In the Well of Souls, you can see hieroglyphics of C3PO and R2D2 on the wall.
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Mistakes
When Belloq is talking to Indy and Marion in the Well of Souls, he's shown holding his hat with his right hand. But in the only over-the-shoulder shot (looking into the Well of Souls) the hat is laying on the ground and Belloq tosses a stone down with his right hand. Then the hat is back. See more...
Movie Mistakes blog
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Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - 26 trivia entries
Directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Alfred Molina, Denholm Elliott, Harrison Ford, John Rhys-Davies, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman (add more)
In the Well of Souls, you can see hieroglyphics of C3PO and R2D2 on the wall.
Another THX-1138 reference from George Lucas: When Indy gets off the Nazi Sub inside the hidden dock, you can hear over the loudspeaker, "ein, ein, drei, acht." (German for one-one-three-eight.)
Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan got the name Marion Ravenwood from his wife's grandmother who was named Marion and a street near Beverly Glen called Ravenwood.
Talking of the plane - check out the registration code: OB-CPO. Lucasfilm strikes again...
On the plane to Nepal, the guy with the Life magazine is Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren.
Pat Roach (the bald German mechanic in the fight at the plane) actually appears in all three films. He is a former wrestler, and is best known in the UK for playing "bomber" in "Auf Wiedersehen Pet".
The film was originally given an "R" rating by the MPAA because of Belloq's death (his head explodes and showers everywhere). To overcome the ratings, Spielberg had flames superimposed over the image (although it thins slightly as the head detonates).
The filmmakers discovered to their chagrin that the snakes used for the Well of Souls sequence weren't afraid of fire at all - in fact, they would always try to get closer to the fire to warm themselves. At one point director Spielberg was caught on camera picking up a snake and telling it, face to face, "In the script, you're supposed to hate fire. Why do you like fire? You're ruining my movie."
When Belloq is yelling at Indy on the island from down in the canyon, you can see a fly crawling about his face. He doesn't flinch, nor does he make any attempt to shoo it. It eventually ends up in his mouth, and he still doesn't react. The actor actually ate the fly in order that there should not be another take, since they had shot that take many times already.
The canyon where Indiana confronts Belloq and the Germans and threatens to blow up the Ark is the exact same canyon where the Jawas take R2-D2 in "Star Wars".
The scene where Indy shoots the sword wielding bad guy wasn't in the original script. Three months' shooting had resulted in Harrison Ford having a nasty case of dysentery, and the choreographed fight would have taken three and a half days to shoot. Harrison Ford really didn't want to stay on set that long, so suggested that it would be a good alternative if he just shot him. Who actually suggested the change isn't certain, but it wasn't a spur of the moment decision, contrary to some thoughts - it was a planned alternative.
The infamous sequence in which the three main antagonists are destroyed were achieved by:
A) A hollow head model which got the air sucked out of it (Wolf)
B) A head made of dental putty (which melts) under a heating lamp (Toht)
C) A false head being blown off by a shotgun (Belloq).
During filming of the fight scene around the German flying wing, Harrison Ford slipped and fell down and the plane's wheels rolled over his left knee, tearing his ACL. Rather than trust in the local medical care, they simply wrapped the knee up tightly, applied ice, and kept on going.
When the Nazis have taken the ark from the Bantu Wind (Captain Katanga's ship) and no one can find Indy (until he climbs aboard the sub), Spielberg actually filmed Indy diving off the ship and swimming all the way to the sub. Harrison Ford did the stunt himself, though the footage was never used.
Actor Michael Sheard appeared uncredited as the UBoat captain in Raiders. He also appeared uncredited as Adolf Hitler in the Last Crusade.
The mine chase that happens in Temple of Doom was originally supposed to appear in Raiders. Unfortunately there was so much material in the film that they had to shift it to the sequel.
The truck that Indy gets dragged under and the one that he blows up when he thinks he's killed Marion are actually the same truck. It was built specifically for the moving fight scene because they couldn't find a real truck that would work with all the stunts that were written for it. They used it again in the bazaar scene so that it would look like that type of truck was a common vehicle at the time.
When Indy swims to catch the U-Boat, the DVD and video cut out the part which ran in Canadian theatres (if not wider) where he lashes the whip to the periscope. This is probably due to the fact that just previously, Indy used the whip while he was dragged at the back of the Nazi truck and never picked it up. It was loosely hanging and about to fall away from the truck. I am assuming this was pointed out to the producers and they cut out blatant evidence of the whip being used.
For your entry concerning Indy's bazooka ambush and the fly on Belloq's face, there is an interesting additional item: not only does the actor not react to the insect, but the audio guy attempts to cover for him by adding two subtle buzzes - one on the right channel for its arrival, one on the left for its "departure". Best heard with headphones.
When Belloq and his men reach the town of Cairo after being swiped by Indy and the van with the Ark inside, notice Ronald Lacey's character Toht. In this entire scene you don't see his face, totally shadowed by his hat - his head doesn't even move! Was Ronald unavailable for filming and hired a double...?
Sallah is a tall man, but his name can be translated to mean 'sprout'. (This is probably because Lucas and Spielberg were offering the part to Danny DeVito who is considerably shorter than John Rhys Davies and only didn't take the part because of scheduling conflicts.)
According to Steven Spielberg, in the scene when Indy steals the horse and chases after the truck, you can see two men in the camp are cooking a dog on a spit.
The German submarine is the same sub that would later be used for Wolfgang Petersen's "Das Boot".
The scene in Temple of Doom where Indy cuts down the gong and jumps behind it to avoid being shot is actually a reject scene idea from Raiders, just like the mine car chase.
The rolling boulder in the opening scene was actually 22 feet in diameter and was made out of fiberglass.
The German U-boat in this movie is actually a mock-up built for Spielberg's earlier movie, 1941. It's only the front half of the sub, so you never see past the conning tower in close-ups. When you see the sub in its entirety, it's a model, which was also built for 1941.
You may also like: Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | Star Wars | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | Titanic
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