A jungle, a temple, a boulder, and a fedora. With the impact the Indiana Jones films have left on the landscape of film culture, it’s difficult to think of a world without them. Spanning decades of film history and another now in theaters, there have been countless memorable sequences of tension, excitement, and adventure in the Indiana Jones movies. None of them, however, surpass the series’ exquisite opening sequence. A master class in characterization, cinematography, and storytelling, the prologue to Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the most ubiquitous sequences in film for good reason.

The First Glimpse of a Fedora and a Leather Jacket

Under Steven Spielberg’s direction, Raiders of the Lost Ark opens with an expected level of outstanding filmmaking, specifically in its characterization of Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford). The film opens with a series of establishing shots in a remote jungle with a small band of explorers venturing into the wilderness. We see the faces and the hushed conversations of the group except for one: a mysterious figure wearing a fedora and a leather jacket. After one member of the traveling group is spooked by an ominous carved statue, the man approaches and observes it stoically. Once they push further into the jungle, coming across a poison dart adding another level of tension, the man in the fedora stands by the edge of a river to study his tattered map. The audience is helpless to watch as one of the two remaining companions raises a revolver to the man’s back. With the slightest click of metal, the explorer flourishes his now iconic weapon, his bullwhip, and deftly disarms the traitor. He steps into the light, and for the first time we see him: Indiana Jones, in all his glory.

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The effect of shrouding the character of Indiana Jones until his final reveal is incredibly impactful, making the audience lean into the action playing out, gleaning small bits of information before discovering that this is someone you don’t want to mess with. In almost no words, we know that Indiana is a skilled explorer on a search for something archeologically significant, that he avoids using lethal force when not absolutely necessary, and that this is a dangerous world where trust in the wrong people can get you killed.

‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’s Promising Premise

Through its prologue, the opening temple sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark takes the introductory approach that acts as a mini-representation of the series as a whole. These are films about an explorer traveling to distant parts of the globe to recover relics of past civilizations, all the while avoiding the dangerous traps guarding them and the other factions seeking them for themselves. If you don’t like that, you might as well tap out now.

Once they enter the temple, audiences are treated to more characterization from Indy. He is shown to be resourceful, instinctive, and capable in navigating the series of creative booby traps. Importantly, however, he is also established as a fallible adventure hero, misjudging the weight of the golden idol and triggering the collapse of the temple. After being betrayed by Satipo (Alfred Molina) and rushing toward the temple’s exit, that’s where the iconic rolling boulder hurtles towards Indiana. There are many reasons why this became such an iconic moment in pop culture, but it remains as one of the most exhilarating action set pieces ever. It represents the seemingly insurmountable dangers of Indiana’s profession, and a dangerous ticking clock whisking the adventurer out of the temple with a bang.

‘Raiders’ Gives Indy a Formidable Foe
Image via Paramount 

Now outside the temple with the golden idol, Indiana has no time to recover as he is met by Belloq (Paul Freeman) and a new group of adversaries. This is the first confrontation with the main antagonist of the film, and it establishes their dynamic without undermining Belloq’s status as a threat. This rival’s danger lies not in his physical strength but in his intellect, seemingly able to outsmart Indiana, someone the introduction has just spent over 10 minutes establishing as a very capable member of his profession. Even Belloq’s first line: “Again we see there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away” plays on the climax later in the film. Belloq takes the Ark from Indiana’s grasp multiple times, but the irony is that it results in his demise.

The Ark Opened

Now that Indiana has been introduced to the audience, he has shown his competence in navigating dangerous situations, and Belloq is shown to have repeatedly bested him, this opening sequence establishes the pattern to be broken over the course of the film. A common internet interpretation of the movie that pops up goes along the lines of: “Indy has no impact on the story, either way the Nazis would have died opening the Ark,” which completely misses the point of the piece. In its very essence, this is not the tale of a battle of brute force, but the story of a change within a man. As seen in the opening, Indiana Jones is a figure of practicality with no space for superstition or spiritualist reverence. However, over the course of the film, he learns to practice humility towards a higher power by closing his eyes, avoiding the fate of Belloq and his group of heretical Nazis whose hubris dooms them to a gruesome end. This moving finale would have far less impact if not for its masterful opening sequence.