Transcript of 70mm’s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Episode.
SLIM Hey, it’s your old pal Slim. And this is 70mm, a podcast for film lovers. Every Monday I’m joined by famous artist Danny Haas.
DANNY [Danny wheeze/laughs for 5 seconds]
SLIM And spiritual advisor, Protolexus.
PROTO I could say, I think, you know, in complete confidence that I am forever changed after this 4K viewing of Blade Runner.
SLIM And together as friends forever we discuss recently watched movies. Later in this episode, we’re kicking off Indiana Junes with Raiders of the Lost Ark. And for the rest of June, it’s Indiana all the way down. How does the 1981 action adventure hold up? Will we be blinded by nostalgia fog? Find out… right now.
[70mm theme song ramps up, plays alone, fades out]
SLIM I have to bring up something that is extremely unsettling to start off the show. You know, we started this podcast from our love of video games and each other. And then Letterboxd also. Started this podcast about how we use Letterboxd. Danny wasn’t even following me on Letterboxd.
DANNY I don’t know what you’re talking about, Matt.
SLIM Until today. This is like Episode 71. Over a year.
DANNY Matt, please.
SLIM Proto, your thoughts on this?
PROTO Danny wasn’t following you on Letterboxd… um… Danny’s probably just relying on the Letterboxd Feed that we have in our Discord to get all the, you know, he’s probably just so used to reading what comes in through there that he doesn’t even bother going to the Letterboxd site. That’s what I’m imagining. That’s the only explanation at this point.
DANNY No, that’s not it.
SLIM I was not expecting the Proto excuse train to come rolling in. Is Proto even following me?
PROTO [Proto makes sad train noise]
SLIM Is that why he went to the Letterboxd Feed excuse?
DANNY Listen, I went through today to go through our villagers — some of them — and give them a follow that I hadn’t been following yet. Not all of them got a follow, you got to earn it. [Slim laughs] Some have to earn a follow.
SLIM Who’s left out?! Who hasn’t gotten followed by Danny on Letterboxd?
DANNY A Film Hag that I haven’t followed back yet. But soon.
PROTO You got to be careful with your follows.
DANNY Come back and bite you.
SLIM What’s the threshold? What’s the follow threshold on Letterboxd before becomes too unwieldy?
PROTO You don’t want to over saturate. [Slim & Danny laugh] You don’t want to do it.
SLIM I’m not gonna name who Danny’s talking about, the Film Hag host, she is in Discord right now. I don’t want to call people out. But I do want to spotlight somebody on our Discord. And that’s Ty. There has been something growing, burgeoning.
DANNY Excuse me?
SLIM In our Discord that Ty had this idea to do, he calls it Letterboxd Roulette. Like Secret Santa, for people in our Discord that people that use Letterboxd, you get someone and you choose a movie for them to watch. And let me tell you something, I have seen some amazing picks. Some amazing discussions come out of this Letterboxd Roulette jawn, that you can’t get anywhere else. So props to Ty for having this idea and, you know, continuing to put some positivity in the community.
DANNY Thank you Ty!
PROTO Thank you Ty.
SLIM Proto, how come you’re not in Letterboxd Roulette?
PROTO You know, I would love to it sounds like a great thing to be a part of. I just don’t know if I can commit to watching a movie that’s picked for me. You know? I’ve got a watchlist that’s 500 movies long. And growing. [Slim & Danny laugh]
SLIM I just saw that you watched Blade Runner this week.
DANNY Oh my gosh. What a review.
SLIM Can you expand on this on this experience, please?
PROTO AH! Yeah. Me and Jenna, we finished watching Mare of Easttown. The show on HBO. I don’t think it was last episode. I think it was Saturday night we watched an episode. And then it was like 11:30, she was sitting there on her phone and I was doing nothing. And I thought maybe I’ll just put a movie on. You know, I’m not gonna watch the whole thing but I could start something. So I went to see what 4Ks were laying around and saw Blade Runner.
DANNY You had 4K Blade Runner just laying around?!
SLIM Just laying around. I love it.
DANNY My gosh.
PROTO So I threw that on and I started then, I finished it last night, which would be a Wednesday for those at home. And what an experience. I could say I think in, you know, complete confidence that I am forever changed after this 4K viewing of Blade Runner. [Slim laughs] Also the parallels, some of the parallels, the overlap, between Blade Runner and our future presentation Raiders of the Lost Ark that we’re covering. There’s a scene in Blade Runner that is nearly the exact same scene that happens —
SLIM No.
PROTO In Raiders of the Lost Ark. I couldn’t believe it.
SLIM No!
PROTO Yes, yes.
SLIM What scene?
PROTO You know, Harrison Ford.
DANNY I’m listening.
PROTO His character, he gets beat up pretty bad. He’s got blood coming out of his jaw. And he’s trying, he wants to get some rest. And the… what’s-her-face, the replicant woman, [Slim & Danny laughs] is trying to get some action with him, so to speak. But he passes out! On the bed. Just Harrison Ford laying there looking amazing. Yeah, Sean Young, the actress, he passes out before she can you know make a move. And that same thing happened — not to get ahead of myself. But that same thing happens in Raiders and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
DANNY Harrison Ford falls asleep quick.
PROTO Yeah, maybe it was an accident. Maybe you know Ridley was like “Harrison, that’s not, that’s not the scene” but then they just went with it.
SLIM What did you think of the 4K experience? You know, you’ve recently upgraded — thank heavens — have upgraded the official 70mm TCL 55 inch 4K TV.
PROTO Some of the visuals in Blade Runner are off the chart. There’s the Tyrrell building, I think that’s what it’s called. [Slim makes unknown noise but it’s possible that he’s excited] Unbelievable. I don’t know how Ridley Scott made this movie when he did, but it’s real. All the sets are incredible. I just couldn’t believe it. There’s like an elevator that he walks into and I’m thinking they must have spent a month making this elevator for this one scene. But it’s just amazing. It’s a work of art. In my review, I said you know, maybe cinema as a whole exists so that Blade Runner could be made.
DANNY My gosh!
PROTO And I think I might be right about that.
SLIM I forgot to mention, the Discord with our Letterboxd Roulette, you can actually join our Discord at 70mmpod.com. Check out our Patreon. Four bucks a month. You get access to our VHS Village get discounts on merch. Access to the episodes, access to exclusive episodes, Moana just dropped last week. A lot of buzz on that ep. Lotta buzz. Internet buzzz. And we had just had some new friends join this past week. Jonas and Bill and again a special call out to Ty for Letterboxd Roulette. Not to continually talk about 4K. I know we’ve kind of drifted into 4K territory. Push up my nerd glasses. But I fired, I was looking around for a movie the other night too, Proto. Seeing what was laying around. OG Alien in 4K, by myself, downstairs, fired it up.
DANNY How was it?
SLIM Let me tell you something. Last 40 minutes of that movie in 4K? Are you kidding me?!
DANNY Mmmf!
SLIM The shadows in that movie! That’s Ridley Scott too isn’t it?!
DANNY Apparently.
SLIM What a coincidence! Sheesh! That’s a movie that if you are lucky enough to talk your significant other into plopping down four to $500 on a television set, then by all means, check out these two Ridley Scott movies. Danny, what did you watch this week?
DANNY I mean, not keep talking about 4K but I got a 4K TV last week. [Slim & Danny laugh]
SLIM We’re in the pocket of Big 4K in this episode.
PROTO The trifecta is complete.
DANNY And you know, I had to think big on my first 4K movie watch. And I went with Star Wars The Phantom Menace, my favorite. And man it looked good! It looked incredible! That was my first watch with the 4K TV.
SLIM How did it feel?
DANNY Great. I mean, it’s life changing. I can’t imagine going back to this 1080 world we were living in. [Slim laughs]
SLIM Listen, 1080p is fine. For those that don’t have a 4K TV, you know, I was in the same boat. 1080p is good. I still got a 720p TV in the house. Okay?
DANNY Can’t imagine.
SLIM ‘1080p is fine’ is probably good t-shirt idea to be honest.
