Harrison Ford Did Most of His Stunts in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK but His Stunt Team Stepped in for the Death Risks
With the upcoming film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny just around the corner, people are talking a lot about the films that got us here. The movie that started it all was Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, which introduced us to the archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), who was hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis could obtain its awesome powers.
The movie roped fans right in with its high-adventure, romance, action, humor, and danger. And according to the film’s director, Steven Spielberg, the action and danger were very real.
Spielberg recalled in Paul Honeyford's biography of Ford:
"There are four or five very risky scenes that Terry Leonard, J.R. Randall, and Vic Armstrong did for him. J.R. Randall was our stunt gaffer, and he wouldn't let Harrison do any stunts that were potentially fatal. But Harrison did most everything else. Anything that simply promised serious injury or total disability, Harrison did; anything that promised death through fatal miscalculation, Terry, Vic, and J.R. did."
He went on to add:
"That's the most amazing thing about the 'Raiders' saga — everybody survived."
It’s pretty cool to know that the scenes that take your breath away in the film are all practical, and they were executed with great skill.
The fifth and final installment of the series, Dial of Destiny, is set to hit theaters this summer on June 30th.