The Beginning of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Since we’re talking about the beginnings of films, let’s look at a clip of the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Now actually the first 15 minutes of this film is very interesting because it breaks one of the “rules” I’ve discussed previously.

In many ways, it’s not integrated into the rest of the story that is going to be told! (Not in all ways, however.) It has NOTHING to do with the Ark of the Covenant. Nothing to do with Nazis. Nothing to do with the quest. So why does it work – why is this a good example of a broken rule? In my opinion, it’s because the strength of this franchise is the Indiana Jones character and the exciting world of archaeology – and so they had to spend extra time to set those things up with a very firm foundation. And actually, if you think about it, this is an introduction to Indy’s “normal world,” as fantastic as that world might be.

The first 5 minutes of this film are, in my opinion, one of the best character intros ever in a movie. The way you’re just following this mysterious man through this exotic locale, and then there is a threat, which he immediately thwarts… and then you finally see his face come into the light.

What movie star wouldn’t want to play this iconic whip wielding hero?

And the sequence afterwards, with the spiders, the idol, the collapsing temple, and the BIG BOULDER, make us all desperate for more and more visits into this amazing worlds of Indy. These are, in fact, some of the most memorable moments in the whole Indiana Jones franchise. All in the first 15 minutes of the first film.

So again, this is a good example of being able to break rules when there are good reasons to do so. Indy set up according to “classic structure” wouldn’t be nearly as strong a film.

I’m going to link to a near final draft of the script for these first 5 minutes.

Take a look at it.

You’ll notice that much was actually changed between this draft and the filmed scene. For my money, the changes (which are mostly all cuts) are all great choices. Read it. Remember, it’s often the notes you don’t play as much as the notes you do, and pay attention to what was left out to make this incredible opening what it was.

Nearly all the dialogue was cut out. They focused on the actions, not the words. In short, they trusted us as an audience to figure out what was going on. Much of the same elements are in the script and the final cut, but in the final cut they are greatly compressed .

And – again having to do with good ways to intro characters – Indy doesn’t kill the interloper in the filmed version, as he did in the script. He merely disarms him and lets him run away. Again, a good choice. We want to totally and completely like Indy at this point. And starting with a death might alienate some people. Let’s wait until we’re in love with the rogue before he starts offing people (however much they might deserve it.)