Raiders of the Lost Ark on 4K disc is the perfect example of why my collection keeps growing

I didn't realise how much the World Cup was disrupting my movie-watching habits until it was over, and I realised that I'd barely watched anything except football for about a month. Now, a few weeks on, I'm luxuriating in getting through the 4K discs that I've collected recently without having time to watch them.

A perfect case in point is Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first Indiana Jones movie, and one that I've had on 4K Blu-ray for quite a while without ever quite being in the mood to watch it. That changed this past weekend, and I had a total blast watching it with a friend who claimed to have never seen it (crazy, for someone in their 30s).

I have a rule now – if I see a Spielberg movie on 4K for less than £20, I'll try to buy it. It's not hard and fast (some that I've seen and don't rate, I can leave), but I've found it a huge success. He's a director who's earned that trust, and so many of his movies are just so good-looking. Raiders is no exception, even without the introduction of one of cinema's great characters.

Right from the iconic opening sequence, set in the deepest jungle and concluding with an unforgettable flight from a rolling boulder all the way to a waiting seaplane, it's a film with unbelievable momentum and adventure. On 4K, though, it becomes one that I almost felt I hadn't seen properly before.

For the longest time, Raiders was a film I'd watch on TV, often around Christmas when this sort of nostalgic movie tends to hit the schedules. That meant, growing up, SD resolution and ad breaks, and in the latter years generally a cap at HD at whatever bitrate iPlayer or another streamer was willing to offer.

This weekend, watching it in 4K with gorgeous surround sound (I've got a Sonos Beam with a Sub Mini and some Era 100s as rear channels), I couldn't stop pausing the movie to marvel at how damn good it can look.

Dappled sunlight through jungle canopies; a carefully-judged shaft of light on Indie's sweaty jawline; a tracking shot across a drinking game in a rowdy bar; a long crane shot through a busy camp in the Egyptian desert. It's wild how great these scenes all look, in a format without any compromises to bring down the detail or the vividness of the colours.

Then, of course, there's the soundtrack – one that has to be in the conversation when it comes to the greatest scores ever produced. Sure, Star Wars has some unbelievably iconic themes, but I think in terms of summoning up the spirit of adventure that the movie embodies, there's a shout for this being John Williams' best ever work, in a ridiculously crowded field.

Don't be surprised if I forget that take next time I hear the Imperial March, but it's still so impactful when Williams' melodies come in during exciting or emotional moments, and I've never heard it sound better than this Dolby Atmos mix.

It's a salient reminder of why I keep buying these 4K discs, even if the economics of collecting them doesn't really add up from a brutal standpoint. Every time I watch one, I'm enamoured with the quality on show, and Raiders is a perfect example of how slightly older films can still shine on the format.