DANNY Right next to the ‘three stars’ hat.
SLIM What’s next on your 4K list?
DANNY I don’t know actually. Uh, Apex Legends. [Slim laughs] But I’m waiting for these Indy discs to come in. That’s what I’m very excited about.
SLIM I know, yeah. We’re gonna get into that feature prezzo. The amount of rewatches we’re going to do once the box set arrives.
DANNY Gotta go back to the watch Raiders again.
SLIM Seantana in chat just linked to an Insignia 43 inch Smart TV.
DANNY There you go.
SLIM $220?! You can get a 4K TV for $220 right now.
DANNY Is that an affiliate link? Better be careful.
SLIM We don’t have any expertise on this TV. The hosts of 70mm, you know, we’re not giving it our blessing.
PROTO This is outside our control. [Slim laughs]
DANNY Yeah. Do what you will.
SLIM Shoot. Let’s see, every week we give away a free year of Letterboxd Pro. We’re on Letterboxd constantly trolling each other. Not rating a movie, rating a movie. Actually, this week, we’re finding our first ever Letterboxd reviews which was fun. And this week’s winner for sharing the show on social media, Daniel Cura on Twitter.
DANNY Daniel?!
SLIM Let me read this tweet, let me read it out real quick.
DANNY Read it.
SLIM Referencing 70mm pod, this podcast: “Come for the movie talk, stay for @slim listening to people and saying “mmmmm” like he’s tasting a new flavor of ice cream for the first time.” [Danny laughs]
DANNY It’s a good tweet.
SLIM Which we turned into a mug instantly.
DANNY Instant mug.
SLIM I’ve never seen a mug added to a store so fast in my life. [Danny laughs] Oh, one quick call out, the Possession blu-ray is circulating. I think maybe 2010. We talked about how we’re going to ship out this Possession blu-ray to all the members of the VHS Village. So we announced a timeframe to sign up for it. The Village will be getting the disc and then it’s your responsibility to send it to the next person. First person that actually signed up when we dropped that link is none other, the one and only, Mikey P.
DANNY Mikey P!
SLIM Mikey P getting it after Ian, former producer of the show.
DANNY It’s coming from Seattle to Florida. [Slim laughs] Passing over 50 Villagers. [Danny laughs]
SLIM Ian regretting once he goes to USPS and getting that bill. God, now that I mentioned USPS I’m sort of dreading the delays that we’re going to encounter.
DANNY It’s only you Matt.
SLIM I meant to bring this up when you mentioned Mare, but we did a first time ever On Deck with Cinenauts, which is a member of the TAPEDECK podcast, little mini community conglomerate syndicate, Will Run For. So I was on a special episode from the Cinenauts podcast where we talked about Mare of Easttown. So if you’re interested in in my thoughts on Mare of Easttown and that kid’s Bronco. We’ll have a link in the episode notes.
DANNY I have thoughts on the Bronco too.
SLIM What episode are you on?
DANNY Five.
SLIM Ay caramba. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Let’s get into it. [Indiana Jones theme music plays] First episode of Indiana Junes. And this is the big one. Raiders The Lost Ark, streaming on Paramount+, if you don’t have the VHS or DVDs or blu-rays laying around. Proto can you, will you, take us through it?
PROTO Dr. Indiana Jones, Professor of Archaeology, expert on the occult. And how does one say it? Obtainer of rare antiquities. We meet our adventurer attempting to quote unquote, “recover” a golden idol from a hidden and guarded Peruvian temple. Barely escaping with his life, he returns to the classroom empty handed, but soon is given his next quest from US Army Intelligence. A race against Nazis to obtain an artifact long thought forever lost that may hold unspeakable power for those who obtain it. The Ark of the covenant that contains the stone tablets that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai. Outmanned and outgunned, Indiana, makes his way to the lost city of Tanis, Egypt in hopes to steal the Ark right from under the Nazis. secure a great treasure for academia with the help of a friend and an old flame, Indiana Jones will do the impossible with his team of raiders.
[Indiana Jones theme music ramps up, plays alone, fades out]
DANNY You said raiders.
PROTO [whispers] Raiders.
SLIM The amount of people waiting for this month. We had to top last June. We all remember what happened last June. Those episodes. We all remember, I’m not going to go over it again. This is the big one. Okay? The big one.
PROTO I don’t remember it. [Slim & Danny laugh]
SLIM Danny, what was your first experience with the man Indiana Jones? Do you remember?
DANNY Actually I do remember my first experience with Indiana would be the stunt show at MGM Studios here in Orlando.
SLIM Mmm!
DANNY I remember going to that first as a kid and then freaking out about it and then my dad showing me Raiders at some point. So that was my first kind of foray into the Indiana Jones universe.
SLIM I just got a mental image of like little Danny but it’s your adult head like on the little Danny, you got like the beard and the glasses and the backwards hat still. [Danny & Slim laugh] Proto, what about you?
PROTO I don’t know if I really remember. I think I want to say that I saw the Last Crusade first. And I don’t think I really cared for this one growing up that much. I know I’d seen it a couple times but I just remember having the thought that I liked the Last Crusade and didn’t really care that much for Raiders growing up. Of course seen them, saw them all a bunch of times and then here and there on TV, you know you catch parts, bits and pieces.
SLIM Sean in chat: “best opening 10 minutes in film history?”
DANNY Stay tuned. [Slim laughs]
SLIM The first note, I don’t remember my first intro to Indiana Jones. To be honest, I feel like we had the tapes in the house. You know in my dad’s library at some point, we kind of had them on. And I feel like there was some channel that also had them on constantly. Not sure which one it was. But man those were on heavy TV rotation I feel like. I don’t know what station paid for the licensing, but it was on all the time it felt like.
DANNY I would love to know your dad’s thoughts on Indiana Jones.
SLIM Oh, mamma mia. Should have reached out to him ahead of time. He’s long asleep right now.
DANNY Next week.
SLIM Probably has had like five dinners already. [Danny laughs] My first note is I loved seeing the Lucasfilm logo, just kind of like scroll across the screen. I kind of forget that Lucasfilm did other movies. [Slim laughs] Like it’s cool to see it in a different property that’s not Star Wars. It felt like retro, it felt like you know the old Star Wars movies that you can’t really watch anymore unless you have a VHS or DVD or whatever. Danny, what did you feel with seeing that name scroll across the screen?
DANNY I mean, it’s super rad. And it was cool, there’s a Raiders VHS that I have. That’s like a making of VHS of Raiders. And the intro to that, it says a Lucasfilm production but it’s these really bright red letters that you’d never see Lucasfilm written in. Until recently they did it with the end of the Clone Wars cartoon but I like seeing the vintage stuff. Even the vintage or like the type treatment that they give writers for the intro credits. Because we are so used to seeing the swoop letters these days since they called it Indiana Jones and the Raiders of Lost Ark or whatever instead of just calling it Raiders. So yeah, it’s really cool to see that all the stuff kind of scroll across the beginning.
SLIM Do they still —
DANNY Especially the fade out with the Paramount mountain, that’s such a rad touch. They even used I think the old Paramount logo for — it didn’t exist anymore — for the fourth movie as well. Just to have them all time together because it’s not even a Gulf or whatever, it says a Gulf company or something at the bottom. Anyway.
SLIM Lex says the VHS had a set of entirely different titles mostly to fit the pain and scan format. Yeah, twas that Lex who posted the photo of him watching a VHS on a CRT monitor in our Discord?
DANNY Someone did.
SLIM Holy moly. Proto, what about you? Any initial thoughts seeing those logos fly up?
