History Film / RaidersOfTheLostArk

** The film is set in 1936, before World War II broke out and when Germany was still insecure in its military, yet the Germans have a secret submarine base in Greece and can freely mount archaeological expeditions in British-occupied Egypt backed by plenty of soldiers who are openly wearing German uniforms and parading the Swastika. Had anything like the events of this film actually happened at this time, the British and likely the French would probably have declared war on Germany immediately.[[note]]Notably, ''The Last Crusade'' would later address this sort of thing with a scene in which the Nazis are explicitly shown getting the Sultan of Hatay's permission to retrieve the Holy Grail from his country.[[/note]]

** Marion was only ''fifteen years old'' when she and Indy (who was in his twenties at the time) began their relationship. This explains her "I was a child! It was wrong and you knew it!" comment.

** The headpiece to the Staff of Ra is (also) engraved with a warning not to look inside the Ark of the Covenant (such advice can also be found in Literature/TheBible), which is how Indy knew to close his eyes when the Nazis opened it. Belloq spent several hours making a copy from the burn mark on Toht's hand, and so only knew what was engraved on one side of it.
** Belloq doesn't much care for the Nazis -- in the novel, he is revealed to have met ''UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler himself'', and was unimpressed. This disdain does not, of course, stop him from working with them to recover the Ark, with which he is obsessed [[note]] although it's not stated, he may well have got this obsession from Abner Ravenwood, who was his tutor as well as Indy's [[/note]].

* ArtifactCollectionAgency: The SecretGovernmentWarehouse seen at the end of the movie implies the existence of such an agency: It's far too large to only contain things stumbled upon by chance. The fourth film starts at either the same or a very similar warehouse, located in Area 51.
* ArtifactOfDeath: TheArkOfTheCovenant supposedly grants the owner great power, and may be used as a Radio to God. However, opening the ark releases the Wrath of God, and anyone who looks upon the spirits that are released dies an extremely gruesome death.

** The Nazis have a vast base complete with soldiers and airplanes in Egypt, which had a strong British military presence at the time. Ditto for the hidden U-Boat base in the Aegean -- Germany didn't occupy Greece until 1941 (their ally Italy held Rhodes and the Dodecanese, but whether they would have allowed a German U-Boat base on one of the smaller islands is another question).

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: Marcus speculates that the Nazis want the Ark because "an army that carries the Ark before it is invincible." In the Bible, every time the army of Israel carried the Ark into battle without God's specific direction to do so, they were ''soundly'' trounced and usually lost the Ark as well. For the capturing nation, at best, it would remain inert. At worst... well, let's just say it was usually hastily returned, often with a request to please ask the Lord to stop smiting them now. Although Hitler ''did'' say several things in real life indicating that he believed he was specifically directed by God to take over the world. Whether it was a lie he used to motivate his followers or [[TautologicalTemplar he actually believed it]] is up for debate. Belloq also made the fatal mistake of getting all the ritual gear right but missing the multiple clear warnings ''not to look in it''.

* BigBadDuumvirate: Technically all three antagonists are working for the GreaterScopeVillain UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, but all three have their own authorities and agendas -- Belloq is in charge of the actual archaeological side of things which the other two are clueless about, Dietrich provides the military muscle and is nominally in charge but would be ineffectual without Belloq in his mission, and Toht is more of a specialist TortureTechnician probably on loan from either the Gestapo or the SS and not necessarily a subordinate to Dietrich if he is part of a separate command structure. [[spoiler:All three die together, killed by the Ark while standing as equals over it, with Belloq (the least powerful) being in the centre of the group between the other two]].

* MonochromeApparition: White specters appear when the Ark is opened. While they initially seem to be beautiful (and one of the bad guys calls them such), they quickly show a more eerie expression and proceed to kill all the people present except Indiana and Mario (because they close their eyes and the specters not only spare them but also burn the ropes that were keeping them tied).

* EmergingFromTheShadows: The first time we see Indy's face is when he steps forward from an overshadowed spot in the forrest.

