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An army that carries The Behind the Scenes Pic of the Day before it is invincible…
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today’s Behind the Scenes Pic!
There are fewer movies out there more perfect than Raiders of the Lost Ark. It is pure cinema, a rip-roaring adventure tale with some of the most well drawn heroes and villains in any movie of its type. Star Wars might be a little more iconic, but in a weird way Indiana Jones feels more grown up.
The stakes in Raiders felt more pressing to me than the ones in Star Wars. In Star Wars I always trusted that Darth Vader would be defeated and the good guys would win. In Indy’s world that wasn’t a guarantee. You know what I think sets it apart for me? The truck chase sequence. It really upset me as a kid seeing Indiana Jones get shot in the arm. For whatever reason, be it the wetness of the squib, the grimace on Indy’s face or the splatter on the windshield, that really affected me as a kid.
Indy got hurt for real and I felt the exhaustion of that epic sequence on Ford’s face and due to Michael Kahn’s editing, John Williams’ pounding score and Spielberg’s tight direction I even felt a little of that exhaustion as an audience member. That’s pretty masterful storytelling.
So, in honor of this great film and, in particular, this great sequence today’s Behind the Scenes Pic takes a look at the filming of the truck chase from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Thanks to Alexandre Poncet for sending it along and you can click for a bigger image! Enjoy!
Tomorrow’s Behind the Scenes Pic has betrayed Shiva!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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Readers Talkback
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What a drag.
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Except, y'know... THE NAZIS DIDN'T WIN WORLD WAR II.
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And the Nazis also didn't have magic Bible relics either. What's your point?
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At least 11 times in the theater when it came out. My best friend worked there and would let me in for free. I never saw a movie that many times again. Great flick. Too bad the others couldn't live up to the original.
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March 29, 2011, 9:50 p.m. CST
Spielberg and Lucas behind the wheel...with Spielberg steering
by Bobo_Vision
Symbolism.
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I was 15 at the time and thought it was just ok.
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I was just gonna post that exact same thing
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it was all second unit??
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This is one of the films that made me fall in love with movies. One of my all-time favorites to this day. Definitely more grown-up than Star Wars, and the most intense film in the series. The truck scene is one of the best chase scenes ever. Quint, funny you mention it, but the shot in the arm always got me too. It lends a real sense of danger and seriousness to the action. This wasn't meant to be kid stuff.
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Just that the dramatic urgency of a do-or-die adventure movie that's set in a historical period is always going to be diminished, compared to something set in the present, future or something fictional altogether. "Raiders" is good, but it never really feels as though there's any danger of the Nazis actually winning. It's a great fantasy, but it never threatens to become an alternate-history. <p>It's the same reason the SW Prequels have a somewhat less urgent story, because we know the outcome. But then, I love the hell out of those movies, just as plenty love the hell out of this.
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Just one of the many films I would kill to see in theaters. Oh how I wish a cool theater would open near me that shows retro movies like every friday at nine or something. A different one every week.
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I don't know if you live in a large city, But here in Chicago, it has played a few times at theaters that play old classics and midnight cult movies. It definitely is a great experience on the big screen. It has been my dream for tenty years to open an old one screen theater that plays nothing but classic films for one week runs. Not just cult and genre stuff, but true classics, things I never got to see in a theater like Godfather or Clockwork Orange. If only I were rich.
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Temple of Doom was okay, Last Crusade was pretty good but still couldn't top "Raiders", Crystal Skull was embarrassing, so don't get me started on Crystal Skull. Thanks for Spielberg for ruining that would have been a great franchise but failed. I'm pretty sure Indy V won't be any better.
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March 29, 2011, 10:13 p.m. CST
Yeah that insert vehicle looks real safe hanging off the front bumper like that straddling a 2x4 or whatever...
by Darth_Kong
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March 29, 2011, 10:14 p.m. CST
You think the crew members who risked their lives to get this shot got HAZARD PAY or points on the back end from Paramount?
by Darth_Kong
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I named my daughter Indiana. No joke.
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"Bad dates."
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I have to, I just have to. YOU ARE A CUNT. There is no way you are not just trolling for reaction. Congrats ya got me. Far from perfect?!? a good kids movie?!? no one and I mean no one has ever thrown Raiders under the bus. It IS cinema perfection. Not opinion, FACT. You may not be impressed by it, as mentioned you are a cunt. But the film making is perfect! Not far from it Cunty McCuntalot!!!
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Every scene/line of dialogue of this movie leads naturally into the next. There isn't a bit of fat in this movie that needs to be trimmed. It's such a perfectly written, concisely paced, amazingly acted, and superbly directed and edited movie.
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...knowing how a movie is going to play-out/end. The good guys always win, well, I shouldn't say always because yes there are exceptions, but in adventure/action movies like this, there isn't any mystery that Indy is going to beat the Nazis, and that has nothing to do with the fact that the Nazis lost WWII in real life. Tension is in story construction, creating investment into the characters, loads of other stuff that the writers around here will tell you about, but its not just sitting around wondering if the good guy is going to come out on top in the end. But if all it takes is to set a movie in the present or future to confuse you into wondering if the good guy actually wins in the end, well, I guess that's kind of sweet. Stupid, but sweet.
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Quint's right, you feel like Indy's a real human being by the end of that, exhausted, hurt, but still standing.
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March 29, 2011, 10:24 p.m. CST
This is my favorite well second favorite movie behind the unheralded masterpiece that is Bruce willis's Hudson Hawk
by D Middling
I kid you not, friends!
