10 behind-the-scenes facts about the Indiana Jones films (6 photos + 5 videos)

The Indiana Jones films are undoubtedly one of the best adventure series of all time. In honor of Harrison Ford saying goodbye to his role as the daring archaeologist this year, here are 10 behind-the-scenes facts about the iconic franchise.





1. Indiana Jones Is Closely Related to Star Wars



...Which is not surprising, given George Lucas' involvement in the creation of both franchises. The most obvious connection is Harrison Ford, but it's far from the only one. For example, Lucas' dog, an Alaskan Malamute named Indiana, not only gave Dr. Jones his name; she also inspired Chewbacca. Lucas said that while writing the first Star Wars film, Indiana “always sat next to me while I was writing. And when I drove, she sat in the front seat... Having her with me all the time inspired me to give Han Solo a companion who looked like a big fluffy dog."

The Indiana Jones films also contain several Star Wars Easter eggs. When Indy is exploring the Well of Souls in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), pictures of R2-D2 and C-3PO can be seen on the wall. The club where Willie performs in Temple of Doom (1984) is called Club Obi-Wan. And in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), Indy even utters a line that appears in all Star Wars films: “I have a bad feeling about this.”

2. Harrison Ford changed the course of the battle in Raiders of the Lost Ark... due to diarrhea

While filming Raiders of the Lost Ark in Tunisia, almost the entire crew, including Harrison Ford, contracted dysentery. In comments on Reddit, Ford explained that the comical scene where he simply shoots an opponent with a sword was the result of him "suffering from dysentery" and being "uncomfortable being outside of a trailer for more than 10 minutes at a time." The fight was originally supposed to be an epic "sword and whip duel," but Ford couldn't stand the idea that it would take two or three days to film the fight, so he suggested that Spielberg "just shoot the son of a bitch," to which he answer: “I had the same idea.” Spielberg himself did not get sick, because before leaving England for Tunisia, he “packed a suitcase of canned food.” His diet consisted essentially of canned pasta, pork and beans.

3. Temple of Doom Introduces a PG-13 Rating





Temple of Doom was much darker in tone than its predecessor. This was partly because both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg had problems in their personal lives: one was going through a divorce, the other a separation. Lucas recalls: “We weren't in a very good mood, so we decided to do something more provocative. In the end, the film turned out darker than we thought. Once we got away from that bad period, which lasted for a year or two, we looked at the results and said, "Mmmmm, we've definitely gone overboard." Although the film was born out of love experiences, it was on the set that Spielberg met his future wife, Kate Capshaw, who played Willie. “I walked out of the darkness of the Temple of Doom and into the light of the woman I was going to marry and start a family with,” he says.

In 1984, when the film was released, there was no PG-13 rating yet. The Motion Picture Association of America felt the film didn't deserve an R rating, so it was given a PG rating - much to the anger of many parents. Gremlins, executive produced by Spielberg, came out just a month later and fell into the same category. Spielberg agreed that the films were not suitable for either a PG or an R rating, so he called MPAA President Jack Valenti to ask him to create an interim rating. “Jack was active on this issue and completely agreed with me, and before I knew it, it was rated PG-13,” says the director.

4. Famous playwright - uncredited screenwriter of The Last Crusade



Officially credited as the screenwriters for The Last Crusade are George Lucas, Geoffrey Boam and Menno Mayes, but they also had help from Tom Stoppard, the famed playwright who was later knighted for his contributions to theatre. Much of The Last Crusade focuses on Indy's relationship with his father, played by Sean Connery. "It was an emotional story, but I didn't want to get sentimental," Spielberg says. “Their alienation from each other served as the basis for many comedic situations. And this gave Tom Stoppard, uncredited, a lot of material for creativity. Tom is pretty much responsible for every line of dialogue."

However, at least one line of dialogue was definitely not written by Stoppard - the scene in which Jones Sr. quips that he knew Elsa Schneider was actually a Nazi because "she talks in her sleep." This line was improvised by Sean Connery. Julian Glover, who plays villainous businessman Walter Donovan, recalls that “they had to stop filming. Everyone just hit the floor and Steven said, “Well, we’re putting this in the movie.”

