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Raiders
of the Lost Ark (1981)
In director Steven Spielberg's first film in the popular Indiana
Jones franchise - a rousing blockbuster adventure-serial film
filled with comic-book style, cliffhangers and many great action
stunts:
- the film's title sequence and introduction of 1930s
archaeology professor and treasure hunter Indiana "Indy" Jones
(Harrison Ford) (wearing his signature short, brown leather flight
jacket, with a bullwhip and a snappy brimmed felt fedora); teasingly
first seen faceless and only in silhouette while guiding an expedition,
his face was memorably revealed after Spanish Peruvian Barranca
(Vic Tablian) reached for his gun and cocked it when a treasure
map was found; Jones responded reflexively with lightning speed
by accurately and gracefully uncoiling his bullwhip and wrapping
it around Barranca's hand; his reaction sent the gun into the river
where it discharged harmlessly, while Barranca fled into the jungle;
then, Jones was fully revealed - he stepped from darkness (in silhouette)
into the light.
- the stimulating opening sequence in a booby-trapped
jungle cave when Indy snatched a fierce-looking but beautiful golden
Fertility Idol artifact from an altar, located in a mid-1930s South
American (Peru) rainforest jungle cave setting and then had to make
a mad dash after setting off a chain reaction of destruction (including
poisonous darts and arrows); Indy came upon traitorous Peruvian helper
Satipo (Alfred Molina) (with the two moments of "Give me the
whip" and "Throw me the idol") who was bloodily spiked
in the head; Indy retorted under his breath to his unlucky partner: "Adios,
estupido"
- the subsequent sequence of an immense, thundering
rolling spherical boulder tumbling in Indy's direction, perfectly
sized to fit the passageway; Indy dashed just ahead of the destructive,
crushing boulder; he lept to safety outside the cave, just as the
giant rock slammed into the entrance of the cave and sealed it perfectly
- Indy was pursued by a tribe of Hovito cannibals
in a tropical setting as he made a getaway from his nemesis, an
archaeologist working for the Nazis named Dr. Rene Belloq (Paul
Freeman) (who retrieved the idol) and ran toward an awaiting escape
plane; there, he first exhibited his fear of snakes to the pilot: "I
hate snakes, Jock. I hate 'em"
- the set-up for the film's main plot: a discussion
scene at Marshall College between multi-talented Archaeology Professor
Jones - an "expert on the occult" and "obtainer of
rare antiquities" - and two Army Intelligence officers: Colonel
Musgrove (Don Fellows) and Major Eaton (William Hootkins) in his
college classroom; he explained the significance of a Nazi digging
occurring on the desert outskirts of Cairo, Egypt in the ancient
city of Tanis, the possible resting place of the Ark of the Covenant
- a biblical chest reportedly containing fragments of the 10 Commandments: "The
Nazis have discovered Tanis!...The city of Tanis is one of the possible
resting places of the Lost Ark...Yeah, the Ark of the Covenant. The
chest the Hebrews used to carry around the Ten Commandments...Yes,
the actual Ten Commandments. The original stone tablets that Moses
brought down out of Mount Horeb and smashed, if you believe in that
sort of thing. Any of you guys ever go to Sunday School?...Oh, look.
The Hebrews took the broken pieces and put 'em in the Ark. And when
they settled in Canaan, they put the Ark in a place called The Temple
of Solomon...Where it stayed for many years. Until, all of a sudden,
whoosh, it's gone...Well, nobody knows where or when"; it was
an ominous development that the Nazis were searching for the Ark,
to grant their armies invincibility; one of Indy's books illustrated
the power of the Ark ("lightning, fire, the power of God or
something")
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Indy Explaining the Possible Existence of
the Lost Ark of the Covenant in Tanis, Egypt
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The Power of the Ark
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Dr. Marcus Brody
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- later that evening as Indy prepared for his journey
for a lost 3,000 year old object, museum curator Dr. Marcus Brody
(Denholm Elliott) warned about the Ark: "That's not something
to be taken lightly. No one knows its secrets. It's like nothing
you've ever gone after before." Indy replied: "Oh, Marcus.