* WritersCannotDoMath: While translating the inscriptions on the headpiece of the Staff of Ra, the Imam initially says the staff should be "six kadam high", or "about seventy-two inches", as Indy notes. However, the Imam then says "And take back one kadam to honor the Hebrew god whose ark this is". So, the staff has to be 5 kadam or about 60 inches (5 feet) long. Nevertheless, when Indy is seen using the staff, it's ''much'' taller than him (Creator/HarrisonFord is around 6 feet tall). If the Imam had said "add on" rather than "take back", this would make sense.

** Just after he discovers the location of the Ark in the map room Indy dodges some Germans by ducking into a tent in their camp, only to be surprised to find that Marion is tied up and gagged in the tent. He had thought she was killed in the earlier street fight. He starts to release her, but then changes his mind and gags her again, telling her that he'll come back for her later, since if he frees her now the Germans will start searching the area for him and he'll loose his chance to recover the Ark.

* AnywhereButTheirLips: Indiana Jones complains about his body hurting when Marion tries to treat him. Marion exasperatedly asks him where it doesn't hurt, and he throws up his elbow- and she kisses it. He then points to his forehead. She kisses that, and then he points to a corner of his mouth. As she goes in for a kiss he falls asleep, exhausted.

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: The movie briefly has a Nazi machine-gunner try to kill Indy with it by [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy firing in his general direction with it]]. Not only did he miss cleanly, the angle was such that he sprayed the cargo compartment of the truck in front of him (the mooks in the truck are shown hitting the deck to avoid the gunfire).

* AudibleGleam: The head-peace of the Staff of Rah.

* BallsOfSteel: Indy is challenged by a hopelessly larger fighter; he kicks him the groin in desperation--in response to which the fighter just challenges him again.
* BambooTechnology: Ancient South American Indians develop a trap with a trigger that uses a beam of sunlight as an electric eye: when anything interrupts the beam, the trap activates.

* BigBadDuumvirate: Technically all three antagonists are working for the GreaterScopeVillain UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, but all three have their own authorities and agendas - Belloq is in charge of the actual archaeological side of things which the other two are clueless about, Dietrich provides the military muscle and is nominally in charge but would be ineffectual without Belloq in his mission, and Toht is more of a specialist TortureTechnician probably on loan from either the Gestapo or the SS and not necessarily a subordinate to Dietrich if he is part of a separate command structure. [[spoiler:All three die together, killed by the Ark while standing as equals over it, with Belloq- the least powerful- being in the centre of the group between the other two]].

* BlatantLies: After the Ark's recovery, Major Eaton assures Indy that it's now in a safe location where no bad guy can reach it. [[spoiler:The Ark ends up occupying a storage crate where it is never heard from again until it makes a cameo appearance in ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'' in the Area 51 warehouse.]]:

* BookedFullOfMooks: In Cairo, Indiana Jones is told that someone in a local bar wishes to speak with him. Indy walks inside and finds his arch-rival Rene Belloq. They spar verbally for a bit until Indy gets pissed enough to pull out his gun and threaten Belloq -- at which point [[EveryoneIsArmed every Arab in the bar draws their own gun]] and takes aim at Indy.

* BoringButPractical: The famous [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunfight gun vs sword fight]]. A {{mook|s}} brandishes a scimitar in precise and skillful ways, but Indy just raises his gun and shoots him.
* BoringReturnJourney: The titular ark melts the faces off of all the Nazis who were gathered to see it opened, but it's left completely unexplained how Indy and Marian recovered the ark and got off the Mediterranean island past all of the other Nazis who may have still been there.
* {{Brownface}}: Played straight with Toht's henchman in Nepal known as the Ratty Nepalese. Malcolm Weaver, the stuntman who plays him, is in full makeup and prosthetics to appear Nepalese. Strangley somewhat averted with Pat Roach who in the same sequence plays the Giant Sherpa, despite the fact that his character is ''also'' meant to be Nepalese.

* ChekhovsGun: During the fight in Marion's bar, Toht tries to grab the medallion from a fire - and, not surprisingly, burns his hand. The burn marks on his hand allow the Nazis to translate one-half of the medallion.

** The secret room in the Well of Souls just happens to have a loose stone in the wall that lets Indy and Marian escape back outside directly overlooking the airfield with the flying wing just before the Nazis are going to load the ark on the plane for its flight to Berlin.

