Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark
George Lucas had the story, but not the time to direct. He was too deeply involved with his Star Wars movies. He described the idea to Steven Spielberg, suggesting he direct a film based on it. Spielberg agreed, and what evolved was Raiders of the Lost Ark. The film was not expected to be a blockbuster, but it was. It earned 5 Oscars and led to 3 more movies featuring the exploits of Indiana Jones. The name was changed to Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark in keeping with the titles of these additional films.
Harrison Ford plays Indiana Jones, but the role was first offered to Tom Selleck. Committed to the television series he was about to launch, Magnum P. I., Selleck declined. Lucas had been hesitant to use Ford, since he had already been in 2 Lucas films. Eventually, Ford was given the part that was to turn him into a true star at the box office.
Debra Winger had first refusal for the part of Marion Ravenwood. Karen Allen was then signed to play the part of Marion, the daughter of Indy’s mentor, Abner. John Rhys-Davies was cast as Sallah, Indiana’s Egyptian friend. The museum curator Marcus Brody was portrayed by Denholm Elliott. Paul Freeman was cast as Belloq, the French archaeologist who is Indy’s nemesis.
The budget for the movie was about $20 million. When he filmed it in 1977, Lucas’s budget for Star Wars was around $18 million. The next year, Harrison Ford would star in Blade Runner, which carried a price tag of around $28 million. Raiders earned over $380 million in box office receipts, the most for 1981. Every studio had passed on the idea until Paramount finally accepted, and the film’s success was no doubt a nice surprise for the studio.
Set in 1936, the plot centers around an archaeologist who, in between teaching classes at a university, travels the world to recover priceless artifacts. His journeys lead him into many harrowing adventures. As the film opens, he narrowly escapes several booby traps to retrieve a valuable idol from its jungle hiding place. His prize is forcibly taken from him by Belloq, who has recruited a native tribe to assist him. Indiana manages to escape and returns to the university. He is quickly approached by two federal agents, who inform him that Belloq is working for the Nazis and seeking the Staff of Ra. The staff is supposedly in the possession of Abner Ravenwood. Realizing that the Nazis are after the Ark of the Covenant, Jones travels to Nepal to track down Ravenwood. He finds his friend is dead, but Marion Ravenwood has the headpiece for the staff. The problem is, he is not on Marion’s list of favorite people, and before he can recover the item from her, the Nazis attack. They manage to escape with the headpiece. Following more adventures, near misses, and narrow escapes, they lose the Ark to Belloq and the Nazis. Belloq wants to open the Ark and test it before delivering it to Hitler. This destroys everyone in the area except Marion and Indiana, who do not look at it. In the end, the Ark is returned to America and placed in storage.
The movie won Academy Awards in the categories of Sound Effects Editing, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Sound, and Art Direction. It was nominated as Best Picture but lost. Industrial Light and Magic provided the visual special effects, while Ben Burtt supervised the special sound effects. The score was provided by John Williams and was also nominated, losing to Vangelis for his Chariots of Fire score.
Cast and crew faced several challenges while filming on location in Tunisia. One was the heat, but many also fell ill from dysentery. One trademark scene, where Indiana shoots a swordsman bent of displaying his skill with the blades, was not scripted initially. Ford was feeling too ill to perform the scene as written and suggested shooting the guy instead. In addition, he was injured during the filming of a fight scene when an airplane tire ran over his leg.
Raiders of the Lost Ark has remained a favorite with fans of all ages since its release. An enhanced version was released on DVD in 2008 which corrected some of the visual errors in the film. Interested viewers can find it sold separately or as part of a boxed set.
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