Indiana Jones is a archaeologist and an a adventurer who likes to travel to sacred places to find ancient artifacts. Indiana is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis do.
Blaine: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas attended film school together and they had been good friends ever since then. After “Star Wars” was finished and became a huge success, George took a vacation with Steven in Hawaii. Steven told George that he wanted to direct a James Bond film or something like James Bond and George already had this idea in mind before he did “Star Wars" about an archaeologist who goes around finding ancient artifacts that have a supernatural flavor to them. George had worked on developing the script for “Raiders of the Lost Ark” with Philip Kaufman and Phil was George’s first choice to direct the picture. It was Phil’s idea that the supernatural sacred object that Indiana goes looking for be the Ark of the Covenant because he had done some research on it. Phil had to leave the project because he had signed on to direct a Clint Eastwood movie, so George put the script on the shelf. Steven thought the idea for “Raiders” was fantastic and he was all in favor of it. George had named the main character Indiana after his dog, but Steven didn’t like the idea of Indiana’s last name being Smith, so George quickly thought about calling him Indiana Jones and Steven liked that better.
“Raiders of the Lost Ark” would get turned down by every company George Lucas had presented it to because they thought it would be impossible to make a movie like this. Paramount Pictures on the other hand loved the idea and wanted to finance the movie. The next thing was to find the right actor to play Indiana Jones. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg’s first choice was Tom Selleck. They did a screen test of Selleck doing the bar scene where he goes to see Marion, the love interest of the movie, and they thought he was terrific. But the problem was they couldn’t keep him because the head of CBS informed Steven that Tom Selleck was committed to the series, “Magnum P.I.” They didn’t know who to choose from then on until Steven saw a cut of “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” and when he saw Harrison Ford as Han Solo it was clear to Steven that Harrison should be Indiana Jones. George Lucas wasn’t too big on the idea of Harrison being Indiana Jones and thought Harrison should be best known only as Han Solo, but Steven told him that he’s an actor and they play all kinds of different characters. George had called Harrison Ford saying that Steven Spielberg wanted to meet with him and for him to take a look at this script. Harrison was very eager to do the project after reading the script and he liked Steven after having a nice conversation with him. Steven and George’s problems of finding the right actor were over after Harrison had signed on to be Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford would have to practice how to use a whip. He even got a coach to teach him how to.
One of the locations “Raiders” was shot at was Elstree Studios in England. Norman Reynolds was the production designer and that excited Steven because he loved the work he had done for “Star Wars”. Norman did a lot of models and sketches of what the sets were going to look like. Norman made a small model of the desert location they would shoot at with these small figures representing the extras that would be on the set. Steven would get his little 35 mm viewfinder and lie on his belly on that model trying to find the angles he would want the camera to be for when they shoot on the real set.
At the very beginning of the film it shows the Paramount Pictures logo, then it cuts to a mountain on a location Indiana Jones is at and that was Steven Spielberg’s idea. It was a challenge to find that mountain while they were in Kauai and Steven put producer Frank Marshall in charge of finding a mountain that was the same shape as the Paramount logo. Frank had to drive around the whole place until he found the right location.
“Raiders of the Lost Ark” was actor Alfred Molina’s first movie. He had spent five years doing theater and when he was cast in “Raiders” he was nervous because he had never had any film experience. The tarantulas on the back was Alfred's first day of shooting and the tarantulas wouldn’t move while they were on Alfred’s back because they were all male. In order to get them to move you would have to put a female in so the males could fight each other of who gets her. Alfred didn’t have to act scared in that scene because he was already afraid of having them crawling through his body.
The golden idol Indiana goes after at the beginning of the film was based on an Inca fertility figure. Production designer Norman Reynolds modified it a lot so that it could be easier to hold. The giant ball chasing after Indy was another one of Steven’s ideas. Norman Reynolds made this giant boulder for Steven that was very large, very heavy and could cause damage to anything.
Steven wanted Paul Freeman as Belloq, the bad guy who always takes what Indiana goes after. What Steven really liked about Paul was the look on his eyes. They showed Paul the script and he liked it. One of the things Paul has done in his career as an actor is different accents and Steven assumed Paul could do a French accent. But while “Raiders” was filming, Steven all of sudden got concerned about the French accent because he never asked Paul if he could do it. Paul was called to London to be tested if he could do a French accent even though he already got the part. Paul would do the French accent and speak a little French as well and Steven was relieved after that.
Steve was a fan of Denholm Elliott fan and he felt that Denholm should play Indiana’s good friend, Brody. Steven said that Denholm lent a paternal warmth to Indiana Jones who says, “I don’t want you to get hurt.” He’s the voice of reason.
