The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 56

The Miami Herald Friday June 12 1981 2D mX I s'M Rousing a serial takeoff ouio CGUiGVJS cracking swashbuckling Han Solo persona to use as Indiana Jones an archeologist who would rather swing from a rope or wield a bullwhip than make a sober presentation to the academic-tenure committee In the classroom Jones is a bespectacled Clark Kent figure but he turns tiger on the missions Impossible of his profession The time is 1936 A couple of US Intelligence officers commission Jones to find the Ark of the Covenant supposed repository of the Ten Commandments before Adolf minions locate the thing and exploit It as some sort of cachet of Der Fuehrer's global legitimacy Jones hies himself to Nepal to consult with Prof Ravenwood an old mentor who has the medallion the key to the whole business The prof it transpires is deceased But his daughter (Karen Allen) an old flame of Jones's is now custodian of the doohickey Trouble is the SS boys also are hot on the trail and as their technical adviser they have retained Belloq nemesis from way back And Belloq (Paul Freeman) too has an eye for the dame The plot thickens and the chase Is on to ancient Egypt The Ark changes hands so often that it might plausibly wind up at lost-and-found in the sequel (oh Lucas has two more of these on the drawing board) Along the way there are much fun and many thrills and enough mishaps to necessitate the gainful employment of 14 stuntpersons It would be a breach of faith to give away even one of the twists Just remember: Indiana Jones doesn't mind tarantulas but reptiles really bug him Lawrence Kasdan who fashioned the script from the ideas of Lucas and Philip Kaufman has thrown in at least one false ending too many By the one-hour-and-45-minute mark this viewer was ready to call it an ex- By TERRY KELLEHER Herald Staff Writer Given the state of the motion-picture Industry perhaps Raiders of the Lost Ark is the most we can hope for this summer or this year: well-made escapism dripping with opulence National television and magazines have been filled with advance hoopla for this film but not all the publicity is a product of contrivance The deal Itself is the hype George Lucas creator of the Star Wars saga joins forces with Steven Spielberg director of Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind Bankability squared Imagine Kodak and Polaroid merging to make a single photograph What these two young Midases have brought forth is a rousing adventure tale conceived by Lucas as resembling the Saturday-morning serials of the '30s and Of course they didn't have Panavision Dolby Stereo and box-car budgets in the days of Tarzan and Flash Gordon Spielberg took his cameras to France Tunisia and Hawaii in search of the appropriately exotic locations For the soundstage work massive sets were designed by Norman Reynolds Oscar-winning art director of Star Wars In point of fact Raiders of the Lost Ark is the Star Wars of planet earth One feat of improbable derring-do is piled on another: death is cheated more often than the Internal Revenue Service The black hats and white hats are clearly divided from the opening sequence though the hero and heroine are not of the goody-two-shoes stripe and Villain No 1 is human enough to get an amorous yen now and then Moments of comic relief pop up where we least expect them Snakes hiss and slither Nazis hiss and slither Old-time fun at the movie house Harrison Ford a Star Wars principal puts his wise Harrison Ford is the hero thus only the snakes hiss at him pedition After making a point of keeping the action Compared to 1941 however he and we get our barely within the laws of physics Spielberg mistakenly worth resorts to a big supernatural finish that is excessively raioers of tm LOST ARK it rated PG presumably lor vioionct end sanguinary but not all that spooky Mythical creatures steal divine performance Olivier hams for his supper jouncing and jiggling through his opening speech as If one of the grips had lit a fire under his throne Still his contribution Is the most remarkable aspect of Clash of the Titans which might well be subtitled Sinbad the Sailor Lands at the Old Vic The classical British actors Olivier Smith and Bloom top the cast list but the real star of Clash of the Titans is special-effects wizard Harryhausen who collaborated with Schneer on three Sinbad films and Jason and the Argonauts Director Desmond Davis