I've watched Raiders of the Lost Ark, recently, after not having watched it in a while. I wondered if it might've lost any appeal for me, or is the magic still alive & well? And I have to tell you that I was singularly impressed by how "real" or "realistic" everything is in this movie. Suspension of Disbelief is most easily achieved.
When he's in the Jungle, it looks totally real. When he's clinging to the bottom of a truck, by his whip and shimmying down towards the end of it, that looks real. The limitations do show, however, in sets like the map room, especially. The climax also, has a very artificial quality to it. But it's so spectacular and over-the-top that it's easily 'forgiven.'
In all, Raiders of the Lost Ark really looks very, very good. And having been made in a past decade from so long ago, it helps push the look of it back more ... the datedness helps, in many cases. But for as far as Hollywood's come, since, everything about The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull looked false ... from the jungles, with their frequent lensflares to help sell it, to the shitty matts used at the military compound Jones finds himself in. There's a CGI sheen, throughout and it doesn't look very good ... I can't believe they're making another one.