Lawrence Kasdan named Indy’s love interest, Marion, after his wife’s grandmother because he really liked her name. Lawrence named Marion's last name, Ravenwood, after a street he came across because he thought that sounded great putting those two names together. Steven liked Karen Allen’s work every since he saw “Animal House” and so they had her brought in and do a screen test with Tim Matheson. Steven felt Karen was perfect for the role because not only did she pass the audition, but she looked like a 1930’s woman to him.
Ronald Lacey was just about to give up acting because it wasn’t getting him anywhere even though he was a hard working actor. Then Steven had him play Major Arnold Toht and that turned things around for him. The audience would gasp when they saw the scene where Toht pulls out what looks like nunchucks and is going to use them on Marion, but instead he turns it into a coat hanger. It was a gag Steven had thought about using in one of his other movies, “1941”, but it didn’t work for that movie. Steven had kept that idea in mind for a while.
Steven originally offered the part of Sallah to Danny Devito and Danny was super excited to play the character, but he was having trouble finding some free time from his show, “Taxi”, and so he couldn’t do it. Steven's second choice for the character was John Rhys-Davies after seeing him in a TV movie called “Shogun”. He thought that John had a great voice and was perfect for Sallah. Steven wanted John Rhys-Davies performance to be a cross between what he did in “Shogun” and “Falstaff” and John thought that was interesting.
One of the locations they shot at was in a town called Kairouan. One of the challenges was making Kairouan look like it was still in the 1930s. There was all these wires and TV antennas that they had to remove by hand because computer effects didn’t exist back then to erase that stuff out. Tunisia was a stressful place to shoot for everyone because it was very hot there, the air was hard to breathe and people would get sick from the food they ate. The shooting schedule for Tunisia was scheduled to be six weeks, but Steven got it down to four and half so that they could leave.
Every character has his or her weakness and when Steven and George were discussing what Indiana Jones weakness should be Steven looked up what people are most afraid of and snakes was one of them. So they went with snakes as the weakness. At first the snakes were going to be mechanical during the scene where Indiana Jones has to face thousands of snakes in order to get to the Ark, but they weren’t working out because they didn’t look real. So Steven hired snake wranglers to bring in thousands of snakes on the set. The cobras that were brought in were the most dangerous to be around and everyone had to be very careful not to get close to them. They had an ambulance waiting outside just incase if one of the cobras bit anyone. There’s one cobra that pops up as soon as Indiana lands on the ground. There was a glass window in between Harrison and that cobra while they shot that scene.
Steven had drawn a lot of storyboards for the chase sequence where Indy goes after the truck with the ark inside it and he put Michael Moore, the second unit director, in charge of directing it. Steven would shoot the close up shots with Harrison Ford while Michael Moore shot all the stunt work. Michael knew how Steven wanted the scene to look because they went through the storyboards together.
Towards the end, the bad guys open up the ark and these spirits show up and the actors were reacting to something that wasn’t really there. With the help of Steven’s storyboards they knew exactly what to react to because they showed what these spirits were going to look like. Steven asked himself how they were going to be able to pull off an effect to make Belloq’s head blow up, Dietrich’s head shrink and Toht’s head melt down to the skull for that sequence. Chris Walas, the special make-up effects artist, found a way. First they did a cast of the actor, then Chris would mix together this gelatin to make the skin and blood. The skull was made out of stone and they would cover it up with the fake blood, then the skin. Two heaters were used in order to make the face melt down to the bone. Steven was really impressed with the effect and Chris Walas got a lot of phone calls from people who were really impressed with that effect.
Paramount had scheduled “Raiders" to be shot in 85 days, but Steven and his team were able to do it in 60 days. George said the script turned out better than he had hoped and Steven made it even better than the script through his vision and his ideas. Steven wasn’t expecting to make a movie that would become a classic or become very successful, but he was hoping it would be a movie the audience would like. Harrison Ford knew that “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was going to be a fun movie to watch after reading the script and after getting to know Steven he had confidence in him as a filmmaker. Harrison was very pleased at the amount of success that the film made.
My rating on “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is five out of five stars
Music by John Williams
Parodies
The Simpsons
Blaine: This “Simpsons” parody represents the scene where this guy with a sword shows up and wants to fight Indiana Jones, but Indi shoots him dead instead.
Family Guy
Peter and Brian set up a trap for James Woods and then have him sent to a warehouse.
South Park
Plot: Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Tweek hate that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg keep on changing their movies, “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” and “Star Wars” with enhancements. Steven and George then get the idea of giving “Raiders of the Lost Ark” an upgrade. The boys try to steal the original print of “Raiders” at George Lucas’ house, but are caught by Steven, George and their men. Steven throws a private party for the premiere of the new and enhanced “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, but the film turns out to be a disaster and kills everyone who watches it. The boys survive for they chose not to look. They have “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and a few other films locked away where no one can get to them.
