All of the Indiana Jones movies have an inventive opening shot that matches the Paramount logo. In Raiders of the Lost Ark , it’s a distant mountain shrouded by jungle mist. In Kingdom of the Crystal Skull , when things went off the rails, it’s a pile of dirt, complete with a computer-generated gop
Lucas talked about how he had written a story about a character named Indiana Smith back in 1973 and the two began to brainstorm ideas for what would eventually become Indiana Jones. The name Indiana was also the name of Lucas’ Alaskan Malamute, the same dog that inspired Chewbacca from Star W
He is later revealed to be a Soviet spy. The American press vilifies him as his appointed lawyer, James Donovan, agrees to fairly argue his case in court. This opening shot captures the nuances of Mark Rylance’s performance as A
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
He’s made all kinds of movies: historical dramas, biopics, action movies, science-fiction, suspense. Spielberg is a master of visual storytelling, and a large part of that is opening his movies with the perfect shot to immerse us in each story’s world straight away. So, here are Steven Spielberg’s 10 Best Opening Shots, Ran
First of all, Lucas needed a $20 million budget, wanted most of the control of the film, licensing, and sequel rights. Studios also didn’t want Spielberg to direct because of his flop 1941 starring John Belu
This series has always known the importance of throwing some comedy in with all the action and adventure elements. Each movie has its share of genuinely funny moments, but The Last Crusade has the biggest lau
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
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 Patch notes Ark and The Last Crusa
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
He would’ve also had a mechanical arm that functioned as a machine gun and a radio antenna sticking out of his head. George Lucas eventually vetoed this design, feeling that it was too far-fetched, and the character’s final design came to
In a frenzied handheld shot that just points at whatever’s going on in front of it, more like a documentary than a docudrama, we see soldiers gearing up, assembling rifles, watching helicopters fly overhead – it’s hec
Selleck ended up turning down the role due to CBS picking up Magnum PI , but the show was delayed due to an actor’s strike. Since Raiders of the Lost Ark filmed in different parts of the world, Selleck could have played Indiana Jones, but by that point, Ford was already cast in the role inst
Though both movies have action sequences that rank among the best of all-time, The Last Crusade edges out the original. From the opening train fight to the boat chase through Venice to the wild tank battle, these action scenes come one after another and are all extremely impress
When George Lucas made Star Wars , he had no idea how much of an international hit he had on his hands. It quickly became apparent that Star Wars was going to make him a lot of money so by the time they were making Raiders of the Lost Ark, it was at some point decided to give R2-D2 and C-3PO a cameo in the f
But his message is more complex than that. This movie isn’t necessarily anti-America, but young, unprepared, terrified boys were shipped off to war to fight for that flag. It’s also worth noting that this particular flag can be found at the cemetery near Omaha Beach where the film’s framing narrative takes place. The flag can be seen as a symbol of liberty anywhere else, but in this cemetery, it can also be blamed for all those gra
Steven Spielberg doles out new information with every shot in the opening scene of Jurassic Park , slowly building up the suspense. It opens close on some trees, obscuring something. That something is tearing the trees out of the way, thundering towards us, bellowing booming noises. A couple of closeups then introduce terrified men wearing hard hats bearing the Jurassic Park logo. Some of them are ar