Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG, 1981)

After a heroic jungle rescue, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) forks over a valuable relic to the dastardly French archeologist Belloq, under threat of death by a band of spear-wielding natives. Jones is then sent by the U.S. military to outdo the Nazis in a race to find the secret resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. Jones stops in Nepal to retrieve a medallion from Marion (Karen Allen), his ex-girlfriend. The medallion is the key that tells where the ark is buried. Escaping Nazis, Jones and Marion head for Cairo, where they battle all manner of thugs. Jones eventually discovers the resting place of the Ark, but it is immediately stolen by Belloq, who now works for the Germans. Left for dead, Jones and Marion escape and, after a series of fights and chases, take the Ark to sea. The Nazis steal the Ark right back, though, and Jones and Marion must try to stop them from opening it.

When director Steven Spielberg and writer/producer George Lucas set out to recreate the serial adventure movie of the 1940s, they forged a masterwork of action-adventure. INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK includes what may the best opening 10 minutes in movie history, and another scene that is among the most imitated. An exhausted Jones stands watching a bad guy twirl swords threateningly, then with a shrug, coolly shoots him (rumored to be a spur-of-the-moment acting decision on Ford's part because he was exhausted at the end of a long day of filming.) The key to the movie's success is Ford's Indiana Jones, archeology professor and grand adventurer, who seems perfectly at home as both the mild mannered Clark Kent type -- right down to the glasses -- and the larger-than-life hero. Ford played a similar character in Star Wars, but here he is front and center. With Raiders, Ford established himself as one of the greatest action-adventure heroes of all time.

Despite the superior quality of the movie, it's fun to note the small continuity and effects mistakes. Medallions appear and disappear, guns fire seven bullets, the glass separating a hissing snake and Karen Allen is clearly visible. And the biggest goof of all: how the heck does Jones stay with a submerging submarine for hundreds of miles? (Spielberg claims key scenes got lost in editing.) If you go back to the film, which you and your children will almost certainly want to do, it's fun to pick out where even the best filmmakers make little mistakes.