PROTO Well, you know, talking about like, first experiences. I did want to mention that I think the thing that had me fall in love with Indiana Jones, probably first, was we had a family friends who had a grandfather who would record all kinds of TV on VHS tapes. And then for whatever reason, some of these tapes got handed down to us. And they had the adventure, the Indiana Jones adventures TV series, like the young Indy television series, and there were some, there was only like, maybe four or five episodes on there. But man did I wear out those tapes. I loved those stories. I was just obsessed with Indiana Jones, as I don’t know, he’s like, I guess either a teenager or like in his 20s fighting in the First World War with the French going down the Congo River. Like fighting with the French Resistance, there’s just like these just crazy stories of Indiana’s younger life that were so much fun. And I love them so much. So when I think of Indiana Jones and like my first experience, that’s probably the thing that comes to mind first and like what made me fall in love with Indiana Jones. I haven’t watched all those I would love to go through that old series at some point and and watch all of them. Yeah, the beginning with the type treatment. I thought it kind of looked funny just having like white, white text on the screen too. Yeah, it kind of like caught me off guard. It just, it looked kind of funny.
SLIM It’s funny how — I feel like we could spend more time just talking about the logo. [Slim & Danny laughs]
DANNY We’re 25 minutes in and we’re on the first 5 seconds.
SLIM But it’s one of my favorite parts just not seeing any kind of just over the top treatment of the logo and the name of the movie. I was like, Oh yeah, this is pretty old school. And I think that’s what fits with the vibe of this movie. Like the old school nature of the Indiana Jones universe. You know, it seems very much like a callback to the older films that Spielberg and Lucas grew up on and loved. But it just feels like a very timeless universe or world that I appreciate. Like, I love the idea of them finding something biblical. And then chasing it down. And like any kinds of those movies. I’ll eat up. That’s why I like wish. that’s why when we talked about in The Mummy episode. Like any of that stuff is just so much fun in the adventuring. You don’t see a ton of that anymore, at least not in like these big time, big budget movies. And I guess we’ll see another Indiana Jones movie, but I just love that setting of the the occult, and the mystery of like an archaeologist discovering, you know, ancient hidden stuff. It just feels so fun still. The next thing I was going to bring up was we watched this on Paramount+, our box sets haven’t gotten here yet that we ordered. So I was kind of like curious, we joked if they would have like an HD version on Paramount+, America’s platform, Kev says. I thought the quality of the movie on Paramount+ was not good. Like I was like, is this SD that I’m watching on Paramount+? [Slim laughs] Or I don’t know what it was, maybe the transfer of this movie that they have doesn’t feel that good. Or like, so the idol scene where he grabs the idol. There was just so much out of focus that I just don’t remember that being the case with this movie. Did you get similar vibes when you watched it?
DANNY I did. It was a lot of, it was a lot of the close up shots too that felt just super grainy. And I know we’re talking about a movie that’s, you know, however many years old now, 40 years old, but they’ve had the blu-ray transfers. And now they’re coming to the 4K and you would just think that the stream from Paramount would be the best that they have. But there’s just, I could put on my VHS and it felt like I was watching the same thing. [Slim laughs]
SLIM Art says “I saw Raiders in an IMAX special showing looked so bad” So maybe that’s just the way this movie looks. I don’t know.
DANNY Maybe it’s just grainy. Can’t wait for these 4Ks.
SLIM Yeah, definitely going to warrant a rewatch. Danny, what’s on your list for Raiders of the Lost Ark?
DANNY Well, it’s already been said but I my first note is best opening in film. I love the intro to Indy and Alfred Molina. Just the two of them going through the forest with that third guy who betrays them. And how Indy’s just kind of, you know is just shot from behind. He’s just a shadowy figure kind of going through the South America jungles and you know, looking at a map and then he finally turns around and whips the gun out of his hand and you see Indy for the first time, but it’s really cool because John Williams’ score doesn’t give us the the big Indy fanfare for a while, but it’s so mellow, it’s like so mellow, and dArk. And it kind of, it sets the tone for Indy, because people I feel like recently finding out that Indy is not the good guy, you know? He’s just kind of the guy that’s stopping Hitler, basically, but he still has his ulterior motives. So I think the music kind of lends itself to him kind of being this dArk figure, and then they will lead into the temple, which is just so rad. I just love it.
SLIM Also, just Alfred Molina, he hasn’t aged a day! [Danny laughs] From this to Boogie Nights. He looks exactly the same. It’s sick.
DANNY I like, you know, it’s funny because he he’s really good character actor and this like his — I always watch his face when Indy is swapping the idol for the bag of sand. And he does like them, like mimicking of what Indy’s doing. But his face is like how I draw with like, my tongue hanging out or something stupid. You don’t know you’re doing it. It’s like his face is doing something stupid, doesn’t know it’s happening. But it’s, it’s so perfect. It’s just exactly what I would do. If I’m watching someone, you know, focused. It’s really great.
SLIM It’s probably the same face Torin is making as he’s attempting to troll us in chat. But guess what? It’s not working, Torin! Okay? We see through the fog! Proto, what’s on your list for Raiders of the Lost Ark?
PROTO Yeah, well, about the the opening, I felt that, I think it it hits as almost like comic book-y, there’s like some bombastic moment, it’s like very, almost like a cold opening. But then like the moment where the one guy is like, going to draw the gun, and then Indy just turns around and just whips it out of his hand. That’s like the first action that you see of Indy doing anything. And it’s so ridiculous. That, you know, he just like cock’s his ear and he’s like, ah, he’s pulling on his gun. So I’m just gonna whip it out of his hand. It’s just so ridiculous to think that someone would do that, and be successful at it. And then everything that you know, goes on with that you’re like, wow, this guy is, is really on the level, but then you find out that he’s a professor of archaeology. And like, you know, he’s wearing like this three piece suit, in the university suit, and he has like this completely different side. And you’re like, wait, is this the same guy? One of the main things, though, that I felt watching this this time, which I hadn’t felt before, is that this movie does feel aged. Not in a bad way. But you know, now at this point, this movie is 40 years old. And I was just thinking about it.
SLIM Woof.
PROTO Well, you know, 20 years ago to the year 2000. You know, 40 years prior would be the 60s. And that like, growing up, that felt like an old movie to me, you know, a movie from the 60s and it, it felt like if anything from the 60s was on TV, you could just tell that it was. This, watching it this time, it felt much older than it did in previous viewings, and I can’t really put my finger on it, but there was just something about, I don’t know if it was like the dialogue, or there’s just something about it, where it kind of gave me that old movie feeling. But it’s weird to say that about a movie that’s from the 80s, if that makes sense. I know that’s like, you know, just be for me, you know, you know, when you’re born and what you’re, you know, in a relationship with movies is but that’s how I felt watching it this time.
DANNY I mean, I’m gonna blame Paramount+. [Slim laughs]
SLIM You know, if they were to make this today, you know, what would the timeframe that this archaeologist would be going back in? The 80s? Right, to uncover the Ark?
PROTO Like 70s or 80s.
DANNY Well you’d still have to have the Nazis unless you don’t even like that storyline.
SLIM Like in terms of the timeframe that would be him, it would be a professor in the 80s. It just would, you’re right, it would feel so weird. It kind of like reminds me about how like, classic rock has not changed, like, the classic rock station on the radio is still the same, you know, several decades. It hasn’t like changed names or whatever. It’s just always, we’re kind of like frozen in that way. One other thing I wanted to talk about was what you kind of referenced which is Indy quote unquote, “being the bad guy.” One of my early notes in the that I took for the movie is his, like, general indifference to the Ark itself. Like when he kind of hears from Eckhardt from Batman, wasn’t he in Star Wars too? Yeah, that the Ark could potentially exist. And he, the idea of finding it, and taking it is just all on his mind. And I, I know this was like a topic in our Discord about how he essentially just steals it and doesn’t really care that much from you know, its proper location. In my view, if I were him, this is like, the craziest discovery in history. Like when he first finds the Ark, he doesn’t even like open it at all. If I were to find the Ark, what are you waiting for?! Crack that thing open, bro! [Danny laughs] Like you found the most important discovery in the history of civilization at that point, if it’s real, and he just like boxes it up! [Slim laughs] That was the one thing I couldn’t believe that he’s an archaeologist. Put aside the fact that it doesn’t belong to him, you know, he’s stealing it. He’s a grave robber, essentially. How do you not open it? And see what’s inside right?!
PROTO Especially because he says that earlier, he says, like, “Oh, I don’t believe in any of this stuff. You know, it’s purely academic.”
