Raiders of the Lost Ark

1981 · directed by Steven Spielberg · 115 min

28,046 feet · Prominence

16th of 24,106 films scored

The Rewatchables‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey →

How this film scores

Draw81

Lifetime worldwide gross $390m, re-releases included; about $1.21bn in 2026 money.

Rank115 of 11,051In 19811 of 90

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise94

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics90 baseAwards76 signal → +4 lift

Oscars4 won Production Design, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Sound4 nominated Picture, Director, Cinematography, Original Score

Golden Globes1 nominated Screenplay

BAFTAs3 nominated Best Picture, Supporting acting, Craft and other

How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy90

Judged directly: Indiana Jones, timeless adventure icon.

Verdict90 of 100IMDb8.4 from 1.1mWikipedia97k views a monthAge45 years

On the listsNational Film RegistryAFI 100Sight & Soundevidence, not an input to the score

Scored beside it · 19 of 4,039 films judged

91Schindler's List (1993)

90E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

90The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

90Apocalypse Now (1979)

90Jurassic Park (1993)

90The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

90Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 81 praise 94 legacy 90averages 88, placing it at28,046 ft

How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

Whose apex this is

▲ Paul Freeman

In these careers — elevation for this film

Harrison Ford21,019 ft Karen Allen19,463 ft Paul Freeman18,452 ft John Rhys-Davies18,233 ft Denholm Elliott18,117 ft Alfred Molina17,679 ft