It's Not the Years, It's the Mileage: Raiders of the Lost Ark Turns 30

Today marks the 30th Anniversary of the release of one of the best action-adventure movies of all time, Raiders of the Lost Ark.  This first Steven Spielberg/George Lucas collaboration, created during a post-Close Encounters/Star Wars vacation in Hawaii, introduced the world to the swashbuckling archaelogist Indiana Jones (awesomely immortalized by Harrison Ford), who battles the Nazis to reache the fabled Ark of the Covenant.  It won five Oscars, and was actually a Best Picture nominee that year.

The film spawned three sequels, a TV series, several video games, the PG-13 rating (thanks to 1984's gruesome followup, Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom), and my favorite ride at Disneyland.

Of course, it also famously proved why it's always a good idea to bring a gun to a swordfight:

Classic!  As fans know, that scene was originally written as a big fight sequence, but a flu-ridden Harrison Ford suggested "just shooting the guy" since he wasn't feeling well enough to shoot the whole original fight scene.  His way definitely worked.

I was lucky enough to see Raiders of the Lost Ark in theaters in the summer of 1981.  Unfortunately I was only 7 years old at the time and it scared the living crap out of me.  People usually don't melt in movies you see just before starting second grade.  Luckily, I grew out of that quickly enough and after years of viewings on TV - and even a big-screen re-release a few years ago, the Indiana Jones movies remain some of my favorite films.   

In honor of Raiders' 30th Anniversary (which is perfect timing, considering that JJ Abrams' Spielberg homage Super 8 did some great business at the box office this weekend), here's a look back at the original trailer:

Anyone else feeling old about this?  Just wait for next year, when ET: The Extra Terrestrial turns 30.  I'm not even sure how I feel about that yet.