SLIM That was that was one of my one of my main things. And I think that’s a thing that I kind of lost as I was younger, his general indifference to the history, so to speak, or the lineage of the things he’s trying to kind of grab and take to museum. So that was just one thing that struck me this time around.
PROTO Yeah, and that didn’t hit me either when I was younger, but even just the fact that he’s going into this temple and the start of the movie and just straight up stealing this idol that is being guarded by the natives. He doesn’t even care!
SLIM Yeah, they’re right there!
PROTO Yeah, they’re right there and he sees the arrow. It’s not like, “hmm, maybe I shouldn’t do this.” It’s just like, “Well, hopefully I can get away with doing this.”
SLIM Yeah, I wonder, I wonder if the new movie will address — maybe he’s had like a change of heart. Or like if he’s aged to the point where he views his youth differently? Or just curious, like, how they would even make a new Indiana Jones movie, you know, at this point, like, what would the plot be?
DANNY Well, he’s not just like willy nilly marching off to find artifacts. I mean, these are jobs he’s being paid to do. So it’s not like he’s trying to — like Marcus Brody is paying him to find these artifacts to bring back to their museum. So he’s like a hired hand, he’s not like, he’s not doing this out of the goodness of his heart for, to find artifact. Like this is just a job to him. So whether he cracks it open there or cracks it open when he gets back, to get the Ark, he’s being paid by the US government to go do it. I mean, this, this isn’t just like, I mean, he’s good at it. And he, obviously he enjoys doing it. But also it’s a paying gig. So there’s all these different motives for him doing it.
PROTO There’s definitely a little bit of like, wink wink, nudge nudge between this “Oh, like, yeah, we’re doing this for, you know, for the, for the knowledge and to preserve history” but they’re like, yeah, not really, you know?
DANNY Yeah, it’s all for profit.
PROTO Yeah, it’s all garbage.
DANNY Yeah, for sure.
SLIM Danny, what else is on your list?
DANNY Well, I actually think one of the most brilliant scenes is the FBI scene, when they first talked to him that as far as like setting up this movie, you learn literally everything Indy has to do for the rest of the movie in that like five minute conversation. You know about, you learn about Ravenwood, you learn about the Nazis, the Ark, the map room, the staff, when the sun needs to touch the staff, the power of the Ark, so that all is set up so perfectly and so precise that you as a viewer are like, okay, I have the knowledge of what has to be done, let’s do this Indy. And you’re just kind of along for the ride knowing every step that he has to take and I just really enjoy that bit of the storytelling.
[clip of Raiders of the Lost Ark plays]
INDY Nazis have discovered Tanis.
US ARMY AGENT #1 Just what does that mean to you, Tanis?
BRODY Well…
INDY The City of Tanis is one of the possible resting places of the Lost Ark.
US ARMY AGENT #2 The Lost Ark?
INDY Yeah, the Ark of the Covenant, the chest the Hebrews used to carry around The Ten Commandments.
US ARMY AGENT #1 What do you mean commandments? You talking about The Ten Commandments?
INDY Yes, the actual Ten Commandments, the original stone tablets that Moses brought down out of Mount Horeb and smashed, if you believe in that sort of thing. Any of you guys ever go to Sunday School?
US ARMY AGENT #2 Well I…
INDY Oh look. The Hebrews took the broken pieces and put them in the Ark. When they settled in Canaan, they put the Ark in a place called the Temple of Solomon.
BRODY In Jerusalem.
INDY Where it stayed for many years. Until all of a sudden, whoosh, it’s gone.
[clip of Raiders of the Lost Ark ends]
SLIM It happens really fast. Even the first like, 35 minutes, I paused it. I was like, holy crap, I’m almost halfway through this movie. It’s going so fast!
DANNY Yeah, yeah, I mean that and then it goes into him kind of getting to Nepal and meeting Marion. And I, I love Karen Allen so much in this film, I think she is such a badass. And when she slugs him in the face, I just, I grin every time because it’s such a insanely good shot of her slugging him that it just feels so real. And the sound of it. I just love it. I mean, he deserves it. So it’s, it’s great. And that whole Nepal bar fight scene is just brilliant, too.
SLIM Does she appear in the, or like her character appear in the TV show?
DANNY I don’t know about young Indy, no. I can’t remember if Mar — well, the thing is, the only time Harrison appears is in one, but it does like a flash forward. So I don’t think Marion would be in anything else. Because well, they recognize like, well, if you want to talk about the age difference, she technically probably isn’t born yet when Indiana Jones is a teenager. So…
SLIM Yeah, that that was my other point. Like she references how she was just a kid and and like how he kind of like almost took advantage of her. I was like, wait a minute, how was she? How old was he?
DANNY Yeah, I mean, that’s that’s a part of the big falling out between him and Abner, which would be his, like, teacher friend, which because he’s the father of Marion. So he slept with his teenage daughter. And so that’s that whole, you know.
SLIM Classic Indy! [Slim laughs]
DANNY Mmm. Yeah, sure. Classic male trash.
SLIM Yeah, another thing that doesn’t hold up quite as well over time.
DANNY Yeah, for sure.
PROTO The Nepal scene is one of like the first examples of just the great physical comedy that is in this throughout, when they’re doing the drinks. And her opponent takes his final drink. And he has got that smile on his face. And then he just falls out of the chair backwards. [Danny laughs] It gets me every time. It’s so funny. And then there’s so many moments where just, you know, a bad guy will like give a crazy face like the one on the hood of the car. Or in the bar fight. I love the scene where the one guy has Indy over the bar. And then the Nazi guys shoots him, shoots them both. And then the guy, the both like look over at him like oh! [Proto & Danny laugh]
DANNY And that actor that’s fighting him is the same guy that played the giant that fought him around the plane. So he dies twice in this movie. I think he actually dies three times.
PROTO Oh what?!
DANNY But yeah, he’s the same actor from the big giant guy in the airplane.
SLIM Rest in peace. [Danny laughs]
DANNY Actually, I think he’s in every Indy movie now that I think about it.
SLIM Cripes. The one other note of in that shot is there’s a few scenes where the camera is just like really zoomed in on an object or a person’s face. The end of that scene in the bar where she holds up the necklace thing like right to the camera. I love that shot. That’s so cool.
DANNY So cool. And melting that Nazis hand. Just that scene is so much fun. It’s so slapstick, too, but then also it’s like, bloody and gory. I mean, when that guy catches on fire, and he shoots him in the face, the amount of blood that’s coming down his forehead is is amazing!
SLIM Yeah, Art’s referencing the plane sequence. And that is in all times seen that, like I was watching it, and I was like, oh, that’s right. This is the show. But man, this scene, you’ve seen this thing everywhere. This entire airplane scene with Marion and Indy and the guards play out. It’s just so bonkers that Spielberg and Lucas just have like so many of these moments that are, that are just done at the right moment in time in film, that they’re just like, you know, crystallized forever.
DANNY Yeah. And there’s a really cool shot in that scene, that I really, I look at it every time and it blows my mind, is when Indy finally gets on the plane and the fuel is lit on the ground and the planes turning, the cameras panning, but as the camera pans, Indy’s trying to shoot the cockpit open. It’s panning with the plane but the fire is also coming along the ground with the camera. And it almost feels like you can’t control that. Like there’s just, it just blows my mind how — like next time you watch it because we’ll watch it when the 4Ks come in, but like look for that fire in the background, how well it’s timed with the plane, with the camera positioning. It’s just, I just love Spielberg so much. I mean, there’s so much that goes into that scene. There’s so many people working on that scene to make that shot work, but I feel like the fire itself, you just, there’s no controlling like that. And it’s just kind of movie magic.
PROTO Yeah another thing I love from that scene is the audio in this is great and the physical stuff. And there’s in that scene where he punches the Nazi like three times consecutively. And the sound of the punches is so loud! [Danny laughs] And just like it’s almost like Indy is like screaming at the same, it’s just like, it’s like there’s no way that sound is real. But it’s like the most satisfying sound to hear when someone is laying into a Nazi as hard as they can. [Proto laughs]
DANNY It’s almost like you want to see it, like the old Batman movie like you want to see the words pop up. Just POW! and BAM! every time he hits.
