Watch Rare Behind-the-Scenes Footage of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ Buried For 35 Years
This is an incredible find. According to the YouTube account that posted it, the video above is never-before-seen footage of the making of Raiders of the Lost Ark, specifically the sequence at the start of the film where Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones is rescued by his buddy with a biplane, Jock Lindsey. It was apparently sitting in his “grandfather’s VHS collection for decades” and has apparently never been seen by anyone.
Here’s where the footage came from:
When filming the "Jock! Start the Engine!" scene, the production of Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark rented a plane from my Grandfathers neighbor (who was a good piloting friend as well). His family was there filming during the trip to Hawaii, and captured a lot of behind the scenes footage of the creation of the small moment. This upload is for educational purposes. It is amazing the ups and downs the whole process took, and it must have taken a very large budget for such a small moment. I will soon have a commentary track with my grandfather to provide more details. I mean really, they wrecked the plane and had to repair it. It's quite the story.
The footage is silent, so hopefully that commentary track is coming to fill in some of the context behind what we’re looking at. (I would also love to know how they wrecked the plane.) Even without it, this is a fascinating watch. What else is hiding on this guy’s grandfather’s VHS shelf? Any chance he knew Robert Wise and got a copy of the original version of The Magnificent Ambersons?
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