Question: In this film, German soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht incorrectly wear uniforms of the Afrika Korps, which was actually created in 1941. What would be the correct real-life uniform these characters should have been wearing in the desert by 1936?
Big Game
11th May 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
11th Jan 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Question: How was the scene in which the Nazi mechanic, played by Pat Roach, is killed by the propeller of the Flying Wing filmed? As seen in the film, the spinning propeller is practically right in his face when Pat turns around.
Answer: Probably a combination of practical special effects, including camera angles with forced perspective that can make an object or person appear closer, further away, larger, smaller, etc. Often, rear-screen projection is used where the actor stands in front of an image projected onto a screen. The real propellers could have been replaced with something that would create a blurred spinning effect without endangering the actors.
11th Jan 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
6th Jan 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
5th Oct 2024
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
12th Sep 2024
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Question: Is it possible that this film had an alternate ending? In the audio of Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Movie on Record (released the same year, 1981), during the opening of the Ark, we can hear sounds, scenes, and screams that never appear in the final film (or in any deleted scenes). Examples of this are the sounds of the spirits, Dietrich's second scream, and Indy saying "You're all right, you're all right" to Marion (she answers "Yes...") after the Ark closes.
28th Aug 2024
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Question: Is the island shown through the submarine's periscope (Geheimhaven in the movie) a real island (of course without any Nazi base)?
Chosen answer: The Indiana Jones wiki: To film the arrival of the German submarine at the base, the visual effects artists at Industrial Light and Magic borrowed a miniature prop from Steven Spielberg's 1979 film, 1941. The model was floated through San Francisco Bay towards one of the two Marin Islands just off the shoreline from ILM's then-headquarters in San Rafael. The real-world island was later replaced with a matte painting.
18th Aug 2024
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
21st Jul 2024
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Question: I remember seeing a couple of scenes only once. The first showed the inside of the Ark (as in the scene where the portal opens) with fire coming out of it. The second was a side shot of the Altar where you could see the fire lifting the bodies of the three main villains. Does anyone know where these scenes can be seen?
21st Jul 2024
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Question: I've never understood why the three antagonists never escape and continue to scream after the ghosts have gone. Is there something horrible that they see and the audience don't that freezes them and makes them scream in fear?
Answer: The audience sees everything they see. At first, they're transfixed by the magical apparitions around them and are marvelling at how beautiful/supernatural/awe-inspiring it is. Just as, I imagine, anyone else would. Then, the figure in front of them changes into something terrifying, and they scream in fear because they realise whatever is coming out of the Ark is, to put it mildly, not friendly. Then (again, as you'd expect), they are rooted to the spot in terror, and after that, well, it's kind of hard to escape when your face is melting off and/or exploding.
Chosen answer: In real life, the Wehrmacht had no presence in Northern Africa in 1936. So whoever they were, they shouldn't have been there. Having said that, since there were no olive or khaki coloured desert uniforms yet (1940), the Wehrmacht soldiers should wear regular Heer field uniforms, which are grey-green ("field grey") and had the same style and looks from 1934 to 1945.
lionhead
They were there on a personal mission for Hitler. It had nothing to do with the war. It was strictly an archaeological dig. The uniforms were relevant.
The British are not going to let armed and uniformed Wehrmacht soldiers and SS, trucks and warplanes walk around Egypt. Certainly not digging for treasure. There may not be war yet, but they were not exactly on good terms either.
lionhead