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You're making no sense. We know as an audience that the Nazi's do not win WWII but Within this story the fate of whether the Nazi's won the war or took over the world was not at issue (in real life). While watching it we the audience had no way of knowing whether they could win the battle, what or who might be lost in the prevention of them obtaining the Ark etc. Challenging Quints perception upon originally viewing this masterpiece and To claim you knew with certainty with out the aid of time to reflect is disingenuous.
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... was exiting the theater after first viewing and practically bouncing around. My friends loved it too, and we must have seen it AT LEAST five more times that summer. 'Nuff said!
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we don't know that the Nazis did not possess Magical bibles. Lets be a responsible journalist please.
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I like all the Indy films, but Raiders is fucking great. Indy's pistol sounds like a howitzer in the Nepalese bar! Toht's face melting! Flying wing fist fight! Giant fucking boulder after seeing a dead Doc Ock! Tons of snakes and corpses! I AM THE SULTAN OF THE SEA!
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March 29, 2011, 10:31 p.m. CST
Who gives a fuck if we already know how it ends.We all know how making sex ends.
by KilliK
But we are still doing it for the in-between part of it because it is fun.GOT IT?
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March 29, 2011, 10:32 p.m. CST
Belloq wasn't the creepiest villain in the film, Major Toht was...
by brocknroll
Major Toht was the bald dude with glasses on who always wore that hat. He was a scary looking dude and one of the serious villains in the film that really made you want to hate him. Indy's bar fight with Toht at Marion's place was one of my favorite scenes in the film.
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That flick robbed Indy of his much deserved Best Picture win.
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Thank you for saying what were all thinking to the douchebag. I have so many great memories of this movie to have a jaghole degrade raised my blood pressure. Nice job.
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Actually, considering that the idea for the whole movie stems from the fact that the Nazis actually were looking for occult artifacts and whatnot, I don't see how the addition of fantasy elements into a historical adventure necessarily implies that the outcome of the war is now uncertain. Even as a kid, the impression I got wasn't "oh no, maybe this is going to turn out to be an alternate history", but was more along the lines of "oh, maybe this is the sort of thing that might've been left out of the history books". It's one thing to ask us to suspend our disbelief, but asking somebody to buy the idea that "Raiders" has more suspense in its serial-cliffhanger set up than "Star Wars" is just plain asking you to suspend your belief of historical fact.
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March 29, 2011, 10:42 p.m. CST
Marion Ravenwood. Cool Name,Hot Babe. and wasnt implied in the movie
by KilliK
that she had relationship with Indy while she was underage?
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That looks dangerous! Those guys aren't wearing shirts!
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What's the guy in the blue shirt doing? Looking into another camera?
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Temple was better by leaps and bounds. Sweat and exhaustion ramped up exponentially. Truck chase easily bested by the mine chase.
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He should get some credit. Also Terry Leonard, the guy who doubled Indy going under the truck.
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i distinctly remember seeing Ford on screen at the opening and wondering how he was in "Empire" at the same time. Then my mouth fell open and my eyes widened at the kickassery of that movie--That opening bit, Indy's 6 shooter that sounded like a cannon (and didn't need to be reloaded) in the Nepalese bar, the choreography of that scene...that car chase, the Sound FX for the punches in between the plane propellers. Goddamn. I could go on and on about how fucking great that movie is, and how great it makes me feel thinking about it. Good times...
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"Always overdressing for the wrong occassion." Shame Ronald Lacey didn't do much after Raiders, although Paul Verhoeven used him as a priest in Flesh + Blood.
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Our paths have not crossed in many moons.
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March 29, 2011, 11:01 p.m. CST
"Remember, this is the film that stopped you cold!"
by Mr. Nice Gaius
Damn, I miss those ABC Monday Night Movie intros!!! Yeah, simply put, RAIDERS is one of the greatest films ever made; total lightning in a bottle. And that truck sequence is one for the ages. If this film isn't somewhere in your Top Ten, then you should be roasted alive in Hell. Seriously, let's not pussyfoot around here.
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Just chillin', bro - sitting back, contemplating Sucker Punch's complex symbolism and browsing prisonplanet.com.
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Holding his arm, grunting, that douchebag Nazi punching him in the wound...you get the feeling he's gonna lose. Which makes it that much better when the Raiders March plays after he comes out from under the truck and hands the guy's ass to him. I also still get the same feeling I did as a kid when he charges off on the horse after the truck, alone.
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No creativity at all.
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coolest female in a movie ever. Tough, sexy, daring, intense. Too bad Lucas assraped the heart and soul out of her for the Crystal Turd and made her into a lobotomized version of Willie Scott.
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I chose to see Battle: LA last friday instead. But I feel I'm missing out on the conversation of the year right now with Sucker Punch, is it brilliant, is it dumb, is it empowering or is everyone else missing the point?
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March 29, 2011, 11:07 p.m. CST
SORRY, RAIDERS DOESN'T EVEN REGISTER IN MY TOP 300
by BringingSexyBack
But chill. I'm not knocking it. I just like a whole lotta fucking movies!
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It's going in the DVD machine tonight!!!
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--OH GOD!!!
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I hope to go there some day
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Were you that other Talkbacker constantly pimping InfoWars.com for the longest time?
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Personal favorite. Period.
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That was Winona_Pussy_Juice. But you know what, you got to read Infowars. No shit, they have been ahead of the curve on the mainstream media story after story. Japan, Libya ... they're reporting stuff CNN and Fox don't have the balls to cover. Download the app, Jones' show is great!
