History Film / RaidersOfTheLostArk

* RejectedByTheEmpathicWeapon: The Ark had already rejected the Nazis ''far'' in advance, when it burns the swastika off of the transportation crate its contained in, and later gruesomely kills and annihilates Belloq and the Nazis. Averted with Indy and Marion, when Indy, in awed panic, realizes the true power of the Ark, and orders Marion to shut her eyes, of which he also does. They're the only ones to survive, and are even mysteriously freed (their binding ropes burned in one spot) when all is said and done.

* FreezeFrameBonus: If you look carefully at the shot where the Germans are disembarking from the submarine you'll notice that Marion's guard has one arm in a sling and is covered in bandages.

* ForcedFriendlyFire: Played with in the bar fight when Indiana Jones is wrestling for a gun with a mook. When a second mook gets the order to shoot them both, [[EnemyMine Indy and his adversary work together to fire off several shots at the second mook.]]

* DeadGuyPuppet: After escaping the temple, Indy finds one of the guides from earlier along with several angry natives who knock him down to reveal that the guide's back is riddled with arrows.

* BedsheetLadder: Sallah builds a rope for Indy in the tomb made from Nazi flags.

** Implied by the ending where [[spoiler:Indy is told the Ark is being handled by "top men" (meaning Indy's accomplishment in finding it is barely being acknowledged), and the final shot shows the Ark enclosed in a crate and stored away in a massive, seemingly endless warehouse full of identical-looking crates--meaning it's going to be ignored. It hasn't fallen into the Nazis' hands, but in essence it remains lost and buried just as it was to begin with.]]

** The rivalry between Indy and Belloq goes all the way back to graduate school where Belloq stole Indy's research while Indy was conducting his, ah, extracurricular activities with his tutor's daughter. This also explains why Marion and Belloq are on a first-name basis, as -- being a student of the same subject at the same institution as Indy -- he'd've known the Ravenwoods too.

** A more PlayedForLaughs example in the bar--Indiana is about to be gunned down when Sallah's children show up to retrieve "[[HonoraryUncle Uncle Indy]]". Belloq finds it amusing enough to hold his fire.

* BloodyHorror: [[spoiler:The Wrath of God scene at the end of the movie--Toht's face melts with the skin and blood evaporating off his face.]]

* 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.

* DeadlyDustStorm: According to Dr. Marcus Brody, an Egyptian pharaoh took the Ark of the Covenant to the city of Tanis. A year later, Tanis was destroyed by a sand storm that lasted an entire year--"Wiped clean by the wrath of God."

* HolyIsNotSafe: [[spoiler:The Nazis succeed in their goal of smuggling the Ark out of Egypt, but its power turns out to be too great for them to harness. In the climax, all of the villains--Dietrich, Toht, Belloq, and all of their {{Mooks}}--are struck dead, melted alive or otherwise smitten by the Ark's power as soon as they open it.]]

** Indy is at two separate points seen with variations of the Browning Hi-Power; the first time, in the bar shoot-out, is a bit of a stretch but still at least possible (the weapon had entered production the year before, though at the time every one of them was for military contracts, on top of FN reaching an agreement with Colt to not sell the pistol in the United States). The second time on the ''Bantu Wind'' is pure AnachronismStew, however--he's using a Canadian variant, the Inglis Hi-Power (distinguished by a noticeable hump below the rear sight) that didn't enter production until 1944.

** Indy flies out of San Francisco on a Short Solent 3, first flown in 1946, which makes stopovers at Honolulu (Hawaii), Wake Island, Manila (Philippines) and finally arriving at Nepal (possibly Kathmandu). All of these non-stop flight stretches (ranging from 2,300-3,000 miles) are way too long for the Short Solent's maximum range of approximately 1800 miles (the Solent was representing the Martin M-130 ''China Clipper'', which crashed in 1945. Its range was 3,200 miles, for reference). And unless Indy caught a connecting flight in Manila, he couldn't have taken the Solent 3 to Kathmandu; the Solent, like the M-130, was a flying boat--it has no landing gear so it can't land on a conventional runway.

** Indy sees Marion getting carried off in a straw basket, and chases her into the square--which is crammed with people carrying identical baskets. He just goes for knocking them all open until he hears her shouting elsewhere.

'''Toht:''' [grinning while bringing the poker towards her face] Yes. I know you will.

