In the days of dime matinees and nickel popcorn moviegoers were treated to “serials,” short action films that ended with a “cliffhanger,” a tease to the next week’s episode. Serials disappeared somewhere in the 50s, due in part to the emergence of television, but in 1981 George Lucas and Steven Spielberg brought back the thrills and fast-paced storyline of the serial with Raiders of the Lost Ark.

It is a classic good versus evil tale with all the elements of the old serial; a hero, a damsel in distress, villains and plenty of desperate situations. The opening scenes immediately set the stage for a wild ride that slows only to catch its breath and bolt into another tension-filled sequence. Harrison Ford is perfectly cast as archeologist Indiana Jones, who races to find the legendary Ark of the Covenant before it falls into the hands of the ultimate bad guys, the Nazis.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is truly a family film, one that can be enjoyed by everyone. For those lucky enough to have experienced the heyday of serials it updates the form beautifully. For younger viewers it offers a glimpse of past movie history, a time when the good guys always won.