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You mean a girl who yells and screams all the time and is dumber than the blonde original? Obviously, you didn't see Crystal Skull, bc that doesn't describe Marion in the sequel at all. Either that, or you're really bad at descriptions.
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March 29, 2011, 11:15 p.m. CST
Nothing beats that look on Indy's face when he makes his move to take back the truck...
by Mr. Nice Gaius
...slamming that old Nazi's face into the dash before sending him through the windshield to his proper demise under wheel. Total pissed-off badassery.
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She wasn't Marion. Kinda dizzy, written as the same type of girl in the woods in need Willie was. I just don't think she lived up to the original character. Broke my heart.
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I love this movie...but in the end, Indy LOST to the Nazis. They had the Ark, They had Indy and Marion tied to the pole, they had the stage....BUT. They opened the damn thing. Sorry, you lose! haha! I think there might just be some kind of lesson in there somewhere.
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She wasn't the same Marion, sure (some would argue its the age thing), and yeah, she didn't live up to her original character (though I did love her banter with Indy about leaving behind a wake of human wreckage) but come on, you can't say she's a lobotomized Willie. That comparison makes no sense!
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PRAY TO GOD.
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But that damned monkey took me right out of the movie.
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Just like his evil overlord. Then he'd be badass.
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March 29, 2011, 11:19 p.m. CST
LET'S SEE. INDY LED THE NAZIS TO THE MEDALLION. THEN
by BringingSexyBack
he led them to the Ark itself. Indy was supposed to be the good guy, right?
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March 29, 2011, 11:21 p.m. CST
KAREN ALLEN GAVE A GREAT PERFORMANCE IN THE PERFECT STORM
by BringingSexyBack
It wasn't a big role, but she was all Marion-like on that yacht.
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But didn't like what they did with her at all. Wasn't crazy about the movie either. But Marion holds a spot in my heart above all others; hitting the mongol with the firelog, hitting the egyptian with the frying pan, gunning down all those Nazis while Indy fights the mechanic. To all of a sudden become the screaming wide eyed doe just didn't seem fair.
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For some reason the VHS Hi-Fi/DVD home theater audio never seemed to replicate the BEEF of Burt's sound effects from 1981 (and when RAIDERS came out our theater didn't even yet have stereo installed). The closest approximation I've found is the vinyl record of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: THE MOVIE ON RECORD. I think there's something about digital studio re-mastering and its normalization/finalization for home video which blunted the dynamic range which was originally there. RAIDERS definitely must be seen AND heard in a theater...and thank goodness Spielberg kept these Lucas-produced movies in the revival circuit.
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March 29, 2011, 11:24 p.m. CST
So, losing is defined as surviving, getting the girl, and saving the world?
by StarWarsRedux
Apparently everybody's reading from Charlie Sheen's personal dictionary.
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Yeah, unfortunately she didn't get to have the same action beats as before. Her best moment was figuring out how to drive the car-boat off a cliff and onto a tree to land safely in the water. Utterly ridiculous. But, it was there way of demonstrating her smarts and ingenuity. But unfortunately there never was that moment where she got to punch a Russian commander in the face. But still, she never screamed, never yelled in fear as the "wide-eyed doe" like Willie did. Marion didn't do that, even in the new one.
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[pun intented] I could talk about this film all night, but I have to get some sleep..two quickies though.. First..If I get could pick 20 seconds out of this amazing film that will always give me a movie hard-on, it's from the moment the last german guy climbs onto the top of the truck, loses his hat, the sweeping truck turning shot, and then of course the jump into the window to get Indy. John Williams is swinging for the fences with the music, the horns come in and it just all clicks...one of my favorite film moments, ever. Second, in what has to be one of the top 10 goofiest moments in the series, and yes I'll include the much maligned KOTCS, I cite for Exhibit A after the truck hits some water - the guy staring into the windshield and gaping like a fish before sliding off. Always thought that bit was whacky, even now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIG4u5z7_54
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March 29, 2011, 11:26 p.m. CST
Only ONE Flaw in Raiders: A Plot Hole Involving the Submarine Chase
by Tim
They never explained how Indiana Jones magically swam to the secret Nazi submarine base. They never showed him getting on the submarine nor hinted that he used his whip to ride the periscope there (and nobody saw him?). Other than that, PERFECT movie. Indiana Jones gets shot in the chase scene and you can see he's NOT invincible. Thank god they didn't nuke a fridge or have CGI back then.
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Seriously Alex Jones? Really I mean come on REALLY? You've always been somewhat questionable on things but Alex Jones? Good christ man get some help. Or maybe you just need buy the special Alex Jones magic seeds and all will be well.
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March 29, 2011, 11:27 p.m. CST
But the dude's arms flying up in the air as he is run over by the truck...
by D.Vader
...Classic.
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Well, lets just say its a good thing that opening the Ark unleashed face melting ghosts instead of granting you ultimate power...;)
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Either that, or BSB is veeerrrrry slow at playing his hand.
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I know this sounds bad, but I'd have preferred her left alone. When she was on that live feed at comicon during filming I was overjoyed. then let down. When she gets thrown in the tent with him, cocks her hips and does says his name.... I don't know. Didn't have the same soul at all.
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...that Indy apparently knew about the "keep your eyes shut" rule that he politely declined to inform all the Nazis about (as well as the audience, come to think of it-- it's almost literally a deus ex machina).
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For good or ill, I measure almost every cinema experience against this one...and Indy usually wins.
