raiders

Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Many Influences of Indiana Jones

When Raiders of the Lost Ark was released in 1981, it was like a jolt of lightning from out of the past. As with George Lucas’ Star Wars before it, here was a throwback to many of the cinematic touchstones high and low that Baby Boomers grew up with: Saturday morning serials, prestige Oscar winners from yesteryear, and even boys’ pulp magazines were sifted through, borrowed from, and recontextualized into one of the most thrilling action-adventure movies anyone had ever seen. Somehow Lucas, who was a producer on the project, director Steven Spielberg, and the whole Indiana Jones team were…
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Aladdin’s Directors Stole From Raiders of the Lost Ark, But Steven Spielberg Was OK With It

As we inch closer to the 40th—yes, 40th—anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark, it’s natural to reflect on just how influential the Indiana Jones blockbuster has been to American filmmaking. One needs look no further than the Marvel Cinematic Universe to see how relevant Steven Spielberg‘s action-adventure story remains today, but, having just done a Raiders rewatch, I couldn’t get over just how much Raiders reminded me of another iconic movie from my childhood: Disney‘s Aladdin. Both are adventure stories made by white Americans and set mostly (and, in Aladdin‘s case, vaguely) in the Middle East, with all of…
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