Ford nails the role of Indiana Jones, I think better than any other role he's ever done. It fits him like a glove.

It has a high nostalgia factor as well, as do a number of the 80s classic movies. The stuff in Raiders of the Lost Ark is cool because it's always been cool. The hat, the bullwhip, these are iconic now, and so for people who saw the movies when they were younger or when the movies were fresher, things like that remain cool every time they watch it. It's one of the lucky movies that grew its own self-perpetuating fan base, so that all the little things in the movie become cool.

On top of that it has some legitimately great scenes, such as Indy shooting the Arab swordsman (a moment Ford semi-improvised because he was tired), the South American temple in the beginning, Indy's reaction to snakes, the scene where he climbs onto and around and under the truck to beat the bad guys, the fact that he gets beat up and defeated through most of the movie instead of always winning heroically ... well, that last one wasn't a scene in and of itself, but it informs a lot of the scenes. There's a gritty realism to it that belies the fun, semi-campy nature of the movie, and it's also part of what makes Indiana Jones such an easy character to love. In some ways he's your typical hero, strong and brave and smart and always comes out on top, but in other ways he's callous and snarky and he gets the shit kicked out of him from start to finish. It's the same sort of recipe that makes people like John McLane from the Die Hard movies.

It's also possible that it arrived at the right time, when a big, fun modern sendoff to the adventure movies of earlier years was exactly what people could fall in love with, and at the same time as it was capping off that previous era it became the standard for a new era of adventure films that may technically surpass Raiders, but seldom surpass it in the hearts of fans.

But I'm sure no movie expert. I only know what I like, and Raiders is my favourite of the Indiana Jones movies. Last Crusade is great, but Raiders will always be best for me. For some reason it lets me suspend my disbelief much more readily than some other movies, including The Mummy.

Speaking of: take that back, you villain.