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And then we passed by each other on the escalator, her going down, me going up, meeting at that moment when the two cross paths in that giant X shape. We met at that perfect moment, and I was left dumbstruck. All I could say was "You're Karen Allen!" and she just looked at me, turning as we moved past each other, and smiled and waved. It was awesome.
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It all turned out okay because Toht's hand was only burned on one side. The Nazi's didn't take back one Kedam to honor the Hebrew God Whose Ark it was.
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Boy that sounds dirty.
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with the Ark in it was honestly the best thing about Crystal Skull.
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Where you been? How do you know about Alex Jones' seed bank? Have you been reading ... Infowars.com?
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No, I think that's exactly what it was.
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I can't forget how cool the character's were. They're endeared to me forever. Kinda like, on a smaller scale, Ashley Judd in Heat. When she's got everything to lose in that movie and still gives Val Kilmer the wave off, well.....who the hell doesn't want a girl like that?
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Star Wars, Raiders, Aliens...my top three. Cause I'm a hopeless 40 year old Fanboy.
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Going up/down thing.
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March 29, 2011, 11:39 p.m. CST
I say "almost" because a box isn't a machine, strictly speaking.
by StarWarsRedux
Unless it's a cardboard box. In which case it's the greatest invention ever made, because you can fit a grown man inside it.
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I saw this movie in 2004 at the theater at the AMC Greenwood, IN I have seen this movie more times then I could count yet when I saw it that day it was Brand Smack a Babies ass new one of the best theater experiences I have ever had.
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March 29, 2011, 11:43 p.m. CST
MAXCHERRY: "DOUCHEBAG COMMENT OF THE YEAR SO FAR"
by BringingSexyBack
More to come. I guarantee it. Stay tuned!
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One thing about the Indy films hardly anyone comments on is the fact that, in three of the four movies, Indy is totally at the mercy of the villains, who then proceed to kill THEMSELVES while Indy watches helplessly from the sidelines. That's why Temple Of Doom is one I particularly like (although not as iconic overall as Raiders)...Indy KICKS ASS throughout the ENTIRE MOVIE. And as for the submarine gaffe, there's a shot of a Nazi inside the sub who looks quite a bit like Harrison Ford, and I always assumed that was Indy, who just punched out a sentry, tossed his body overboard, and stole his uniform. Watch it again...there's a guy who looks a LOT like Ford.
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Why don't you ream his ass for while. Mine's sore.
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THX 1138, Heaven's Gate, American Psycho, Altered States, Alphaville, Summer Wars, Hangmen Also Die, Stereo & Crimes of the Future, End of Evangelion, The Phantom Menace <p> <p> <p>"Raiders" might be in the top 300, but... nah. Probably not.
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March 29, 2011, 11:53 p.m. CST
WITH SO MANY FILMS BY THE LIKES OF KUROSAWA, BERGMAN, FELLINI, SNYDER AND WEBB
by BringingSexyBack
It's hard to put Spielberg high on my list. I'm not knocking him, he's a cool cat and all, but he's no Ang Lee.
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It was End of Evangelion that sealed the deal, wasn't it?
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March 30, 2011, midnight CST
I'M JUST SAYING. IF I'M THE TYPE OF GUY WHO WEARS A TOWEL ON MY HEAD
by BringingSexyBack
I wouldn't have Raiders OR Temple in my Top 300 either.
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ever.....
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Lush cinematography, beautiful music, jaw-dropping set-pieces and a damn-near perfect cast. Who cares if it's something like 4 hours long? It's 4 hours of pure magic. <p>Plus, it has a naked French lady in it.
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It's all relative. Your age, the experience, the longevity, even the impact it's had on your life. Grats for seeing Clockwork Orange in a theatre...I did too and am always up for a little "in and out" with the wife or need a little "Ludwig VAN" to feel connected to my own selfish desires. Social commentary aside...there are fun movies and there are trainwrecks of movies. There are alot of GREAT movies but what puts Raiders and Starwars as my top two is because they aren't just movies to me. They are time portals that flood me with the the invigorating optimism of youth. They represent something more to me than just a cinematic experience, tight script, well acted, good effects...etc. They make me remember who I am and what I wanted to be. They remind me of my dreams, desires, and hopes that have possibly fallen to the wayside during my evolution into grownup/parent/old guy. They just don't make movies like that anymore.
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March 30, 2011, 12:11 a.m. CST
And Halfbreed-- WttSS > Anything Pixar has ever done
by StarWarsRedux
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March 30, 2011, 12:16 a.m. CST
Spielberg storyboarded the entire truck chase sequence...
by CITIZENKANE
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March 30, 2011, 12:16 a.m. CST
...but he wasn't there for the filming of the sequence.
by CITIZENKANE
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This iconic scene was simply the icing on the most delicious cake I'd ever had in my life. <p> Thanks for sharing, Quint.
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Because..um...they shot his Dad and made him go through the traps to get the Grail for them...hello? But like the Ark...there was an ultimate boobytrap that allowed Indy to not only rescue his father, but kill all the Nazis and escape. This one is the easiest.
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Man,I saw JEDI again this week-muppets, fakey plastic heads on actors ala Disneyland characters, bad acting, in other words...CHEESE. INDY was much better.
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He had his plans but gimme a break. The Nazis would've made him disappear. It was obvious he was funded by them and they were using him. The point is that after it's all said and done...Indy loses by being at the business end of a machine gun and being told to go get the grail. He could've easily died in there or just said no and got shot.
