Raiders of the Lost Ark is the beginning of one of the top trilogies of all time and a fantastic movie in it's own right. Starring Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones a professor/archaeologist/badass who hops around the globe recovering ancient treasures and thwarting the Nazis at every opportunity and featuring Paul Freeman, Karren Allen, John Rhys-Davies, and a host of others this movie delivers a fresh and exciting take on adventure serials of the 30's and 40's.
Originally conceived by George Lucas as Indiana Smith, he intended for Raiders and the subsequent films to harken back to the adventure serials of the 1930's and 1940's and for Indiana to be a dashing adventurer with a keen intellect. When he convinced Steven Spielberg to sign on he claimed he had already written 2 sequels for Raiders and that was the only reason Spielberg agreed to take on the trilogy. As it turns out when production began on the second movie Lucas revealed he actually had nothing written. A little side note, I think this little lie also sheds some light on why the Star Wars trilogy had so many weird plot inconsistencies when George " had it all written/planned out" ahead of time. After convincing Lucas to change the name to Indiana Jones and hiring on Lawrence Kasdan to polish their brainstorming sessions into a usable script they spent 6 months refining and after that the film was almost ready to go into production. An interesting side note, Spielberg had to try very hard to get George to use Harrison Ford in the title role. Lucas didn't want Ford to become his " Bobby De Niro" in reference to the long working relationship between De Niro and Scorsese. Tom Selleck was offered the part but had to decline due to filming conflicts with Magnum P.I. and Lucas reluctantly signed Ford. After cutting some of the more extravagant to film ideas like a chase through a mine and a shoot-out using a gong as cover( both of which would make it in to Temple of Doom) the team began shopping the project around to the studios. All the major Hollywood studios declined involvement at first due to the high budget and George's requirement that they agree to take on at least 2 additional films but finally Paramount caved and funded the project.
Costume designer Deborah Nadoolman used Charlton Heston's character Harry Steele(Secret of the Incas) as a basis for Indiana's look and the crew watched the film several times together for inspiration. Spielberg and Lucas made extensive use of storyboards and a tight filming schedule to keep the costs within budget. This resulted in many scenes being filmed in a way the Spielberg describes as "quick and dirty" evoking the production style of the serials they wanted to pay homage to. The opening scenes in "Peru" where actually shot on the Hawaiian island of Kauai which Spielberg would later return to for Jurassic Park. The Egyptian scenes were filmed in Tunisia in some of the same locations from the original Star Wars movie with many of Lucas's team returning to shoot Raiders. One of the most iconic scenes of the film actually stemmed from Harrison Ford ( and a great number of the cast and crew) having dysentery and being unable to film long scenes. Originally the scene between Indiana and the sword wielding thug was supposed to be a duel involving his whip but Ford suggested that due to his condition they just " shoot the sucker" and be done with it.
George's company Industrial Light and Magic was hired to provide the special effects for the movie. Ben Burtt who had also worked on Star Wars supervised the sound design and John Williams produced the score. ILM utilized animation, puppets, cloud tanks and extensive matte paintings to produce the iconic Ark of The Covenant shot and used a gelatin and plaster model of Major Arnold Toht's( gestapo interrogator and general creep) head exposed to a heat lamp to create the face melting power of the ark. Burtt made extensive use of foley(using everyday sounds as effects in a movie) work to capture sounds for the movie including: a .30-30 Winchester rifle for the sound of Indiana's pistol, fingers running through casserole for the snakes slithering, rolling a car down a gravel driveway in neutral for the sound of the boulder, and beating a leather jacket with a baseball bat for punches and hits. Not only was this very effective it also drew yet another parallel with the production techniques of the past used to make the serials that inspired Raiders. He also utilized a synthesizer to mix dolphin and sea lion calls together to achieve the horrible screaming when the ark is opened.
I have really enjoyed the Indiana Jones movies ever since my father introduced them to me many years ago. I think Raiders strikes that perfect balance of wit, humor, and adventure that make a great timeless movie. It is without a doubt one of the two best things George Lucas has ever been a part of and has to be high up on list of Spielberg's accomplishments as well. All of the original Indiana Jones movies are great but nothing really compares to the first time you see Raiders of The Lost Ark. If you haven't seen it watch it immediately and if you have watch it again( you know you want to). Thanks for reading!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdnA-ESWcPs
