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?
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.
Question: I first saw "Raiders" at the cinema when it was released in Australia and I distinctly remember a scene which has never appeared on video or DVD. After the end credits, there's a cut back to the crate housing the Ark in the warehouse, and the U.S Govt. stamp on the side of the crate is slowly burning off, as if a fire within the crate is scorching it. One other friend (also in Australia) also remembers. Does anyone else remember this, and can anyone shed any light on what happened to this scene?
Answer: I also remember that scene.
Answer: This scene never existed. Plus, the crate never has a US Govt logo stamped on it. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbr.com/movie-legends-revealed-alternate-ending-for-raiders-of-the-lost-ark/amp/.
Answer: I remember the side of the crate being "charred" when it was in the ship's cargo hold, in the scene when the Nazi's arrived in the submarine. It was the Nazi swastika on the side of the crate that was burned off. It also showed a rat keeling over dead from the energy it emitted. (I just watched this again on the Paramount cable channel.)
Question: After the scene where Indy first goes onto the German U-boat, he runs around apparently looking for something, then the scene changes to the inside of the sub where you can hear that the order has been given to dive. Was there an actual scene cut out of the film where Indy lashes himself to the periscope? (When Raiders first came out in Aus, I vividly remember seeing it with this scene.)
Answer: The scene you describe was indeed filmed. It was cut out of the US release of the film although I cannot speak for the Australian version. The scene also appears in the Marvel Comics adaptation. http://www.theraider.net/films/raiders/deleted_scenes.php has a list of this and the other deleted scenes.
Question: Considering how powerful and dangerous the Ark is, why would Indy hand it over to the United States government, instead of putting it back where it was found and to ensure it's never located, lie to them and say him or the Nazis never found it?
Answer: Indy and Marcus Brody believed that the Ark needed to be studied. They certainly didn't want to put it back where it was found. They believed that the U.S. government would find the best archaeologists, researchers, and scientists in the world to study the Ark. They are both upset that instead, the government has decided to simply lock the Ark away. This is why Indy says, "Fools. They don't know what they've got there," as he is leaving the building.
Answer: To add to the previous answer, there is no way that the ark could have been secretly returned to where it was found and then conveniently forgotten. Too many people already knew of its existence and location. It would only be a matter of time before someone more sinister would retrieve it.
Question: Near the end when Indiana and Marion are tied to the post and the Germans are about to open the Ark, Indiana closes his eyes and tells Marion to close her eyes so they can't look. But how did he know when they should open them again? He wouldn't know the Ark had been sealed again afterwards unless he took a risk and opened his eyes to see.
Chosen answer: The events were quite loud. Once the noise had stopped, and the sound of the ark slamming shut had been heard, he slowly opened his eyes to check it was definitely safe.
Question: How are Indy and Marion able to avert the Angel of Death by merely closing their eyes?
Answer: The Angel of Death can only kill those who look directly at her/it, therefore closing their eyes killed only the Nazis and Belloq.
Answer: To add to the previous answer, technically, the Angel of Death can kill anyone if choose to, but simply chooses to kill those who don't show proper respect by closing their eyes.
Question: Is it possible for someone to drink to the point of passing out and then moments later appear completely sober (as Marion does)?
Chosen answer: Probably not, but Marion was faking it. She won a betting game that way. If she didn't at least act drunk, she'd never get anyone to compete against her. Sort of like how pool sharks pretend to be bad just to get people to play them, then they play just good enough to be assured of a win, but not so good that the player won't come back for more thinking they have a chance of winning their money back.
Question: In the first sequence, there is a trap with Indy's competition's body stuck on it. Although it is sprung by somebody breaking the beam of light (which I find hard to believe, given that it and other traps were done without any kind of more modern technology we're used to, but suspend disbelief for the sake of the movie), how was it reset without human intervention after Forrestal was killed, and prepared for Sapito?
Chosen answer: Likely, it wasn't. The Hovitos are still guarding the temple. Presumably, they maintain and reset the traps.
You'd think in that case that they would've removed the body.
I don't know, I'd be more afraid to rob the place with a dead body stuck there than without.
Why? It's a good warning to other would-be thieves.
What better way to scare away future intruders.
Answer: More than likely, they left Forrestal's body as a warning.
Answer: The character played by Alfred Molina is actually named "Satipo," after a town. "Sapito" would mean "small frog." It's a common typo, but the more you know.
Question: Is it true that Harrison Ford stapled his hat to his head so that it would not fall off? I've heard its a myth but also that it was true.
Answer: This started because of an outtake from the movie. Harrison Ford pretends to staple his hat to his head because it keeps blowing off for a particular scene, then they show the scene again and his hat doesn't blow off. Being that Harrison Ford is neither insane nor displays masochistic tendencies, I think it's safe to say that this is untrue.
Question: Why on earth does Marion take her bra off before putting on the white dress given to her by Belloc?
Answer: She takes off her bra because the dress has a very low back.
Answer: She was trying to "seduce" Belloc and get him drunk so she could escape. What better way to take a man's attention off your real plans, than to wear a white dress with no bra on.
Question: When Jones has the bazooka pointed to the Ark and shouts something, Belloq turns around and there's a moment in which you can see an ant or something going into Belloq's mouth. What is what goes into his mouth exactly? Is this a mistake, a joke on purpose, or something more?