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between your "Favorite Films" and films you consider to be "The Best". Citizen Kane is considered one of, if not THE best film ever made, yet it's far from one of my favorites...;) Although...one of my favorite films is "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" so I can see where you're coming from.
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and I was blown away.
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the good nazi she is. Hence him being a patsy all along. She, however is killed by taking the grail across the seal and making everything go tits up. Indy had nothing to do with this. Indy never loses in the end. He always loses at the "beginning" of the end.
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I'll always remember that night, 17 years old, standing in line opening weekend to see "Raiders of the Lost Ark" with my dad and uncle, really, really excited...and then seeing the girl I was secretly in love with in school come walking out of the previous showing holding some other guy's hand. She stopped to talk to me and I could barely get any words out. Screwed up that first viewing for me! But the 10 times I saw it after that made me feel better about what a great, great movie this is!
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Star Wars Raiders Ghosbusters Predator Jurrasic Park Quoting your favorite movies at 5 years old doesn't necessarily dictate your tastes, but rather the movies your parents set you in front of.
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you just don't get it. no worries, but trolling the new guy is lame. bye.
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March 30, 2011, 12:44 a.m. CST
The Indy Story Conference transcript is one of the best reads you'll find on the internet
by Happyfat73
Look it up if you haven't already done so – It's a transcript of the story meeting with Lucas, Spielberg and Kasdan working out the story for Raiders.</p> </p> What struck me about the transcript it is how much of a creative force George Lucas was back then. Basically, Lucas had all the bright ideas, Spielberg threw in a few lame suggestions and Kasdan took notes and cobbled it all together.</p> </p> What's depressing about it is how Lucas seems to have forgotten all the things that made raiders great. What happened, George?
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Nuff said.
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...Indy and Henry would have been in trouble. Temple of Doom is the only one that ends with Indy personally taking out the villain. In the rest, he is watching while the McGuffin kills the bad guy. Which reminds me--Daniel Craig's Bond has yet to kill the primary villain in one of his movies.
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...that Indy didn't kill Mola Ram, he died as a result of his fall and the crocs/gators. But Indy didn't let himself be taken prisoner--he cut through that rope bridge and fought Mola Ram while hanging off the side of a cliff. Definitely the toughest and most involved that we see Indy in any of the four climaxes. In Raiders, he surrenders himself out of concern for Marion. In Last Crusade, he's out to save his dad. Crystal Skull gives us Marion (again) and his son to look after. But in Temple, he really could care less about dropping Willie down that gorge. He's just not going to allow Mola Ram to get away and flat out tells him he's sending him straight to hell and chops away. I love Mola Ram's response--he didn't realize Indy was that nuts and he drops his malevolent smirking and starts to panic. I love to see the villain truly lose his cool for the first time--Indy really turns the tables in that scene.
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What was revealing to me in that transcript... (which is here, BTW: http://www.google.com/search?q=RaidersStoryConferenceTranscript(-101%26116).pdf ) ...is how Spielberg was having the goofy type of ideas which would plague his later movies, but Lucas kept RAIDERS on track. As mentioned, you would never believe it otherwise.
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for sure. That's what makes the Indy Movies great. Just like the 30's serials they were based on, Indy seems to always be presented with these no win situations with only one "balls to the wall" way out. And he always takes it!
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March 30, 2011, 1:11 a.m. CST
Saw it three times in the theatre and I thought he'd lose each time.
by Ghostpirate
I had to remind himself that I knew how it ended. It all seemed so real and intense and larger than life.
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March 30, 2011, 1:12 a.m. CST
This movie holds up better than almost any film I can think of.
by Ghostpirate
It is just as good today as it was back then. I don't think anything about this film seems dated. Not event he FX.
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March 30, 2011, 1:28 a.m. CST
Halfbreed, I've seen Heaven's Gate (though it wasn't in the theater...
by kisskissbangbang
...given the reviews it got, I wasn't going to spend actual money on it). But when it showed up on cable, I had to check it out since I'd liked Deer Hunter, and, of course, to see if it was really as bad as claimed. It wasn't. I wouldn't call it great, but it wasn't awful, either. For that matter, I think Ishtar isn't as bad as its rep, either (though I'm not really recommending you seek it out. Not enough to time to see all the good movies already made as it is, and they keep making more...).
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...I'm embarrassed to admit that, at the time, I wondered just how suspenseful it could be. After all, I knew how World War II ended, and it wasn't with a swastika flag being raised over the White House. Of course, I was being an idiot. It was suspenseful enough that my date leaned over during the scene the pic is from and asked if I was okay, because I was hyperventilating so hard she thought I might pass out. And, of course, there are other examples. It's amazing how suspenseful Day of the Jackal (the original;never saw the remake) is, given that you know going in de Gaulle didn't die. (Well, he did, but not till a lot later, and not at the Jackal's hand.)
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Not sure what Wolfman's got to do with it... but reading that Raiders Story transcript simply does highlight how different Lucas' creative approach was back then. His insights on story and character in that conference are inspiring and genius.</p> You could say that the disappointment one feels toward George Lucas based on his most recent output is directly proportionate to the brilliance of his halcyon days.</p> I take no pleasure in "Lucas-bashing". I love the man's earlier work, and am simply baffled by where that guy went.
