Some fans may not realize that the actor performed many of his own stunts, including the famous rock chase. And Spielberg once called himself an “idiot” for putting Ford in that situation. The most famous setting in Search of the Lost Ark, a movie that is literally a bunch of brilliant sets linked together, sees Indiana Jones trying to escape from a temple with booby traps with a huge rock running behind him. Like the beach scene in Jaws, it's one of Spielberg's most iconic sequences, and Cinefix's latest video, “Art of the Scene”, is packed with ideas about how the director and his team performed such a demanding trick on a large scale.
Ever since Raiders of the Lost Ark was filmed in different parts of the world, Selleck could have played Indiana Jones, but at that time, Ford already had the role. And finally, perhaps, the most surprising thing about the opening scene of Raiders and even of Indy himself. In an article for the American cinematographer, Spielberg gave a detailed account of the effort made to create a realistic scene and prevent his main actor from being crushed. Maybe fans could have seen the connection between Bond and Jones, but it turns out that Lucas and Spielberg were inspired by another legendary Scotsman.
That said, when they first tried to film the scene, none of the spiders moved when they were placed on Molina's back. Particularly interesting is the conception of the scene that George Lucas took from an old Scrooge McDuck comic book and the way in which sound designer Ben Burtt captured the perfect sound for the rock scroll. In fact, if you're going to take a look at some of those old Scrooge McDuck adventure comics, there are tons of scenes that have clearly been “borrowed” to Indy. In Search of the Lost Ark, many supernatural moments appear towards the end of the film, but one of the scariest scenes comes at the beginning, when Indy searches for the Golden Idol.
The script included an elaborate scene in which the thug chased Jones through the streets of Cairo, but since almost all of the crew members had been poisoned with food, Ford suggested that he shoot the guy instead. I don't know if the scene was shot and then cut or not, but it's not in the movie, but it was in the script. One of the most memorable moments of In Search of the Lost Ark is when Indiana Jones is in Cairo and encounters a swordsman who wants to fight him. The name Indiana was also the name of Lucas's Alaskan Malamute, the same dog that inspired Chewbacca from Star Wars.
Indiana Jones is almost crushed by rocks, trapped in the temple, has to run faster than a giant rock and then flees from angry locals to save his life. But what about Harrison Ford looking like a cold-blooded killer in the George Lucas movies, so that the scene changes later on?.
