This is one of the most iconic (and enjoyable) scenes from “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. But when Spielberg’s screenwriter discovered it upon release, he wasn’t thrilled…
A famous scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark is not at all to the taste of its screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who would have preferred that his script not be changed.
The scene in question is well known to Indy fans: Dr. Jones finds himself facing a dangerous sword wielder who intends to cut him into slices. Except that on the day of filming this scene, Harrison Ford was still ill following food poisoning contracted the day before.
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Still exhausted from this ordeal, the actor comes to shoot the scene, but suggests to director Steven Spielberg that instead of a long saber fight sequence between Indy and his adversary, the hero of the film could simply take out his revolver, kill the sword wielder with one bullet and move on.
Spielberg validates the decision and shoots the scene which can now be found in the final cut. Except that this idea improvised on the set was not to the taste of Lawrence Kasdan, the screenwriter of the film.
What displeases Lawrence Kasdan
In an interview cited in Steven Spielberg: A Biography (mentioned by Slash Movie), Kasdan, the co-writer of The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and Bodyguard, spoke about what he considers to be a lack of taste:
[La scène] became very popular, but it bothered me. I thought it was brutal and contrasted with the rest of the film, which wasn’t. I’m never thrilled with the idea of making jokes about killing people. Steven is more aware of public tastes than me.
Paramount Pictures Harrison Ford
Whether we agree with Kasdan or not, we must recognize that the scene does not really detract from the quality of Raiders of the Lost Ark, which remains a timeless classic of the adventure film, with a few remarks that the today we could qualify as sexist.
By tackling one of fans’ favorite scenes, Kasdan won’t just make friends. What do you think ? Is he right or wrong? Your keyboards !