MovieChat Forums > Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Discussion > How Indy escaped from the WOS

How Indy escaped from the WOS

posted a year ago by dueville (41)
7 replies | jump to latest

The wall where Indy pushed the stone out to escape...didn't the germans think to wonder what this structure was and investigate? lol just a tiny weensey little plot hole...

[–] ak47wong (484) a year ago

There's no plot hole. The excavation was enormous, as Sallah says, so the Nazis aren't likely to notice one missing stone from a wall. They'd already taken the Ark and left Indy and Marion for dead so they weren't investigating anything. And Indy almost immediately goes to ambush the Flying Wing so the story had already moved on.

[–] blindfolded (1562) a year ago

I think the OP means just the existence of the convenient structure is odd, especially if you think about where that structure is in relation of where Indy dug to get to WOS. So either this structure was already protruding from where Indy was trying to dig in the first place, or the Nazis exposed it and didn't excavate further.

[–] blindfolded (1562) a year ago

I too always felt WOS is was weird, geographically speaking. Indy's crew had to dig to find the top entrance, so now Indy is underground. Indy eventually smashes through a wall and about 20' beyond is a room of corpses which leads to an opening in the exposed structure. Which means the WOS isn't actually underground, but was just mound of sand that Indy decided to go to the very top of and dig, despite having something from the WOS already exposed. And if we're going to handwave this because the excavation endeavor is huge.... that means the Nazis found and exposed the side entrance structure, and then decided NOT to explore further in that direction.

[–] ak47wong (484) a year ago

Ah I see what you mean now. The top entrance is of the Well of Souls is at the top of a small hill that you can see Indy climbing just before they start digging. There's a wide shot of the surrounding area when he's at the peak and judging by the height of the people in the background, Indy is maybe 8 metres above ground at this point?

Then just before Indy topples the big statue, there's a wide shot of the entire vault and based on the height of the coffins in the corner, I'd guess the Well of Souls is itself about 8 metres in height. And that would mean it isn't underground and the floor of the Well of Souls is actually at ground level.

They never actually said the Well of Souls is underground. Brody calls it a "secret chamber" and the map room shows it to be above ground, in the middle of what looks like a temple (not very secret).

[–] blindfolded (1562) a year ago

When I said "underground" I only meant that we the audience are meant to think that, as Indy had to dig and then drop into it. But of you take the structure wall brick thing into account, it makes the entire situation odd.

In actuality, the structure is more of a Deus Ex Machina for Indy to escape the situation without the audience giving it much thought

[–] dueville (41) a year ago

Exactly- the structure itself was excavated but never investigated inside? Considering they knew the WOS was somewhere around here...Belloq should have been smart enough to blast out a hole to see what's inside..gee..maybe it might contain the Ark.

[–] [deleted] a year ago

"The wall where Indy pushed the stone out to escape"
Do you know what the funniest part about that is? Look at the scene carefully when the stone falls out... it BOUNCES on the ground! No kidding! You can't see the stone itself bouncing, but the shadow it casts, yes. Obviously, that was not a real genuine stone that Indy pushed out, but a lightweight fake.