80s Movies: Week 4

Our month-long special look back at some of the greatest movies of the 80s comes to a close, but there's still time for a carousel of the past seven days' cinematic heroes, if you've got a spare fiver burning a hole in your Amazon account...

80s Movies: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

The fact that Raiders of the Lost Ark doesn't begin with the words "Indiana Jones and the..." is the first sign that yes, this was the first one. Never one to start slowly, Indy ploughed straight into treasure-hunting by looking for the Ark of the Covenant, in which the Ten Commandments were reputedly stored. Not only that, but he actually finds it and it's surrounded by Nazis - and it's not even time for World War II yet. It's a strangely fun adventurous romp through classic treasure-hunting scenery, given the slightly sinister undertones that are hard to escape when your main villains are pre-war Nazis.

Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones, in the role that will probably define his career for a long, long time to come. And he's great, let's be honest. He's mild-mannered enough to be believable as an archaeology professor, but square-jawed enough to become an all-action hero with relative ease. The fact that he can switch effortlessly from one persona to the other - even halfway through a scene - is testament to the strength of the character, to Ford's acting credentials, and to the quality of the film as a whole.