Raiders of the Lost Archives: A Shot-by-Shot Comparison
 

Here’s an entirely different way to watch the first 13 minutes of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, the opening sequence which blew me away in 1981 and continues to do the same today. Behold a shot-by-shot comparison of “Raiders” vs. an assortment of various adventure flicks. This took me 2 DECADES to assemble but it’s finally finished! A labour of love...

30 films were used. Who can name them all? Since the shots of the Paramount logo would be impossible to determine, I’ll begin by saying that they are Rudyard Kipling’s, “The Light That Failed” and the great, “Secret of the Incas”. (So there’s 2 out of 30 for ya.;))

Raiders of the Lost Archives

Some sequences from the other Indy movies are possible to duplicate using old clips and I plan on doing some more in the future. In this one, there are a few, tiny glitches here & there but I grew tired of tinkering and let them be...Enjoy (and be sure to watch it fullscreen)!:D

Wow, Stoo, that was one really cool movie! :up:

Stoo! Absolutely incredible.

I can see it truly was a labor of love.

My favorite clips are those where the dialogue seems to match up.

Amazing work. Thanks so much for sharing this!

Spielberg and Lucas would certainly enjoy it. I hope they get a chance to see it. It captures exactly what they wanted to capture.

very good indeed!!! "now we can see the magic of the film you bring back to us!":D

Pretty amazing! I can't imagine the work that went into it! The part with Belloq is GOLD!

Wow, this is REMARKABLE.

Please list the movies! I'd like to see some of these jungle adventure films from days gone by.

Wonderful. Absolutley wonderful. I've got treasure of the incas as one of the films used. But I can't even guess the others:up: :up: :up: :up: :up: :up: :up: :up: :up:

Brilliant!

Tremendous Stoo!!!
 

Stoo,
I thought it was amazing. What a really wonderful 13 minutes of pure nostalgic entertainment. Its safe to say that Charlton Heston is the real precursor to Indiana Jones, with great clips from SECRET OF THE INCAS and THE NAKED JUNGLE. I looked and looked for John Wayne .... and thought I may have glimpsed him as one of the pilots towards the end ... but I may be wrong.
It was well worth the wait Stoo, a tremendous acheivement. Thanks for posting it.

Wow Stoo! You really went all out! I loved it!:up:
Kind of reminds me of these videos.

"Premakes" Raiders of the Lost Ark (1951)... A frame by frame breakdown


"Premakes" Raiders of the Lost Ark (1951)

Really great job.

I really enjoyed watching it.

It was a bit freaky how some were almost identical....

Worth watching over again to see what I missed It really draws you to watch side to side as the original is so great but the clips you found are so interesting.

Ver well done.

:up: :up: :up: :hat:

Wow, Stoo!

Even though I shouldn't be surprised at how good the "compilation" is (seeing as you did it), it still amazed me.

I can see how that took years to accomplish. But the end result is great and really payed off.

Now I want to go home and watch some of the old adventure movies on my shelf!

Thanks so much to everyone for all your comments. They are much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed it!:D

@Montana: Glad you like it, Matt.

@goodeknight: Thanks for your kind words. Yes, I would love it if George or Stevie ended up having a glimpse.

@indyclone: Thanks, Mark. I know what you mean about "the magic" in Raiders.:up:

@Indy’s brother: Thanks, bro'. The Belloq part could have been better but I was tired of working on it and needed to clear some space on my computer. I’m still not enitrely happy with the final thing...maybe I'll do a re-dux for the 2-part YouTube version!

@Lance: I will eventually post all the titles but would like to have a little contest*** first!;) Thanks, all the same, Lance.

@lao che & sons: Hi, Lao. Thanks but it's “SECRET of the Incas” not “TREASURE”!;):whip:

@Inexorable Tash: My man, Tash! Thanks a lot, bud.

@Annie: Glad you liked it, Annie. Yes, the thread about those videos was the main impetus to finish mine. Chuck Heston is Indiana Jones

@Dr Bones: There are numerous identical shots which remain untouched but, to be honest, there are many which have been flipped, cropped, darkened, slowed down, de-colourized or run backwards for a better match. (I cheated a little bit.:o) Glad you enjoyed it enough to watch it again.

@Ska: Was hoping you’d see this thread, Ska. If there’s anyone out there who can figure out what the films are, it should be you! Appreciate your compliments. As you well know, collecting the films takes many years. I started pulling stuff together on the computer in August 2007 so had been editing it on & off in my spare time for 2 ½ years. On deck...the TRUCK CHASE!

