☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roger Ebert awarded four stars and celebrated the movie as a breathless series of adventures made by Spielberg at the top of his game.
In the discussion (2)
- Ebert’s four-star review is summarized as an enthusiastic defense of the film’s story and adventure machinery.
- Pauline Kael’s cooler review is treated as a parallel critical lens: she saw a well-made thrill ride but disliked what its success forecast for mainstream movies.
The opening temple sequence and the airfield fight flowing into the truck chase are the leading, unresolved choices.
In the discussion (5)
- The opening temple is called one of the greatest openings and character introductions, communicating Indy through staging, iconography, traps, reversals, sound, and practical spectacle.
- The Cairo sequence is praised for physical geography, crowds, carts, and the improvised gunshot solution to the swordsman fight after dysentery made the planned stunt impractical.
- The map-room discovery of the Ark, the Well of Souls and snakes, and Marion’s Nepal-bar fight are additional candidates.
- The airfield brawl into the truck chase is selected by one host for its escalating practical stunts and constant physical questions.
- Another host selects the opening; the transcript does not resolve these competing final choices into one winner.
John Williams’s score, the short runtime, Ford’s fedora, practical filmmaking, VHS accessibility, and densely observed small details have all aged well.
In the discussion (6)
- Williams’s score is the first and strongest nomination, with the march, map-room cue, and several distinct themes singled out.
- Nazi villains, the sub-two-hour runtime, and the uniquely wearable-by-Ford fedora are praised as durable choices.
- A very young Alfred Molina, the poisoned-date gag, and the movie’s practical sets and stunts remain vivid.
- Paramount’s comparatively cheap $39.95 VHS release is credited with selling a million copies within two years and helping unlock home video.
- The fly that appears to enter Belloq’s mouth and the anonymous male student leaving Indy an apple exemplify accidental and deliberate details that reward rewatches.
- Karen Allen’s 1980–81 run and the isolated Nepal bar’s appeal round out the category.
Indy and Marion’s romantic chemistry, dated effects and casting, the monkey, Temple of Doom, and several creative choices draw objections.
In the discussion (7)
- One host calls the thin romantic spark between Indy and Marion the movie’s biggest flaw; others defend Karen Allen and interpret Indy as constitutionally more committed to quests than relationships.
- The long-lived working title Indiana Smith is ridiculed, and Karen Allen’s frustration with a much longer Marion backstory is weighed against Kasdan’s agreement that stripping it down improved the movie.
- The ghosts and some optical effects look rough, while the red-line travel map is defended as efficient.
- The panel questions Ronald Lacey’s Toht and Paul Freeman’s Belloq as underpowered villain casting, while also noting Toht’s visual menace and the story’s intent to make Nazis foolish.
- The Nazi-aligned monkey is hated as an irritating comic animal whose espionage logic makes little sense.
- Temple of Doom is criticized for violence, slapstick, tonal loss, and helping trigger PG-13, though Last Crusade later recovers the tone.
- Kael’s refusal to admire the achievement and a cut scene presenting Indy as more of a playboy are debated as missed or defensible choices.
The enormous casting tree includes Deborah Winger, Amy Irving, Barbara Hershey, Sean Young, Jeff Bridges, Tom Selleck, Danny DeVito, Klaus Kinski, and Jonathan Pryce.
In the discussion (6)
- Philip Kaufman was initially to direct, while Deborah Winger declined Marion, Amy Irving was unavailable, Barbara Hershey was considered, and Sean Young screen-tested opposite Indy candidates.
- Jeff Bridges was liked and auditioned but apparently was not formally offered Indy; the hosts think he would be good but less physically hard-nosed than Ford.
- Tom Selleck was fitted and nearly cast until CBS retained him for Magnum P.I.; a strike later would have freed him, but Ford had already been chosen.
- Lucas resisted overusing Ford, Spielberg pushed for him, and Ford accepted salary, gross participation, and dialogue-rewrite rights while actively questioning production choices.
- Danny DeVito could not play Sallah because of Taxi, Klaus Kinski rejected Toht for better pay on Venom, and Jonathan Pryce was considered for Belloq.
- The Selleck/Ford choice is ranked among the most consequential movie sliding doors because it affects both Indiana Jones and Ford’s later career.
Paul Freeman wins as Belloq because the panel knows the character far better than the actor’s name.
In the discussion (1)
- Ronald Lacey is also unknown by name, while John Rhys-Davies is judged too recognizable after The Lord of the Rings.
Karen Allen is the lead overacting choice, with Alfred Molina and Denholm Elliott also considered.
In the discussion (2)
- Allen is described as operating in fifth gear from the Nepal drinking contest onward.
- Molina is nominated, and Elliott’s repeated interruption energy is treated as a smaller alternative.
The Sherpa and Katanga are the competing actors who seem to belong to other genre movies.
In the discussion (1)
- Most of the ensemble is judged tonally unified, but the Sherpa suggests another adventure and Katanga hints at a James Bond movie.
The eyelid student, Pat Roach’s two doomed bruisers, Katanga, and the Cairo swordsman are all heat-check candidates without a settled winner.
In the discussion (2)
- The eyelid student makes one memorable appearance, while wrestler Pat Roach dies twice as two different giant opponents.
- Katanga brings late energy and the Cairo swordsman creates an iconic moment, though his elaborate preparation ends in an immediate gunshot.
The Cairo swordsman is nominated for having the drop on Indy, performing an elaborate display, and accomplishing nothing before being shot.
