from directors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg is a franchise for nature lovers. The first three films about the adventures of an archaeologist have become ageless classics. The filming locations are menacingly stuck in the memory of fans, whose number is still growing. Therefore, I consider it my duty to sort out three points in order, which are incredibly interesting to me at this moment: • Where Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark was filmed • Where was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom filmed • Where was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade filmed
Where was Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark filmed?
Embodied on the screen, the adventures of the leading archaeologists begin somewhere in the South African jungle. Already at the beginning of the film, one of the iconic scenes appears in front of us, forever settled in many viewers' memory. Indiana Jones runs away from a huge rolling stone ball. It is noteworthy that this scene was invented while the film's screenwriter George Lucas was resting after filming "Star Wars." A little later, this scene was filmed near the place where it originated – in Hawaii.
By the time the film's main action was being filmed, the director and the entire crew had moved to San Francisco – the film's urban scenes were filmed here. Starring: the municipality of San Francisco, the Pacific Municipality, and some residential buildings in San Rafael, which is located near San Francisco.
A fairly large period of the film takes place in Egypt, and the film crew planned to go to the pharaohs' land. Then, there were many difficulties like the country's criminal situation at this point on the map. So, since the film did not require plans with sphinxes, pyramids, and ruins of ancient Egyptian cities, the team went to Tunisia.
Let me remind you that it happened a little time after the shooting of "Star Wars" by George Lucas. A decent part of the natural setting for "Star Wars" is the Sahara Desert in Tunisia. So, some of the places where was Indiana Jones filmed in search of the Lost Ark repeat the last masterpiece of George Lucas. The famous scene in which the Nazis carry the ark to the shrine through the desert and Indiana takes aim at them-takes in the same places where R2D2 was recently captured on the planet Tatooine.
Residents have probably already decided that such events will take place here all the time, and it's time to get used to white people with bulky equipment.
As we remember, the Egyptian scenes of "The Ark" were in the middle of the Sahara's endless sands and the city blocks of Cairo. This role in the film was played by Kairouan – the city that the Muslims of Tunisia consider the holiest.
Shooting in Tunisia was a very serious challenge for the entire crew. Firstly, this is a consequence of the high temperature during filming, so unusual for the shooting process participants, and secondly-because of unsanitary conditions. Almost the entire film crew became very ill. Of its main backbone, only Lucas and Spielberg remained healthy.
However, there is a silver lining, and it is because of this, the most famous scene of the film was born on the streets of Kairouan – when Indiana Jones shoots an Arab who pretentiously brandishes a sword. It was supposed to be a long sword versus whip duel, and many takes were shot for this. It was an ordeal for Harrison Ford, who was exhausted by his illness and the grueling shooting in the heat, and it didn't work out. Then he went up to Spielberg and asked him, "Why don't I just shoot the asshole?"
However, not all of the film's memorable scenes were shot against the backdrop of natural attractions. So, the most crucial scene of the film-the opening of the Ark-was filmed in a British studio. It also has its highlight: among the shrine's hieroglyphs, you can see C3PO and R2D2 interacting with the Egyptian priests.
"Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" has become an ageless classic and remains one of the best films in its genre so far. Only two of its sequels can compare with it.
Where was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom filmed?
When Lucas and Spielberg discussed shooting the first part of the franchise, Lucas immediately said that if they take on this movie, they will have to shoot three best films at once because there is already a consistent and complete plot for them. There was no idea of a sequel at the time, but the movie becomes very popular, it was immediately decided to continue the story.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom are the second films of the immortal epic, a prequel. The film turned out to be much more dark and bloody than its humorous predecessor, but despite this, it still received the well-deserved love of fans. Besides, the film used breakthrough technologies in the field of visualization for its time.
In general, the film's main idea is not included in the first part of the scene. Many of the scenes we saw in "Temple of Doom" were born during the creation of "Ark" but did not enter the already crowded action film. It turned out that Lucas and Spielberg took all these ideas and, based on them, built the second part's plot about the adventures of a fearless archaeologist.
