RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK 40th Anniversary

[The Blackbird]

In 1981, George Lucas, having already paid homage to Flash Gordon, now paid homage to serials in general, using Steven Spielberg's boyishly kinetic direction to introduce us to Indiana Jones and take adventure movies back to basics.
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK feels familiar even on first viewing. Lucas was smart enough to set his story in 1936, smack in the middle of the serial era. It's all retro, as we would say now, giving free reign to indulge in everything you'd remember about serials: a hero out of Haggard, whose look recalls Bogart's, armed with a whip that's vintage Zorro, a cocky, self-reliant damsel in distress, cartoon Nazi villains (inevitably, one of them is modelled on Peter Lorre), animated lines on maps showing us where our hero's quest takes him, hazards involving ruined temples, blow darts, pursuing natives, moving propellers, submarines, shootouts in burning buildings, and, of course, snakes.
The movie is a condensed serial utterly, designed by Spielberg so that every ten minutes you could imagine a title card popping up, inviting us to return to the theatre next week to "see how he gets out of this one." As an additional reminder of the movie's roots, it features, except for the climax, surprisingly little that could not have been filmed in 1936 if someone had just had the money to do it, from the gleefully silly fake boulder that rolls after Indy to the Ark itself, which for the most part is just a gold-painted prop box. Looking at the picture now, the special effects are like a breath of fresh air. No CGI; all they basically needed then was a cloud tank, some old-fashioned stop-motion animation, and shotguns to blast dummy heads with. Is there anything more joyful than listening to John Williams' rousing theme tune starting up as Harrison Ford swings out on a rubber vine into a river?

Here's some fun RAIDERS trivia:

Denholm Elliott's account of the pharaoh Shishak's siege of Jerusalem is historically accurate, but there's no indication Shishak got his hands on the Ark, which is of course still missing, though the franchise would have us believe it is still sitting in a Utah warehouse until somebody can figure out how to safely open it.

Gestapo agent Toht is only identified by name in the end credits.

We're supposed to think that's Toht shadowing Indy on his flight across the Pacific, but it's actually special effects man Dennis Muren standing in for Ronald Lacey.

The headpiece Indy seeks was originally supposed to be in two pieces, with one half obtained during a gunfight in a museum with Indy escaping behind a rolling gong used as a shield. This bit was recycled for INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM.

Similarly, the mine car chase in the prequel was left over from an early draft of RAIDERS that was to have concluded with it.

Toht was supposed to have been killed in the truck chase, but Lacey presence so impressed everyone he was spared to meet a more memorable demise later on. This is why he has no dialogue in the latter part of the film.

Wolf Kahler had previously played a German soldier in1978's FORCE TEN FROM NAVARONE, starring Harrison Ford. That film also features Michael Byrne as a Nazi officer whose car is pushed off a cliff by Ford. A decade later, Byrne was back in INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, playing a Nazi officer who goes off a cliff on a tank while fighting with Ford....

Originally, the villains' heads were all supposed to explode, but the special effects boys started going nuts experimenting with shrinking and melting.

Charmingly, the Tanis dig was planned out using maps and tiny figures like a child's army playset.

The truck in the big chase is the same one we see getting blown up in the town square earlier in the story.

Some 350 television antennas had to be removed for the establishing shot of Cairo from the roof of John Rhys-Davies' house.

Indy was supposed to perch on the head of the giant statue in the Well of the Souls as it falls over, but the prop collapsed early with the cameras rolling.

Pat Roach plays two characters, the giant sherpa in the burning tavern and the bald muscleman Indy boxes with at the flying wing.

Similarly, Vic Tablian gets a back full of poison darts early on but returns to play the spy with the eyepatch and the monkey.

The staff Indy drops into the map room is mysteriously leaning against the wall when he retrieves it.

One of the great urban myths has Paul Freeman swallowing a fly during his "history" speech. Look closely and you can see it crawls on his face then buzzes away, but they went and used that take.

Less is More: Famously, Ford was ill when they were supposed to film his battle with the swordsman in the street, resulting in one of cinema's greatest laughs as he just shoots the guy instead.

The sandstone block Indy shoves out of the way to escape the Well of the Souls bounces when it hits the ground.

As Indy lifts the Ark from its crypt, look closely at the post beside him. You may see images of C-3P0 and R2-D2 carved into it.

For that matter, note the markings on the seaplane: "OB-CP0..."

[silentfilm]

The Indiana Jones 4-Movie Collection was just released in 4K with a ton of special features that were previously on the DVD set. There has not been a traditional BluRay release though.

https://thedigitalbits.com/item/indiana ... 021-4k-uhd


On Set with Raiders of the Lost Ark: From Jungle to Desert (HD – 29:35)
On Set with Raiders of the Lost Ark: From Adventure to Legend (SD – 28:17)
The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) (SD – 57:48)
The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark (SD – 50:52)
The Making of the Temple of Doom (SD – 41:09)
The Making of the Last Crusade (SD – 35:03)
The Making of the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (HD – 28:49)
The Stunts of Indiana Jones (SD – 10:56)
The Sound of Indiana Jones (SD – 13:21)
The Music of Indiana Jones (SD – 12:22)
The Light and Magic of Indiana Jones (SD – 12:22)
Raiders: The Melting Face! (SD – 8:12)
Indiana Jones and the Creepy Crawlies (with pop-up trivia – SD – 11:46)
Travel with Indiana Jones: Locations (with pop-up trivia – SD – 9:58)
Indy’s Women: The American Film Institute Tribute (SD – 9:15)
Indy’s Friends and Enemies (SD – 10:10)
Iconic Props (HD – 9:52)
The Effects of Indy (HD – 22:34)
Adventures in Post Production (HD – 12:36)
Credits (HD – :58)

And, the fifth and final Indiana Jones movie has already begun filming...

[Spiny Norman]

It is probably the one I like best, well, after Kingdom of the Crystal Skull of course...

Still not totally sure how Indy hid on a submarine - borrowed from Das Boot, but never mind that. (Oh wait there was an unused scene that dealt with that - apparently he surfed along by tying his whip to the periscope.)

[Mike Gebert]

Saw this on Twitter. An artist named Charles Forsman drew a Raiders comic in the style, he says, of Popeye (I'd say more like Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy). Co-producer Frank Marshall bought one, which is probably why he never got sued.



Here's the story.

[Histogram]

"Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures" was a traditional Blu-ray release. Five discs in 2012. Features: on the set with "Raiders of the Lost Ark"; making-of all four movies; cast and creator interviews; behind-the-scenes: stunts, sounds, special effects, etc.

[The Blackbird]

It is probably the one I like best, well, after Kingdom of the Crystal Skull of course...

Still not totally sure how Indy hid on a submarine - borrowed from Das Boot, but never mind that. (Oh wait there was an unused scene that dealt with that - apparently he surfed along by tying his whip to the periscope.)

The whip/periscope anecdote is accurate, it was filmed but discarded.

I'm baffled by the cast list for the fifth Indiana Jones movie. No Karen Allen, no John Rhys-Davies, no Shia LeBeouf, not even Jim Broadbent? I was hoping they'd at least explain whatever happened to Short Round.