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Steven Spielberg wanted to make a James Bond movie until his buddy George Lucas said, 'I have a better idea.' And he did. Lucas created Indiana Jones, a globe-trotting archaeologist who sought treasure for fortune and glory while encountering a variety of adversaries in his travels, starting with the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indiana Jones would become the new name of film adventure in the 1980s, paying homage to the cliffhanger serials of yesteryear while simultaneously elevating them with a bigger budget and more attention to craft and character. Lawrence Kasdan's screenplay for Raiders of the Lost Ark is a well-oiled machine that never falters or skips a beat, balancing the thrills with a healthy dose of humor and the spectacle with likeable characters with whom you're more than happy to go the distance.

Spielberg is at the top of his game, choreographing set-piece after set-piece with unparalleled panache. My favorite is the desert chase sequence, where Indy charges a black stallion after a Nazi caravan to retrieve the Lost Ark of the Covenant. He hangs from swinging doors, flies through the air onto pursuing vehicles, and gets dragged under a truck before the chase finally ends — but the Nazis fare even worse in this crowd-cheering marvel of a sequence.

Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones, bringing to the table an effortless charm that marries all the best parts of Errol Flynn, Cary Grant, and Humphrey Bogart. He’s paired with equally charismatic Karen Allen as an old ex-lover with a grudge. John Rhys-Davies and Denholm Elliott bring warmth and humor as two of Indy’s buddies, and Ronald Lacey is super-creepy as a Peter Lorre-esque Nazi interrogator.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is as close to perfect as movie entertainment can come, a superlative effort in every aspect of film making imaginable — writing, directing, acting, photography, sound, a rousing and dynamic score by John Williams, wardrobe, makeup, effects, design…  And to top it off, it ends with Heaven’s angels melting the faces off the Nazis!

Decades later, adventure still doesn’t come any bigger, better, or cooler than this.

Academy Awards: Best Film Editing (Michael Kahn), Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Special Achievement in Sound Effects Editing

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Spielberg), Best Cinematography (Douglas Slocombe), Best Music Score (Williams)