Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Action, Adventure, Comedy
Lucasfilm  (1981) 115 mins R (Restricted)

8.7 (201,733 votes) Top 250: #18
Fearless, dashing archeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is given a mission from the United States to recover the fabled Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis seize it and use its magical power to turn the tide of the war. Whip in hand, Indy must outwit the Nazis, cheat death in a snake pit and, most fearsome of all, get back in touch with his old flame Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen). But the Nazis already have the lead in the race for the Ark, with an excavation site in Cairo already under control. If Indy can’t stop them, it could spell doom for the world as we know it....

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Cast and Crew
Harrison Ford  ......  Indiana Jones
Karen Allen  ......  Marion Ravenwood
Paul Freeman  ......  Dr. Rene Belloq
Ronald Lacey  ......  Major Toht
John Rhys-Davies  ......  Sallah
Denholm Elliott  ......  Dr. Marcus Brody
Director  .....  Steven Spielberg
Producer  .....  George Lucas; Frank Marshall
Writer  .....  George Lucas; Philip Kaufman
Cinematography  .....  Douglas Slocombe
Musician  .....  John Williams
Notes
Goofs:
Continuity: During the basket sequence, the sweat marks on Indy's back shrink and grow from shot to shot. (more)

Trivia:
In a 2001 "making of" special, it was revealed that the effects used in the three antagonists' rather gruesome deaths (Dietrich, Toht, and Belloq) were a vacuum machine, heat gun with time-lapse photography, and shotgun, respectively. (more)

Filming Locations:
Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, UK (more)

Quotes:
[first lines]
Satipo: [picking up poison dart] The Hovitos are near. The poison is still fresh, three days. They're following us.
Barranca: If they knew we were here, they would've killed us already.
(more)

Awards:
Won 4 Oscars. Another 24 wins & 21 nominations (more)