* DamselInDistress: Marion Ravenwood is captured by Todt and threatened with torture in her own bar and has to be rescued by Indy. Later in Cairo she's captured by the Germans' Arab allies and carried away in a basket. Then she's captured yet ''again'' by Nazi troops while she's aboard the ship. Somewhat averted because she isn't completely helpless, including knocking out one of her Arab pursuers with a frying pan and pulling a knife on Belloq in an attempt to escape.

* DrinkingContest: Marian's introduction comes as she is winning a drinking contest. Later, she attempts to use this skill to get her captor, Belloq, drunk, and escape. Unfortunately, Belloq was much better at holding his liquor than she was prepared for, apparently having grown up on a vineyard.

** The first thing Major Toht does after giving up his [[FauxAffablyEvil pretense of affability]] is to go for a hot fire poker and have his men hold Marion still - not so he can extract the information from her through torture, but just [[{{Sadist}} because he can.]]

'''[[FinishDialogueInUnison Indy and Sallah:]]''' They're digging in the wrong place!

--> '''Indy:''' (''after hearing the translated instruction to take back one kadam'') You said their headpiece had markings on ''one'' side?\\

'''Indy:''' Belloq’s staff is too long…\\
'''Indy and Sallah:''' They’re digging in the wrong place.

* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: The movie is granted the suspension for toughness. The tough heroine Marion Ravenwood smokes during her meeting with Todt in her saloon, and blows smoke in his face and makes him cough.

* GunsVsSwords: In a famous scene, Indiana Jones is confronted by a formidable sword wielder. [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim So Indy just shoots him]]. Allegedly a hasty rewrite. An epic SwordFight was planned but Creator/HarrisonFord had a minor back injury when it was due to be filmed. [[RuleOfFunny Comedy]] and [[CombatPragmatist pragmatism]] took the day. Another version has Ford suffering from diarrhea that day. All the cast and crew got food poisoning at some point during filming in Tunisia, aside from Steven Spielburg who only ate canned food.

* IfIWantedYouDead: This is actually more of a subversion, because the Hovitos ''do'' in fact know that they are there, it's just that they are following the advice of evil AdventurerArchaeologist Rene Belloq, and [[MacGuffinDeliveryService waiting for Dr. Jones to retrieve their sacred idol from the Death Course protecting it before ambushing him.]]

* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: After Marian is captured by the Nazis, Belloq is very affectionate with her and even gives her a beautiful dress to wear.

* InstantDeathBullet: Used for comic effect when confronted by a swordsman all clad in black, instead of being intimidated by his fancy swordplay Indy just rolls his eyes and shoots him dead. Never bring a sword to a gunfight.

* ItsPersonalWithTheDragon: Oberst Hermann Dietrich is in charge of the quest for TheArkOfTheCovenant, but his advisor, Dr. Rene Belloq, is Indiana Jones' long-time nemesis. Indiana also sees Dietrich as just another Nazi among many, but Belloq as [[EvilCounterpart what Indy himself could have become with no moral scruples]].

* LostInTransmission: There's a [[MacGuffin gold talisman]] that has instructions to find a temple. The antagonist tries to steal it from our main characters, but grabbed the talisman while it was so hot that it burned his skin. The result was that he had a copy of the talisman, and its readable instructions, seared into his palm. It looks like the bad guys will find the temple first, searching where the man's scarred skin says to search. However, the main characters then learn that the talisman ''actually'' has instructions on both sides; the bad guys' gruesome "copy" only has one side.
-->'''Indy and Salah:''' They're digging in the wrong place!

** The monkey looks like another Capuchin. At least the monkey was a pet, and not necessarily native.

** The boa constrictor that falls on Marian, even though constrictors aren't found in the arid regions of Egypt.

** Indy is treated to the threat display of a beautiful...monocled cobra. [[note]]Egypt does have its own species of cobra, but it has no hood markings.[[/note]]

* MomentKiller: Indy and Marion share a BigDamnKiss during Indy's AfterActionPatchup - and then Indy conks out from exhaustion.

** When the spirits first come out of the ark, Belloq exclaims "It's beautiful!" Indeed, the spirits are rather serene...[[spoiler:until they turn ''really'' angry. Cue harsh music, screaming, and faces melting]].