What are you tryin' to do, scare me? I mean, you sound like my
mother. We've known each other for a long time. I don't believe
in magic, a lot of superstitious hocus-pocus. I'm goin' after a
find of incredible historical significance. You're talkin' about
the bogeyman. Besides, you know what a cautious fellow I am" (he
threw a firearm into his suitcase)
- the sequence in Nepal of Indy's reacquaintance with
ex-girlfriend Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) from 10 years earlier
- the hard-drinking, gambling daughter of Indy's mentor Abner Ravenwood,
an Egyptologist; she managed a Nepalese saloon, where Indy appeared
as a shadowy silhouette on the wall in his familiar Indiana Jones'
adventurer's outfit, after the bar closed; she unleashed a solid
right to his jaw to express her anger over their former love affair
("I learned to hate you in the last ten years")
In a Nepalese Saloon Run by Marion Ravenwood
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Marion Ravenwood
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Indy's Silhouette
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Marion Slugged Indy
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Marion's Threatened Torture by Toht
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Indy to the Rescue
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Toht's Seared Hand
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- Marion reportedly possessed (from her father) a
valuable Egyptian artifact, a headpiece (that looked like a gold
medallion) for the 'Staff of Ra' - a crucial element to help discover
the location of the Ark's whereabouts (the Well of Souls); it was
revealed to be on a necklace around her neck; later that night,
a cohort of four Nazi agents led by sadistic-looking Nazi Gestapo
Major Toht (Ronald Lacey) burst in; while dealing with the evil
Nazis who were about to torture Marion (with a red hot poker) to
have her reveal the medallion's location, Indy emerged with his
whip and a gun and fought off the Nazis during a wild scuffle;
as Toht reached for the medallion (heated above the fireplace)
and as he grabbed for the object, it seared the palm of his hand;
Marion and Indy retained the medallion and she became his partner:
("You're gonna get more than you bargained for. I'm your goddamn
partner!")
- in a Cairo marketplace, the greatest crowd-pleasing
scene (Gun vs. Sword) - Indy was challenged to do battle with an
ominous-looking, massive, menacing, skilled Arab swordsman (stuntman
Terry Richards) dressed in black with a red waistband, in the middle
of a Cairo bazaar while he was searching for kidnapped former lover
Marion Ravenwood; the overconfident Arab laughed and impressively
twirled his swishing broadsword for the crowd; w ithout hesitation
or the slightest bit of fair play, and without bothering to reach
for his whip, Indy calmly and casually grabbed for his gun and with
one shot felled his opponent
- the sequence of Indy's descent into a map room, in
order to use a beam of light (exactly at 9 am) to cast a ray of bright
sunlight through the medallion (on the top of the Staff of Ra) to
mark the exact location of the Ark; the focused light was transcendently
displayed (with an intense, searing glow) onto a miniature stone
model or replica of the ancient city of Tanis to show the proper
location of the Well of the Souls - a different spot from where the
Nazis were digging
- the exciting sequence of Indy's digging at the new
site, and discovery of the heavy entry door to an underground chamber
of the ancient tomb, the Well of Souls, as lightning crackled; holding
a torch, Indy looked down at the floor of the chamber 30 feet down
that appeared to be moving; he tossed down his torch to illuminate
asps and cobras crawling around - and piteously sighed: "Snakes.
Why'd it hafta be snakes?"; Indy carefully lowered himself
into the chamber, but fell to the floor where he landed directly
face-to-face with a flaring cobra in an excruciatingly horrific moment
The Discovery of the Underground Chamber with
the Ark
(in The Well of Souls)
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Lightning Crackled
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Looking Down into Chamber
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Asps on Floor of Chamber
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Indy: "Snakes. Why'd
it hafta be snakes?
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Lowered Into Chamber
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Face to Face with Hooded Cobra
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- the process of removing a protective stone cover
and lifting the Ark clear of its stone chest without touching it
(by using wooden poles); it was awesomely beautiful - a gold-overlaid
rectangular box, with two sculptured gold angels (seraphim) mounted
to face each other on top; the Ark was placed in a wooden crate,
and then hauled up to the surface with ropes - but Indy was greeted
by Belloq and the Nazis; Marion was pushed into the chamber to
join Indy as the tomb was sealed
- the exciting sequence of Indy's and Marion's escape
from the chamber by breaking through the wall, but they found themselves
in catacombs full of cascading, moldering mummies, sarcophagi and
skulls (with more snakes), before locating a way out of the chamber
- Indy's brutal fist-fight at a Nazi airstrip death
against two mechanics, including a burly bald German mechanic (Pat
Roach) who was pummeling Indy, but at the same time, he was cleverly
being backed into a revolving airplane propeller - where he was sliced
up (off-screen); his blood splattered onto the side of the Nazi plane;
Indy prevented the stolen Ark (possessed by the Nazis) from leaving
Egypt (bound for Berlin, Germany) by destroying the Flying Wing airplane
- the sequence of Indy's exciting pursuit atop a magnificent
white Arabian stallion after a canvas-topped Nazi truck caravan,
carrying the Ark to Cairo (to be flown from there to Berlin); when
asked about how Indy would execute his plan, Indy quipped: "I
don't know. I'm making this up as I go"; he lept onto the truck,
took over its control, but was then thrown through the windshield
and hung onto the truck's front ornament; he lowered himself down,
hung onto the bottom of the truck and inched his way back to the
rear where he was dragged by his bullwhip, before he made his way
back onto the truck and into the cab, and then drove the truck to
a hiding place
- the sequence of Indy with Marion as passengers on
Mr. Katanga's (George Harris) steamboat - with the Ark of the Covenant
in its cargo hold; Marion nursed a badly wounded Indiana, who complained
of pain when she tried to apply ointment; she reminded him: "You're
not the man I knew ten years ago" to which he replied, famously
about his prowess: "It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage";
when he kept complaining about pain everywhere, she retorted: "Well,
G-ddamnit, Indy, where doesn't it hurt?" Indy pointed to the
only place it didn't hurt on his body - his left elbow; she kissed
it for him and then he prompted her to continue kissing him - on
his forehead (after she removed his hat), his right eye and finally,
a long passionate kiss on his lips. But then he passed out as Marion
pondered: "Jones, Jones. We never seem to get a break, do we?"
