Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Archeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the US government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Lawrence Kasdan (screenplay), George Lucas (story),

Stars:

Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman

Top 250 #27 | Won 4 Oscars. Another 25 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harrison Ford	...	Indiana Jones
Karen Allen	...	Marion Ravenwood
Paul Freeman	...	Dr. René Belloq
Ronald Lacey	...	Major Arnold Toht
John Rhys-Davies	...	Sallah
Denholm Elliott	...	Dr. Marcus Brody
Alfred Molina	...	Satipo
Wolf Kahler	...	Colonel Dietrich
Anthony Higgins	...	Gobler
Vic Tablian	...	Barranca / Monkey Man
Don Fellows	...	Col. Musgrove
William Hootkins	...	Major Eaton
Bill Reimbold	...	Bureaucrat
Fred Sorenson	...	Jock
Patrick Durkin	...	Australian Climber

Storyline

The year is 1936. A professor who studies archeology named Indiana Jones is venturing in the jungles in South America searching for a golden statue. Unfortunately, he sets off a deadly trap doing so, miraculously, he escapes. Then, Jones hears from a museum curator named Marcus Brody about a biblical artifact called The Ark of the Covenant, which can hold the key to humanly existence. Jones has to venture to vast places such as Nepal and Egypt to find this artifact. However, he will have to fight his enemy Renee Belloq and a band of Nazis in order to reach it.

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Plot Keywords:

Nazis | Ark Of The Covenant | Escape | Indiana Jones | Professor | 

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Taglines:

The Return of the Great Adventure.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Lucasfilm / Paramount Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Hebrew Spanish Arabic Nepali

Release Date:

12 June 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Indiana Jones

Filming Locations:

Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,673,731 (USA) (7 September 2012)

Gross:

$3,115,115 (USA) (28 September 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Lucasfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Brody first goes to Indy's house to discuss the mission, Jones is dressed the way he is because he was entertaining a young woman in his bedroom. The script originally planned to show her before moving to the next scene to give Indy a more worldly persona (like James Bond). However, her appearance was cut out as Spielberg thought that being a playboy did not fit Indy's character.

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Goofs

The exploding truck has a pole launched out of the bottom of it to make it flip over.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Satipo: [picking up poison dart] The Hovitos are near. The poison is still fresh, three days. They're following us.
Barranca: If they knew we were here, they would've killed us already.

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Crazy Credits

The mountain in the Paramount logo dissolves into the mountain in the Peruvian jungle.

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Connections

Referenced in Return to Edge City (2005)
This title is referenced.

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Soundtracks

"A British Tar"
(1878) (uncredited)
From "H.M.S. Pinafore"
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Lyrics by William S. Gilbert
Sung a cappella by John Rhys-Davies

User Reviews

When you're hungry, everyone believes you

There are only so many films in history that I can watch again and again, gaining new appreciation for, one of them is this film. I went from the movies to VHS, and finally to DVD. The availability and quality of this film keep raising the bar of what I can get from it.

I read someone posted that this is the king of B movies or something of that sort, while I honestly think in some scenes like when Indy is running from the Hovitos and he rises over the hill, the film had a really strange documentary feeling, like if a comic actually came to life and like in the Twilight Zone, you were stuck in it. It is great to see this film, now that I edit and produce small independent films, and have worked in post production in Los Angeles. I honestly think almost every scene in this film is better than what's coming out today in sci-fi/adventure. I might pull back that comment in regards to some nice visuals in Riddick, and maybe the new Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, but I'm not certain.

The amount of time and effort put into the comedy, adventure, and depth of each character dazzles me because I really can't tell it was filmed the same year Fame was. It really has a unique look to it. The key lighting in the piece is amazing, almost everything looks like it was perfectly worked out.

My only complaint is the attempt to visualize the opening of the Ark, as most of the other scenes don't deal with the supernatural except maybe a burning crate with a nazi symbol on it. George should redo that last scene in my opinion, and tighten it up, because I really think it wasn't coming together, however when I was a child it was so amazing and scary realistic. It's all perspective, but my point it that now in this modern filming era, the acting and film production is holding tight to this day.

I forward you to just enjoy this film and look for things like formulas on chalkboards, skeletons in classrooms, proper patches on Nazi gear, gun accuracy. Research the film's era and background, and it only gets better. That's the ability that Spielberg and Lucas have, attention to detail and clever twists on most of their bodies of work.

Watch this film again, it's worth it, I promise you.