History YMMV / RaidersoftheLostArk

** Why does Colonel Dietrich call Captain Katanga a "savage"? Did he call Katanga that because Dietrich is a xenophobic and racist Nazi like most of his troops, or because he really bought Katanga's lie that he was going to sell Marion into sex slavery and found it too disgusting? Maybe a combination of the two?

** Interestingly, even video boxes that feature the "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" logo still refer to the film as simply "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in the verbiage and billing on the back of the box, so although some media and retail outlets do list the movie under the revised title, there's an implication that it's simply a marketing label and that the "real" title of the film remains ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''. With this in mind, it's possible to interpret the revised logo as referring to both the series/character and the film itself, as in "[It's] INDIANA JONES and [this is] the [film known as] RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK."

** Interestingly, even video boxes that feature the "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" logo still refer to the film as simply "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in the verbiage and billing on the back of the box, so although some media and retail outlets do list the movie under the revised title, there's an implication that it's simply a marketing label and that the "real" title of the film remains "Raiders of the Lost Ark." With this in mind, it's possible to interpret the revised logo as referring to both the series/character and the film itself, as in "[It's] INDIANA JONES and [this is] the [film known as] RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK."

** Belloq and the Nazis may also count given that Indy is tied up, surrounded by goons, his arch rival has the artefact they were competing for (again) ... and he essentially "wins" simply by closing his eyes as the Ark wipes everyone else out. Of course, this is literally a case of God Himself smiting the villains, so let's face it -- ''anything'' is this trope compared to ''that'' kind of power.

* OlderThanTheyThink: [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2007/12/13/comic-book-urban-legends-revealed-133/ George Lucas has confirmed]] that the iconic boulder ChaseScene was borrowed from the climax of the Disney comic "The Seven Cities of Cibola" (1954) by Creator/CarlBarks, starring another famous AdventurerArchaeologist Scrooge [=McDuck=].

** Most people assume the shifty guy on the plane hiding behind a copy of Life magazine is Toht. He isn't, this guy is actually played by the movie's special effects artist Dennis Muren.

* CommonKnowledge: Creator/GeorgeLucas has been known to use the phrase "pointer scene" on DVDCommentary when comparing an {{Infodump}} in another film to the scene where Jones explains the history of the Ark to the government men. The closest thing to a pointer in the scene is Jones drawing on a blackboard with chalk, but so many parodies of the film include presentation pointers that fans tend to (think they) remember seeing one in the original film.

** The movie thinks nothing of Indy going to a foreign country filled with indigenous inhabitants and obtaining a historical relic to be taken back to be exhibited in a Western museum. Again, accurate for the time period and not especially controversial even at the time of filming. But the topic of [[https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jun/29/should-museums-return-their-colonial-artefacts colonial artifact restitution]] has now become a hotly debated one in the field of archeology. A case could conceivably be made that the Hovitos were within their rights to defend the theft of their idol.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

** Is Belloq right in his NotSoDifferent speech, that he's just a shadowy reflection of Indy and that it wouldn't take much for Indy to become exactly like him? We see throughout the series that Indy has some questionable ethics, but he also shows an underlying humanity at times that is probably [[EvilCannotComprehendGood lost on Belloq]].

* Is Belloq right in his NotSoDifferent speech, that he's just a shadowy reflection of Indy and that it wouldn't take much for Indy to become exactly like him? We see throughout the series that Indy has some questionable ethics, but he also shows an underlying humanity at times that is probably [[EvilCannotComprehendGood lost on Belloq]].
** AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Despite having the dream team of Creator/GeorgeLucas and Creator/StevenSpielberg behind the film, it was initially turned down by every studio in Hollywood. Only after much persuasion did Creator/{{Paramount}} agree to do it.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Despite having the dream team of Creator/GeorgeLucas and Creator/StevenSpielberg behind the film, it was initially turned down by every studio in Hollywood. Only after much persuasion did Creator/{{Paramount}} agree to do it.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: While this movie may seem like a fun action-packed adventure movie for the family, it has some pretty horrific and graphic death sequences. Canada actually gave the film the 14A rating in contrast to the PG the rest of the series got. The MPAA initially was going to give the film an R rating, until Spielberg agreed to make some cuts to the iconic face-melting sequence. The PG-13 rating in the US would not be created until 1984, as a direct reaction to the controversy over this film's [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom sequel]]. If it were released today, ''Raiders'' would almost certainly get a PG-13 (as the two Indy movies after ''Temple of Doom'' did, ironically despite being milder in terms of violence than the first two).

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: While this movie may seem like a fun action-packed adventure movie for the family, it has some pretty horrific and graphic death sequences. Canada actually gave the film the 14A rating in contrast to the PG the rest of the series got (the PG-13 rating in the US would not be created until this film's [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom sequel]]. If it were released today, ''Raiders'' would probably be rated PG-13 itself).

** The movie thinks nothing of Indiana going to a foreign country filled with indigenous inhabitants and obtaining a historical relic to be taken back to be exhibited in a Western museum. Again, accurate for the time period and not especially controversial even at the time of filming. But the topic of [[https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jun/29/should-museums-return-their-colonial-artefacts colonial artifact restitution]] has now become a hotly debated one in the field of archeology. A case could conceivably be made that the Hovitos were within their rights to defend the theft of their idol.

** As Indy scrambled to climb out of the pit in the opening sequence, the stone walls are clearly just a tarp placed over something malleable, given the way it visibly moves under his feet.

* AcceptableTargets: The villains are well-chosen; no one is shedding many tears to see ThoseWackyNazis get what they deserve.

** "Rated PG!" [[labelnote:Explanation]]Because PG-13 wasn't an available rating yet, this film managed to squeak by with a PG rating. The "Rated PG" comment is almost always paired with the surprisingly graphic face-melting shots at the end of the movie.[[/labelnote]]

* CriticalResearchFailure: In 1936, Egypt was still a British protectorate. There's no way the British would have allowed a ''massive'' German military presence to be carrying out some secret operation in the country.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: As Indy speaks with Marcus while packing for his trip, Indy says "You sound just like my mother" as he dismissively speaks of the Ark's powers (which turn out to be very real). In ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', we learn that Indy's mother passed away during his childhood, and his relationship with his father fell apart afterwards. And he grew to hate his father for being so obsessed with the Holy Grail, rather than focusing upon Indy.

** "Indy was irrelevant to the story." A common criticism towards the movie is that everything would have played out the way it did even if Indy never got involved in trying to claim the Ark (or ''better'', if the bad guys had opened the Ark in front of Hitler). [[https://collider.com/indiana-jones-doesnt-matter-theory-is-bad/ A rebuttal of this theory can be found here.]]