30 years of Raiders of the Lost Ark tomorrow

[Bugsy]

30 years since this great film was released. I kind of got me into vintage clothing and fedoras- don't know how many others besides.

I'll be sticking in the DVD player to celebrate

There must be something wrong with the calendars. That simply can't be!!

[cm289]

This is one of the few movies I saw at the theater with my parents- they'd normally just drop me off. They actually had to talk me into seeing it because I was under the impression it was a western (which I disliked at the time) due to the commercials showing Ford riding a horse in the desert while wearing a weird hat. In fact, the only reason I agreed to go was because "Han Solo" was in it, and he was my favorite character from Star Wars. Afterwards, I couldn't believe how stupid I'd been! This movie always tops my list of greatest movies, and is one of the reasons I grew to love 30s and 40s movies and fashion.

[Marc Chevalier]

I saw Raiders on opening day, at the Astor Plaza in NYC.

We had kindred experiences. I saw "Raiders" on opening day at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, on Hollywood Boulevard. The only reason I was there was that, the day before, some friends from out of town visited my family. We dutifully took them to see Hollywood Boulevard and the Chinese Theatre. Lo and behold, I saw the poster for this new movie about an archaeologist ... and the images on that sheet of paper hooked me in. We were all in line the following day ... for hours.


We (me, my family, our friends, and the audience) didn't know what hit us. The experience of viewing THAT movie in THAT theater --'ground zero' of Hollywood-- was exhilarating. When the closing credits rolled around, the entire audience was on its feet, cheering. Never before had I seen that happen.

[Blackthorn]

That was a great year. I think I saw Raiders 14 times in the theater that year. Good memories. Believe it or not, I didn't discover Bogart and classic movies until that same year, too. I was 27. Weird to be that old before discovering Bogart. But that was definitely the year fedoras became cool to me.

[bil_maxx]

Wow 30 years. I can watch that movie over and over. I actually ruined an original VHS copy from over watching. I hope they make more of them, though they can certainly leave out the "Interdimentional Creatures" and go after a historial artifact again if they like.

[Duper]

Harrison Ford turns 70 today.


http://todayentertainment.today.msnb...ison-ford?lite

[1961MJS]

That was a great year. I think I saw Raiders 14 times in the theater that year. Good memories. Believe it or not, I didn't discover Bogart and classic movies until that same year, too. I was 27. Weird to be that old before discovering Bogart. But that was definitely the year fedoras became cool to me.

Hi

I saw Raiders the year it came out, watching it with a bunch of Jewish kids from Chicago. They take Nazi's personally, so there was cheering during the movie when the bad guys' heads exploded. I didn't watch Bogart movies until about 2 years ago, now I own at least 7 on DVD.

Later

[scottyrocks]

I saw Raiders in its initial release.

A friend of mine managed a local movie theater. He had a one-sheet up as the movie was a 'coming soon.'

The one-sheet fascinated me. I had seen hats similar to that almost every day as a child because my mom always had the 4:30 movie on the TV. I watched Bogey, Cagney, Stewart, et al, in their stylish fedoras many afternoons. I loved their hats and clothes.

I had seen Ford in Star Wars and American Graffiti. I wondered how he was going to fit into this movie. The title gave nothing away as to the plot. The hat and leather jacket, his expression, the stubble, the small action scenes in the painting - it all made me curious.
When the movie was released I went in to see it. Needless to say, the opening scene blew everyone away. I was on the edge of my seat almost immediately. The soundtrack was spell binding.

I was wide-eyed during the action and fight sequences. I had never seen anything like it. It was a pure, unadulterated adrenalin rush.

I left the theater oh-my-godding, or whatever the equivalent was back then. I've had the movie on tape and then dvd as soon as they were available. Raiders has been my favorite movie since 1981.

[Marcus]

Some photos of the Club Obi Wan 10th Annual Summit at the Queen Mary and Ft Mac last year. Since it was the 30th Anniversary, we naturally had to do a Raiders theme. We went and played Dietrich and Gobler for the folks. It was fun. I got my whole family in on it.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/m...3983767&type=3

[McMurdo]

"It ain't the age honey, it's the mileage."

After all those miles Raiders still stands up, I saw it that first summer, and yes I was a huge Star Wars fan like many of you. All I knew about Raiders was that Harrison Ford was in it and Lucas and Spielberg were involved. That was enough for me. I had to see it. I went with my twin brother, to this day we still see movies together. The sold you the whole seat but you only needed the edge. I think Raiders of course is the best of the series and think it is a film that needs to be seen on the big screen, it sure does not feel like 30 years though.