* NonActionBigBad: Dr. René Belloq is an intelligent ManipulativeBastard who surrounds himself with his personal goons whenever he confronts Indiana Jones, but never attempts to actually fight him. However, without him, the Nazis would have gotten nowhere. Colonel Herman Dietrich, the leader of the Nazis searching for the Ark, also qualifies. Although Dietrich looks imposing, he never does any physical work apart from manhandling Marian, leaving his Nazis to do all the fighting.

** Captain Katanga seems well aware that the Nazis will see a black man like him as being little more than a barbarian and pirate. He plays up the stereotype to protect Indy and Marian, claiming he killed the former so they won't search the ship for him and that he plans to sell Marian into sexual slavery in an attempt to keep the Nazis from taking her. The latter doesn't work but, he's got a great deal of nerve for being able to lie right to their faces and get away with it.

* PantsPositiveSafety: As Indiana Jones says to Brody "You know what a cautious guy I am", he tosses his unholstered revolver casually into his suitcase.

* PerilousPowerSource: In the climactic scene of , Indiana and temporary love interest Marion are tied to a stake in the middle of things as the Nazis are about to open TheArkOfTheCovenant. Indy tells Marion not to look at whatever power or entity comes out - sound advice, as it turns out, as nasty things happen to the Nazis, including one guy getting his ''[[ImMelting face melted off]]''.

* PreViolenceLaughter: Marion gets Belloq drunk and they start laughing together - then she suddenly pulls a knife on him, her face turning deadly-serious. Of course, since they're both completely drunk, they go right back to laughing. She doesn't actually stab him, simply wanting to escape his custody... But then Toht appears at the door.

* PublicDomainArtifact: The movie uses it as the MacGuffin. It proves too dangerous to actually use, though, turning the whole film into a ShaggyDogStory. You didn't think God was going to just let the Nazis use His ark to take over the world, did you?

* ThrownDownAWell: Belloq leaves Jones trapped inside the Well of Souls, the underground temple where the Ark was hidden. He taunts Indy thusly: "You're about to become a permanent addition to this archaeological find. Who knows? In a thousand years, even you may be worth something."

* {{Understatement}}: has Sallah's immortal line when he saves Indy from a poisoned date after seeing the monkey dead from eating them:

* WorthlessTreasureTwist: Once opened, TheArkOfTheCovenant seems to contain nothing but sand and to therefore be worthless to the Nazis seeking it for divine powers...until the wrath of God comes pouring out of it and utterly destroys the Nazis present.

* WrenchWhack: While Indy's going for the pilot's seat of a still-grounded airplane, an on-hand Nazi mechanic innocently questions the jacketed figure with a wrench, then when Indy kicks him in the face for his troubles, gets up and starts swinging it.

* VaporTrail: Happens by accident during the scene with the flying wing due to [[DisasterDominoes a series of minor mistakes]]. Marion unchocks the wheel of the flying wing to use the chocks as a weapon against a Mook, and the plane starts to turn in place and its wingtip punctures a fuel truck. Next, Marion uses the plane's machine gun turret to keep Nazi reinforcements at bay and stuff catches fire. The fuel pouring out of the truck eventually reaches the blaze, Indy rescues Marion and they run for cover, and then the whole airstrip explodes.

* YouWouldntShootMe: Belloq calls Indy's bluff to destroy the ark with a rocket launcher if they didn't hand over Marion to him.

* MonochromeApparition: White specters appear when the Ark is opened.

* NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight: Especially when the actor with the gun is sick and wants to get the scene over with. A MasterSwordsman approaches Indy, elaborately showing off his skills with his scimitar. Indy doesn't entertain the idea of duelling the swordsman at all, and instead casually pulls out his pistol and shoots him dead.

* PillarOfLight: During the climax, the ark shoots a fire beam into the night sky.

* SundialWaypoint: The purpose of the Map Room scene is to make use of this trope.

* BlatantLies: After the Ark's recovery:

** [[spoiler:The Ark ends up occupying a storage crate where it is never heard from again until it makes a cameo appearance in ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'' in the Area 51 warehouse.]]

* BulletSparks: During the bar shootout.

* ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind: Marion shoots one of Toht's henchmen in the back before he can shoot Indy.

