George Lucas conceived the basic premise of the film and created the character of Indiana Smith. (Later changed to Jones.) Lawrence Kasdan fleshed out the broader strokes of the big picture conveyed by Lucas to create the story told in his screenplay. The world will never know the impact upon the film made by the vagaries of fate that forced the makers to cast Harrison Ford when original choice Tom Selleck was unable to take the role due to contractual obligations elsewhere. Despite this collaborative process, essential element is undeniable and continues to be proven so with each passing year and each new attempt to replicate the magic of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Lest anyone doubt the full extent of Steven Spielberg’s influence as director, one need only take a look at the just the most commercially successful film that would not exist in their current form—or perhaps at all—had the introduction to Indiana Jones not been the film it is.
Romancing the Stone. King Solomon’s Mines. Tomb Raider. Brenden Fraser’s The Mummy series. National Treasure. The Librarian series of made-for-TV movies. The short-lived TV series Tales of the Gold Monkey. And, last and perhaps least, the ironic case of High Road to China which starred none other than unluckiest actor of the 1980’s: Tom Selleck.
Keep in mind that those are the best of the many attempts to replicate (a much nicer way of putting it than “rip off”) some or most of the aspects which made Raiders of the Lost Ark one of the iconic touchstones of 1980’s cinema. These movies and TV shows feature the requisite Indiana Jones-esque hard-edged, roguish, independent yet lovable hero (even Lara Croft fits this part). They put their heroes on episodic adventures only loosely concerned with character development, realism and plot logic. They exist for the purpose of sheer entertainment. And yet, in comparison to their source of inspiration, they fail magnificently.
So what’s the deal? When one looks objectively Raiders of the Lost Ark does not really tell a story that merits the unequaled excellence in comparison. It’s a good enough story, but hampered by some really quite amazing lapses: how does Indy survive that ride on a submarine, how can the hero of the movie not even look on much less participate in the climax and can it really be true that even if he never took part the story would have ended in the same way?
Romancing the Stone tried to engineer a gender reversal to improve upon the original by having the story really be about the transformation of a woman with low self-esteem into a confident and assured heroine capable of facing her fears. Good for them, but does anyone even remember the name of the Indiana Jones figure played by Michael Douglas? Probably not since he is usually referred to as the Indiana Jones figured by played Michael Douglas. And if further proof is needed that Spielberg’s influence did not translate into Spielberg-esque results, ask the next person you see if they know the title of the sequel to Romancing the Stone. And it’s not a trick question: there really was a sequel.
By the time the makers of The Mummy series starring Brendan Fraser were ready to try their hand on recreating the magic of Raiders, they had something Spielberg didn’t: advanced CGI effects. And did they ever use that technology. The Mummy series are almost wall-to-wall displays of special effects capable of creating scenes that dwarf even the largest set pieces of Raiders of the Lost Ark in every sense imaginable. Except one: excitement. For all its investment in special effects the films are nowhere near as engaging as Raiders even as they tell a story that is, arguably, far more complex. So even with more going on visually and a more sophisticated story, few would place of the entries in The Mummy series at the same level of achievement as Raiders of the Lost Ark.
If there is one almost inescapable truth about things—and, of course, all things arguable—the best “rip-offs” of Raiders of the Lost Ark made so far are, well, its own sequels. All directed by Steven Spielberg. If even just the fact that this assertion should rightly be part of the discourse isn’t enough to confirm that Spielberg’s influence on the film is overwhelmingly the single most important and essential, then perhaps nothing will. Except, maybe for one thing: ask a skeptic whether they would rather sit through all three Indiana Jones sequels or any three of the films mentioned above as being highly influenced by it.
