My random thoughts:

The opening of this movie is perfect. It sets up Indiana Jones as a character perfectly. Opening with that famous silhouette, Indiana progresses through this whole sequence full of confidence and purpose, while all the other characters show fear and unease. It also establishes the main themes of the movie: treasure hunting, adventure, good versus evil. It even establishes his fear of snakes. I really love it.

I love all the settings in this movie. He goes from a jungle to a city to a mountaintop to a desert. In fact, the four main settings sort of represent the four seasons: Spring (South America), Fall (San Francisco - it always feels like Fall there), Winter (Nepal) and Summer (Egypt).

So here's something I never noticed: Indy almost eats the poison date four times. I only remembered two times. This not only builds suspense but also emphasizes his reckless nature. He goes through many 'close calls' throughout the movie.

The contrast between mysticism and reality is also a main theme of the movie. Indy clearly doesn't believe in the power of the Ark, though most of everyone else he encounters does. In this way he represents us, since we are watching this movie set in the real world and don't really expect the 'mystic powers' of the Ark to be real. However, there are many hints that this is not the case:

  • Almost everyone but Indiana Jones believes, in some form, in the power of the Ark or at least fears it.
  • In the scene with the US Army gentlemen, Indy shows a picture of the Ark decimating hundreds of people, clear foreshadowing of something to come.
  • In the scene with the Egyptian mystic, the mention of 'honoring God' as it is written on the headpiece, causes a mysterious chill to move through the air.
  • The Ark has a golden glow when they first unearth it.
  • On the ship, the Ark burns its way through the crate it's in.


Something I never noticed: All the German cars in the chase scene have the Mercedes emblem on them.

Seeing Belloq eat the fly always creeps me out.