- after the Nazi's overtook the steamer via submarine
and repossessed the Ark, in a climactic finale - set on a mysterious
island in the middle of the Aegean Sea, somewhere southeast of Greece,
the contents of the Ark of the Covenant were to be revealed in a
preliminary ceremony; as the Ark was marched into a rocky cavern
on the island; Indy (in a stolen Nazi uniform) ducked out of sight
when no one was looking, climbed the cavern wall, and halted the
procession from the cliff ridge with a bazooka on his shoulder, but
he was ultimately forced to surrender
- the captured Indy and Marion were tied back-to-back
to a pole-stake, and watching from a few hundred feet away (Indy
warned: "Don't look at it. Shut your eyes, Marion, and don't
look at it, no matter what happens"); God's wrath and the horrors
of hell were summoned in the form of deadly visions when the Ark
was opened; as Indiana's nemesis Belloq opened its cover, he was
instantly besieged by ghostly images and screamed in horror; fire
consumed him and his body exploded; piercing firebolts and shafts
of fire zapped the rest of the Nazis through the heart; all of the
interlopers were punished by a lethal dose of death for breaking
the sacred taboo; Colonel Herman Dietrich (Wolf Kahler) melted into
dripping ooze by the extreme heat, and evil Gestapo Major Toht also
burned and melted as he viewed the opening
The Deadly Opening of the Ark
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The Ark's Deadly Vision
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Piercing Firebolts
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Renee Belloq
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Death of Colonel Herman Dietrich (Wolf Kahler)
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Death of Major Arnold Toht
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Belloq's Consumption by Fire
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- in the deeply ironic twist conclusion, after Indiana
Jones had risked his life, recovered the Ark, and it was delivered
to Washington, DC, the adventurer was congratulated by two Army
Intelligence Officers: "You've done your country a great service...";
however, Indy (along with Brody) was concerned that the Ark was
not going to be safe, would not be stored properly, and that its
power was misunderstood; he was left with the vague promise that
some of the government's unidentified
"top men" were researching it: "We have top men working
on it right now"
- after emerging from the government building, Indy
told Marion his frustration that his work had been co-opted by
the bureaucratic, fool-hardy government: "Fools, bureaucratic
fools...They don't know what they've got there"; Marion responded
with the film's final line: "Well, I know what I've got here.
Come on. I'll buy you a drink. You know, a drink?"; the Ark
of the Covenant was crated in a wooden box and its lid was solidly
nailed shut - its stenciled label contained a long inventory number
for identification:
TOP SECRET
ARMY INTEL 9906753
DO NOT OPEN!
- the very slow reveal of the deeply ironic final shot
(a lengthy matte shot that paid homage to a similar closing Citizen
Kane (1941) "toss that junk" scene) in which a
warehouseman pushed the crated Ark down a long aisle formed by huge
stacks of similar crates in an enormous government warehouse
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The Entrance of "Indy" Jones
Removing the Golden Idol
A Chain Reaction of Destruction
Death of Traitorous Peruvian Helper Satipo
Flight from Hovito Cannibals
"I hate snakes"
Flight to Nepal
Flight (with Marion) to Cairo, Egypt
Indy's Gun vs. Arab's Sword
Medallion Atop the Staff - To Locate Digging Spot for
Ark in City of Tanis
The Ark's Removal From Chamber
Escape From the Tomb - Into the Catacombs with
Mummies and Sarcophagi
Fighting At the Nazi Airstrip
Nazi Mechanic Bloodied by Propeller
Nazi Plane Blown Up
Indy on White Stallion: "I'm making this
up as I go"
Pursuit of Truck Carrying Ark
Hanging Onto Front of Truck and then Dragged
"You're not the man I knew 10 years ago"
Kisses with Marion on a Steamer
Indy Threatening with Bazooka as the Ark was Marched
to Ceremonial Spot on Aegean Island
The Opening of the Ark - Marion and Indy Tied Nearby
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