SLIM Ismael references the Wilhelm scream from this movie. It’s so weird, I was watching this and James walked in during that scream. And he’s like, “God, why is that scream in everything?!” [Danny laughs] Even he recognized that scream from whatever YouTube videos he watches. The depth of Marion is one of the notes that I wanted to hit on. This is something I always kind of like bugs me about this movie is when she quote unquote, “dies” and explodes, like a truck explodes in front of Indy. And he thinks Marion’s dead.
[clip of Raiders of the Lost Ark plays]
INDY Marion’s dead.
SALLAH Yes, I know. I’m sorry. Life goes on Indy!
[clip of Raiders of the Lost Ark ends]
DANNY Just blows it off! [Danny laughs]
SLIM And they just move on for like the next 30 minutes as if she wasn’t just a whole part of this and part of his life! It was like they didn’t even care! It was crazy! [Danny laughs]
DANNY I love Sallah.
SLIM Poor Marion. She got a raw deal on that scene.
PROTO A scene I love, maybe the best zombie seen in any movie is when they’re, I think it’s when they get trapped in there. And then with all of those skelet — like you know, semi-skeletons with still like a lot of skin on it as Marion is like, you know, mixing in with them and they’re screaming.
DANNY Terrifying!
PROTO Yeah, that scene terrified me when I first saw that.
DANNY Eat it Zack Snyder.
SLIM I mean, there was like, where was Indy during that? She hugged like 90 zom — dead bodies before Indy appears, “oh I’m right here!” What were you doing?
DANNY She’s, like a fugue state. One dodged, she thinks it’s a thousand.
SLIM What else Danny, for this viewing of Raiders?
DANNY Oh, man. We skipped over it, real quick, but the iconic Indy shooting the swordsman scene. I feel like that is just, well, I mean, it was almost, it was improvised a little bit, because you can — there’s a whole deleted scene of him fighting the swordsman, but apparently that day, filming, a ton of the staff or crew got food poisoning and Harrison was one of them. And so he was just basically like, how about I just shoot him? And they’re like, okay, let’s do it because no one wanted to be there because they’re all you know, food poisoning up. But that scene is just so much fun. I feel like I see it whenever they do like some sort of montage of action scenes is Indy shooting the swordsman.
SLIM The other note that I had, well l I know we’re going through the movie, running out of tape, but the truck scene.
DANNY Oh my gosh.
SLIM That scene is long, man. That is an intense scene.
DANNY The stuntman in that scene have gotten hurt.
SLIM I love the shot, that like trick shot of the truck running over that one guy who is obviously not under it. [Slim & Danny laugh] He just like kicks up his arms and legs.
DANNY Oh man, I love that shot.
SLIM That’s like a home movie stunt, that like, you do as a kid.
DANNY But that whole sequence is brilliant. And John Williams’ score through that whole segment, just the hairs on my arm stand up every time watching it. It’s so much fun.
SLIM How ‘bout his bazooka plan that backfires in his face? What were you thinking Indy? He gets on top of the mountain and reveals his location and then just like “oh this isn’t gonna work” and gets after it again. C’mon Indy! [Danny laughs]
DANNY Flying by the seat of his pants.
PROTO Always has his number though.
SLIM He does.
PROTO Every encounter they have with with each other, Belloq always gets the upper hand, he know Indy’s number at every every turn. It’s kinda great!
DANNY Did you catch when Belloq is talking to Indy, yelling, the fly that goes in his mouth.
SLIM No! [Slim laughs]
DANNY So there’s a shot of, he’s talking and there’s a fly that goes in his mouth and when the actor was asked about it, he said it flies away but apparently Spielberg loved the shot a lot that he cut out a couple of the frames that the fly was actually flying away so it looks like he eats the fly while he’s talking.
SLIM Seantana just posted a screenshot of it.
DANNY Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, apparently Spielberg loved the shot enough that he cut out a couple frames so you can’t see the fly fly away. [Danny laughs]
PROTO That’s awesome.
SLIM Isn’t Belloq the Elvish word for friend? Proto, can you confirm that?
PROTO I can confirm. [Danny laughs] Without any knowledge.
SLIM Instant Elvish confirmation. You can only get that on this podcast. Proto, anything else on your list for Raiders Lost Ark?
DANNY Anything else?! I got like pages! Let’s keep going!
SLIM We got time. We got time.
PROTO Yeah, I got a few more things. One thing is you’re talking about other movies you could do in this universe.
DANNY Oh god.
PROTO You know a character I love? Is the boat captain, Katanga, when he takes them on the boat. What if Childish Gambino, can we get a Katanga —
DANNY Donald Glover as a young — oh my gosh! Okay!
PROTO What kind of adventures that he get messed up in, you know?
DANNY Pirate Donald Glover in the Indy universe. I’m all for that.
PROTO Mhmm!
SLIM Coming to Disney+ 2023. [Danny laughs]
PROTO My favorite scene though on that, the boat and it’s just another comedy moment is when you know Indy’s real beat up and then Marion goes the flip the mirror and it hits him in the chin. [Danny & Slim laugh] And then there’s the shot outside of the boat and you just let out this whale. [clip of Indy screaming plays] That is so ridiculous. It’s like, it’s like a death scream. And then it cuts back to Marion and she says “Did you say something?” [Proto laughs]
DANNY Yeah, it was funny because we were watching it tonight. I was watching with Casey, she hadn’t seen in forever and she cackled at that scene and I laughed at her laughing at it because it caught me off guard that she would find that actually really funny.
SLIM Alright, Danny let’s go through your pages.
DANNY Pages and pages. I love, okay, I’ll go quick. The map room sequence. I looove him with the the staff and lining up the shot of that and again, John Williams’ score in that scene. It’s so brilliant and so good. When it gets into the Well of Souls with the snakes, I looove the snake sequence because —
SLIM Those shots are crazy.
DANNY It’s absolutely insane. I watched the Making Of and there’s a moment in the Making Of where Spielberg is in the middle of it all. And he’s just like there’s not enough snakes and so they went around animal pet shops all around town and bought up every snake they could find to throw in there. And it’s only like not obviously the pythons but the the two cobras are actually real and when Indy falls in there there’s like a there’s like a plexiglass in between him and older versions of the movie, you can see the reflection of the cobra in the glass if you’ve watched for it and then you can’t unsee it but they’ve since moved removed it with the blu-rays but the snakes scene is, it gives me, it creeps me out every time because I hate snakes so much.
SLIM Also his reaction too. I think like right after he looks down, he just kind of like lays down, like he’s so like shocked and pissed and anxious that it’s all snakes. [Slim laughs]
DANNY Yeah, we went over the plane scene. Desert truck chase. The submarine scene, I love when he climbs on it. But again, there’s a there’s a whole deleted sequence of him, because he never gets on the submarine. He rides the top of it the entire time. So it’s a deleted scene where he’s going across the water just holding on to the periscope and falling asleep because it’s taking forever. [Slim laughs] You only see him real quick hanging on to the top still when they come up on the island, but there’s a whole deleted scene where he’s just holding on to the periscope!
SLIM How many scenes do they have of Indy sleeping of the cutting room floor for this movie? [Danny laughs]
DANNY Snooze Jones.
SLIM I was gonna say, what are the chances that that submarine doesn’t go underwater? He got pretty lucky there, right?
DANNY Exactly! It’s pretty funny. I love them packing up. I mean the final shot with opening the Ark is, is amazing and disgusting and terrifying. And the fact that you can survive it by closing your eyes feels like the most Indiana Jones thing. [Slim laughs] We’ll get to it eventually but it’s just like climbing into a refrigerator to survive a nuclear blast. I mean just close your eyes and the wrath of God won’t kill you. So it’s so cool.
