'Raiders of the Lost Ark'

How many films can be largely recognized by much of the free world by just one word?

Mention "Raiders" to just about anyone in the United States and that person will know exactly what you're talking about. "Empire" and "Jedi" probably get the same knowing reaction.

The fact of the matter is, I've watched a ton of high-toned, big-budget, well-acted, well-directed movies in my day, many of them trying to "say something" or "mean something" on some secondary level.

That's fine and all, but Raiders of the Lost Ark might be the greatest film ever made.

It's well written, the direction isn't bad, it's funny, tons of action and adventure, it has Nazis, it's a period piece, it has the handsome leading man, the very underrated cute female lead, it involves a mystery, it's historical and religious. It's why Dan Brown makes millions of dollars writing books.

Sure, Raiders doesn't mean anything. It doesn't represent post-Cold War America or preach about global warming. It doesn't make you think anything past what's happening in the film. What it teaches us, if anything, is that the good guy always wins.

I would like to add that there's been two films that affected my future career: Raiders (archeology) and Twister (meteorology).