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March 30, 2011, 2:06 a.m. CST
I love Raider, Temple and Crusade equally for different reasons
by room23storeblogspotcom
Raiders is just pure classic action, just great film making. I love the truck scene, but I actually like the begining cave scene better. Temple is a lot more dark and serious with ton of depth. The bad guy creeped me out a lot. I love Short Round and how he adds levity during the dark moments. And Crusade is nice because its more light hearted fun action. I actually like Elsa best out of the 3 girls because she's hot and the interaction between Indy and his Father has a lot of heart to it. My favorate memory was after watching Crusade my friends and I were outside waiting for one of their parents to pick us up and acting out the scenes of Indy fighting the Nazis.
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...to film a scene, anyway? Just sayin'...
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I must say that few times have I witnessed a gun shot onscreen that rattled me more than when Indy gets shot during the desert truck chase in "Raiders." At that moment, the whole atmosphere changed. Before the shot, the music is rather bouncy, light, and typical of an action sequence. But when Indy gets shot, suddenly the music becomes like a heartbeat, intense and relentless. A bang, a spatter of blood, and an agonized wince of pain all speak to the viewer as serious stuff. Before that moment, Indy had shared a funny moment with the driver before punching him out the door. There were a few other laughs, but once he was shot, we knew Indy could be hurt and even killed by these fiends, and it made the mission more real. More desperate. What a wonderful sequence!
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"And the Nazis also didn't have magic Bible relics either. What's your point? " Are you sure?; I think that you need to read up on some alternative history and not that bunk you were taught in school. And starwarsredux' point is that the outcome of a film based on villains who actually lost (although that is also debatable regarding the Nazi's, again check out some real history) ought to be a lot more certain than one with fictious villains from a long ago fictious past; one film certainly should allow more leeway for a triumphant villain than the other, surely?
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March 30, 2011, 2:46 a.m. CST
They should force all the shaky-cam TV director hacks to watch this.
by Fortunesfool
And if they don't understand how the shots, composition and editing work to make such a great film, they should fuck off back to their day jobs and leave movie-making to the people who understand it.
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... I'm not knocking Raiders as a pure bit of cinema; I saw it 23 times at the cinema, more actually but I stopped counting after that, and watched it three times in one day (in those days here in the UK you could pay for one admission and just stay in the cinema all day). Oh, and I was 24 at the time.
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and everyone else, here is the uncut PBS special on Raiders. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iAgSyGy5iE
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The Dojo's three greatest movies: 1/ THE DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA YA SISTERHOOD 2/ HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT 3/ tie between RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLESTOP CAFE
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Hang on a minute... my spider-senses are feeling the title to the next Indy movie... could it be... INDIANA JONES AND THE DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA YA SISTERHOOD... INDIANA JONES AND THE AMERICAN QUILT... or INDIANA JONES AND THE FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLESTOP CAFE. The last one is a bit of a mouthful but even Indy gotta eat.
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Strange that Quint and a couple of other talkbackers are recalling that moment when Indy gets winged in the arm as a really important moment "Indy got hurt for real"... Because 5 mins prior to that he'd had the stuffing beaten out of him by the big bald german. A fist fight that Indy lost, ending up on his back in the dust (luckily the right place to be when a propellor's passing through!)
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did you, perchance, see my late post to the SUCKER PUNCH thread? i loved the film, you might like my post
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These were the days of real action films. Now it'd be green screen. Ok, Ford is nearing 70, but they could drag Le Beouf under a truck surely?
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heres why i think people dig Raiders so much and a big reason (beyond the strength of the script) as to why its considered an all time classic (unlike the sequels)... Raiders is like a serious wartime (or near enough wartime) action drama...with Ford playing Indy like a real person as if hed been cast in a proper serious wartime movie. a little outlandish out some parts (the opening in the temple, under the truck and of course the supernatural climax) but for the most part all the action and stunts are firmly within the realm of possibility (and all performed for real - not so much animation or CG) the villains feel like real people - Belloq, the Nazi commander and the SS guy - all feel proper guys that might well have existed...Sallah, Brody and Marion are like 'real' people instead of the caricatures they later became...even minor supporting characters like the 'Cm'ere' bald dude, the Mick Dundee lookalike truck guy and the black captain feel 'real'.. its like Spielberg was going for an almost Das Boot/Schindlers style realism in Raiders and thats why it feels so powerful and disturbing - it feels as though it could have happened...where as in the sequels they were going for laughs, not so serious, the action and stunts got more and more outlandish as did the characters, James Bond pops up as his dad, Sallah and Brody turn into bufoons, nuke the fridge and all the CG in KOTCS - you just believe you are watching a movie, not something that might have happened....the rest of the movies are almost like comedies - not that thats a bad thing..its just different to Raiders...
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cartmanez, I agree. Like your "Mick Dundee lookalike truck guy" observation too!
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Congratulations. You're the first person in recorded history to hate on Raiders of the Lost Ark. Idiot.
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Hang on. Let me get this straight. You have Phantom Menace in your Top 10 but wouldn't have Raiders in your Top 300? Sucks to be you.
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is awesome.
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its news to me. :O
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If I'm not mistaken, either the sub DIDN'T submerge during the trip back to port, or Indy hid out in the conning tower. If I'm not mistaken, the montage for the sub's journey showed it on the surface the whole way.
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on the MacGyver contraption stuck to the filming truck look to be in just as much actual danger as the stuntman on the Nazi truck!
