1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark

Famously conceived in Hawaii while George Lucas was in hiding fearing his Star Wars would flop, he pitched the idea to Steven Spielberg, who was himself recuperating from his first flop, 1941. They wanted to reproduce the old adventure serials that were a staple of 30's cinema, and Indiana Jones was born.

Originally set to star Tom Selleck, the actor had to refuse as he was contracted to Magnum P.I. Lucas did not want to use any of his Star Wars actors, but was convinced by Spielberg after Harrison Ford's performance in The Empire Strikes Back. The rest, as they say, is history.

In 1981, a hero was born who would last for decades. The shoot of the film was arduous, with many of the crew and actors suffering fatigue and dysentry. However, from adversity great moments are born, and the wonderful scene between Indy and a sword fighter was shot purely because everyone was too ill to film a fight, which was originally scripted.

The movie took a wonderful $353m worldwide. Cementing Spielberg and Lucas as the top creative minds of the day. For Spielberg this was special. His previous film was over-budget and the shoot was longer than the studio wanted. To test himself, this was lean movie-making. In time and on budget, Indiana Jones was released.

A franchise was launched that dominated the 80's.




Head to Abe Books for the novel of the movie, right here -  Raiders of the Lost Ark

Atari released a home console game to follow the movie, by today's standards it is very basic but worth a look. While now limited in availability, you can get copies via Ebay - Raiders Atari