SLIM There was a comment in chat earlier, I think, I can’t remember if it was Soph or Wes that thought the Nazi subplot was a little bit boring, but I never felt that way. I always appreciated that his enemies primarily were the Nazis in like a lot of these stories and I just feel like that’s just part of the timeframe and these kind of adventuring stories, it just felt like a good fit.
PROTO It fits great! Because you know they say this takes place in 1936, so this is actually you know, just before the you know World War Two would kick off so seeing Nazis on different parts of the world you know doing things but not like there’s no war going on yet. It makes a ton of sense you have like the biggest villain in, you know, in modern history but they’re able to just you know, circle the globe you know, freely do whatever they want and no one really cares because you know, their reign of you know, terror hasn’t hasn’t really started yet so I just I love that aspect of it. It’s like right now the Nazis you know, Indiana knows they’re no good but the world is you know, is still lukewarm on them.
SLIM And they come back around for the third one. In a big way! My god, I just thought about a scene I haven’t thought about in 10 years. Just thinking about that movie. Let’s see, did we hit all your list, Proto, what else you got?
PROTO Another hilarious thing is at the end, when they open the Ark, the fact that there’s that shot, where the lid is maybe 300 feet up in the air. [Danny laughs] And then it comes all the way back down and lands right on top of the Ark again and closes. It’s just ridiculous.
SLIM I mean that is the most ridiculous thing that comes out of Ark? The spirits coming out of the Ark wasn’t the most ridiculous part about it? [Danny laughs]
PROTO Hey, I don’t know what’s going on in the spiritual world. [Slim laughs] Who knows! But I know physics man.
SLIM Flying spirit, zombies spirits coming out of the Ark, but the thing falling back on its top, I don’t buy! [Danny aughs] Also what are the chances that like the Ark of the Covenant, even in like a biblical sense, would be inhabited by like, almost sort of evil spirits where the spirits that would enact revenge on people, even if they are Nazis. That like seems also fantastical to me.
PROTO I always look at that as like angels guarding the Ark coming out and just slaying, you know, anyone in front of it.
SLIM But they look like evil. Like remember one is like looking at a Nazi and then —
DANNY Have you seen an angel before?
SLIM Have I ever seen what? An angel before? Don’t worry about it. Save it for the next AMA.
PROTO Angels are bad dudes, man.
DANNY Bad business. [Slim laughs]
SLIM Danny, any other notes before we get to our ratings for Raiders?
DANNY I did want to talk about being real quick. Douglas Slocum, the cinematographer for this film is absolutely incredible. And there’s a blog post on Steven Soderbergh or Soderbergh’s kind of website where he took because of how high contrast Douglas kind of shoots his films he took Raiders and made it a black and white movie and it’s still up on his, you can find it on his blog posts and you can watch a bit of Raiders in black and white and it’s actually incredible. Like if there was a 4K black and white release of Raiders, I would probably cry.
SLIM Paramount+, wake up.
DANNY It’s beautiful, yeah.
SLIM It probably, what, does it not have audio on it for him to be able to upload it?
DANNY It doesn’t have audio, it’s like weird music playing through it.
SLIM My final thoughts, I think I hit everything. Also the spider scene, I would be so out at the start of this movie with those spiders. Get me out of there.
DANNY Really?
SLIM Game over. No way. Spiders and snakes are like, I’m right with Indy. Well, actually, no, he doesn’t mind the spiders that much.
DANNY No. So you’re not.
SLIM Spiders and snakes, I’d be out of that. I think this is, I grew up on these movies, this adventuring style of filmmaking I love. The biblical allegories and like literal searching for the Ark of the Covenant is so exciting and fun to me. So I’m still at five stars for this movie. I do think like some parts don’t age as well. But the love that I have for this series and this movie. I mean, the iconic scenes in this movie. They’re just still so good. And they really struck gold with this with this movie, this franchise and the casting. So I’m still at five. Proto, what about you?
PROTO You know, we mentioned the history lesson scene at the beginning. I love that scene. That scene hits me the same way. With the other movie Contact that we watched recently, where they’re just discovering the message. The history lesson is so good. Like Danny said, it just sets up the whole movie. In terms of like a structure, this was awesome. under two hours, but talk about packing, packing it in. There isn’t like a wasted scene. And for an action movie, the rhythm of this movie, like the ebb and flow is just dynamite. Where, you know, there’s an action scene and then it you know, it goes down into, you know, some some dialogue, character development. And then with like, every set, there’s another action scene that just fits perfectly. And it’s just like this constant, up and down motion that you want to have in an action movie, because we’ve all seen The Hobbit too, you know, where if you have two and a half hours of action, you can get bored. So this movie just hits it perfectly. And honestly, like Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones to me defines like the action adventure genre. I can’t imagine a world without Indiana Jones.
DANNY Oh my.
PROTO Okay?
DANNY Speak to it.
PROTO Like this character, like when you think of, you know, like swashbuckling adventure, looking for artifacts. It’s Indiana Jones! It’s almost like how was this person made? It’s, he’s just timeless. He should have always existed. So yeah, it’s five stars for me for me. This movie is just bananas good. It’s perfect.
SLIM Ohhhh.
DANNY Holy cow.
SLIM Wooowwww.
DANNY I mean, I wasn’t expecting. I mean, I didn’t know what to expect, Proto. But I’m happy we’re here. Because you know I’m a five star for this film. I love Raiders so much. I love the pacing of this film. I love everything about it. I’ve watched it so many times. And I’m glad we got to do it for the show. I mean, bless you guys. 15 stars. We did it.
SLIM 15 banger.
DANNY When was the last time we did that?
SLIM When was the last time we have a 15 star movie?
DANNY Spider-Verse maybe?
PROTO Spider-Verse?
DANNY I mean, we did it. But yeah, Raiders is a special, special film. I don’t think I’ve actually seen it on the big screen. Have you guys?
SLIM No.
DANNY Besides the fourth one? Gosh! Are we? Can we rent out something?
SLIM We could have rented out a theater during the pandemic and brought a blu-ray Indiana Jones.
DANNY Better than what Paramount’s showing, I can tell you that!
SLIM Paramount, I need you to listen to this episode and wake up. Seantana asked a question earlier. “What movie are we looking forward to the most out of the rest of the films?” I…
DANNY Say it. Say it. [Slim laughs]
SLIM I’m actually really interested to rewatch the fourth one.
DANNY Yeah baby.
SLIM I had, you know, pretty favorable thoughts the last time I watched it. But the Last Crusade is unreal. You know, we’re gonna have a, we have a special treat for mainly for us, we have a special guest on the episode. [Danny laughs] A historian, I’m not going to announce who it is just yet. One of the probably the biggest Indiana Jones fan I’ve ever met in my life and I’m excited to have them on that episode.
DANNY Very excited.
SLIM What about you guys? What movie are you looking forward to?
DANNY I mean, all of them, but I am actually looking forward to the Temple conversation. Because I feel like outside of, I mean, if we look at as a trilogy, which a lot of people do, Temple is usually the least liked out of the three. So I’m excited to talk about that with you guys. The fourth conversation’s gonna be a blast too. I mean, we’re just gonna be all over the place for Last Crusade. So that’s just, we know how that’s gonna pan out.
SLIM I think at podcast godfather himself, Matthew, has mentioned that he views it as a trilogy as well. He might be listening right now in chat. Maybe he can confirm his thoughts. Proto, what about you?
PROTO Yeah, I’ve recently rewatched the original three in the past two years. And I haven’t seen the fourth one. I’ve only seen it once. And I saw it when it came out. So I’m actually excited to rewatch the fourth because I don’t really know how I feel. I remember liking it, I think? I don’t remember having strong feelings about it either way, so I’m excited to watch it again.
DANNY Yes, awesome.
SLIM Also, Marcie pointed out that the soundtrack to The Social Network was playing during the black and white Indiana Jones representation, I think.
DANNY Oh, Soderbergh put the soundtrack. Oh, that makes sense.
SLIM Soder-burger.
DANNY Soder-burger did it.