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Mick kicks Indys ass big time...then Indy comes back and POWNS Mick. Mick gets run over no more Mick Indy turns to the camera and says 'I wanted to see more of that guy...then suddenly none of that guy....ever'
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Day of the Jackal remake sucked. BTW, starwars redux: not one of your top ten films would make it into my top 300. Fascinating! And yet, my top two films are 1980s Flash Gordon and Tron. Raiders and Temple are in the top 20. Last Crusade is probably in the top 1000, somewhere in the 800s with Heaven's Gate and most of the other films you mentioned. ;) I know a lot of people who wouldn't put Flash Gordon or Tron in their top 500 movies. So . . . it takes all kinds.
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March 30, 2011, 7:35 a.m. CST
There are some nice moments in Phantom Menace . . .
by kevinwillis.net
That's why it's in my top 1000 films of all time.
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It's too bad Lucas and/or Spielberg decided to basically water the characters down with the sequels, turning most of them into bumbling oafs. Sigh.
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"I found him" "Where?" "There!" <cut to Jones on top of the submarine> From there, I don't think it's such a big stretch to assume the sub didn't dive. Yeah, it's a hole, but the movie is so perfect that the flaws make it more perfect. I wouldn't change that hole, or the how-did-they-get-home-at-the-end hole, or the cobra's relection (which they *did* change on the DVD release, grrr!), or the too-fast shot on the truck scene. None of it. I love every frame, warts and all.
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The sequels and the tv series are all good in they're own right..they just don't compare to Raiders.
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It nags me, but the rest of the movie is so sublimely perfect that I don't really care. It's like "King Kong" (1933): How the fuck did they keep him pacified and restrained on that relatively small boat all the way back to NYC?
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It's very well established that Indy knows his Old Testament, which is chock full of references to humans not being able to see God and survive. There's also the idea that he was just protecting her from witnessing the horror.
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As someone said above, there's no fat and each scene just flows so naturally to the next. I love everything about this movie. And, like "Jaws", I can sit and watch it, start to finish, and STILL catch something new that I've never noticed before (something in the background, some new angle to a piece of dialogue or a set/prop). If I had to spend the rest of my life on an island, but I happened to have a coconut-powered DVD player, I believe "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Jaws" and "The Empire Strikes Back" would be the three movies I'd be fine with seeing over and over. Those are my three anytime/anywhere movies. I've seen each about eleventy gazillion times over 30+ years, but each one, to me, is still as exciting and fresh as the first time I saw them in the theater as a pup. Good stuff. I'm not entirely convinced that's Spielberg driving, as someone upthread mentioned. Surely that would have to be some sort of trained, driving-savvy stuntman, right? One wrong move or accidental jerk, and Ford (or the stuntman) would be a squashed bug. But that does look like Lucas. He's a car nut, so he'd probably be sitting there enjoying Bob Falfa hanging from the grille. :)
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Hey bud. TRON as #2? Awesome. I wouldn't put it quite that high, but it's definitely in my top 10.
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March 30, 2011, 8:41 a.m. CST
Was NOT in the mood to see Han Solo as some WWII shlep...
by Billyeveryteen
Literally dragged to the theater by much smarter friends. WAS in the mood for Han/Indy to kick some android butt in LA. What a stupid kid.
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Yup, they'd be my 3.
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My brother worked at the local theater and got the original one sheet. Not the one where Indy has the whip above his head, but the one with the HUGE picture of him with the whip wrapped around his shoulder. I made him give it to me and kept it wrapped in plastic folded up in my foot locker. When I was older and had money, I got that sucker framed and it remains on my wall to this day. I've had a bunch of offers to buy it, but it ain't for sale folks. One of my most cherished possesions.
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That march during the beatings and throwing out the front - violence proclamation! They sure do screen Minority Report a lot on cable! I like it.
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The movie freaked me out before it started, arrived at the cinema early, my Uncle knew the fella at the door and we walked into the theatre before the last one was over, right into the moment when Todts face melts off! As a 9 year old it was the first exposure to horror ever! I spent the duration of the film waiting for the melting to start and for years later had to cover my eyes at that bit, I was scarred! Got over it later and can now enjoy the movie, melting Nazis and all, and I mean who better to melt than Nazis???
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March 30, 2011, 9:33 a.m. CST
Couldn't agree more, Quint. Raiders is a nigh-on perfect movie.
by Mr Nicholas
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and freaked out my old dear when i came home and told/acted out the entire film for her in about nine minutes ... hyperactivity/attention deficit disorder didn't exist in 1981, but the look on her poor face as I raced through every scene said "my son is psychotic/has been sniffing glue/has hit his head"
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We see Indy climbing onto the sub after swimming over from Katanga's ship. Seeing as how they were not in battle, the Germans had no reason to submerge the sub, and Indy rides safely to the Nazi base hidden in the island. Where's the plot hole?
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my brother just named his daughter Indiana, our surname is Allen though so it doesn't have the same ring to it
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Take Back One Kedam guy told him earlier in the film that he should not look but that part was cut out of the final print.
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March 30, 2011, 10:13 a.m. CST
The novelization, which I presume was based on an earlier version of the script...
by kisskissbangbang
...(since that's usually the case), has Indy lashing himself to the periscope with his whip.
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Temple of Doom was better in every way
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It was done by 2nd unit director.
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March 30, 2011, 10:32 a.m. CST
"Behind The Scenes Pick Of The Day, prepare to meet Kali...in Hell!"
by Squinty CGI Flynn
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That's great. It's good to know there are some other Indianas out there. Our last name is Twist so here's hoping my daughter turns our as cool as her name.
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If someone doesn't at least enjoy watching "Raiders of the Lost Ark," then I will remain deeply suspicious of them. Probably already said by someone above, but it bears repeating anyway.
