Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before Adolf Hitler's Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Lawrence Kasdan (screenplay by), George Lucas (story by)

Stars:

Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman

Top Rated Movies #57 | Won 4 Oscars. Another 31 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harrison Ford	...	Indy
Karen Allen	...	Marion
Paul Freeman	...	Belloq
Ronald Lacey	...	Toht
John Rhys-Davies	...	Sallah
Denholm Elliott	...	Brody
Alfred Molina	...	Satipo
Wolf Kahler	...	Dietrich
Anthony Higgins	...	Gobler
Vic Tablian	...	Barranca / Monkey Man
Don Fellows	...	Col. Musgrove
William Hootkins	...	Major Eaton
Bill Reimbold	...	Bureaucrat
Fred Sorenson	...	Jock
Patrick Durkin	...	Australian Climber

Storyline

The year is 1936. An archeology professor named Indiana Jones is venturing in the jungles of South America searching for a golden statue. Unfortunately, he sets off a deadly trap but miraculously escapes. Then, Jones hears from a museum curator named Marcus Brody about a biblical artifact called The Ark of the Covenant, which can hold the key to humanly existence. Jones has to venture to vast places such as Nepal and Egypt to find this artifact. However, he will have to fight his enemy Rene Belloq and a band of Nazis in order to reach it.

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Plot Keywords:

nazi | ark of the covenant | indiana jones | archeologist | famous opening scene | 

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Taglines:

Indiana Jones - the new hero from the creators of JAWS and STAR WARS.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producers limited the onscreen blood from gunshots during the truck chase by using fine red dust instead of liquid fake blood. Unfortunately, the only red dust available for the squibs was cayenne pepper, which caused a lot of suffering for the stunt crew.

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Goofs

During the gunfight in Marion's bar, when Indiana ducks behind a corner, it appears that the type of pistol he is shooting changes with every cut. This is because one shot of Indy shooting the semi-auto appears out of sequence. After his revolver is out of ammo and he reaches for his holster, the semi-auto reappears and Indy keeps it for the rest of the scene. Evidently the semi-auto is his backup weapon; it appears later on the Bantu Wind.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Satipo: [picking up poison dart] The Hovitos are near.
[tastes the end of the dart, spits it out quickly]
Satipo: The poison is still fresh, three days. They're following us.
Barranca: If they knew we were here, they would have killed us already.

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Crazy Credits

Film ends with a man in a warehouse pushing a crate with the ark buried

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Alternate Versions

When the film was broadcast in HD for the first time on German TV in 2009, the film featured a new 5.1 sound mix. However, instead of using the old dubbing as the basis for the new mix, the film was completely redubbed. Except for Indiana Jones and Marcus Brody, all roles were spoken by different voice actors than in the original dubbing.

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Connections

Referenced in Outside Xbox: Let's Play: Schrodinger's Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark (2015)

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Soundtracks

A British Tar
(1878) (uncredited)
From "H.M.S. Pinafore"
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Lyrics by W.S. Gilbert
Sung a cappella by John Rhys-Davies

User Reviews

Magnificent action-packed adventure film that spawned two sequels and numerous copies

It's the first part of adventures trilogy , going on the way of the 30s classic films and the Comics-Books language. The picture blends comedy,adventures action,rip roaring,cliff hunger,tongue-in-cheek and is extremely entertaining and fun . The archaeologist Indiana Jones with his bull whip-wielding and hat will confront dastard Nazis (Ronald Lacey) in Peru, Nepal and Egypt to the obtaining the Moiseh ark with the Covenant's tables . He's only helped by two feisty adventurers (Karen Allen and John Rhys Davies) . Indy fights nasty Arabs , decodes hieroglyphics and faces off hundreds of snakes . The movie attempts to go on the path from great classics during the 30-40s and the comic-books narrative along with the special characteristics of the terror cinema of 80 decade.

Dr.Indiana executes feats of derring-do in various exotics countries. The action highlights include the opening sequence in a Peruvian jungle temple and the creepy and spooky final, but some scenes aren't for squeamish kids . It's realized in James Bond style and high-adventure and it is driven with enormous , formidable fair-play . This breathtaking movie has a number of scenes that will have you on the edge of your seat, but the action never lets up . The enjoyable screenplay was wonderfully written by George Lucas (film's producer) , Philip Kauffman and Lawrence Kasdan . In the picture there're several exotic locations , cliff-hangers, tongue-in-cheek , daring escapes , rip-roaring , derring-do , it is a very bemusing cinematic roller-coaster ride . It's a throw-back to old-fashioned Technicolor amusement with hints of serial with thousands of dollars in budget .

Harrison Ford interprets masterfully the daredevil and brave archaeologist transformed into an action man . Karen Allen plays his untameable and impulsive couple who'll have a little romance with Indy . The movie has great loads of action , special effects galore and the habitual and excellent , as always , John Williams musical core . Dazzling action set-pieces are stunningly mounted by Steven Spielberg . The film has entered the lists of ten most popular of all time . It is followed by ¨Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom¨ and¨ The last Crusade¨. And by the TV series ,also produced by George Lucas : ¨The young Indiana Jones¨with Sean Patrick Flannery .It's a must see for the adventures fans . Rating : Awesome.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English German Hebrew Spanish Arabic Nepali

Release Date:

12 June 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Indiana Jones

Filming Locations:

Yuma, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,305,823, 14 June 1981

Gross USA:

$248,159,971

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$389,925,971

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Lucasfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints) Dolby Digital (IMAX version) IMAX 6-Track (IMAX version) Dolby Atmos (IMAX version) Datasat (IMAX version) SDDS (IMAX version)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1