Digital Restoration of Raiders of the Lost Ark a Treat for Chicago Only
If there is a movie that doesn't need a cheerleading section, it's Raiders of the Lost Ark. A box office titan that was nominated for eight Academy Awards and included in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, the film is undeniably a cultural touchstone. It couldn't be more of a landmark if George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg, Harrison Ford and Jon Williams were blasted into stone on a second Mount Rushmore.
Which is why we have some trouble believing that the theatrical run of its 30th Anniversary Digital Restoration will be limited to Chicago. Yet for the moment, the Music Box is the only place in the country where audiences can enjoy this classic in its sparkling, rejuvenated form. With a week-long run starting today and multiple showings each day, Raiders will surely make a good cinematic excursion for the holiday week.
We're just happy to hear that clumsy, unnecessary CGI inserts have been reconsidered and that George Lucas hasn't tried to pull off something outrageous, like somehow inserting a gun into the hand of the swordsman that Indy shoots. If the visual and special effects of Raiders have worn well, it is because of the care the original team took in creating them (an enjoyable panel featuring several members of that team discussing the project during an exhibition of the new restoration earlier this year is available online).
Even as it enjoys near universal acclaim, Raiders of the Lost Ark is nothing like a perfect movie. Michael Phillips does his best to speak for the dissent to the drumbeat of celebration and marshals the likes of Pauline Kael and Dave Kehr to his cause, to which we might add Jonathan Rosenbaum's rather unflattering critique. These critics bristle with discomfort at a certain coldness at the heart of the film and the punishing speed with which its engrossing set pieces unfold.
Luckily for Raiders of the Lost Ark it has in its corner ... nearly everybody else. The rollicking tale is so colorfully realized, so heroically pitched, so sympathetically enacted, that the naysayers don't stand a chance. They've brought a sword to a gunfight, and by the time they hit the ground our charismatic hero has moved on to the next adventure.
The 30th Anniversary Digital Restoration of Raiders of the Lost Ark plays only (and we mean only) at The Music Box Theater, 3733 N. Southport Ave., through Nov. 24.
