The script featured an elaborate scene involving the goon chasing Jones through the streets of Cairo, but since almost all of the crew members had gotten food poisoning, Ford suggested he just shoot the guy instead. The actor playing the swordsman had apparently practiced for months for the scene, but unfortunately for him, he was killed off in a matter of seco
**That's fantastic. Going back to the start, what was your first impression of Raiders when you were talking to the producers about doing it? Because it's very Lucas and Spielberg as a story, but it's also unlike what they'd been doing previously. What was your first impression of the movie and of Marion as well
(Lucas resisted casting Harrison Ford for a while, because he didn’t want him to become the Robert De Niro to his Martin Scorsese , but eventually, he couldn’t deny that Ford was perfect .) For Marion, they considered Michelle Pfeiffer, Debra Winger, Mary Steenburgen, Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Seymour, and Barbara Hers
In all the best action movies, the narrative is driven by action and not the other way around. Raiders exemplifies this perfectly with action sequences that further the plot and lead into more action sequences that are incredible to watch, but still make se
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
Simply put, people of non-Western nationalities are shown as exotic caricatures at best and non-white bad guys at worst. The Hovitos tribe, Toht’s Nepalese gunmen, and the Egyptians only exist to hinder or help Indy, having little to no agency to speak of. While their depictions are a product of the archaic adventurer genre’s trappings, the racially insensitive subtext can’t be igno
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas auditioned a ton of different actors for the roles of Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood. For Indy, they considered David Hasselhoff, Tom Selleck, Michael Biehn (who would go on to play Kyle Reese in The Terminator ), Mark Harmon, Christopher Guest (who starred in This is Spinal Tap ), and A Star is Born ’s Sam Elli
Yes, those scenes where I am barefoot, which there are a lot of when I'm in that white dress, for the most part. It's very fanciful that I put on that white dress and a pair of high heels out in the middle of the desert. And then I seem to lose my shoes entirely in the Well of Souls. It's interesting. I don't know exactly how I got through being barefoot for all of that. Certainly, in the Well of Souls with all the snakes, it was very challenging. There were a lot of snakes there, and I had nothing on my teeth and nothing on my legs - once the skirt gets ripped, the bottom half of my legs is also completely bare. So, it does feel very much like I have no protection against the fire and the snakes and everything that was going on. I don't know, you just rise to the occasion, as they say. When you're an actor, they throw all these circumstances at you. You just have to sometimes take a deep breath and see it as a part of the adventure. What can I say? I guess I'm a good sp
Lauded as one of the greatest movies ever made, Raiders of the Lost Ark introduced the movie-going world to one of its most timeless icons: Indiana Jones . Even though the dream team of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, who had each directed a record-breaker for the highest grossing movie ever made at this point, were behind the production, they struggled to garner any interest from the major Hollywood stud
It's no secret that the age-difference inferred in the movie between Indy and Marion is problematic . Arguably more problematic, however, are the thought processes the writers had when coming up with the storyl
One of the most iconic moments in Raiders of the Lost Ark quests Ark sees Indy facing a swordsman with ostentatious choreography. Indy just shoots the guy and moves on. This wasn’t in the original script. Initially, Indy was supposed to use his whip to yank the sword out of the guy’s hand, but since the entire cast and crew was sick from a bad case of food poisoning during the shoot in Tunisia, Harrison Ford suggested simply "shooting the sucker," to cut down on how long it would take to film. Steven Spielberg loved the idea and decided to use
To celebrate 40 years of Raiders of the Lost Ark - and the 4K release of the Indiana Jones collection - Screen Rant connected with Allen to discuss her enduring experience with the film, from those early talks with producers to the experience of shooting a globe-trotting movie in bare f
**I grew up on Raiders of the Lost Ark , and absolutely love it. Revisiting it again before talking to you just hammers home how well it holds up and how well it's aged. Do you often revisit it? Is it a movie you go back to, or do you not like to watch your own stuff