In the Climax of the film, Indy's nemesis Belloq dresses up like a Hebrew Priest and in the presence of his Nazi cohorts, opens the Ark.

The spirits that come out strike them all down horribly, shrivelling them, melting them and combusting them.

So I wondered this;
Belloq was not a real Priest, he was a charleton and he was in the presence of Anti-Semitists, the Nazies.

Had it been a legitimate Priest who opened the Ark and no Nazies present, would the outcome have been different?

I thought they melted because they were impure, and only pure people could look on the ark without consequence, so I guess it would more matter on the person's piety than their religion or anything. Them being Nazi's just made it more clear that they were assholes. It's been years since I watched that movie as a kid though, and I'm sure I totally read into it all wrong but that was how I always understood it. Nobody who wasn't more or less totally innocent couldn't look at it which was why Indy and the girl were saved by closing their eyes.

lba
Nobody who wasn't more or less totally innocent couldn't look at it which was why Indy and the girl were saved by closing their eyes.

That was my thought on it too.

I didn't mind the magical religious stuff in the first film, probably because I was a little kid when I first saw it. However, I really didn't like the magical religious stuff in the third film.- King Arthur still being alive etc. Ugh.
...Not to mention Harrison Ford being over-shadowed by Sean Conery as his dad.

Plus, it sort of made Indiana seem less like the classic all American hero he was supposed to be by having such a Scottish (and so British) dad. I like Scots and Brits, but they're not "All American".

/Rant

Anyway, loved the first film! :)

ozoneocean
I didn't mind the magical religious stuff in the first film, probably because I was a little kid when I first saw it. However, I really didn't like the magical religious stuff in the third film.- King Arthur still being alive etc. Ugh.

That wasn't Arthur. It was just some Templar that had been charged with keeping an eye on the holy grail. He was still alive because the thing was supposed to extend the life of those who drank from it.

Now that I think about it... Didn't Jones make his father drink from the cup, in order to save him from a gunshot wound? Yet in the next film he's dead. Shouldn't the cup have given him at least a decades worth of extra life?

Product Placement
Now that I think about it... Didn't Jones make his father drink from the cup, in order to save him from a gunshot wound? Yet in the next film he's dead. Shouldn't the cup have given him at least a decades worth of extra life?

What "next film"? They only made three. Quit talking nonsense.

Hold it therealtj,

They made a fourth film: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the crystal skull."

Set 20 years after the 3rd. film one could surmise that Jones Sr. would have died 10 years after the 3rd. film but thanks to the grail live til a year before the start of the 4th. film.

meemjar
Hold it therealtj,

They made a fourth film: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the crystal skull."

Set 20 years after the 3rd. film one could surmise that Jones Sr. would have died 10 years after the 3rd. film but thanks to the grail live til a year before the start of the 4th. film.

Crystal Skull? Never heard of it.

It's weird, there are also people who say there was a Star wars Episode 1 2 and 3, but I don't think they ever made that either!

meemjar
Hold it therealtj,

They made a fourth film: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the crystal skull."

Set 20 years after the 3rd. film one could surmise that Jones Sr. would have died 10 years after the 3rd. film but thanks to the grail live til a year before the start of the 4th. film.

I'm quite sure you are mistaken. No such movie exists, you silly person.

meemjar
...before the start of the 4th. film.

The period totally made me laugh.

crocty
Crystal Skull? Never heard of it.

It's weird, there are also people who say there was a Star wars Episode 1 2 and 3, but I don't think they ever made that either!

You're right. Those films don't exist. He's clearly potty.

therealtj
What "next film"? They only made three. Quit talking nonsense.

Oh right. I must have been dreaming. Should have realized that, judging by the level of nonsense I experienced. I mean, who in the right mind would make a film about flying fridges?