Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Why has Lucas changed the name of the film on the VHS and DVD covers? Now, I know he did this to fit in with the Young Indy concept, but why change the DVD cover and not the name of the film itself?

Also, why did he not call the next film simply "The Temple of Doom," or the third film "The Last Crusade?" IMHO, it would have been nice if all three films would have the same title structures.

I've always felt the same way. I always thought it would be better if they all had similar names like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade do. And I had always wondered why Raiders of the Lost Ark wasn't called Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. But then I guess I.J.a.t.R.o.t.L.A. would be a little too long for a title. I don't know. Just a guess.

I like having "Indiana Jones and the..." in the title of all the books, films, games, etc. because it has a cool ring to it and certifies it as an Indy-related item. Someone may hear the title "The Temple of Doom" and not know what film it is, but if "Indiana Jones" is placed in the title people will automatically know that it's an Indy film.

That's just my opinion but I like all of the titles having the same flow and style, although it does make for some really long titles sometimes.

Exactly. And (at least in my opinion) it only makes sense to have similar film titles for films in a series like Indiana Jones.

Wow! You guys are radically different in opinions of titles than a lot of the Star Wars fans I talk to! A lot of those old school star wars fans can't stand the concept of calling the original films by their episode titles. And when I ask them why, and tell them that I think it makes them all sound uniform they automatically want to burn me at the stake or ban me immeidately from the forum, whichever comes first.

While I appreciate the urge for consistency, ROTLA will forever be only Raiders of the Lost Ark in my mind. It is how it was released, and how it should remain. Mostly because 'Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark' doesn't have that same ring to its sound. Most people know it as an Indiana Jones movie anyway.

... and regarding Star Wars, I don't understand the problem with the titles. As far as I can remember its always been labeled by the titles. I was advicating the titles before I figured out it mysteriously started at IV!

I'm pretty sure that the original 1977 Star Wars film was always called Episode IV in George Lucas's mind but he originally didn't add the "Episode IV" part to the title because it was a brand new movie series and it would confuse people. Also, he wasn't sure if he would be able to make a sequel until the first film's success.

I hate the "Indiana Jones and the" on ROTLA. I think it was a horrible idea. Don't change a classic!! You didn't even see them change King Solomons mines to "Allan Quartermain and King Solomons mines".

It might not sound very good but the point I was making is that it helps identify the film with the rest of the series.

When "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was released in 1981 there were no initial plans to make sequels. They didn't know for sure that the film and Indiana Jones would become so popular at that time.
It's only during the production of the second film (when they saw that they had a franchise) that they created the "Indiana Jones" logo and named everything "Indiana Jones and the..." from that moment on.

"Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark", I don't like this title.
The original title reads as Indiana Jones is also one of the raiders chasing the Ark of the Covenant. (the others being the US Army Intelligence, Belloq and the Nazis) This made Indy just as human as the next man in the midst of adventure. They all chased the Ark, only for different reasons.

Now the new "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" title reads as Indiana Jones is a hero "saving" the Lost Ark from evil raiders... which isn't correct if you ask me. Indy still raids the Well of Souls.

It's a good thing that they kept the original "Raiders of the Lost Ark" title in the film itself. They probably renamed it on the box for publicity reasons -- to make clear that "Raiders" is as much an Indy film as "Temple of Doom" and "Last Crusade", not a spin-off or anything. Plus now all the films have almost the same title structure. Though "Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark" might have been better when comparing the title structures.

Do you think they will call the fourth movie just Indy 4? That would be horrible. Its obvious it will be a "Indiana Jones and the..." Title. I think it would be cool if they didn't but it probably would not be as marketable.

IndyJohan said:

Do you think they will call the fourth movie just Indy 4? That would be horrible.

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I agree. Although there are some good sequels being made, there are too many stupid and unneccessary ones. If the only idea you can come with for a title is to slap a number at the end of a previous movie, what does that say about the creativity and originality of the movie itself?

Gilles V said:

Though "Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark" might have been better when comparing the title structures.

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Yeah. I'd probably more receptive to that idea, not that I would necessarily want it. 'Raiders' is still the classic title, but Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark at least doesn't sound too bad.

No doubt "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is a classic title but you all get what I mean about the titles fitting together. But like I said, I only think I.J.a.t.R.o.t.L.A. would fit better, but I don't think it necessarily sounds better.

I always refer to the film as Raiders of the Lost Ark but I like having "Indiana Jones and the..." before it simply for consistancy reasons. However, Gillies mentioned the same thing I had considered bringing up: by inserting Indy's name into the title it makes it sound as if Indy didn't go after the Ark or recover it. I thought it was cool that they changed the name on the packaging but I'm glad the movie still retained its original title. I like the titles fitting together but I'm also glad they still managed to hold onto the original name.

Indy said:

I always refer to the film as Raiders of the Lost Ark but I like having "Indiana Jones and the..." before it simply for consistancy reasons. However, Gillies mentioned the same thing I had considered bringing up: by inserting Indy's name into the title it makes it sound as if Indy didn't go after the Ark or recover it. I thought it was cool that they changed the name on the packaging but I'm glad the movie still retained its original title. I like the titles fitting together but I'm also glad they still managed to hold onto the original name.

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Exactly.

Gilles V said:

It's a good thing that they kept the original "Raiders of the Lost Ark" title in the film itself. They probably renamed it on the box for publicity reasons -- to make clear that "Raiders" is as much an Indy film as "Temple of Doom" and "Last Crusade", not a spin-off or anything. Plus now all the films have almost the same title structure. Though "Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark" might have been better when comparing the title structures.

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This has always been my "defense" of it as well. I think it's more for alphabetical reasons. When it was changed for the widescreen VHS release store owners and managers couldn't really put "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in the "I" section with the other two movies. I'm glad it wasn't changed on the film.

What's funny is that most of us refer to the second and third films as "The Temple od Doom" and "The Last Crusade," so there's consistency for ya!

Adamwankenobi said:

What's funny is that most of us refer to the second and third films as "The Temple od Doom" and "The Last Crusade," so there's consistency for ya!

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That's because it's quicker to say/type.

In my opinion i like the "Indiana Jones and the" in front of the movies because then it is a clear that this is an Indiana Jones adventure, and even though it doesn't seem to fit well with the first one, i don't mind it being there. I wonder what they'll call the 4th one, Indiana Jones and the.....