Raiders of the Lost Ark Facts – In 1981, just a year after the release of The Empire Strikes Back, Harrison Ford starred in the action-adventure movie, ‘Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark’. The movie would go on to spawn four Indiana Jones sequels over the next four decades. Becoming one of the most popular movie franchises of all time.
Below are 13 awesome Raiders of the Lost Ark facts you probably never knew! Everything from behind the scenes information to trivia and useless information! You can find out more about Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark at our Then and Now post.
13 Awesome Raiders Of The Lost Ark Facts
1: Harrison Ford got so sick from food poisoning in Tunisia that scenes had to be changed
The famous scene in which Indy shoots the swordsman was not in the original script. Harrison Ford was supposed to use his whip to get the sword out of his attacker’s hand, however food poisoning made him too sick to perform the stunt.
After several unsuccessful tries, Ford suggested “shooting the sucker”. Steven Spielberg agreed to the idea, and the scene was successfully filmed.
2: R2-D2 AND C-3PO appear in the movie
During the Well of Souls scene, you can see a golden pillar with a tiny engraving of R2-D2 and C-3PO from Star Wars. They are also on the wall behind Indy when he first approached the Ark.
3: British actor Pat Roach was killed twice in the movie
British actor Pat Roach appears in two different roles in the movie, dying both times. Once as the giant Sherpa who dies in the burning Nepealese bar. Then again as the German mechanic who gets shredded by the plane propeller.
4: Vic Tablian also has two roles in the movie
Armenian-British actor Vic Tablian also had two roles in the movie. He played Barranca, the Peruvian guide and theif who tried to kill Indiana Jones and claim the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol. He also played the one-eyed assassin Monkey Man.
5: Indy was supposed to be an American James Bond
When Brody first goes to Indy’s house to discuss the mission, Jones is dressed the way he is because he is entertaining a woman in his bedroom.
The script originally planned to show her before moving to the next scene. This was to establish a ladies-man persona, like James Bond, who Indy was originally based on. However, her appearance was cut, as Steven Spielberg thought that being a playboy did not fit Indy’s character.
6: Not enough snakes could be found for the 'Well of Souls' Scene
To create the Well of Souls scene, producers had to search every pet shop in London and the south of England to find every snake they could. Hence, there are many different snakes from different geographical locations in the scene.
However, despite their best efforts, it soon became apparent there were not enough snakes. To solve the problem Spielberg and the crew cut different lengths of hose to make it look as if there were far more snakes. If you look closely during the scene you can make out which are real snakes and which are hose.
7: Indy's iconic hat was bought from Herbert Johnson in London, then aged by sitting on it
The iconic hat Indiana Jones wears in the movie is the ‘Poet’ model from Herbert Johnson in London. The store still exists today and still sells the same hat. The hat is now named the ‘Raiders Rabbit Poet’, available for £365 (around $460 dollars).
To give the hat an aged look, costume designer Deborah Nadoolman twisted it. She and Harrison Ford took turns sitting on it. The end result being “a very lived-in, and well-loved” hat.
8: Indiana Jones was originally Indiana Smith
George Lucas originally created Indy with the name ‘Indiana Smith’, however, Steven Spielberg wasn’t keen on using the name ‘Smith’. Speilberg then managed to convinced Lucas to change the name to ‘Jones’, and so the name ‘Indiana Jones’ was used.
9: The Nazis spoke such bad German that lines had to be dubbed for the German version of the film
Although the Nazis speak German in many scenes, most of the lines were dubbed for the German versions of the film, because the English-speaking actors spoke very bad German. Some lines were not just badly spoken, they were wrong.
On the German DVD, the majority of the German lines appear to have been spoken by native German speakers, with a slight south German accent.
10: The film was originally given an R-rating
The film was originally given an R-rating because of Belloq’s exploding head at the end. Speilberg didn’t want the movie to be rated R, so layers of fire were added in front of his face to make it appear less graphic.
11: Paul Freeman didn't swallow the fly!
During the scene where Indiana threatens the Nazis with a Panzerfaust, you can clearly see a fly creeping into the mouth of Paul Freeman. Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t swallow the fly.
Freeman explained in an interview years later that the fly flew off at about the instant he uttered the word “bad”. However, Steven Spielberg noticed it and decided it would be funny to cut out a few frames so the fly would not be seen flying away.
Empire Magazine once chose this scene as one of the most common scenes for which people press the “Pause” button on their VCRs.
12: The canyon where Indy threatens to blow up the Ark was also used in Star Wars IV: A New Hope
The scene where Indy threatens to blow up the Ark with a bazooka, as it is being carried through a canyon, was filmed in the exact same canyon used in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, where R2-D2 was zapped and stolen by Jawas.
The canyon is Sidi Bouhlel, near the town of Tozeur, in Tunisia. The town of Tozeur was used to replicate Cairo in the movie, you can see more here.
13: The Nazi naval base in the movie was actually used by the Nazi's during WW2
After the Nazi’s capture the Ark they ship it off to an island ‘north of Crete’. The location used in the movie is actually La Rochelle, a naval base in the west of France.
The port has existed since the 10th century, during WW2 the Nazis established a submarine naval base at the port. A German stronghold, it was the last French city to be liberated during WW2.