...and finally to Mr. Secret of the Incas, himself, James of http://www.secretoftheincas.co.uk/
Thanks for your kind words, my friend. It would be my honour to have a link to it through your equally amazing website. Or I could send you the original file.

My collection of early Indy-type films started in the ‘80s but it wasn’t until the early ‘90s, after recording “Incas” on TV, that I realized a shot-by-shot retelling would actually be possible. I had made really, crude versions on VHS but in the digital age of non-linear editing, it was possible to finally bring my plan to fruition. Anyway, I really appreciate the fact you felt it was a 'tremendous achievment'. Thank you very much.:hat:

Re: John Wayne…DING DING! You found him! Good eye, James! He is also in 2 other scenes which I forgot about. The Duke can be briefly seen running from the boulder at 9:45 and leaving the mouth of the cave at 9:52.

***A prize of 100 Swiss Francs (roughly $100) to whoever can name all the films!:D

Just FANTASTIC!!!
Thanks for sharing!:up:

Finally got to view it. Amazing! You have to have had an eye for those shots all these decades. I don't know how you managed every last one.

That was great. I loved how the dialogue from Raiders almost fitted the mouth movements of the comparison shots. Just brilliant. It goes to show plagiarism is only a legal term. In art it's necessary.

Thanks for coming out of lurkdom to say that! Cool username, by the way.:)
Thanks, Mickiana. Glad you enjoyed it. I may just actually work on improving the lip-sync.
Very pleased to hear from you, Moedred. Call me crazy but I sketched out every frame (+250:eek:) and also did the same for the truck chase. Took me a looooong time...

That is an INCREDIBLE work. Congrats!
Do I detect more than a couple of shots from 33's King Kong?

4 Down - 26 To Go
 

Grazie, Yure!:) I've been to Italy 6 times but have never visited Naples.:( Been close, though...POMPEI!:up:

Glad you liked it and you are indeed correct. Shots from "King Kong" were included. I had other options for some of the clips used in the jungle run but the "Kong" stuff was far superior since it's one of the greatest adventure movies ever made. Here's the breakdown:

00:45-00:49 men walking away from camera into jungle
00:52-00:53 Robert Armstrong walking away from camera into fog
01:20-01:22 long, side shot of men trekking through jungle
02:10-02:11 men approching riverbank
08:39-08:42 "Throw me the idol!" Bruce Cabot
08:43-08:44 "No time to argue!" Bruce Cabot (CROPPED)
08:56-08:58 Bruce Cabot climbing up chasm cliff
09:16-09:17 Bruce Cabot climbing over chasm edge (FLIPPED/MIRRORED)
11:23-11:26 2 shots of Bruce Cabot running through jungle (1st dissolves from a thicket of bamboo in another film.;))
11:52-11:54 Robert Armstrong running away from camera into jungle

Thanks to Yure, that's the 4th title out of 30 (I think it's actually 32:o). C'mon guys & gals, can you pick out the flicks?:whip:
"The Light That Failed" (1939)
"Secret of the Incas" (1954)
"The Naked Jungle" (1954)
"King Kong" (1933)

"...and finally to Mr. Secret of the Incas, himself, James of http://www.secretoftheincas.co.uk/
Thanks for your kind words, my friend. It would be my honour to have a link to it through your equally amazing website. Or I could send you the original file.

My collection of early Indy-type films started in the ‘80s but it wasn’t until the early ‘90s, after recording “Incas” on TV, that I realized a shot-by-shot retelling would actually be possible. I had made really, crude versions on VHS but in the digital age of non-linear editing, it was possible to finally bring my plan to fruition. Anyway, I really appreciate the fact you felt it was a 'tremendous achievment'. Thank you very much.:hat:

Re: John Wayne…DING DING! You found him! Good eye, James! He is also in 2 other scenes which I forgot about. The Duke can be briefly seen running from the boulder at 9:45 and leaving the mouth of the cave at 9:52."

Hi Stoo
I would be honoured to link your great work to my site ... if I only could!!
Unfortunately, after the computer crashed, everything has been lost, and the site will be rebuilt from scratch in a month or so. As soon as the new site is up and running, the first thing that goes on the links page will be your little masterpiece. A colleague from work is rebuilding the site, and he has told me that you can reach him at -

phish451@hotmail.com

for the original file.

ps. The John Wayne clip is from THE THREE MUSKETEERS serial, isn't it, Stoo?

