Indy is a stereotypical man’s man, someone who’s so manly that even as an academic his forte is punching people. Because he’s the hero, he gets away with casual misogyny, violence, and has to heroically dodge women’s affection (ex. One of his students). This doesn’t make him terrible, but his example is better left in the confines of cinema and mythmak
From the minds of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg and brought to life on the big screen by Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones is undoubtedly one of the best cinematic heroes of all time. Though he is a professor of archaeology in his day job, Jones spends his spare time traveling the globe and facing danger while recovering long lost ark tips artifa
One of the most iconic scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark is when Indiana Jones steals the Golden Idol and triggers booby-traps in the temple. One of these traps was a giant boulder, which Indiana Jones barely escapes. While you would think they would have used a stunt-double here, it was actually Ford himself who had to outrun the prop, which weighed over 300 pou
Indiana Jones might travel all around the world for ancient artifacts, but the character was created in Hawaii. George Lucas went on a vacation with his friend Steven Spielberg when Star Wars was released __ and Spielberg revealed that he had always wanted to make a 007 mo
The Cold War thriller Bridge of Spies opens with Rudolf Abel, technically the film’s antagonist, looking at himself in the mirror in his cramped New York apartment. As the camera pans out, we realize he’s trying to capture all of his own features in a self-portrait he’s painting. In a matter of seconds, Spielberg establishes that this is a mild-mannered man with a solitary existe
The field of archeology has come under scrutiny today thanks to hindsight, with many nations calling out former colonial powers for stealing their ancient culture’s artifacts in the name of insensitive academic pursuit that disregards countries’ histor
From Weird Al Yankovic’s UHF to The Simpsons to even Disaster Movie, imitating Indy’s action-packed introduction is practically a cottage industry. Chicken Little took this to the extreme by literally showing the scene before the boulder rolled
Raiders of the Lost Ark features a lot of supernatural moments towards the end of the film, but one of the most chilling scenes comes in the very beginning when Indy is searching for the Golden Idol. Indiana Jones tells Satipo (Alfred Molina) to turn around and his entire back is covered with tarantulas scurrying ab
One of Indy’s best friends is Sallah, a fellow archeologist and excavator who’s known for his jovial attitude. He’s also an Egyptian who’s portrayed by the Welsh actor John Rhys-Davies in both Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusa
While Raiders of the Lost Ark might have been the first-time audiences met Indy, The Last Crusade showed us Indy’s earliest adventure. The opening flashback features young Indy (played by River Phoenix) taking on some treasure hunt
Both these movies share a biblical theme in their MacGuffins, but the Ark of the Covenant is just a more interesting item. There is a real mystery behind what it is and what it can do. It all pays off wonderfully in the epic gruesome finale when the Nazis finally open it and get more than they bargained
In reality, archeologists take great pains to keep their dig sites as intact as possible. Indy, on the other hand, demolishes a Peruvian and Egyptian place of worship over the course of Raiders of the Lost Ark . Sure, he had to escape certain death hence the collateral damage but he’s still terrible at preserving ancient structures for future generations’ bene
Both films do an exceptional job of delivering thrilling action sequences . With ambitious set-pieces and largely practical effects, these movies are still exciting to revisit today and marvel at what the filmmakers were able to pull
Like many female leads in action movies of the period, Marion Ravenwood is a proactive woman capable of fighting but still needs a man. A man who, in Indy’s case, she’s constantly irritated by and has legitimate reason to hate
While it’s fun to see Indy beat up bad guys, he is first and foremost an archaeologist which is one of the most interesting aspects of the character. The Last Crusade is truly the movie where Indy’s intelligence as a scholar shines thro
Actually, due to different filming angles and such, he had to outrun the boulder ten times! Spielberg later admitted, “He won ten times and beat the odds. He was lucky, and I was an idiot for letting him t
It isn’t uncommon for older movies to use miniature models and sets to pull off complex action sequences. Lucas did this numerous times in the original Star Wars trilogy since CGI was still being fully developed, but the same thing was done for Raiders of the Lost Ark . Several miniature sets were built. Not really to film scenes, but to expedite film