One of the greatest adventure films of all time, Raiders of the Lost Ark (later retitled "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark") follows College Professor and "Collector of Rare Antiquities" Indiana Jones on his quest to find the Ark of the Covenant, and prevent it from falling into Nazi hands.
f the greatest adventure films of all time, Raiders of the Lost Ark follows College Professor and "Collector of Rare Antiquities" Indiana Jones on his quest to find the Ark of the Covenant, and prevent it from falling into Nazi hands.
Plot
WARNING PLOT WILL CONTAINS SPOILERS
In 1936 an American archaeologist named "Indiana Jones" goes to a temple in Peru that is full of booby traps so he can retrieve the golden idol. After escaping the temple and surviving two traitorous guides, Indiana is met by a fellow archaeologist named René Belloq and the Hovitos. Indiana is forced to hand over the idol and and escapes on a seaplane, which has a snake in it (showing Indiana's fear of snakes for the first time).
Not long after returning to the college he teaches at, Indian is met by two Army inelegance agents who inform him that Nazi German forces are after Indiana’s mentor, Abner Ravenwood, whom they believe has an artifact called "the Staff of Ra", which Indiana tells them is supposed to show the way to the location of the Ark of the Covenant, the chest that holds the Ten Commandments.
Indiana travels to Nepal to find that Ravenwood is dead and his daughter Marion Marion is in possession of the headpiece to the Staff of Ra. Indiana offers to buy the headpiece for $3,000, and an additional $2,000 so Marion can return to the States. A group of men commanded by Toht raid Marion’s tavern looking for the headpiece. During this melee the tavern is burned to the ground and Toht burns his hand on the hot headpiece. Indiana and Marion escape with the headpiece and head to search for the Ark.
They travel to Cairo where they meet Sallah who tells them that Belloq and the Nazis lead by Colonel Dietrich, are digging for the Well of Souls using a replica of the headpiece (using the scar from Toht's hand to design it). Nazis kidnap Marion and as Indian chases them it appears she dies in an explosion. Indiana and Sallah whilst deciphering the markings on the headpiece realize that the Nazis are digging in the wrong location. They then infiltrate the dig site and use the Staff of Ra to find the right location to the Well of Souls. Once there they find the well is full of snakes, but Indiana fends them off using petrol and fire to find the Ark. Once Sallah and the Ark are out Belloq, Dietrich and the Nazis dispose of Indiana’s rope and take the Ark for them self. They throw Marion (who is still alive) into the well and seal them in. They both escape and after fighting a huge Nazi steals the Ark back before it leaves for Berlin.
Indiana and Marion leave to escort the Ark to England on a steamer, but the next morning they are boarded by Belloq, Dietrich and the Nazis who steal the Ark back and also kidnap Marion again. Indiana sneaks onto their U-boat which is heading to an island in the Aegean Sea. There Belloq is going to test out the power of the Ark before giving it to Hitler. Indiana threatens to blow up the Ark, but is instead captured.
Indiana and Marion are tied to a post whilst Belloq performs a ritual to open the Ark, which appears to contain nothing. Suddenly spirits exit form the Ark. Indian tells Marion to close her eyes and not look at the Ark, as the spirits kill the Nazi soldiers with lightning bolts, and kill Belloq, Dietrich and Toht more gruesomely. They then go back into the Ark and the Ark closes.
Once back in America the Army intelligence agents tell Indiana and Brody that the Ark is some place safe and to be studied by “top men”. The Ark is actually sealed in a wooden crate and marked “top secret” being stored in a giant government warehouse, which hold’s a vast amount of government secrets.
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