in this first outing is Karen Allen as Jones’ spitfire former love interest, Marion Ravenwood. The next sequel in particular suffers for her absence.

Sadly, George Lucas being George Lucas, the producer couldn’t resist making a bunch of modifications to Raiders of the Lost Ark over the years, mostly to clean up the visual effects work. Apparently, no amount of success or acclaim will ever convince Lucas that a movie he’s made is finished and should be left alone. Compared with what he did to Star Wars, most of the changes to Raiders are subtle and transparent, such as digitally painting out matte lines and wire rigging, as well as a snake’s reflection in a pane of glass – all of which were never meant to be seen in the first place. The biggest difference is that a dodgy model effect of a truck driving off a cliff has been replaced with CGI. In the case of Raiders, I’m mostly ambivalent to these changes and don’t feel that any of them hurt the movie the way the alterations to Star Wars do. All the same, this type of revisionism makes me uncomfortable.

Another big update Lucas tried to impose was rebranding and retitling the first movie as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark on all home video packaging since the year 2000. Thankfully, the on-screen title at the beginning of the movie remains unaffected and still reads just Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

When Paramount first brought Raiders of the Lost Ark to Blu-ray back in 2012, that disc was criticized for an overly-brightened and warm color transfer that gave much of the movie an orange cast. As far as revisionist color timing goes, I didn’t find it too objectionable (prior home video transfers were probably too cold), but it certainly seemed to be a big change for the film.

The movie was released on 4K Ultra HD in 2021, and the new remaster dials that issue back quite a bit. I can’t say with certainty that it’s 100% accurate to the 1981 theatrical prints, but colors are very pleasing for the most part and HDR is well applied. The opening sequence is very dark for a scene that takes place during daytime, but I seem to remember it looking that way on most video editions prior to the Blu-ray (which definitely looks boosted and washed-out there). Shadow detail is good, and contrast in the rest of the film is rich and vivid. Highlights such as fire or the desert sun pop nicely.

With that said, I have mixed feelings about the look of the disc overall, and it’s difficult to articulate them. At any given moment in the film, the 2.35:1 image can be extraordinarily sharp and detailed. However, it also strikes me as being very digitally manipulated, like all of the original grain was scrubbed out of it and a new artificial layer added back on top. The picture looks great when the action in a shot is relatively static, but often has a subtle smeariness during motion.

The photography for Raiders had focal issues during production due to the lenses used, and a lot of important shots are at least partially out of focus in certain sections of the frame. That’s always been the case, but is more evident in 4K. It appears that the transfer technicians tried to “fix” that with some digital sharpening in those shots, which only makes it look worse, in my opinion.

I looked up some reviews from the time of the disc’s release in 2021 and don’t see much talk about this issue. Perhaps I’m overly sensitive to it? Perhaps it’s more noticeable in projection than on a flat panel TV? I don’t know, but I watched the 4K UHD expecting to be impressed by it, and came out feeling that it looks very weird to my eye.

Another area where I seem to be out of step with other reviewers is the widely-praised Dolby Atmos soundtrack. I’ll be honest, I kind of hated it and grew increasingly infuriated with it as I watched the movie. I don’t have a problem with the way sounds have been redirected all around the room – which is a little gimmicky but generally tasteful. Rather, the audio for this movie has been so tweaked and manipulated and noise-reduced over the years, every remix futzing with it a little more than the last, that what’s left in the current version sounds far too sterile and deadened. I had to boost my volume way above my normal listening levels to get any life out of it. Doing so only made it fatiguing to my ears.

The dynamic range is also decidedly weaker than the prior Blu-ray’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The movie’s always been famous for adding a big bass hit every time Indy throws a punch. Those are barely audible in Atmos, whereas they land much harder in the older 5.1 mix.

Frustratingly, the Ultra HD does not retain that 5.1 option, much less anything resembling the movie’s original Dolby Stereo theatrical mix, at least not in English. Despite the disc authors cramming dubs for just about any language you can think of onto the disc, the only English audio is the Atmos track.

During their 4K UItra HD releases in 2021, all of the Indiana Jones movies available at the time were sold either separately or bundled together into a 4-Movie Collection box set. The version I bought packaged each movie in its own SteelBook case. The set only includes one UHD disc for each film. No Blu-ray copies were provided.

The only bonus features on the Raiders UHD disc are three trailers. Any other supplements previously found on Blu-ray or DVD didn’t make the transition.

Related

• Raiders of the Lost Ark
  • Film at 11 Podcast + Blu-ray Review
• Indiana Jones franchise (other)
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) 4K Ultra HD
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Film at 11 Podcast Review
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom NES Video Game (1988)
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) 4K Ultra HD
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Film at 11 Podcast Review
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade NES Video Game (1991)
  • Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
  • Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
• Steven Spielberg (director)
  • E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
  • Jaws (1975)
  • Jurassic Park (1993)
• Harrison Ford
  • 1923 (2022) Series Premiere
  • Blade Runner (1982) Workprint Cut
• Karen Allen
  • Cruising (1980)
  • The Sandlot (1993)

Note: All screenshots on this page were taken from the standard Blu-ray edition of the film and are used for illustration purposes only.