Brow Beat

How Raiders of the Lost Ark’s Boulder Chase Scene Got Made

The most famous setpiece in Raiders of the Lost Ark—a film that is quite literally a bunch of brilliant setpieces strung together—sees Indiana Jones try to escape a booby-trapped temple with a huge boulder hurtling behind him. Like Jaws’ beach scene, it’s one of Spielberg’s most iconic sequences, and Cinefix’s latest “Art of the Scene” video is peppered with insights about how the director and his crew pulled off such a demanding, large-scale stunt.

Particularly interesting are the scene’s conception—George Lucas got the idea from an old Scrooge McDuck comic—and the way in which sound designer Ben Burtt captured the perfect noise for the boulder’s roll. Enjoy.