MovieChat Forums > Journey to the Center of the Earth Discussion > Influence on Raiders

Influence on Raiders

posted 16 years ago by anneandwalt-1
4 replies | jump to latest

George Lucas has often been quoted saying that Raiders of the Lost Ark was inspired by many great adventure films he watched in his youth. One of those films had to be the classic Journey to the Centre of the Earth. I'm sure there are at least two scenes from Journey that RLA borrowed from. One,the exciting scene where the sun's rays reveal the cave entrance within the volcano - which is repeated when Indiana Jones uses the crystal to project the sun's rays to reveal the location of the ark. Both scenes feature fantasic music by Bernard Hermann and John Williams. Two, a large, rounded boulder chases James Mason and company - and a rounded boulder chases Indy in an underground location in the memorable opening of RLA.
There's also the fundamental similarity of a scientist undertaking an adventurish quest. Any thoughts?

[–] AntoNEO 16 years ago

I wholeheartedly agree. Those two scenes seemed WAAAAAY to close to be unintentional. I'd be curious to know for sure though. The scenes were just as good in Journey, and it was really fun discovering them.

"I grew up watching TV and I turned out TV." - Homer Simpson

[–] Erumpent 16 years ago

Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my favorite movies. This morning I watched Journey to the Centre of the Earth and I noticed those two thing you mentioned, especially the boulder...

"There were a few, but they all had the same problem... They weren't you, honey."

[–] badguy-1 16 years ago

I watched "Journey..." for the first time yesterday and noticed those two things as well.
The boulder chase in "Raiders..." was not Lucas' idea though, supposedly, Steven Spielberg suggested that.

[–] Special-K99 15 years ago

Possibly also the scene where Pat Boone, after being seperated from the rest of the expedition, is standing on a rock bridge that gives way and he ends up hanging over the edge. Similar to the "Throw me the idol, I throw you the whip" scene at the start of Raiders.