Karen Allen brings so much humor, heart, and fun to the character. From her first scene where we find her in the midst of a drinking contest, she makes for an unforgettable character who is a welcome addition to this advent
When the plane went out of frame, it actually crashed. Since the pilot wasn’t able to close the cockpit door, this made it impossible to use the rudder. Thankfully, the plane wasn’t too far off the ground, so Ford and the pilot weren’t hurt too ba
When Raiders of the Lost Ark classes Ark was first sent to the censors to be rated, it was hit with an R rating, because the MPAA felt that the melting face at the end was too graphic. The producers really wanted a PG-13 rating to allow it to become the box office hit that it would eventually become , so a layer of fire was added on top of the shot of the melting face to make it less horrifying and it was given a PG-13 rating. Steven Spielberg didn’t want to cut the melting face scene altogether, because he felt that it was the most impressive special effect he’d ever seen up to that po
When they first meet in Raiders of the Lost Ark , Marion yells at Indy for taking advantage of her when she was “a child.” She was being literal, as the novelization confirms that she was 15 when she slept with Indy – who was in his ‘20s. Legally speaking, that’s a huge no-no. Worsening this is the revelation that Indy left her on their wedding before Kingdom of the Crystal Skull , further sullying Indy’s reputation among f
Essentially, E.T. is a movie about the power of friendship. But it’s also one of the few movies that tells us we might not be alone in the universe that isn’t alarmed by that prospect. It depicts alien visitors in a positive light. In fact, in the opening scene, it’s the humans who are hostile. The aliens are scared off by gun-toting cops, leaving E.T. beh
Since Raiders of the Lost Ark was inspired by the pulpy adventure serials of the 1930s , the early conceptual designs for the characters were a lot pulpier. The pulpiest of the bunch was the initial design for the Nazi villain, Arnold Toht. Whereas he’s just a sinister man in black in the final film, he was originally supposed to wear a cartoonishly kitted-out Nazi unif
While the cast and crew were out in Tunisia, shooting the Cairo-set scenes for Raiders of the Lost Ark , they all got really sick from food poisoning. John Rhys-Davies, who played Sallah in the movie , apparently got so sick that he soiled himself during a scene that required him to bend over. The only person involved in the production who didn’t get food poisoning was Steven Spielberg, because he had brought his own food from home – which reportedly consisted of dozens and dozens of cans of Spaghetti-O’s – and didn’t eat any of the local food that everyone else was hav
In 1981, movie-goers were introduced to one of the most iconic action heroes ever to grace the big screen: Indiana Jones. Raiders of the Lost Ark __ was released in June 1981 with Steven Spielberg in the director’s chair and Harrison Ford in the leading role. George Lucas wrote the story, which ultimately consisted of an archaeologist being hired to find the Ark of the Coven
Munich , Spielberg’s cinematic retelling of Operation Wrath of God, the Israeli government’s response to the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, opens with an intricate tracking shot that frames each of its components perfectly. It opens on a gate, then two hands appear on it and a man climbs up to peer over. When the rest of his group arrives, he drops from the gate to join them. This is all conveyed through camera movements and angles, courtesy of cinematographer Janusz Kamiń
While it takes place a few years before global war broke out, Raiders of the Lost Ark was still made with World War II firmly lodged in its mind. As if the Nazis didn’t make things obvious enough, Indy and his friends represent the Allied Forces that would later team up to end the
Though the love interest angle of The Last Crusade is not great, it does feature the best of Indy’s sidekicks in the franchise. Sean Connery joined this third film as Indy’s father, Dr. Henry Jones Sr. A famed archaeologist in his own right, the elder Dr. Jones was a tough, sophisticated and hilarious partner to his
Schindler’s List , Steven Spielberg’s harrowing cinematic portrait of the horrors of the Holocaust, opens with a completely black frame. Then, a match is struck, dimly illuminating the fingers holding it as it lights a can
Raiders of the Lost Ark overflows with iconic moments, with its prologue being one of the best opening acts in cinematic history . Here, Indy braves a trap-filled temple to get his hands on an ancient artifact. Because of how effective this sequence was, it became the subject of parody ever since it was first seen in cine
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