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I like that he just kind of shows up on the submarine. I always get the "how the hell did he do that?!" feeling. I like it. It doesn't need to be explained. Part of the fun of Indy is that he's always just getting by. He's not smooth like James Bond. He doesn't have it all figured out like Batman. He get's neck deep it shit and just barely get's away by pure luck or some ridiculous stunt. So..yeah. Just appearing on a submarine is ridiculous as the character should be. I was just a little itty bitty baby when the movie came out, but my favorite story about it is when it came out my mom wanted to go to it with my dad to see Raiders. My dad did NOT want to go, because the way she explained to him what it was was "it's about an archeologist who is looking for the Ark of the Covenant". Which is true, but a gross underselling of the movie. haha. Like most of you, this movie is a top three movie. It still gets me all jacked up like when I was a little one.
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March 30, 2011, 12:46 p.m. CST
"hyperactivity/attention deficit disorder didn't exist in 1981"
by smackfu
It still doesn't exist. Frankly, I'm shocked that the pharmaceutical companies haven't tried to make up disorders for all the other personality types yet, it's an untapped goldmine. You convince someone at a childs age that *who they are* is a problem requiring medication, you've snagged a lifelong customer. You're looking at 60 plus years of guaranteed patronage.
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There was a girl I knew at CalPoly, her name was (Au)Burn Severin. I didn't know much back then, but I knew a fucking awesome name when I heard one.
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I had a comic version of the movie that had the same scene where Indy ties himself to the periscope with his whip.
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March 30, 2011, 3:08 p.m. CST
Do you know the muffin man...the muffin man, the muffin man.....
by Bobo_Vision
Pippet.....Pippet.....Pippet..... <p> Dun dun Dun dun Dun dun Dun dun....doo da looooooo.....doo da doo da doo da loooooooo...
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March 30, 2011, 3:10 p.m. CST
I like how Lucas establishes that Indy was a pedophile in the first film
by Bobo_Vision
And that the rift between him and Dr. Ravenwood was because Indy fucked his underaged daughter. Even the underaged daughter is pissed off about it now that she's older and sees that it was wrong. <p> "I was a child!" <p> "You knew what you were doing."
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March 30, 2011, 3:39 p.m. CST
Always Felt The Road Warrior Truck Scene Was Better
by themanwithaname
Hate filled responses begin!
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March 30, 2011, 4:11 p.m. CST
Whoa, filming that scene was dangerous for both cast and crew!
by detinue
Where was OSHA? I wonder what speed the vehicles were moving at.
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And it wasn't that film's fault that the Academy nevers gives the Best Picture Oscar to action adventure type films. If Star Wars didn't get one for 1977 then there was no way Raiders was getting one for 1981.
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March 30, 2011, 4:27 p.m. CST
One has to question to logic of the nazi's motivations for seeking the ark in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.
by AsimovLives
i mean, it's a jewish artifac,t and the nazis were hardly in the list of friends of the jewish people (the understatment of two centuries right there). So, why did the nazis wanted the ark of the covenant? they though the mere act of having it would make it a super-weapon to use in their favour? The ark, which contained the tablets of the comandements, was a specific covenant that god made to his chosen people, the jews. As if God would forget who he gave his coventant to if the nazis whielded it? God would start working for the nazis just because thouse guys carried the ark? As if! And if the idea of the nazis was to keep is hidden so that their enemies and the jews could use it to their benefit, it would be as if God can be hold in in some nazi safe somewhere? As for the final destination of the ark at teh ed of the movie, maybe god willed it so, to have his ark hidden away in some forgotten storage facility so that no men would use it ever again. It's all part of the plan.
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March 30, 2011, 4:29 p.m. CST
braindrain, dude, you are 16. Your parents were barely adolescents when that movie was released.
by AsimovLives
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March 30, 2011, 4:30 p.m. CST
braindrain, dude, you are 16. Your parents were barely adolescents when that movie was released.
by AsimovLives
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How progressive of him.
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Ha ha ha ha!! That made my day
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I'm really surprised no Talk Backer has said it yet.
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March 31, 2011, 2:15 a.m. CST
braindrain, your last post is a masterpiece of comedy. Good job.
by AsimovLives
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Back then, submarines spent most of their time on the surface. They only submerged when they attacked. Otherwise, they spent the majority of their travel on surface. It had to be so, because submerged they run on batteries, which only lasted for 2 hours. And the snorkel was only invented in about 1943. So, as such, there is no silliness about Indy catching a ride on a german U-boat. Those things didn't submerged while traveling. Fully submergible submarines only emerged with the nuclear submarines invented and builded in the mid 1950s.
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I've been sent a poll card that looks like a penis. Seriously. http://reddit.com/tb/gfeie
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March 31, 2011, 11:48 a.m. CST
braindrain, keep up with the comedy, i'm always good for a few laughs.
by AsimovLives
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Where does it rank after if you exclude your porno collection?
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"After if?" What an ignorant savage!
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This is one of the most memorable moments in movie history. We must give credit to the man who made it possible. His name is Terry Leonard and he is a legend in the stunt community. The drag under the truck was actually his idea. The gag (stunt) was first performed by legend Yakima Canutt for the movie Stagecoach in 1939 where he went over the back of a stage coach and crawled underneath and made it all the way to the front of the horse team. Terry Leonard tried to replicate the stunt for another movie in the 70's and was nearly killed. He decided to not let the gag get the best of him and thought it would be a perfect fit for Raiders. The result is one of the greatest action sequences ever caught on film.
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