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Easter eggs
Hidden details in every movie and series: 18 in total. Tap a poster to see its eggs. Titles you haven't marked as seen stay locked so nothing gets spoiled.
- Referencenod to comics or other movies
- Cameoa familiar face shows up
- Setupplanted now, pays off later
- Behind the scenesproduction trivia
- Behind the scenesThe film that created PG-13
The cultists and the violence rattled enough people that this film and Gremlins fed the debate over age ratings. Within two months the US created PG-13. Both films were released as PG, not PG-13.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesFord filmed with a damaged spine
Harrison Ford herniated a spinal disc doing a somersault in the bedroom assassin scene. A hospital bed was brought on set so he could rest between takes, and he showed up every day.
source ↗ - ReferenceClub Obi-Wan
The opening scene takes place in a Shanghai nightclub called Club Obi-Wan. Another nod from Lucas to Star Wars.
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- Behind the scenesThe hero is named after a dog
George Lucas first called it "The Adventures of Indiana Smith", after his Alaskan malamute. The idea sat on a shelf until May 1977, when Lucas fled to Hawaii, afraid Star Wars would flop, and pitched it to Spielberg on the beach.
source ↗ - ReferenceR2-D2 and C-3PO on the wall
Look at the hieroglyphs in the Well of Souls. Carved into the wall are R2-D2 and C-3PO, a wink from Lucas to Star Wars.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe sword fight that got cut short
The Tunisia shoot was brutal: heat over 130 F and more than 150 crew members down with dysentery. Harrison Ford got sick too, and the sword fight planned for the Cairo scene was cut down drastically.
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- CameoThe dad is only 12 years older
Sean Connery, who plays Henry Jones Sr., is only 12 years older than Harrison Ford. He turned the part down at first for that reason, then came around. Spielberg had him in mind from the start.
source ↗ - CameoRiver Phoenix is young Indy
In the 1912 opening, teenage Indy is played by River Phoenix. Ford recommended him: he'd already played Ford's son in The Mosquito Coast (1986), and Ford thought he looked the most like him at that age.
source ↗ - ReferenceFamiliar faces among the Nazis
In the Berlin book-burning scene, Michael Sheard plays Hitler with no lines. He was already the U-boat commander in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Nearby is Ronald Lacey, the first film's Toht, now playing Himmler.
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- Reference"Nuking the fridge"
Indy survives an atomic test inside a lead-lined refrigerator. The scene became internet slang: "nuking the fridge" is when a franchise goes too far. Time put it on its 2008 buzzword list. Lucas said he had a dossier giving the odds of surviving at about 50-50.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesPremiere at Cannes
The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2008, four days before its US release. It was Spielberg's first Cannes premiere since E.T. in 1982.
source ↗ - CameoMarion returns after 27 years
Karen Allen returns as Marion Ravenwood, who hadn't appeared since Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981. Shia LaBeouf joins as Mutt Williams, and Cate Blanchett is the Soviet villain Irina Spalko.
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- Behind the scenes25 minutes of de-aged Ford
The 1944 opening shows Harrison Ford with his 1980s face for roughly 25 minutes. More than 100 ILM artists spent three years on it. Part of the work used AI software that combed through old footage of Ford from Lucasfilm movies.
source ↗ - CameoFirst Indy not directed by Spielberg
James Mangold is the first director in the series besides Spielberg. Harrison Ford suggested him after working with him on Ford v Ferrari. It premiered at Cannes on May 18, 2023, out of competition.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesJohn Williams once more
John Williams scored all five films. In 2022 he said it would be his last film score, then backtracked. The score earned an Oscar nomination.
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- Behind the scenesHistory class in disguise
Lucas designed the series as an educational show for kids and teens. In many episodes Indy runs into real people, like Tolstoy, Howard Carter and Charles de Gaulle.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesShot in more than 25 countries
Filming ran more than 150 weeks across 25-plus countries. The big budget and low ratings got it canceled in 1993. Four TV movies followed, through 1996.
source ↗ - CameoThree Indys and one Harrison Ford
Corey Carrier plays Indy at 8 to 10, and Sean Patrick Flanery from 16 to 21. George Hall is the 93-year-old Indy who opens and closes many episodes. Harrison Ford shows up in "Mystery of the Blues", in a 1950 scene.
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