might have set up the shots and supervised the human performers (here divided into the Immortals and the Mortals) but without the fanciful creatures of Greek mythology eg Pegasus the winged horse and Dioskllos the two-headed wolf this picture would have all the pizazz of Republic It Greek mythology did not fire your curiosity In schooldays you may find it difficult to digest the background information screenwriter Beverley Cross has crammed into the godly dialogue Suffice it to say that there were a few on Olympus Zeus was a randy old coot who used to gain access to the boudoirs of earthwomen by transforming himself into innocent-appearing ter restrial substances (one of these kinky couplings produced his mortal son Perseus played for wooden heroism by Harry Hamlin) Hera nursed resentment over constant philandering Thetis also held a grudge against the Supreme One for turning her son Calibos into a hideous werewolf-like grotesque In the movie Zeus steers his beloved Perseus toward the fulfillment of his royal destiny while the two spiteful goddesses give the lad a hard way to go Discard your monotheistic suppositions among the Immortals unilateral intervention into human affairs was commonplace and the lines of authority were blurred While Perseus struggles below the Olympians bicker above As fey mentor Ammon Burgess Meredith tries to keep matters interesting by hopping around squinching up his face and swearing the But the ones to watch are Medusa the gorgon (one look and stoned) and the Kraken a megamonster from the sea who could give Godzilla a good battle Of only little Bubo is a distinct disappointment The friendly owl is Mattel-mechanical and patently derivative of Star Wars' C3PO The kids will delight in Harryhausen's visual conjury but the grown-ups will remember why they cut Greek class CLASH OR THE TITAHS Is rated PG apparently because of tht gods' dirty minds and a flash ot frontal nudity By TERRY KELLEHER Herald Staff Writer The king made him a knight The queen made him a peer But only Hollywood could make him a god Laurence Olivier considered by many to be the greatest actor in the world has been laboring at his craft for 59 of his 74 years Critics and colleagues have long since deified him but it took Charles Schneer and Ray Harryhau-sen producers of Clash of the Titans to make it official Larry? How'd ya like to play Zeus the Supreme in our new movie? We know it sounds demanding running the universe and all We know a man In your condition likes to limit his activity to showy cameos in commercial junk like the part of Neil whiny pop in The Jazz Singer No problem All you gods will have to do is don white robes and do a little posturing and pontificating up on Olympus Of course there'll be other gods Maggie Smith as Thetis Claire Bloom as Zeus' wife Hera Ursula Andress as Aphrodite No we can't guarantee you'll have the least work to do In fact Ursula will simply look gorgeous and say nothing But we can guarantee make the most Sold fellas Not content to his Perseus (Harry Hamlin) in romantic scene with princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker) Miami Beach Theater of the Performing Arts LAST 3 DAYS! TONIGHT AT 8 PM Matinee Sat Sun Antique Show Sale 1 No Miami Armory 13250 NE 8 Avo Sat Juno 13th 12-9 Sun Juno 14th 12-6 I Antiques Collectibles Jewelry I nucli I mere Admission 3150 OFF with this ad ter info call 891-8511 or 893-6830 Not Associated with Lucky's Antiques Gallarios of Miami i i i i i i i i i Oon't bo conversational dropout instead be a part of tha convaraation Stay informed with Tha Miami Harald ii- 4 REX HARRISON I BlIBfillS SPECTACULAR SHOWS MO COVER I KRMR A LOIW t'S "MY FAIR LADY J7' I Mils (jivutcst Musk ill' A- i ALL NUDE ALL GIRL REVUE CONTINUOUS FROM 1PM-1AM CHARGE BY PHONE DADE: 673-8300 BROWARD: 467-2855 2847 SW224ST(MML AT) Please have your charge card handy li kPtsov(jiiat)ie JoMan Mosh ornrn 16 Iff) S' BfdAO'O M')N and H-HlvwnoO SQU(V 442-2472 QROWARD BARER tQACKAGINGS KIDS UNDER 18 STAY FREE WITH PARENTS Broward Barer aQack agingi SUNCOAST 9U 3IJI aBBE" 4 0KflC- Suueet Adelines Inc stacicim-ori i tom jTjjtL proudly present hOMKTHING TO SING ABOUT Imrhersliop extruvngana featuring lop ehoruses iinarlrh and Internationally Known SUJNTONES Saturday June 13 8:00 at Gunman Gulliirnl Outer 171 I Ingler Street Donation: $800 Ft LauderdaleMQniott Dflotd Marina 1881 SH 17tJi Street Foil Lauderdale Florida 33316 (305) 463-4000 I 4.