30 things you might not know about Raiders of the Lost Ark

[Hecubus114]

Well, probably not YOU guys, but there a few interesting things I never knew:

30 Things You Might Not Know About 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' - The Moviefone Blog

 

[outlander]

Well, I thought I had game, but I didn't know about half of those.

 

[MooCriket]

Did not know about numbers, 17,18, & 20. Thanks for sharing the link!

 

[Scareb]

That was a good read.....jeff bridges as indy would of been cool, but I think harrison ford was the better pick.

 

[SmilingOtter]

Neat stuff. I'll have to go back to listen to the German "one-one-three-eight" bit.

Another thing: given Omar's (the old scholar) instructions about how tall the staff of Ra should be - about five feet - Harrison Ford is a lot shorter than he seems:

 

[Jeyl]

28. According to the novelization, the writing on the headpiece of the Staff of Ra included a specific warning not to look into the Ark, which is how Indy knew to avoid the same fiery fate that befell his Nazi captors.

Well I'll be freaking god. There's the setup that was meant to be paid off during the Ark scene. What was the point in not including it in the movie??

 

[MFP 2020]

2. Our hero's original name? Indiana Smith. It was changed on the first day of production when Steven Spielberg told Lucas it just didn't sound right and suggested "Jones" instead.

This is incorrect, unless the Lucas/Spielberg/Kasdan sessions (or earlier) count as the "first day of production." From the transcript:

L — Do you have a name for this person?
G— I do for our leader.
S — I hate this, but go ahead.
G — Indiana Smith. It has to be unique. It's a character. Very Americana square. He was born in Indiana.
L — What does she call him, Indy?
G — That's what I was thinking. Or Jones. Then people can call him Jones.

16. Burly British wrestler Pat Roach gets killed twice in this film, once as a giant Sherpa who perishes in the Nepalese bar and again as the German mechanic who's done in by the plane's propeller.

I was under the mistaken impression he was the Arab swordsman as well. I stand corrected.

 

[Alan Cross]

Okay, here's something about Indiana Jones I didn't know until last night. My daughter and I went to a DGA event. It was a tribute to Steven Spielberg. The guest speakers were JJ Abrams and Jim Cameron. (!) We got to sit in the audience and watch these three guys talk about Spielberg's career. It was awesome. They showed several movie clips. One of the clips was from Raiders. It was the intricate action scene where Indy fights the mechanic in and around the Flying Wing while Marion sneaks into the cockpit, shoots a bunch of Nazi's and accidentally hits a fuel tank and sends a river of fuel headed towards burning debris. It's this detailed, escalating series of action/fight/ events that climaxes in the gruesome death of the mechanic (by spinning propeller) as Marion and Indy race away from the plane as the fuel hits the fire and EXPLODES. Was this sequence story boarded? No. Spielberg revealed, (and this what I didn't know) he made it up as he went along. Just adding ideas as he shot until he finally got the completed sequence we see in the film.

Jim Cameron joked,: "Knowing now that you didn't story board any of that -- that you just MADE IT UP on the day of shooting -- I can't tell you how much that pisses me off!"

Steven Spielberg is a God. And Raiders remains one of the very best movies I've ever seen.

Alan

 

[Nexus6]

Cool article. :cool

 

[Larry Young]

Was this sequence story boarded? No. Spielberg revealed, (and this what I didn't know) he made it up as he went along. Just adding ideas as he shot until he finally got the completed sequence we see in the film.

Holy crap; that's amazing.

 

[Treadwell]

23: the same soundstage, perhaps, but surely not the same set.

 

[clonesix]

That answers a few questions that have been asked on this forum before. How did Indy know that closing his eys would protect him. How did he travel on the sub...

 

[Treadwell]

27: the whip was tied to the truck, but they had possession of the truck. When they unloaded the Ark, he would've retrieved his whip, too.

As for the hat and jacket stuff, their history is really convoluted and COW has spent years ironing it out. The jacket weathered by the pool the night before was replaced after the first day's shooting.

 

[agent5]

The Flying Wing scene was storyboarded but scrapped to beef up the sequence. If you think about it they would not spend close to 1/10 of their budget on the construction and shipping of the Flying Wing and not have a plan to shoot it. I would like to see the original storyboarded sequence compared to what we have.

The scene with the headpiece warning was also shot but omitted. It would have been cool but most likely messed up the perfect pace of the film. I think they just figured Indy was smart enough to have studied the mysteries and history behind the HP/Ark to know not to look when the Ark was opened.

 

[blakeh1]

That's some interesting trivia

 

[Jet Beetle]

They forgot that the entire story of Raiders was based on something that happened to me concerning a lost christmas present.

 

[.:MirrorminD:.]

I love reading these things about movies, there were a bunch I didnt know about

 

[DaddyfromNaboo]

They forgot that the entire story of Raiders was based on something that happened to me concerning a lost christmas present.

I thought that was what "Jingle all the way" was based on?

 

[Jet Beetle]

I thought that was what "Jingle all the way" was based on?

No - Jingle All The Way is based on something that happened to me on Halloween at log roll competitions.

 

[Burke]

I didnt know any of that. Very interesting read.