Oh, no. James!:( First your "Incas" spoof went belly-up and now your computer. That is terrible news! Good luck getting your excellent site back on-line. In case you don't already have one, I highly suggest investing in an external hard drive for backups - it's a life saver!
CORRECT. James, I'm extremely impressed!:hat: Have you seen that one? How did you figure it out? For anyone who doesn't know, this version of "The Three Musketeers" is about 3 men in the French Foreign Legion and John Wayne plays an American pilot. Great serial and it's NOT from Republic, folks!:whip:

So that's 5 titles out of 30. Keep it goin'...;)

"The Light That Failed" (1939)
"Secret of the Incas" (1954)
"The Naked Jungle" (1954)
"King Kong" (1933)
"The Three Musketeers" (1933)

For the YouTube version, a few fixes will probably be made and I'd like people's opinions on this shot. Currently, a Tarzan film represents Indy dropping into the water:



...but I'm considering changing it to use this (but in black & white). What do y'all think?:confused:

More Indy spoof titles, Soo!
 

Hi Stoo
Yes, I own THE THREE MUSKETEERS John Wayne serial. I have almost every Duke Wayne movie ever made on dvd.

Here are a few more additions to the list of your 13 minute jungle masterpiece:

Cary Grant in GUNGHA DIN
Carl de Vogt in DIE SPINNEN
George Montgomery and David Farrar in WATUSI
Rod Taylor in TRADER HORN
Johnny Weismuller in TARZAN AND THE AMAZON QUEENS
Stewart Granger in KING SOLOMONS MINES
Spencer Tracy in STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE

and lastly, a pure guess here, was the spider on the bed clipped FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE?

11 Down - 19 To Go!
 

Nice going, James!:hat: You nailed some of the main ones and out of your 8, six are correct!:hat:

I didn't know that "The Three Musketeers" is available on DVD.:up: This was raided for a few more clips without The Duke.

03:28 - Villain in white fedora representing Barranca after Indy whips the gun out of his hand
08:29 - Heroine running through cave tunnel representing Indy running across the booby-trapped floor
09:45 - John Wayne running through cave tunnel representing part of the boulder chase
09:52 - John Wayne (or a stunt double) leaping the mouth of the cave.
09:53 - The clips of the man rolling down the hill are from the same film but I can't remember if it's The Duke's character or not.
10:56 - Villain in white fedora representing Indy escaping while the Hovitos are distracted by Belloq's presentation of the idol.
12:33 - The ending sequence in the plane (minus the clip of the snake & the sunset)

Cary Grant from "Gunga Din" was used just for that one shot of the jump over the bottomless pit so nice spot, James!

Carl de Vogt from "Die Spinnen/Spiders", Stewart Granger and Rod Taylor are all major players. You've just identified LARGE chunks of the spoof. Again, I'm very impressed. George Montgomery and David Farrar from "Watusi" are both used in several shots throughout. (Speaking of Rod Taylor, have you ever seen "Dark of the Sun"?)

Spencer Tracy as Henry Morton Stanley. There are also a couple of other shots from "Stanley and Livingstone" (ex. the long shot of the natives running forward over the field). In the pre-internet days, I spent a lot of time and effort to try and obtain a copy of this film because I knew it existed on VHS. To no avail...then one day...it played on the Biography Channel!

Tarzan. There are indeed, 3 Tarzan films but "Tarzan and the Amazons" is not one of them.:( Good guess on the spider shot but the James Bond scene you're thinking of is from "Dr. No." and no, it's not from that. The spider on the pillow is from the one of the films you've already named, "Watusi".

So...James' expertise brings the total to 11 out of 30.

"The Light That Failed" (1939)
"Secret of the Incas" (1954)
"The Naked Jungle" (1954)
"King Kong" (1933)
"The Three Musketeers" (1933)
"Die Spinnen/Spiders (1919)
"King Solomon's Mines" (1954)
"Watusi" (1959)
"Trader Horn" (1973)
"Stanley and Livingstone" (1939)
"Gunga Din" (1939)

HINT: 2 of the titles James picked out had earlier versions.;)

Stoo
The John Wayne serial THE THREE MUSKETEERS has been available over here in the U.K. for some time now. Its available in three different dvds of the whole serial. I have seen DARK OF THE SUN, and used to own it on video, but I have got rid of them all (about 4,000) because they were taking up too much room. There was was some titles too, and many rare ones, but the wife forced me to get rid of them all - or face the consequences!

Three more off the list - hopefully!
 

Three more titles off the list stoo.
RAIDERS OF GHOST CITY
TRADER HORN (1931) with Harry Carey and Duncan Renaldo playing "Peru"
KING SOLOMONS MINES (1930's version with Cedric Hardwicke).