* PeekABooCorpse: There are a few of these throughout the movie, the first one is when Indy triggers a spike trap, revealing the body of a DoomedPredecessor. The second one is the body of Indy's treacherous guide who fell into the same trap. The third one is in the Well of Souls when Marion explores the other chamber only to discover that the room is filled with screaming rotting corpses.

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "Top. Men." It's used to make it clear that ''who'' the top men are won't be revealed--because, of course, [[BlatantLies there aren't any]]; as the end credits roll, we can clearly see that [[spoiler:the Ark has been boxed up and stored in a huge warehouse]].

-->'''Marion:''' You don't need that. Wait. I'll tell you everything.\\

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''.

* AdvertisingByAssociation: The original poster (see above), teaser and TV spots name-drop some blockbusters that Spielberg and Lucas had previously directed or wrote individually, such as ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' and ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]''. Notably, it leaves out Spielberg's actual previous film, ''[[Film/NineteenFortyOne1979 1941]]'', which had been an infamous flop.

** The rivalry between Indy and Belloq goes all the way back to graduate school where Belloq stole Indy's research while Indy was conducting his, ah, extracurricular activities with his tutor's daughter. This also explains why Marion and Belloq are on a first name basis, as -- being a student of the same subject at the same institution as Indy -- he'd've known the Ravenwoods too.

* BearHug: Sallah gives Indy a big good-bye hug -- which Indy would've appreciated more had he not recently gotten the crap beaten out of him by a whole platoon of Nazis.

** Before opening the Ark, Belloq recites an actual Jewish prayer that is said when opening the Torah ark in synagogue (though his pronunciation is hilariously off).

* 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.

* CobwebJungle: The entrance to the Idol Temple is littered with cobwebs complete with absurdly out of place tarantulas. ("Never too-covered" is avoided: as Indy runs from the giant boulder, he goes through a door-wide web).

* DeadGuyPuppet: After escaping the temple, Indy finds one of the guides from earlier along with several angry natives who knock down to reveal that the guide's back is riddled with arrows.

** The propeller from the plane comes into play twice before it slices the GiantMook to pieces. First, before taking on the GiantMook, Indy fights a regular sized mechanic who attacks him with a wrench. The fight ends just after Indy wrestles the wrench into the path of the propeller, which cuts off the head of the wrench. The second time, Indy himself almost runs head-first right into the propeller during the middle of the fight with the GiantMook.

** The Nazis were nowhere near as interested in the occult as the film portrays. Hitler especially thought it was nonsense and insisted that National Socialism was rational and scientific, contrary to what the film claims about him. Individual Nazis who were occult fans like Heinrich Himmler and Alfred Rosenberg had zero interest in recovering Jewish artefacts like the Ark of the Covenant, but instead wanted to validate their Neo-Pagan Nordic beliefs as well as to fund expeditions to Tibet (partly due to their being interested in Asian mysticism). Even these expeditions were led by a rationalist scientist named Ernst Schaefer who was more interested in collecting animal and plant samples for study than in validating any of Himmler's pseudoscientific theories. That said, the Nazis ''were'' interested in any ancient religious artefacts that they could get their hands on, but purely for their propaganda value -- as evidenced by the UsefulNotes/HolyLance.

* HolyIsNotSafe: [[spoiler:The Nazis succeed in their goal of smuggling the Ark out of Egypt, but its power turns out to be too great for them to harness. In the climax, all of the villains--Dietrich, Toht, Belloq, and all of their {{Mooks}}--are struck dead, melted alive or otherwise smited by the Ark's power as soon as they open it.]]

* PlummetPerspective: In the temple, when Satipo dangerously swings across an abyss, stones are falling towards the camera shooting the scene from below.

* StallingTheSip: Indy picks up a poisoned date and has a lot "near misses" with attempting to eat it. Just as he tosses it in the air to catch in his mouth, he is saved when his friend Sallah catches it mid-air. Sallah had seen that the monkey that was also eating the dates is now lying dead on the floor.

* SuperWindowJump: After burning his hand on the headpiece to the Staff of Ra, Toht decides to cut his losses and escapes the burning bar by jumping through the nearest window.

** On the truck the German sergeant beats Indy senseless, throws him through the windshield, and tries to run him over. Indy returns and delivers the same treatment on the guy, and ''he's'' the one who gets runs over.

* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: Well, less "man will go insane from looking inside this artefact" and more [[spoiler:"God will send His angels of death to murder the shit out of you and your entire army in extremely gruesome fashion if you look inside the artefact against His will."]]

* TimmyInAWell: A rare villanious version. The eye-patched agent in Cairo has a pet monkey. The monkey sees an escaping Marion trying to hide in a basket, jumps on the basket and screeches, calling the German agents to capture her.

** Throughout the movie, the Nazis make sure not to touch the Ark. Belloq even wears the correct high priest outfit and speaks a Hebrew prayer [[spoiler:before they open it. Apparently they missed the passages these precautions come from that explicitly say that if you look into the Ark you will die. Then they forget the passages that say not to touch the Ark when they ''touch the Ark by removing the lid to open it''. This is all on top of the fact that they apparently forget that they're trying to harness the power of an artefact owned by a God whose chosen people they're actively trying to wipe off the face of the earth.]]

* WeightAndSwitch: After dodging a floor full of pressure traps to get to the idol, Indy guesses that the idol itself might be on another one, so he swaps it for a bag he's filled with sand to approximately the same weight. After a moment when it seems to have worked, the pedestal holding the sand bag sinks and the ''entire'' temple starts to collapse.

** While the Ark sits inside a Nazi crate during transport, a lingering shot of the crate's exterior shows the swastika gracing it burn off with a blue flame. This is the first unambiguously supernatural occurrence in the film, and doubles as foreshadowing for what the Nazis have in store when they decide to open the Ark.

** Brody is presented in this film as an older version of Indiana Jones who [[FeelingTheirAge retired from field work]]. Brody himself states if it had been five years earlier would have gone after the Ark himself and it's implied he would've stood a reasonable chance of successfully recovering the artifact.[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade Fast forward a couple years]] and we see a man who is completely out of his element in the field and once got lost in his own museum.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The Ark, a legendary historical artifact of considerable academic, scientific, and religious interest, is locked up in a warehouse, never to be heard from again. On the other hand, a bunch of Nazis are dead, Indy and Marion have patched up their relationship, and considering the sheer threat the Ark possesses to any living being, is its disappearance really such a bad thing?]]

** It's relatively more serious in tone than any of its sequels. While it has its share of laughs, most of these consist of brief, dryly humorous moments (like the iconic shooting-the-swordsman scene), compared with the fairly constant banter and even slapstick elements that characterized the sequels. Related to this [[spoiler: it ends on a bittersweet note with the US Government confiscating the Ark and Marion taking a dejected Indy out for a drink to try and cheer him up. The next three films all have considerably more upbeat endings.]]

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "Top. Men." It's used to make it clear that ''who'' the top men are won't be revealed--because, of course, [[BlatantLies there aren't any]]; as the end credits roll, we can clearly see that [[spoiler: the Ark has been boxed up and stored in a huge warehouse]].

* ReasoningWithGod: Belloq tells Indy that the Ark is a "transmitter" and a "radio for speaking to God"; presumably his intense desire to open it before it reaches Hitler is so he can have his own personal tete-a-tete with the Almighty. [[spoiler: He never considered the fact that God might not be so interested in hearing what's on his mind ... though he probably did [[DeadlyEuphemism get his conversation with God]] [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor in the end.]]]]

** Throughout the movie, the Nazis make sure not to touch the Ark. Belloq even wears the correct high priest outfit and speaks a Hebrew prayer [[spoiler: before they open it. Apparently they missed the passages these precautions come from that explicitly say that if you look into the Ark you will die. Then they forget the passages that say not to touch the Ark when they ''touch the Ark by removing the lid to open it''. This is all on top of the fact that they apparently forget that they're trying to harness the power of an artefact owned by a God whose chosen people they're actively trying to wipe off the face of the earth.]]

** Toht introduces himself to Belloq with a “heil Hitler” salute, revealing the imprint of the medallion burned into his hand.

* WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing: Indiana Jones has nothing to do with [[spoiler: the defeat of the Nazis at the end of the movie. He and Marion just shut their eyes and the Nazis are destroyed by the sight of the power of God when they open the Ark. It is one of the most literal examples of Deus ex Machina since the middle ages, and a completely justified one.]]

** While the Ark sits inside a Nazi crate during transport, a lingering shot of the crate's exterior shows the swastika gracing it slowly burn off. This is the first unambiguously supernatural occurrence in the film, and doubles as foreshadowing for what the Nazis have in store when they decide to open the Ark.