SLIM We need to mArket around Soder-burger. Get that up. [Slim laughs] Danny’s head. No one can see it but when we say something that seems like a good idea one of our heads like kind of cocks forward but our eyes still look straight on. Hard to describe, but it’s very funny. So let’s see, Matthew confirmed “Last Crusade for life.” I’m excited for that episode. Very, very excited. I’m gonna call out dear friend of the show and co-host of the Film Hags podcast review for this movie, Soph. “Grateful for this rewatch because it made me realize that my greatest fantasy is a hybrid Harrison Ford who has Indiana Jones is drip and Han Solo’s personality.”
PROTO Does anyone have the actual definition of a drip? Is it a noun?
SLIM Look inward.
DANNY I’m not searching.
SLIM Inward. [Slim laughs] Tim! “Can three white men explain drip?” [Slim laughs] We’re trying to stay in our lane here! Okay Tim?! Geez. [Proto laughs] Alright, if you want to shoot us a letter or voicemail you can do so at 70mmpod.com, we have links. And we have, we had a long one. I just want everyone to get comfy. We got maybe two long ones. So let me go through our oldest one here, this comes from Dave. “Hey guys, Dave from AIC Stories. I know I should have just attempted to leave my first voicemail but baby steps, right? Anyways, first time, long time and all that and I just wanted to say first you guys are truly one of the all time best movie podcasts out there. And I always look forward to my Monday morning drive to work so I can get that new episode in my ears. Just a quick word on Aliens. Has there ever been a more polar opposite in terms of first film and sequel? Yet both works amazingly well and hold up as a great film experience. The more quiet, contemplative feeling of being alone with a monster slow burn suspense of the first film contrasts so drastically from the all out sci-fi monster action of the second. But here, they are both so good. Excited to hear what you guys have to say about this rewatch. Also, a quick question for Danny if I could. I’m totally in love with the art you create each week and for your non podcast work.” I don’t know what he’s referencing there. Do you do other art besides your podcast art?
DANNY I don’t think so.
SLIM “And just one question that I hope won’t annoy you. I was wondering if you could touch briefly on what you use for your digital artwork creation in terms of if you use a specific type of graphics tablet like Wacom with a screen or do you do an iPad setup something like Procreate. I’m a photographer, also dabbling in a tiny bit of drawing but has struggled to make a graphic tablet work to learn in advance further digitally. So would love your insights. Sorry from long email, you guys are the best.” This is Dave from the AIC poc.
DANNY Thanks Dave. I am an Adobe boy. I use Photoshop and Illustrator for my work and I work on a Wacom, I have the big 20 something monitor, I think, touchscreen monitor that I draw on. So that’s what I use for all the things. I usually only do the drawing and hand drawn stuff in Photoshop, Illustrator I’m a point and click mouse guy still. That’s it. I don’t use an iPad and yeah, that’s about, that’s really it. I mean, I used to draw on paper and scan it in Photoshop but now I have the Wacom. That’s it. Simple. Keep it simple stupid is what I’ve always told myself.
SLIM Do you ever goof around with tablet stuff like an iPad or anything like that?
DANNY No, I don’t have one.
SLIM Next question. [Slim & Danny & Proto laugh] Boom has posted the explanation, the definition of drip, but I’m not going to answer. I feel like everyone knows how to use Google. Okay?
PROTO Well, if I can just say to you know, Sophie was saying, you know that Harrison looked pretty good in this. Just wait for Temple of Doom. If you want to talk about a man’s drippings… [Slim laughs]
DANNY That drip. You know the scene.
SLIM Oh, mamma mia. I kind of forgot that, I didn’t, when I was growing up. I didn’t know that was a prequel, Temple of Doom.
DANNY A lot of people didn’t, it’s okay. You’re not alone.
SLIM I mean, it’s, what year? The 80s? You’re doing prequels? Come on guys. Slow it down. Next email. [Slim & Danny & Proto laugh] Alright, this is this is an email from Curtis it is a bit lengthy. But I think the content is good, and it’s about Indiana Jones. So we’re going to get through this together. “Hi guys, love the show and I’m really looking forward to Indiana Junes. At the top of each episode of your view your first and subsequent contact with the movies at hand. I have a very unique relationship with Raiders, I wanted to share my journey and I hope that you find it worth sharing with your listeners. My first viewing was the month I graduated from high school.” Is this Haitch? [Proto laughs] “June 1981, I’m a bit older than you guys. It was a special preview on a Friday, two weeks before the first scheduled release date. I’d seen a preview of the film at a science fiction convention in Washington a month before and it looked cool. When I saw an ad for the preview I told my friend Greg that we had to drop everything and check this out before anyone else.” Just pausing for a minute. Can you imagine —
DANNY I can’t. I was just trying to think about it. Oh my gosh.
SLIM Like weeks before the movies even comes out. There’s no internet. I mean, you’re on an island unto your own right there.
DANNY Just seeing that like black and white clipping in a paper times just pop up for this Indiana Jones film. Just says ‘Raiders’?!
SLIM “The problem — “ Let me get back to the letter here. “The problem was this. A VHF station in Baltimore broadcasts Doctor Who every afternoon with quite a bit of manipulation of our TVs rabbit ears antenna, one could on a clear and lucky day pull in a snowy image of the show. That Friday was the final part of the four parter Terror of the Zygons which was a pretty good run. Greg and I were super Who fans and we had to weigh our options of whether it was worth going to see this new movie and miss the end of the Zygons episodes.” Proto, were you were Doctor Who fan grown up?
PROTO No. Never seen an episode.
DANNY Wow.
PROTO I apologize.
SLIM Chats about to light up right now. I’m not —
DANNY You don’t have to apologize. You’re in a safe space with the three of us. [Slim laughs]
SLIM Back to Curtis. “It took a lot of convincing to talk Greg into going to see Raiders and he complained bitterly about missing Doctor Who the whole way to the theater. He was not as put out after the movie. One very intense memory of that showing was Ben Byrd’s amazing sound effects of gunshots, especially in the Nepal saloon shootout scene. It was 1980s 70mm Dolby at its absolute best. I assumed for decades, Washington fear VHS tape, and in second rate repertory theaters that I would never hear those gunshots the same intensity as the first projection measure my joy getting the DVD a few years ago and watching it on a reasonably good 21st century TV and having those pop ups having their shots pop up with the same intensity as they did in that night in 1981. Fast forward to 1980s I was living in a house with two roommates we had a membership to the remArkable Video Vault in Virginia. And just one car between three of us and often very little money or initiative. We had a VHS player attached to a computer monitor so we couldn’t even watch over the air TV without a quite a bit of effort.” Now it’s starting to sound like hell back then. [Danny & Proto laugh] I don’t know if I want to go back anymore. “We also owned only two VHS tapes, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jonathan Demi’s remarkable Spalding Gray documentary Swimming to Cambodia. So on those frequent nights when we found ourselves too broke or lazy to make a trip to the vault we would watch one or the other. We probably watched each of them at least once a week.” Alright, now I’m gonna go back. [Danny laughs] Can you imagine watching Raiders of the Lost Ark once a week every week with your friends?!
DANNY The dream.
SLIM Holy cow! Sheesh. That sounds like a podcast idea. Watching Temple of Doom every week. [Slim laughs] And then talking about it. Alright. “Every time we popped Raiders in I was thinking ‘Oh, not this again.’ And every single time it was the very best film ever made. And you’re always seem to fly by like a fun roller coaster ride. Both films quickly — “
PROTO Should we take an intermission? [Danny & Slim laugh]
DANNY Like the old days.
SLIM I’m almost, there’s only a paragraph or two left. “Like every salacious father on a long vacation drive. I would do anything to keep the kids entertained including putting a DVD in the minivans player and listening only to the film that my kids were watching on the screen in the backseat. Once we put Raiders on as Harrison Ford dodged the giant boulder in the opening scene, then found himself talking about the idle to Belloq. I was able to recite the dialogue along with the movie. At first the kids thought it was kind of funny, but as I continued with Indy and the gang, they were struck absolutely dumb with amazement. 10 years later, they still talk about that drive. Of course, I still enjoy the movie and every other Indiana Jones movie. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.” That comes from Curtis. What a story.