14 Down - 16 to Go
 

BINGO! Again, good stuff, James!:hat: The funny thing is that I was just coming here to post Harry Carey and Sir Cedric Hardwicke as clues. What an eerie coincidence!:eek:

Hardwicke is my personal favourite Quatermain as his portrayal is much closer to Haggard's description. The '31 version of "Trader Horn" was used very extensively and probably the 2nd most raided film behind "Secret of the Incas". The vine-swing shot is priceless. Now that most of the major players have been solved, I'll do a breakdown of all the short, unspoken for clips to help make it easier.
Nice to know about the "Musketeers" DVDs. Good ol' Marion Morrison - oops - I mean John Wayne. "Dark of the Sun" is a keeper (with a fantastic score to boot).

I can completely sympathize with your plight because my girlfriend gives me grief for my film collection all too often. What a man will do for love. After copying as much rare stuff as possible onto DVD, I'm in the long process of re-purchasing the remainder. 4000?!?:eek: WOW! That's incredible! I don't have even nearly half as much. How did you get rid of them? All of my VHS tapes are in storage.

Hi stoo
I now regret getting rid of some of those videos ... just wished I had the space to store them ... but it became very difficult to find a title when we wanted to watch a particular video. There was some exceedingly rare old British movies from the 1940's-50's that haven't resurfaced on dvd, so I now really regret my hasty "clear-out" on the wife's orders!
I donated quite a lot to Oxfam, but they weren't allowed to accept anything taped off the BBC, even though I had made some pretty decent covers for them.

Btw, I was mistaken when I told you that the John Wayne serial THE THREE MUSKETEERS is on dvd. The three dvd serial is actually called HURRICANE EXPRESS.

I know the pain of remembering things I wish I hadn't disposed of...

As for locating particular titles in your own collection, my DVD collection is well overdue for alphabetical reorganization!

There is still some obscure law that says you can only keep recordings from TV for a certain length of time, but it's one of those things that nobody's ever going to bother about, unless you're trying to make a profit from them. Oxfam wouldn't want to fall foul of that.

Montana
I had to dump hundreds of those "unofficial videos" in the skip, which broke my heart in a weird kind of way.

I understand that, but then videos were so big and bulky to store. It's bad enough with DVDs, which I'm always buying at car boot sales. There's something special about having all those worlds existing on shiny discs, so much so that I can rarely part with any. Hence my need to reorganize so I can actually remember what I've got!

Stoo's obsession with the old classics is making me want to broaden my search when I'm looking at DVDs...

Yes, Stoo's collection of rare vintage jungle movies is amazing!

Thanks, guys.:hat: There are even more that I wanted to include but couldn't fit them in. Will comment on your conversation from the previous page later but for now...

Here’s a clue to another title. A bit unfair since it’s UK specific but James seems to be the only one left playing so I suppose it doesn’t really matter.:p (James Byrne IS...The Last Man Standing!)

CLUE: The close-up shots of the feet representing Indy stepping between the trigger stones is from a b/w film. Footage from the finale of this movie was used in a UK television commercial for Carlsberg Beer. (If this doesn’t help, I could tell you whose feet they are.;))

Ice-Cold in Alex? Couldn't get much further from the jungle, though!

ICE COLD IN ALEX was shown in Holsten beer adverts - not Carlsberg, Montana. you have me stumped Stoo, I need another clue, mate.

I thought of Ice-Cold, as it was Carlsberg they drank in the bar at the end.

Carlsberg also used the film in their own advert as a retaliation for Holsten Pils taking credit for the lager in the original:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice-Cold_in_Alex


It could still be wrong, though. So come on, Stoo!

15 All - Montana Makes a Tie Goal
 

Montana Smith is right with "Ice Cold in Alex"!:up: (the edited N.American version is titled: "Desert Attack") The only reason I know about the Carlsberg ad is because I was showing the film to a friend of mine from Brighton several years ago. When we got to the end, he was shouting out, "I know this! I know this!" Again, Montana is also right regarding the Carlsberg logo on the glasses. (Apparently the Carlsberg ad was colourized?!? I've never seen it!:o Would love to see the Holsten Pils advert, too.)

Clips used were of Sir John Mills' feet walking across a potential mine field. Indy-related or not, it's a GREAT FILM!

The man who directed it, J. Lee Thompson (one of my faves), did several other classics such as "Guns of Navarone" & "Cape Fear" but also did his share of schlock: The last 2 "Planet of the Apes" films and the '85 version of "King Solomon's Mines" (among others)...even though I don't consider "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" to be schlock.

Sorry for the late reply, mates. There is still more that I want to say re: your other conversations but thought I should settle this one for now...;)

I did a few searches in Google, and the only Carlsberg "Ice-Cold" I found was a 54 second film showing the iconic moment in the bar. Yet, it didn't seem to be the actual advert from TV, but rather a clip straight from the film. No colour, and no tagline on screen.