The panel proposes a new category here.
In the discussion (1)
- The spoken proposal explicitly frames the award as the opposite of a Dion Waiters heat check: maximum opportunity and bravado with minimum result.
The panel proposes stronger villains and debates Kathleen Turner, Sharon Stone, Michelle Pfeiffer, Margot Kidder, Deborah Winger, and Sean Young for Marion.
In the discussion (3)
- Any stronger actor than Paul Freeman is the bronze change and John Lithgow as Toht is the silver.
- Kathleen Turner is the primary Marion recast for greater sexual energy with Ford, though others object that Romancing the Stone later supplies exactly that pairing.
- Sharon Stone, Michelle Pfeiffer, Margot Kidder, Deborah Winger, and Sean Young are alternate Marion ideas; the conversation ultimately leans toward Winger or Young while still defending Allen.
Research covers profit participation, production shorthand, Tunisia, animal work, reused footage and sets, props, stunts, costume origins, and the physical cost to Ford.
In the discussion (9)
- Lucas reportedly received between one and four million dollars plus gross participation, while Spielberg received $1.5 million plus participation.
- The script described the Ark opening only as “all hell breaks loose,” leaving the effects team to invent the sequence.
- Tunisia stood in for Egypt in extreme heat; widespread dysentery spared Spielberg because he ate imported canned food.
- The monkey salute reportedly required about 50 takes and a grape on fishing line; depleted stunt staffing led producer Frank Marshall to pilot the airplane for days in severe cockpit heat.
- Stock footage came from Lost Horizon and The Hindenburg, while the canyon location and hieroglyphs connect visually to Star Wars.
- Indy’s bullwhip sold for about $43,000 in 1999, and the Well of Souls occupied the same soundstage set footprint as the writing room in The Shining.
- Vivian Kubrick reportedly halted production over snake handling until additional protections were provided.
- Ford performed many stunts, bruising ribs, tearing a knee ligament, and narrowly avoiding worse injury under the airplane.
- The German-mechanic fight was largely improvised as Spielberg kept adding ideas, and Indy’s clothing was based on Charlton Heston in Secret of the Incas.
Harrison Ford is the decisive Apex Mountain selection; John Williams, Karen Allen, Nazis, Cairo, fedoras, and even bad movie monkeys receive secondary cases.
In the discussion (3)
- Ford’s concurrent Star Wars position and the freedom unlocked by Raiders begin a roughly two-decade summit.
- Karen Allen, Denholm Elliott, Cairo, movie Nazis, and failed monkey comedy are floated as playful subsidiary peaks.
- John Williams’s immense run makes any one apex hard to isolate, while the fedora is placed below its everyday 1930s–40s high point.
The panel questions effects, Indy’s durability and repeated survival, Marion’s alcohol tolerance, muted reactions to finding the Ark, the eye-closing rule, snake ecology, and the Nazis’ occult plan.
In the discussion (4)
- The dead-Molina dummy, Indy absorbing many punches, and villains repeatedly failing to kill him strain belief.
- Marion’s ability to win extreme liquor contests despite her size becomes a long-running physiology question.
- The Nazis underreact to proving the biblical Ark exists, and Indy somehow knows closing his and Marion’s eyes will protect them.
- Thousands of snakes appear to lack food or habitat, while Hitler’s occult interest and the decision to open the Ark are only loosely explained.
Open questions cover Marion’s bar, exploding-head fame, alternate casting, E.T.’s origin, Indy’s satchel, archaeological ethics, changing outfits, emotional reactions, and Indy’s motivation.
In the discussion (6)
- The economics and regular clientele of Marion’s isolated Nepal bar are unknowable.
- The panel asks why Belloq’s exploding head did not become the dominant reference instead of Scanners.
- They ask how much worse the movie and its box office would be with Tom Selleck, and whether E.T. exists without Melissa Mathison and Spielberg discussing it on this set.
- Indy’s bag prompts a satchel-versus-man-purse debate, and his treasure-taking is questioned as looting rather than archaeology.
- Marion’s frequent wardrobe changes and Sallah’s subdued response to her presumed death are treated as unexplained behavior.
- The largest question is what actually motivates Indy beyond holding and donating history, since neither money nor romance explains his risks.
The fedora is the consensus practical answer amid interest in the Ark, medallion, satchel, bullwhip, white turtleneck, and giant boulder.
In the discussion (2)
- Katanga’s white turtleneck, the Ark as coffee table, the medallion, satchel, bullwhip, and boulder all receive pitches.
- When forced to choose among the fedora, bullwhip, and satchel, the conversation settles on the fedora despite its limited real-world wearability.
Harrison Ford takes two of three final ballots over Steven Spielberg and wins the movie by majority.
In the discussion (3)
- One vote goes directly to Ford.
- One vote goes to Spielberg for reclaiming the top of Hollywood after 1941, securing participation, developing E.T., and becoming effectively bulletproof.
- The last vote returns to Ford because Indiana Jones became a four-decade costume, icon, and Disney attraction.
Podcast choices
- Speaker not identified
- Harrison Ford
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- Steven Spielberg
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- Harrison Ford
Roger Ebert's review
Most Rewatchable Scene
What’s Aged the Best?
What’s Aged the Worst?
The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award
The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award
The Teddy KGB Award for the Actor in a Completely Different Movie
The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance
Apex Mountain
What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?
Who Won the Movie?