Just as in the last part about Indiana Jones's adventures, Tunisia played Egypt in the "Temple of Doom," Sri Lanka was in India's role. At first, the shooting was really planned in India. Still, the local mentality played a role – sensitive to foreigners' criticism; the Indians demanded to change the script to allow shooting in the temple. As a result, the real Indian temple was filmed only in close-up, and everything else – the expanses of Sri Lanka, or more precisely, Kandy's city.
A small village near the city perfectly fits into the film about the cult of Kali. Besides, residents were involved in the filming – they well emphasized the difference between themselves and the American actors. The only problem was that they didn't understand a word of English, and they didn't know what they were talking about. It took more than one take to get them to pronounce correctly.
In general, the film crew was very lucky that they found a village in Kandy's vicinity. Not far from the place where was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom filmed, the British were building a dam. They were happy to help Steven Spielberg and connected the two cliffs across the river with a suspension bridge. It was only thanks to them that the famous scene of the bridge being cut in half appeared. For obvious reasons, this bridge is already, unfortunately, not visited.
All the other notable scenes of the film – both the temple and the car chase, which was planned to be included in the "Ark" - were filmed not in existing religious institutions but specially prepared sets. So, the "Temple of Destiny" has become more pavilion-like than its predecessor.
The fact that the shooting was done without picturesque natural beauty does not detract from the value of the picture for the adventure genre. Moreover, the third-party followed, where the filmmakers in terms of locations turned to the fullest.
Where was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade filmed?
Although the second film is recognized as a classic of world cinema, reviews about it were quite mixed. The negativity was mostly due to the gloomy atmosphere. Therefore, it was decided to make the third film the same comedy-adventure as the first part.
The locations, in turn, repeated and even surpassed the first film—Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where they filmed – the territory of five countries at once.
Principal photography began in Spain, in the Tabernas desert. Here, especially for the film, the crew members built a tank. Similar to the British Mark VII, which participated in the First World War. The fully functioning prop machine was powered by a tractor platform and a Range Rover engine. Spielberg initially wanted to make a short chase scene but swung to show father and son's mutual assistance in the end.
Railway scene with Brody's abduction – is Iskenderun Railway Station, Turkey. For authenticity and similarity to the plot, the filmmakers may have overdone a little, coming here for just one scene.
Next – the most interesting of the places where was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade filmed. Jordan, the city of Petra. If you score in the search engine "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where they filmed" or something similar, then, first of all, you will come across this mysterious ancient city, literally cut out of the rock.
The Temple of the Grail depicted on the screen is called Al-Khazneh. The remains of the ancient Nabataean civilization, the presence of traces of which Jordan is so proud of its territory. Petra, the capital of the long-vanished Nabataea, holds only a few surviving buildings-architectural wonders carved into the rocks in the middle of the sands of the Arabian Peninsula. All of them are the object of curiosity of tourists, but in the movie about Indiana Jones, only the temple entrance was filmed.
Venice, Italy. One of the few locations of the film that corresponds to the shooting. Indeed - this city of sailors can not be confused with any other point on the map. The filmmakers had the Grand Canal at their disposal. Local authorities, specifically for the filming of the new masterpiece of Spielberg and Lucas, restricted tourists' entry to the shooting area.
The fight, part of the boat chase-it was all filmed in real Venice. However, the operators had to work hard to prevent the satellite dishes from hanging everywhere from getting into the frame.
However, the boat chase itself, unfortunately, was filmed in a studio on an artificial lake. The boat chase was filmed in natural locations, it would be even more spectacular.
No less interesting was the fate of the second film crew, shooting the prologue of the film. Those interested in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where they were filmed, are usually the least interested. So in vain: the location itself is no worse than the others involved. USA, Arches National Park. The opening scene with picturesque natural arches is the heritage of these places. There are about 2,000 such wonders of nature, which can boast of rarely any place on Earth.
"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" is one of the few proofs that the prequel can be no worse than the original. It took twenty years to start the next sequel. However, the fourth picture's success was very far from its three predecessors, and it is unlikely to stand the same test of time as the original prequel.