Raiders of the Lost Ark Exploration Quotes

This is only the second line of the whole film (unless you count the terrified shrieks of the Peruvians with the donkeys), and it stresses how dangerous exploration can be. In a lot of Indy's adventures, "exploration" means "move quietly or hostile locals will kill you."

Exploration means not just finding a place, but finding a place and returning to talk about it. That probably means stepping over the bodies of the people who came before you. Another favorite adventure movie motif: the explorer walking past the skeletal remains of his unfortunate predecessors.

Notice that Indy is stressing a race here. Who gets there first is most important, and the Germans are already ahead of him. We see this a lot in real-world exploration too, such as Cook and Peary's race to the North Pole. Can't we all just share?

Indy has the benefit of wrapping his exploration up in the Hero's Journey, which means he gets handy guideposts pointing toward his goal. Real explorers, unfortunately, rarely had an X to mark the spot like this one. It's also a nod to the scientific and astronomical expertise of ancient cultures, whom we sometimes think of only as primitive pagans.

Beyond the physical risks to exploration, there are emotional risks too. Marion is clearly peeved that her father wasted her childhood exploring the world, and doesn't hold much respect for what he's found. If you go out into the unknown, you may hurt those close to you as much as yourself. Globetrotting isn't always glamorous.

Belloq has missed the Ark here because he's a cheater, using a replica of the headpiece GPS instead of the original. Exploration in Indy's world means you can't take shortcuts. When you do, you end up fuming helplessly at German commandants.

Ah irony. Belloq finds it delicious that Indy will end his life of exploring by being sealed up and forgotten in a plundered tomb. Of course it doesn't happen, but it's the thought that counts—and a reminder of how dangerous the unknown can be.

Belloq makes a good point here: You can't go home until you've found what you're after. And if "home" means answering to one of the most evil human beings who ever walked the earth, you'd better be sure what you find will make him happy. Given what happens to Belloq and his Nazi pals, we kinda wish they had opened it in front of Der Fuhrer. Instead, we had to wait another 28 years for Quentin Tarantino to take care of it.

A little insight can be devastating. Belloq knows of Indy's passion for intellectual discovery, and he's betting that it overwhelms his need for, well, anything else. Indy gives up his freedom, Marion's freedom, and any chance of getting the Ark to safety just to see what's inside. That's some heavy-duty compulsion, man.

This is a quiet transition from physical exploration of the outside world to scientific exploration of a specific phenomenon. The one leads to the other in this case: We found the Ark; now we have to study it. Pity the U.S. government has other ideas.