He had some good films under his belt. Conquest was good, but Battle for the Planet of the Apes was a shocker. It had only one good thing going for it - it had classic apes in it! (Tim Burton, you should've taken note!)

Wow.. That's amazing. Major props, man! :whip:

Thanks a bunch, Atomic Ant! Glad you liked it.:hat:

Put me out of my misery Stoo ... and name all the titles will ya?

The 30 Film Recipe
 

James, putting you out of your misery would require a bullet to the brain.:gun:...and I wouldn't want to do that!:hat:

Bold = Colour films reduced to black & white

Multiple clips:
01) Secret of the Incas (1954)
02) Die Spinnen (Spiders) (1919)
03) The Naked Jungle (1954)
04) Trader Horn (1931)
05) Trader Horn (1973)
06) King Kong (1933)
07) Stanley and Livingstone (1939)
08) Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
09) Tarzan Escapes (1936)
10) Tarzan’s Secret Treasure (1941)
11) King Solomon’s Mines (1937)
12) King Solomon’s Mines (1954)
13) Watusi (1959)
14) Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
15) Perils of Nyoka (Nyoka and the Tigermen) (1942)
16) The Three Musketeers (1933) NOT the Dumas tale (as you’re aware, James)

2 clips or less:
17) The Light That Failed (1939) Paramount logo only
18) Five Weeks In a Balloon (1962)
19) Ice Cold In Alex (1958)
20) The Lost World (1960)
21) Mr. Robinson Crusoe (1932)
22) Gunga Din (1939)
23) Zorro Rides Again (1937)
24) Zorro’s Fighting Legion (1939)
25) G-Men vs. The Black Dragon (1943)
26) Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939)
27) Jungle Jim (TV) (1955)
28) Perils of the Jungle (1953)
29) The Lone Ranger (1956)
30) Raiders of Ghost City (1944) Title only

No ... don't shoot me Stoo ... I'm not that famous!

I saw the 1960 version of THE LOST WORLD recently, and really enjoyed it. What's so unusual about that you may wonder?
Well, on its initial release I thought it was ridiculous ... and I was a kid then!!!

Just saw the side by side -- a very clever, well-made study! Bravo! :hat:

Stoo
I just looked at your masterpiece again after a few months - its incredible mate!

Thank you, Simon. Glad you liked it and thanks for the compliment.:)
Having every version of "The Lost World" ever committed to film, I also didn't like the 1960 version upon the first viewing but it eventually grew on me. Claude Raines makes a great Professor Challenger and now I cherish this adaptation.:)

2 slowed-down shots of the float-plane in the water were the only clips from the 1960 "Lost World" used in my "Raiders" tribute.
Thanks again, James. Your comments are well appreciated but...since the upload, I've found many clips which could improve my comparison and I may do a NEW, better version for YouTube!:eek:

Currently, I'm compiling clips which recreate other sequences from the original Indy trilogy and am always on the lookout for more so...if anyone has any suggestions...please, let me know!

Really an incredible job Stoo, I could watch that over and over again!!

Glad you enjoyed it, Saber.:)
Thanks for the kind words, Stephen. I was hoping you'd see it someday. I have "Nate & Hayes" but will probably not use that film since I'm strictly trying to use clips that are pre-1981. I have a lot of old films with rope bridges but am always on the look out for more. Thanks for the suggestion, all the same.:hat:

While I have some films with mine cart action & water flooding tunnels, that entire sequence would be almost impossible to recreate because of how long it lasts. The boat chase in "Crusade" would be easy. I even have a part from a Dick Tracy film/serial where he goes between 2 ships but I don't know it's title! Help!:eek: As I mentioned here & in the "Secret of the Incas" thread, the desert chase from "Raiders" is up next.

Yes, James did an impressive job at picking out many of the titles (who else, eh?) but half the total were never identified. Too bad you weren't around before I listed them all.;)
Indy's brother, you wrote this over a year ago in another thread but I did manage to upload it to YouTube about 3.5 months ago. Luckily, YouTube raised it's limit to 15 minutes so I didn't have to split the video into 2 parts! Yeah!:up: It hasn't gone viral yet, though. Only 1,725 views on YouTube and 256 on Vimeo. Am I begging for hits? Umm, maybe...:p

For anyone who hasn't seen it, below is the new link. Tell your friends!:p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns8bG9AbfwM

SHAMELESS!!!

Is panhandling allowed?:D

Appreciate the shameless plug, Indy's brother!:hat: