Released in and the top grossing film for 1981, Raiders Of The Lost Ark remains one of the most popular films ever produced. For the few who are uninitiated, the movie is an action-packed thrill ride which features rough and ready archeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) who is technically a college professor, but his real work is flying around the globe searching for lost artifacts. The film starts out fast with Jones on adventure in Peru where the viewer is introduced to fellow archeologist and nemesis Belloq (Paul Freeman) and ends with Jones searching and finding the ultimate artifact, namely the Ark of the Covenant. As other comments noted, Tom Selleck was originally cast as Indiana Jones; however, Harrison Ford played the part perfectly. Jones is human and vulnerable, not merely an action figure going through the action as he has his Achilles heel in snakes and realizes that it's not the age but the mileage. In other words, the viewer is never sure that Jones will get out of each fix. The love interest Marion Ravenswood was well cast with Karen Allen who has a nice mix of beauty and girl next door looks. The viewer can actually see her keeping up with Jones in a way a blond bombshell never could. The bottom line is that Raiders Of The Lost Ark is a can't miss movie and refreshed the action genre so much that all subsequent action films are measured thereby.