* AdvancedAncientAcropolis: While Indiana Jones is exploring the native temple, he comes across a trap that operates on the principle of an "electric eye" device. When a beam of sunlight is interrupted, the trap sends out spears that impale whoever broke the beam. The Hovitos must be centuries ahead of their time since it would take modern electronic equipment to do so.

* AdaptationalVillainy: The novelization says that Marion was ''only fifteen'' when Indiana Jones first got involved with her (he was only 20-something, but it's still pretty creepy), which explains her "I was a child!" line. The novelization actually expands on Indy's evident thing for younger women; early on, he's having a fling with [[HotForTeacher one of his students]]. Marcus picks up on this but is not particularly bothered by it; in fact, he implies that it's not the first time Indy's done this.

* AdaptationalVillainy: The novelization says that Marion was only 15 when Indiana Jones first got involved with her (he was only 20-something, but it's still pretty creepy.) The film doesn't mention this other than a vague comment from Marion, although at least one girl in his class definitely [[HotForTeacher has feelings for him]]; in the novelization, this is taken somewhat further. Marcus picks up on this, but doesn't seem particularly bothered by it.

* AdaptationalVillainy: The novelization says that Marion was only 15 when Indiana Jones first got involved with her (he was only 20-something, but it's still pretty creepy.) The film doesn't mention this other than a vague comment from Marion, although at least one girl in his class definitely [[HotForTeacher has feelings for him]]; in the novelization, this is taken somewhat further; Marcus picks up on it, but doesn't seem particularly bothered by it.

** Marion also has something of a DarkAndTroubledPast with regards to the bar she runs in Nepal. Rather than it being left to her by her father (as viewers of the film might reasonably assume), it's mentioned in the novel that she actually started working there in order to make ends meet after Abner died, and that she "wasn't exactly the bartender" -- no more is said, but the obvious implication is that she was obliged to prostitute herself. She took over the place after the previous owner "went crazy".

** 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.

** Indy manages to stow away on the U-boat without drowning by using his whip to tie himself to the periscope. (Although, in the film, he isn't carrying it when he boards the sub.)
** The base and the U-boat, along with its crew were destroyed by the Ark.

* {{Novelization}}: The film was novelised by Campbell Black. The book, which [[AllThereInTheManual adds a few extr details]] (see above), actually came out before the film. [[https://indianajones.fandom.com/wiki/Raiders_of_the_Lost_Ark_(novel) More details here]].

* AdaptationalVillainy: The novelization says that Marion was only 15 when Indiana Jones first got involved with her (he was only 20-something, but it's still pretty creepy.) The film doesn't mention this other than a vague comment from Marion, although at least one girl in his class definitely [[HotForTeacher has feelings for him.]]

* AdvertisingByAssociation: The original teaser and TV spots name-drop some blockbusters that Spielberg and Lucas had previously directed or wrote individually, such as ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' and ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]''. Notably, it leaves out Spielberg's actual previous film, ''[[Film/NineteenFortyOne1979 1941]]'', which had been an infamous flop.

** 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 (very loosely) on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horten_Ho_229 Horten [=Ho229=]]], a protoype jet-powered fighter-bomber based on a glider that was developed in the later stages of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

'''Eaton:''' Top... men.

** Marion also has something of a DarkAndTroubledPast with regards to the bar she runs in Nepal. Rather than it being left to her by her father (as viewers of the film might reasonably assume), it's mentioned in the novel that she actually started working there in order to make ends meet after Abner died, and that she "wasn't exactly the bartender". She took over the place after the previous owner "went crazy".

** Indy and Marion travel from Nepal to Egypt on a Douglas DC-3. The DC-3 first flew on December 17, 1935, and the first ones were delivered in 1936. Most of the 300–400 DC-3s in service were flying for American, Eastern, United, and TWA airlines in 1936, and it would have been highly unlikely to find one flying between Nepal to Egypt then. It also makes stopovers at Karachi (Pakistan--part of India in 1936), Baghdad (Iraq) and finally arriving in Cairo. With the exception of the Baghdad-Cairo stretch (about 800 miles), all of these flight stretches (which range from 1,200 to 1,500 miles) are way too long for the DC-3's maximum range of approximately 1,000 miles.
** The Flying Wing was invented for the film and would never have flown -- its design is completely wrong from an aerodynamic perspective.

** 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.