Question: Where are the hieroglyphs of C3PO and R2D2 in the Well of Souls? I have spent years searching for them, but have never been able to spot them.
Question: What does it mean, that German speech of Nazi soldier who met Indy at U-Boot base? I know he is asking Indy about why is he sleeping and thinks Indy looks like pig, but I don't understand the rest.
Answer: He's asking "Why are you so lazy?" He starts complaining that his jacket is undone and his hair is all in a mess. He is also saying "the general will be here", although he doesn't finish his sentance as Indy kicks him and steals his hat.
Question: Why is the title of this movie just "Raiders of the Lost Ark" instead of "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark"?
Answer: The original title was simply "Raiders of the Lost Ark" because George Lucas and Steven Spielberg didn't anticipate the lead character exploding into a cultural icon. After this first blockbuster film, they added "Indiana Jones and..." to the title of every sequel, and "Indiana Jones" became a marketing trademark for a deluge of licensed merchandise (most of which was directed at kids and young adults). Years later, in subsequent releases on Blu-Ray and DVD, Lucasfilm actually went back and retitled the first film "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark," in order to keep the collected films under the umbrella of the "Indiana Jones" trademark.
Question: What exactly are the spirits that emerge from the Ark? I get that they are malevolent ghosts, but what is the purpose of them first emerging from the Ark as beautiful women? Are they supposed to be the ghosts of women from Babylonia, or Jerusalem, or any other significant location from Biblical times?
Answer: They are angels. They are initially beautiful, but become terrifying when they destroy those who look at them. That's why Indy and Marion are spared, as they keep their eyes shut.
Question: Is the golden head treasure in the cave at the beginning of Raiders the same one used in Jim Carrey's film The Majestic, where his scriptwriter movie has a scene in an Egyptian tomb?
Answer: The idol also appears on a table in Dryden Vos' office in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Interestingly, the crystal skull on top of the same table looks entirely human, and was confirmed to be a reference to a novel called Han Solo and the Lost Legacy rather than to that awful fourth Indy movie.
Question: In the scene near the end of the movie at the boat, there is a shot of a box and there is some 'Hitler' sign burning into it (this scene has some 'knocking' music). Does anyone knows what's the meaning of this scene?
Question: When Indy chases after the Ark, which is on the German convoy, where did he get that beautiful white horse from? There is no evidence of horses being kept anywhere in the camp.
Answer: The earlier scenes of the excavation site show several horses being ridden or used for hauling.
Question: I know this film was made before "Temple of Doom", which was a prequel. Thus the character of Shorty did not exist when this film was made. I'm wondering however if Spielberg or Lucas have ever said anything about where they assume Short Round is during the events of "Raiders..."
Answer: In all my years of watching interviews and behind the scenes footage of the 3 Indy films, I don't think this has never been addressed. Perhaps they might tie up this loose end in the new Indy movie...
Question: Why does the girl have writing on her eyelids? What is the joke there?
Answer: She has written "I love you" on them. It's why Dr Jones splutters his speech and focuses on them.
Question: When the ark is about to be opened by Belloq and the Nazis, Belloq is wearing possibly a priest style outfit and has a gold staff. Does it explain where he got that from? Was it while digging up the city? Personal collection?
Answer: Belloq was working closely with the Nazis who were, of course, already persecuting Jews and confiscating Jewish property on a grand scale back in Germany. As chief archaeologist of the Nazi antiquities acquisition project, Belloq could make any request for necessary equipment (or attire), and the Third Reich would quickly supply it. Belloq anticipated that the ceremonial Jewish high priest costume would be necessary for handling the Ark, and he requested a replica costume in advance. As it happened, merely looking like a Jewish high priest wasn't enough to protect him (or anyone else).
Answer: It was never explained where Belloq acquired the outfit, but as he knew the history of the arc and he was actively searching for it to use its power, he must have intended for some time to wear that clothing for the ritual. Whether or not he knew it was needed or his wearing it was just for egotistical theatrics is a matter of speculation.
Question: Why does Satipo follow Indy into the boobytrap-filled temple at the beginning of the film, if he's aware of the danger and is terrified to go in?
Answer: He was greedy and probably assumed Indy would disable all the boobytraps getting to the idol, thus clearing the way for him. As for Satipo acting afraid, he was probably faking it so Indy would not suspect that he intended to steal the idol and trap him inside the temple. It also deliberately misleads the audience as to his duplicity, making his betrayal an unexpected twist. He may actually have been afraid but was it was the price for obtaining what he wanted.
Question: Is this true that Klaus Kinski was considered to play Toht?
Question: How did the German U-boat know where the ship carrying the ark was? They completely lost track of it after the truck chase, so they should've had no clue as to where it was and where it was going.
Answer: True, but they had agents everywhere and could make an educated guess that Indy and Marion would try to smuggle it out of the country, so they would have been watching the ports and seen them board the ship.
Question: When Indy is in the final room to get the golden idol, how does he know exactly which plates to step on? None of them have moss like the first that he pushed down with the wooden torch. They have no distinguishing features. How can he tell which ones are the safe ones?
Answer: Note how Indy only steps on the darker area surrounding the centre of each plate, but triggered the trap by pushing down the centre area. That could mean that the plates consist of two parts and only the centre part is the trigger. Thus it would've been easy to figure out that "walking on the cracks" is the savest way. Additionally, Indy might be putting on a "genius at work" show for the clumsy assistant. If tomb raiding was revealed as being rather easy, everybody would do it.
Answer: I fully agree with the other answer, and just to expand a bit: we also don't question how Indy knew to "stay out of the light" on the previous trap, or how he knows the idol is on a platform triggered by a change in weight. Clearly, he's done his homework.
Answer: Indy is an archaeologist and would have extensively researched the culture, history, customs, technology, etc. digging up any clue to how and where to find the idol. There may have been other treasure caves found with similar booby traps in place that others tried and failed to overcome. Indy was making a (literal) leap of faith that he had the correct knowledge. There is some "suspension of disbelief" employed here, where the audience accepts that Indy had somehow gained the proper knowledge.
Question: In Raiders of the Lost Ark, the scene when Indy tells Marion to close her eyes, does anyone remember in the original release that the spirits looked directly into their faces to see if they were looking? Since I saw that, I haven't seen it in any version of the film. Does anyone know where this part can be seen, or why it hasn't been included in the various versions? (02:07:59)
Answer: I've seen that scene myself, but the versions I've seen have been on basic cable networks, with commercials, and they've included that scene. Sometimes they edit scenes for running time.
Answer: Here's a picture so you'll know what to look for: http://www.starwars.com/episode-i/snapshot/1999/11/snapshot19991102.html. They're not hugely prominent - they're to the left of a man and a dog-headed man, and to the right of a man in a chair. C3-P0 is facing left, reaching down to R2-D2.
Myridon