Overview

Raiders of the Lost Ark, also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, is a 1981 adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the first installment of the Indiana Jones series.

The story introduces archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), who is hired by the U.S. government to go on a quest for the mystical lost Ark of the Covenant. Accompanied by his old friend Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) and ex-flame Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), he must retrieve the ark before the Nazis and his adversary, French archaeologist Rene Belloq (Paul Freeman) acquire it first.

The original film sparked waves of interest in old 1930s style cliffhanger serials, leading to two more films (one sequel and one prequel), talk of a third, and a television series "chronicle" of the lead character, Indiana Jones, as a young man prior to his feature film adventures.

Conception

George Lucas officially started the project in 1977. Like Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, he saw it as an opportunity to create a modern version of the serials of the 1930s and 1940s. The early 1970s had been dominated by action films either with a certain gritty realism, such as the Dirty Harry series, or that were massive productions with huge casts and elaborate special effects such as The Poseidon Adventure. By contrast Raiders of the Lost Ark is comic book-like in tone, with a glamorous hero, over-the-top villains, and impressive stunt work combined with moments of comedy. It was also limited in its ambitions as the plot is rather straightforward, and there are only a few principal characters.

Lucas had conceived of the idea in discussion with Philip Kaufman who had worked on a treatment. In a "Making of..." TV special, Lucas said that the mental picture of Indy chasing the truck on horseback, in the style of a western hero chasing a runaway stagecoach, was his initial inspiration for the film. He told his colleague, "I want to see this movie!"

Steven Spielberg had expressed an interest in directing a James Bond film, but to no avail from EON Productions, the company that owned the rights to the character. Lucas convinced his friend Spielberg that he had conceived a character "better than James Bond": Indiana Smith. While on holiday in Hawaii, the pair worked out the basis for the film and changed the character's surname. At the time, Spielberg's career was suffering due to the expensive bomb 1941 so it was agreed that Lucas would produce and Spielberg would direct. A new screenplay was commissioned from Lawrence Kasdan. Comic book artist Jim Steranko was also commissioned to produce original illustrations for pre-production, which heavily influenced Spielberg's decisions in both the look of the film and the character of Indiana Jones himself. Spielberg stated on the Bonus Materials DVD that Indy's costume is based exactly on Steranko's first illustration.

Spielberg suggested casting Harrison Ford as Jones, but Lucas objected, stating that he didn't want Ford to become his "Bobby DeNiro" or "that guy I put in all my movies." Desiring a lesser known actor, Lucas convinced Spielberg to help him search for a new talent, and the actor they both became keen for was Tom Selleck, who possessed features similar to Ford's and a much larger physical frame. However, Selleck was unavailable for the part because of his commitment to the television series Magnum, P.I.. Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman, and Tim Matheson were also considered for the role of Jones. But in the end, Spielberg convinced Lucas to offer the role to Ford, who accepted, just three weeks before filming began in June 1980.

Reaction

When released on June 12 the $20-million film was a huge success, easily the highest grossing film (earning $383 million worldwide) of 1981, and, at the time, one of the highest-grossing movies ever made. According to the 2005 edition of The World Almanac (from Variety data), the first two Star Wars films are the only pictures released prior to 1981 that have out-earned Raiders. Raiders of the Lost Ark was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, in 1982 and won four (Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration). It won numerous other awards including seven Saturn Awards.[8]

Following the box office success of Raiders, two more feature films were produced: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which is a prequel, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which is a sequel. Another sequel, known only as Indiana Jones 4, is also in pre-production. A TV series, entitled The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, also spun off from this film, and details the early years of the character leading up to this film. Numerous other books, comics and video games have also been produced.

In 1998, the American Film Institute placed the film at number 60 on its top 100 films of the first century of cinema. In 1999 the film was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

An amateur shot-for-shot remake was made by Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala and Jayson Lamb, then children in Biloxi, Mississippi. It took the boys seven years to finish, from 1982-1989. After production of the film, called Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation, wrapped in 1989, it was shelved and forgotten until 2003, where it was discovered by Eli Roth [9] and acclaimed by Spielberg himself [10] who congratulated the boys on their hard work and said he looked forward to seeing their names on the big screen. [11] Scott Rudin and Paramount Pictures have purchased the trio's life rights and will be producing a film based on their adventures making their remake, known as the Untitled Daniel Clowes Project (2006).

Cultural references

In the opening scene, the rolling boulder booby trap is very similar to the climax of the 1943 Abbott and Costello film, Hit The Ice. In that film, Lou Costello and a bank robber that he had been fighting with roll down a snowy mountain and become enveloped in a large ball of snow. As it rolls down the hill it comes very close to running over Bud Abbott who is on skis in front of the ball of snow.

In addition, the opening scene can also be compared to the 1954 Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge adventure "The Seven Cities of Cibola" (Uncle Scrooge #7). The movie plot is also similar (and probably inspired as well) to many Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge comic books, which were often center around journey for a famous (historical/legendary) treasure.

Ralph McQuarrie drew the picture of the Ark of the Covenant in the Bible Indiana looks at during an early exposition scene.[13]

The final scene of the crated ark in the government warehouse appears to be a tribute to one of the final shots in Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941).

In the Well of Souls, an image of R2-D2 and C-3PO, from Lucas's earlier film Star Wars, is hidden among the other hieroglyphs.