Karen Allen Interview: Raiders Of The Lost Ark 40th Anniversary

He’s made all kinds of movies: historical dramas, biopics, action movies, science-fiction, suspense. Spielberg is a master of visual storytelling, and a large part of that is opening his movies with the perfect shot to immerse us in each story’s world straight away. So, here are Steven Spielberg’s 10 Best Opening Shots, Ran


A couple of moments in Raiders push the boundaries of its PG-13 rating – particularly the climactic sequence in which a couple of the bad guys’ faces melt off their skulls due to the awesome power of the Ark. The face-melting effect is still terrifying after all these ye


I got to know it in little bits and pieces, because I met Steven first in New York. He came to New York, and we just talked for 15 or 20 minutes. He didn't tell me much about the film, it was just considered Steven Spielberg's next project. And then about a week later, he sent me the scene in the Ravenwood bar. I read that scene, and he wanted me to fly to Los Angeles and audition - they actually wanted to do full-on screen tests - with two men who were possible Indiana Joneses. One was Tim Matheson, who I had worked with in the first film I'd ever done called Animal House. And another was a New York actor named John Shea, who I knew a little bit just from New York - which at the time felt like a very small actor community. My first connection to it was really just that one scene. And in that one scene, working on that one scene over and over again, I fell in love with the character. It's such a wonderful introduction to the character in the film, And then when they asked me to do the film, they sent me for the first time the whole script, so I got to read the script after they had made an offer to


Generally, action movies that jump from one action beat to the next can feel hollow or, even worse, forgettable, but that's never the case with Raiders. Interestingly, the story was so jam-packed with action sequences that some were remo

In a roughly 40-second opening shot, Spielberg introduces the audience to everything they need to know visually about Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford). As the Paramount Pictures logo fades into a real mountaintop, our hero walks into the frame, allowing the audience to take in the iconic visage that'll define him for decades: a leather jacket, bullwhip, and fedora


During the film's closing, Marion (Karen Allen) and Indy exit a government facility as Williams' hopeful theme transforms into something mysterious. The scene cuts to the Ark resting inside a wooden crate, nails punching the lid shut. A padlock snaps as a "Top Secret" label is slapped


Harking back to the pulpy adventure serials they grew up on, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas brought a delightfully old-school vision to action cinema in 1981’s Raiders of the lost ark Collectibles Ark . Ice-cool adventurer Indiana Jones is the quintessential Harrison Ford character and he got an unforgettable introduction in Raide


Williams clearly had a lot of fun evoking the whimsical, theatrical, over-the-top music of the old serials that Spielberg and Lucas were influenced by. From the Now, Voyager -inspired romantic theme to the dark orchestrations that play over the bad guys’ illicit activities, Raiders is filled with unforgettable mu

In all the best action movies, the narrative is driven by action and not the other way around. Raiders exemplifies this perfectly with action sequences that further the plot and lead into more action sequences that are incredible to watch, but still make se


In the Bible, the Ark is passed down to the Jewish people by God, so the Nazis’ theft of it can be seen as a metaphor for the anti-Semitic atrocities of World War II, which Spielberg later explored in more depth in Schindler’s Li


While many fans are convinced no one else could play Indy after Ford retires from the role, Phoenix made for a great Indy and brought a lot of Ford's charisma while making it his own. It is a fantastic opening scene showing how this hero came to


The whole melee is shot in a single long take tracking back and forth through the hallway. The fight doesn’t end because Dae-su manages to kill all the bad guys; they all just become too exhausted to keep getting back up, which is much more realis


What helps ground the action is that the sequences are well-edited and expertly paced, especially compared to contemporary films. In nearly every scene, with the possible exception of the Nepalese bar fight, it's simple to follow the characters and know exactly where they are in relation to one another and the objects around t


One of the most renowned and influential works of world cinema, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is notable for its delightfully unrealistic fight choreography. The movie’s gloriously cinematic fight scenes have martial artists floating through trees with the lightness of a baller


From Jaws to Jurassic Park , Spielberg's films demonstrate a great appreciation for "movie magic." This is evident in an anecdote from production designer Rick Carter , who asked Spielberg during production on Jurassic Park how the T-Rex suddenly appears in the Visitors Center during the finale. Carter was asking logically, but Spielberg responded "from the top of the fra