5. In one of the scenes of The Last Crusade, Ford and Connery were filmed without pants



The scene where Indy and his dad ride the airship in The Last Crusade is very cool, but it was quite unpleasant to film. It was incredibly hot on set, so for the scene where Indy and his father are arguing while sitting at the table, Connery decided to make life easier for himself. “I played without pants,” Connery admits. “And Harrison tells me, 'You can't do a scene without pants.' I say: “Well, since I can’t, I’ll have to stop all the time, because I’m sweating a lot; I sweat very easily.” Despite his own objections, the heat eventually forced Ford to join Connery in ditching his pants as well.

6. Ke Hui Quan accidentally got a role in “Temple of Doom”



When an open casting call was held to find an actor to play Indy's young friend in Temple of Doom, Ke Huy Quan didn't even think about auditioning for the role. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel Live! Quan said his younger brother auditioned. “I followed him and gave him pointers behind the camera, and the casting director noticed me and asked if I wanted to try it myself.”

The next day he was invited to a meeting with Spielberg, Lucas and Ford. “My mom heard ‘Hollywood,’ heard ‘famous director,’ and thought it would be such a formal meeting,” he recalls. “So she dressed me in a three-piece suit with a little gold chain hanging out of the side pocket.” Spielberg noticed how uncomfortable Quan was and asked him to come back the next day in regular clothes, and this audition became decisive. Quan had never seen Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark before, so he had no idea how important the three men in that room were.

7. The fight on the wing of the plane was mostly improvised.



In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy fights a couple of Nazis to steal their plane, and Spielberg basically made up the fight on the fly. “I threw out the storyboards and just started choreographing the fight, and I actually came up with the scene while we were shooting it,” he recalls. “This scene was supposed to be just a couple of shots, but it ended up being like 60 or 70 different shots.”

Another surprise is the appearance of producer Frank Marshall in this scene as the pilot. The character was supposed to be played by a stuntman because in the story Marion needed to knock him out, but all the stuntmen got sick. Spielberg asked Marshall to fill in for him, and later joked, "The stunt guys may have gotten sick on purpose," because the temperature in the cabin was about 140 degrees [60 degrees Celsius]."

Harrison Ford was also injured while filming the scene. He fell and the plane's wheels slammed into his knee, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament. He decided to simply bandage the wound and apply ice to it, and then continue filming.

8. The sounds of the trolley in the Temple of Doom are like a roller coaster from Disneyland.

Disney parks around the world have several Indiana Jones themed attractions, and Disneyland California even makes an appearance in the Temple of Doom. For the trolley scene, sound designers Ben Burtt and Gary Summers were given special access to Disneyland to record the sounds of the roller coaster. They were allowed into the park when it was closed for the night so they could ride various roller coasters and record the sounds they made without music playing in the background. “We had a very strange night there,” Burtt says. “The various clanks, squeals and screeching sounds recorded that night formed the basis of the sound design for the thrilling mine cart chase.”

9. Dan Aykroyd makes a cameo appearance in Temple of Doom



Near the beginning of Temple of Doom, Dan Aykroyd appears in a very brief role that can be easily overlooked. Playing a character named Weber, he helps Indy, Willie, and Shorty escape Hong Kong by plane (though the venture doesn't go according to plan).

The Ghostbusters star spends about 20 seconds on screen, which seems like plenty of time to notice his cameo. But the scene was filmed at night and without close-ups, making Aykroyd's face difficult to see. And although he even has a few lines of dialogue, the actor uses an over-the-top British accent, which further misleads the viewer.

10. The scene with the inflatable raft falling from the plane was filmed in one take



In "Temple of Doom", the plane our trio boards to leave Hong Kong crashes, but they jump off it on an inflatable raft. This trick is sometimes criticized as being too unrealistic, but it is not only possible in theory, but can also be done in just one take. In an interview with Ain't It Cool News, producer Frank Marshall explained that they wanted to film the scene for real because they "always felt like the more real things we used, the more fun and better it would look." The marshal turned to a life raft manufacturer to develop a raft that would inflate with one pull of the cable. The raft was packed into a three-engine plane along with three mannequins, and the scene was filmed at Mammoth Peak in California. Marshall recalls that when the raft floated out, "it was perfectly balanced, turned right side up, people were in it, it went down, hit and bounced, and [the dummies] were weighted enough to make it look natural, and then it rolled down." . The director said, “I think we got it,” and they finished filming after just one take.