Answer: When Indiana threatens the Nazis with a Panzerfaust, you can see a fly creeping into the mouth of Paul Freeman. Contrary to popular belief, he did not swallow it. Freeman explained in an interview years later that the fly flew off at about the instant he uttered the word "bad, " but 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. This made it look as though Freeman ate it, and he found the edit highly amusing.
Question: I need some translation help here. Firstly when Marion is having the drinking contest and has drunken her final drink, she lowers the glass slowly making everyone think that she has lost. Then she shouts a word twice (Bistoti or something like that) and wins. What does that word mean? Also when Indy is mourning over Marion's "death", two guys in suits come over to him and tell him something in a foreign language. While I have a vague idea of what they said, I was wondering if anyone knew for sure.
Answer: It's Russian, погоди or pogodi. In Russian meaning hold it.
Chosen answer: The two men say to Indy "Der Herr in der Bar mochte immer ihnen sprechen". This is translated as "The man in the bar wants to talk to you". The word in the bar that Marion says is "Pistole", which translated means "Hold it! or "Wait a minute!"
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.
Question: During the fight in Marion's Bar, there's a shot with her holding a (makeshift) torch and loading her mouth with alcohol (probably Rum), draining from a small barrel. How did that potential scene of her "spitting fire" at the next opponent not end up being used in the film? Did they really sacrifice continuity for the sake of further establishing her as a drunkard?
Answer: I don't see it as a continuity issue - she uses the burning stick to smash over the guy's head. The fact that it's on fire is likely irrelevant, she just needed a club. As for her grabbing a drink, it's just a quick comic aside rather than trying to highlight any sort of drinking problem. The barrel is shot and draining onto the floor, she doesn't want to waste good rum.
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.
Question: How could Belloq know/believe that the Ark is a powerful artifact, but also be completely oblivious to the Bible specifically mentioning that some Bethshemites were smitten for gazing into it and Uzzah was smitten for touching it?
Answer: There were probably many reasons. Propelled by greed, he may simply have chosen to filter out certain aspects of the biblical text, believing what he wanted to believe. He may have misinterpreted or had not bothered with the details of what was written in the bible.
Add in that he was hired by the Nazis to do the job of finding and utilizing the Ark. He had to make sure it worked so he could present it to Hitler.
Question: The scene where everyone's getting burned and exploding, why didn't the ark burn Marion and Indy too? Is it because they didn't do anything wrong to it?
Answer: They were protected because they did not directly look at the Ark. Indy told Marion to look away. That is what saved them.
Anyone who looks upon what is inside the ark perishes. The ark is used as the wrath of god against anyone who doesn't show respect to it, by not looking at what is inside. Even if what is inside goes outside.
Question: Why exactly do the spirits in the Ark kill everyone who looks at them? Do they only kill evil people such as the Nazis, or everyone who looks at them, regardless of how pure they may be (say, for example, would the Pope be able to open the Ark without incident)? Does that also mean after being closed, the Ark was never supposed to be opened again by anybody ever? I was never quite clear on the explanation to the Ark's somewhat malefic nature.
Answer: The idea that the contents of the Ark could not be viewed was lifted from God's statement to Moses that He could not appear to Moses in all His glory lest Moses be killed by it. The Ark would kill everyone who looked at it because, Biblically speaking, "all [Pope included] have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." No, the Ark was never meant to be opened. The Ark is not, strictly speaking, malefic either. It's just too Holy for human endurance. It is humanity's malefic nature that causes the Ark to kill.
Answer: I also remember this scene. After the ark is sealed, the camera performs a close up of the side of the crate. The stamp reads "Top Secret Army Intel 9906753 Do Not Open" This stamp is burned off just like the swastika is in the scene on the submarine, because in the eyes of God, no nation is holy or worthy enough to claim ownership of the ark. However, this final scene was cut (the burning of the stamp) from the film for a variety of unclear reasons. While it was in theaters, this scene was not included on the DVD version.
Add me to this. We saw the movie in a "pre release" version in Orlando Florida. No advance warning of the movie. We went to see another flick and at the end were "invited" to see this if we were willing to critique it afterwards. This scene was included. I also always wondered why the change.
I also remember seeing this mysterious 'burning' of the logo, most likely it was on a VHS copy of this movie. Yes, it did exist.
I saw it in former Czechoslovakia in the second half of 80's in cinema (west movies came to the east countries' cinemas years later). And I thought it was a great joke that burning out the swastika wasn't just because the Nazis are bad but because nobody is great enough to own the arc. Then after the Velvet revolution I saw the film again on TV (beginning of 90's) and said everyone around: watch it until the end, wait on the post-credit scene, there will be a surprise.
And there was a surprise. The scene was cut off! I was angry on the TV they didn't show the scene. I cannot be influenced by internet discussion or urban legend. The internet didn't exist yet.
I saw it in Portland, Oregon, and was so impressed with the message it carried, that I told friends and we went several times just to see it. Funny thing was when I mentioned it a few years ago, many people said I was a LIAR that it never happened. I could not convince anyone. It was removed because it wasn't Politically Correct. USA is a force for good, God would not burn off AMERICAN TEXT! BUT WE DID SEE IT. Thanks to our Australian eye witness, we know we did not imagine it.