* EurekaMoment: Indy sees all the light sources and cameras the Nazis set up exploding and realizes the Ark doesn't want to be looked upon. Perhaps making the connection to 1 Samuel 6:19.
** An earlier moment is when Indy and Sallah are having a man translate the inscriptions on the Headpiece of the Staff of Ra. Sallah had earlier informed Indy that the Nazis were making an excavation at a site they believed the Ark of the Covenant might be buried, having made a duplicate headpiece (later revealed to have been based from the burns on Toht's hand from his failed attempt to recover said medallion in Nepal), with markings on one side. The translated instructions on the front spell out, among other things, the length of the staff at six kadams (72 inches according to Indy). But, there is another instruction on the back to shorten the staff by one kadam. Indy realises (after confirming with Sallah that the counterfeit headpiece only had the markings on ''one'' side) that the Nazis had apparently missed out this extra instruction, meaning:

* FeetFirstIntroduction: The first thing we see of Belloq is his booted feet stepping over Barranca's darted body and walking up to Indy.
* FlatEarthAtheist: Before leaving America, Indy expresses his disbelief in the supernatural to Marcus, notable after the fact because he told his class a few hours ago to not ignore folklore surrounding dig sites, and he immediately writes off all mysticism and faith-based info surrounding the Ark. Doubled down on after the release of ''Temple of Doom'', in which Indy witnesses relatively conclusive evidence of supernatural religious phenomena. Possibly {{Justified|trope}} if he's just trying to pull some ObfuscatingStupidity and not wanting word to get out in academia that the famous archaeologist Indiana Jones [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions 100% believes in the existence of the supernatural]].

* HandSignals: Indy gestures to Satipo to turn around so he can brush a bunch of tarantulas off his back.

* IndyEscape: Indy running from the rolling boulder.

* ChildrenAsPawns: A heroic HumanShield version, where Indy finds himself surrounded by armed Arabs in a Cairo bar. Sallah saves him by sending a group of children into the bar who swarm around Indy and lead him out of the place with the baddies unable to interfere. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Hx05Ia_byQ&t=186s Watch the scene here.]]

* SelectiveObliviousness: Oh boy does the pilot of the Flying Wing have it. He [[FailedASpotCheck fails to notice Indy sneaking around his plane]], doesn't hear the first mechanic first challenging Indy or the sounds of the two of them fighting, (a fight which includes the mechanic's wrench hitting the plane, the head of the wrench being cut off by the plane's propeller, and the mechanic being knocked out due in part to getting his head bounced off the plane) but the instant the second mechanic (the GiantMook) calls out to Indy, the pilot whips around in surprise to see what's going on. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRTkFU1xSwY&t=53s See for yourself]].

* SoundtrackLullaby: After retrieving the ark from the Nazis, Indy is getting an AfterActionPatchUp from Marion which leads to the two starting to get amorous, the orchestra building up the LoveTheme before...[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVxMFX4hm6s&list=PLqnnuEVGcRQxRAb_IbIclr1gCQhmuKZ_r&index=17 it trails off with a celesta as Indy's exhaustion finally catches up with him]].

The film itself was a massive hit, but due to the {{Troubled Production}}s of ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'', and ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', studios were reluctant to fund a film by ''both'' Lucas and Spielberg, despite those respective films also being massive hits. Creator/{{Paramount}} eventually agreed to fund the film, although the series belongs to Lucasfilm (and now to Creator/{{Disney}}). While the production faced ''some'' hiccups (mainly the majority of the crew being ill in Tunisia), it wrapped ahead of time and on budget (something Spielberg felt was important). Kasdan was brought in to write a screenplay based on ideas born during story meetings between Lucas, Spielberg and Kasdan. The screenplay was so good that Lucas asked Kasdan to write the final draft of the first ''Franchise/StarWars'' sequel, ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.

** The Flying Wing was invented for the film and would never have flown -- its design is completely wrong from an aerodynamic perspective. It's based on a combination of two prototypes, one German and the other American — the Horten Ho229 (a jet-powered fighter-bomber developed for the Luftwaffe in the later stages of USefulNotes/WorldWarII, although they only got round to flying a glider prototype) and the propeller-driven Northrop YB-35 (which first flew in 1946).