The film was conceived as an homage to and an update of weekly matinee action-movie serials from the 1930s and '40s. Revitalizing the adventure film genre, Raiders of the Lost Ark cemented the reputations of both Spielberg and Lucas in Hollywood for making films of guaranteed profitability at the box office.

What is the original purpose of the Ark in Raiders of the Lost Ark?

For other uses, see Ark of the Covenant (disambiguation). The Ark of the Covenant or The Ark is a Biblical artifact. According to the Bible, the Ark was a wooden chest used by the ancient Hebrews to carry the Ten Commandments, the budded staff of Aaron, and a pot of manna.

What is the goal of Raiders of the Lost Ark?

The year is 1936 and the intrepid archaeologist Indiana Jones sets out in search of the fabled Lost Ark of the Covenant, racing a bitter rival and his Nazi cohorts to the prize.

What is the meaning behind Raiders of the Lost Ark?

The real meaning of Raiders of the Lost Ark's ending is a statement about power. The Ark represents power beyond the average human's reach, and in striving to make use of it, those involved find themselves in serious danger.

What was Raiders of the Lost Ark inspired by?

While Spielberg directed 1941 (1979), Kasdan used his office to write Raiders, taking inspiration from early 20th-century serials and adventure films like Red River (1948), Seven Samurai (1954), and The Magnificent Seven (1960).

The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark | Indiana Jones Behind the Scenes

Who was the original choice for Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Before there was Harrison Ford, there was Tom Selleck. “Three Men and a Baby” alum Selleck, 78, was the first choice to play Indiana Jones in 1981's “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

How historically accurate is Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Raiders of the Lost Ark builds on a factual basis, but blends the facts with a lot of fiction. The powers of the Ark are changed and amplified to fit the Nazis' desires.

How did Indiana Jones get off the island?

In Raiders of the Lost Ark, after successfully retrieving the Ark of the Covenant in a stunning truck chase, Indiana Jones and Marion escape with the crew of a cargo ship called the Bantu Wind.

How did Indiana Jones survive the submarine?

In novelizations and comic adaptations of the film, the submarine does submerge, but Indy lashes himself to the periscope, which remains above water.

What is the gold thing in Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Fictional "golden idol" (ancient goddess of fertility) from the 1981 feature film Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Why did their faces melt in Raiders of the Lost Ark?

The opening of the Ark of the Covenant causes all hell to break loose, and the Nazis present meet their doom by looking at the released spirits while Indiana Jones closes his eyes. And so, a face melts, and heads cave in or explode, in the terrifying climax of one of cinema's best adventure films.

Is there a plot hole in Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Plot holes

The flying wing doesn't have any storage space to carry the ark in its crate and there isn't a way to carry it underneath it either. The old man interpreting the headpiece says the staff is six kadams high. Indy says that is roughly 72 inches.

How did Indiana Jones know to shut his eyes?

So he may have concluded that opening the Ark is not necessarily deadly to anyone in close proximity, and that it is the visual contact that was deadly. Another option is that he remembered a relevant passage from the Bible (1 Samuel 6:19), where God "smote" the men of Beth Shemesh for looking into the Ark.

Is the monkey from Indiana Jones still alive?

The monkey meets her end. That night, at the house of Imam, the monkey's master poisoned a bowl of dates in order to kill the archaeologist, but the hungry monkey grabbed one for herself, ate it and died.

What happens if you look at the Ark of the Covenant?

The Ark was set up in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and the Beth-shemites offered sacrifices and burnt offerings. Out of curiosity the men of Beth-shemesh gazed at the Ark; and as a punishment, seventy of them (fifty thousand and seventy in some translations) were struck down by the Lord.

Why didn't the submarine submerge in Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Raiders' Submarine Plot Hole Was a Casualty of the Budget

The clock was ticking, and — as the Blu-ray outtakes show — the director was in no mood to get back in the water to make the footage work. Instead, the scene got cut, leaving the particulars of Indy's submarine trick unaddressed and unanswered.

How did Indiana Jones survive nuking the fridge?

The Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull filmmakers decreed that the refrigerator shielded Indy from the heat, radiation, and other effects of the atomic blast, and the force of the fridge being thrown up into the air and landing on the ground was not sufficient to cause Indy injury.

Why did Indiana Jones survive the nuke?

In what is now popularly referred to as "nuking the fridge," Indy hid inside a lead-lined refrigerator during a close-range nuclear explosion to shield himself from the imminent atomic blast.

What did Indiana Jones have a fear of?

Indy's fear of snakes is a poignant, humorous element that stretches back decades to his adolescence. Other fears and insecurities go back even further and motivate the hero in much deeper ways. Fleeing from a band of graverobbers, a teenaged Indy develops his fear of snakes.

How did Indiana Jones find the Holy Grail?

With the help of the diary, Indiana overcomes the traps and finds a room with hundreds of cups and an ancient knight, who explains that only one cup is the true Grail. Donovan enters the room, dying by drinking from the wrong cup, before Indiana identifies the true Grail and rescues Henry.

Did Indiana Jones get immortality?

Though there is evidence that the Grail may not have made Indiana Jones truly immortal, it does seem that it may have given him some form of restorative powers. The Last Crusade does specify that the Grail only offers immortality to those who do not leave its temple.

Is there bad language in Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Raiders of the Lost Ark contains occasional coarse language and name-calling.

How many real snakes were used in Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Cinephilia & Beyond has some interesting information about the snakes in a long article about the movie: "Spielberg wasn't pleased with the number of snakes they had on the set (about 2000) and ordered 4500 more from Denmark in order to achieve the horror the script so well described."

What did Indiana Jones teach?

His research is funded by Marshall College (a fictional school named after producer Frank Marshall), where he is a professor of archaeology.

How old was Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones 1?

Raiders of the Lost Ark's shoot began in June 1980, (via LucasFilm) which meant that Harrison was 37 years old when he started filming the movie, the same age as Indiana Jones himself. However, as principal photography continued until September and lasted for 72 days, Ford is 38 years old in most of the scenes.