DANNY Wow Curtis!
PROTO Yeah, what a great story. That’s awesome.
SLIM I wasn’t, I’m getting some props to my pronunciation. I just want to call it out. Thank you Ian. My king.
DANNY Call it out.
SLIM Seantana posting memes. Listen, Seantana, do you want me to play your Matthew McConaughey voicemail again? Is that what you want for everybody?
DANNY I don’t think he wants that. Nobody wants that.
SLIM Your George W. Bush VM? I don’t think so. Alright, final letter of the week comes from Marcie. “Thank you for dedicating entire month Indiana Jones. This franchise means so much to me. The iconic movie score is also where I first fell in love movie scores, and started to really notice them while watching movies. I have been wanting to ask this question for a long time and this feels like the perfect opportunity. Slim, Danny, Proto, what are some of your favorite movie scores? And who are some of your favorite film composers? I’m really excited to hear your answers.”
DANNY Holy cow.
SLIM Danny’s answer is John Williams, first of all. [Danny laughs]
DANNY I mean…
SLIM Proto, do you have any that come to mind?
PROTO Um, I’m trying to think. I know there’s some that I love. I’m just, I’m terrible with knowing names and like remembering the ones that I love. I’d have to think about it.
SLIM Mhm. I can’t think of anything off the top of my head outside of, there’s this one movie that I really like, with Michael Keaton in it. And Nicole Kidman. It was one of my West Coast video movies that I would watch all the time, it’s called My Life. It’s like when he gets cancer.
DANNY Excuse me?
SLIM As she was pregnant with — [Slim laughs] Danny’s face of utter disgust when I mentioned this movie. So anyway, it’s one of those like, emotional movies. And I have no idea who did the score for that movie, but it’s one of my favorite scores. I think I had the CD of that movie growing up.
DANNY You had the CD of that movie?
SLIM I had the CD — this is probably the lamest thing I’ve ever said. I had the CD of Michael Keaton’s My Life soundtrack.
PROTO Okay!
SLIM Check it out. You’re welcome Marcie. Alan Silvestri is probably another Danny fav, Ian says.
DANNY Silvestri for sure with Contact, right? And then Howard Shore for the Lord of the Rings movies. James Horner for My Rocketeer.
PROTO Yeah, Lord of the Rings. I mean stuff that’s recent, I mean, the Arrival soundtrack.
SLIM Ohhhhh.
PROTO Love that.
DANNY Who did that?
SLIM Nobody knows.
DANNY Nobody knows.
PROTO I don’t know. [Slim laugh]
SLIM Oh, yeah, wasn’t that Jóhann Jóhannsson? I was gonna reveal this during our Lord of the Rings month, which is taking place in December. I have a like CD of the Two Towers.
DANNY The like fold out CDs?
PROTO You have compact discs?
SLIM I had compact discs of that soundtrack. I also had the Gladiator soundtrack. Oh my God, what a score that is. That’s Hans. That’s OG Hans Zimmer.
DANNY That’s not Hans. [Danny laughs]
SLIM That’s OG whoever composed the Gladiator soundtrack. Wasn’t that? That’s Hans Zimmer! I know that, that’s gotta be Hans Zimmer! [Danny laughs] Thank you. I just, I just confirmed my statement.
DANNY Nobody likes Gladiator. They just pretend to like it.
SLIM I’m going to loop in some of the Gladiator soundtrack right here. And everyone’s gonna be like —
DANNY I’m not listening to this part.
SLIM God damn, I need to watch Gladiator right now.
PROTO Ridley Scott. Joaquin Phoenix. Are you kidding me?
[music from the Gladiator sound ramps up]
DANNY Remember when he snotted all over her feet? Her crisp feet? [Slim laughs] So disgusting.
SLIM Yeah that scene deserved a retake.
DANNY Can we not snot on your wife’s dead feet please?
SLIM I need you to go to YouTube right now. Search Honor Him from the Gladiator soundtrack.
DANNY Those were some crispy toes that he got snot on.
SLIM And tell me you are not in love with that soundtrack!
PROTO Quentin Tarantino got banned from a movie theater for that scene. [Danny laughs]
DANNY IYK.
SLIM Alright, we do have we do have one voicemail to get to.
DANNY Oh, okay.
SLIM It’s a short one, 14 seconds.
[voicemail plays]
VOICEMAIL Hey 70mm, I just wanted to say that you guys are so great. So precious. And I love you guys so much. So much so that IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM! Bye.
[voicemail ends]
DANNY Excuse me.
SLIM That impression wasn’t bad.
DANNY Was that Sean again?! [Slim laughs]
SLIM Sean’s VMs are in a museum right now. [Danny laughs] That sounded like Ismael if I could put a name to that voice. But we’ll see. Next week is… we know what’s happening next week. We don’t have some kind of big announcement.
DANNY The big one.
SLIM Temple of Doom. That’s it. Next week. I don’t know if my my 4K set is going to be arriving in time so we’re still with Paramount+, hopefully that movies a little more modern and we’re going to be doing it. Any thoughts, Proto, for Temple of Doom?
PROTO Any thoughts for Temple of Doom?
SLIM Yeah, in advance of the rewatch.
PROTO Oh man, I, you know, I would just encourage everyone to go in with an open mind please? [Slim laughs] Just go in with an open mind, alright?
SLIM I do want to point out too, so many people in our Discord have watched all the movies pretty much already.
DANNY Yeah, they’re burning through them fast.
PROTO I don’t know is happening.
DANNY Slooow down.
SLIM With the exception of the last one, with the exception the last one.
DANNY Slow it down.
SLIM We got a whole, we got a month of this! You’re gonna forget what you thought about these movies.
DANNY Everybody’s out here for a hot take on Letterboxd!
SLIM Jonesy has a take right now. “Announcement prediction. Proto will rate Last Crusade two stars, Temple one star.”
DANNY Jonesy.
PROTO Jonesy, I told you that in confidence. [Danny laughs]
SLIM So last thoughts on Raiders, it’s a four and a half star average rating on VGER.
DANNY That’s amazing.
SLIM The supercomputer who loves movies that Proto built from scratch. Just want to call that out. We’ll see if that keeps up. We’ll see.
DANNY Amazing.
SLIM Proto, can you give us some closing thoughts to wrap up this episode before we go watch Temple of Doom?
PROTO Like I said, Indiana Jones is a national treasure. We should all be thanking Steven Spielberg and George Lucas every day of our lives every time we put a movie on that this character that this world exists. Don’t take it for granted. Could easily be living in a different world. So if you’re looking for something to be thankful for, be thankful for Indiana Jones.
SLIM Mikey P in chat before we leave: “Kasdan gets no thanks.”
DANNY Just a screenwriter. [Slim laughs]
SLIM We’ll see everybody next week for Temple of Doom.
[70mm theme song ramps up, plays alone, fades out]
SLIM 70mm is a TAPEDECK production featuring original artwork provided by Danny Haas. Spiritual guidance and VGER, the robot who loves movies created by Protolexus. Producer emeritus Dale_a. Prints and other merch are available on 70mmpod.com. This episode was mixed, edited and produced by me, Slim. You can support our Patreon for access to the VHS Village Discord to talk movies with new friends, access to exclusive episodes, discounts on merch, and a physical membership card mailed to you. To check out other TAPEDECK podcasts, find the link in the episode notes. And if you’d like to support our friends at Letterboxd and upgrade to Pro or Patron status, you can do so with a 20% off discount using the links at 70mmpod.com. Goodbye!
[tape player sound] This is a TAPEDECK podcast.
DANNY You didn’t watch it for Christmas every year?
SLIM Stop this. We don’t need to talk about that. Okay?
PROTO Right after Thanksgiving dinner. [Slim laughs]
DANNY Just checking on your Christmas movie watching list.
SLIM Anytime someone brings up Christmas and Die Hard, they lean over their chair waiting for you to be like “Wait a minute! A Christmas movie?! Not falling for those games.”
PROTO Yeah, yeah, that’s right. It’s a Christmas movie.
