I wouldn't say he's ineffectual in what he DOES. He's good at what he does. But, ultimately, what he does doesn't affect the end. They still take it to the island, but its God that kills everyone. Meh. It doesn't bother me. It's visually really interesting and nicely cathartic.
Yeah,, your first point is what I meant, I just didn't express it. Still doesn't change my opinion that I don't like the hero being tied up for the entire ending. I also don't know how he survived hanging from a sub.
My favorite scenes in the entire Raiders canon: - Indy is confronted by a swordsman who spends all that time whipping his blades around like a lunatic, and then Indy just pulls out his gun and SHOOTS the guy. - In the third film when Indy is talking to the Nazis about his friend Marcus who supposedly can blend in and disappear, and then the scene cuts to the actual Marcus who is like the most obvious tourist ever, "Does anyone here speak English?"
Well, if the sub didn't submerge he'd be fine. Remember in 1936 Germany wasn't at war with anyone yet so the U-boat could easily cruise along the surface openly without needing to dive to stay concealed. And in those days there was no satellite reconnaissance to be worried about. Also since they weren't at war with anyone yet they also didn't have to be concerned of scouting planes keeping a watch for them.
Why would you use a submarine if you didn't submerge? Why not use a boat? Clearly they CHOSE a sub.... I think the novelization talks about it being submerged... but I can't remember how they explained his survival.
I think there's a deleted scene where he ties himself to the periscope with his whip, and waits it out there. Still, that'd be a long time to wait, judging by the distance they traveled via the map. In fact, I found a page that discusses the sequence, complete with a script excerpt and a picture of the scene from the comic: Full article, with script excerpt and photos here.
In fairness we can only go by what we see onscreen. Comics and novelizations don't really count. Onscreen we never see the sub actually submerge. That said it was an extremely crazy thing for Jones to do if the sub actually had submerged. In the end the main thing Jones accomplished was saving Marion---he realized what was about to happen and convinced her to keep her eyes closed. Without Jones she might have felt compelled to watch what was going on only to be destroyed along with the rest. Sometime later the ark might have been found again, but Marion would likely have been dead. So Jones did in fact save her only not in the expected conventional way. Old subs of that era were more effective on the surface than submerged if you wanted speed. There's also the matter of fresh air supply. So if you have no reason to be concealed than you stay surfaced. You only submerge if you want to sneak up on someone to attack them or if you're hiding from reconnaissance planes or enemy ships.
If he's partially submerged for that long, especially with water rushing across him at high speed, he might've succumbed to hypothermia, even in warm climes. Not to mention that he would've had no fresh water to drink and nothing to eat for the entire trip, which might've taken days.
Same way he survived ghostly apparitions by just shutting his eyes Same way he survived someone reaching into his chest
Funny thing is: Marion wouldn't have been there at all if Indy had just stayed at the University. And the Nazis would still have died. If you have no reason to be concealed why take a sub? Surely a ship would've been better. Faster. More space for men and supplies. You take a sub because you are going underwater at some point.
funny u say that. just yesterday I saw the movie Arthur for the 1st time so there are people who haven't seen these old movies
A submarine might have been the only vessel available, and the German surface fleet wasn't that large in 1936 if I remember my history correctly.
And for dramatic visual impact very little is as immediately identifiable as "German military" than a U-boat. This is, after all, still a straight up adventure movie.
This movie was the holy grail for me when I was a kid. I'd had ample opportunities to watch "Temple of Doom", and local television seemed to show "Last Crusade" every other week. But for some reason Raiders never used to pop up. Even my local video shop didn't have a copy (the bastards). I wanted to see it so badly it almost hurt. Twenty years later, I don't think I've watched it for a while. But I agree, it's thematically the strongest of the series (though personally I've got a bit of a soft spot for "The Last Cursade") and everybody concerned does a terrific job. Love Karen Allen as Marian as well, she's got excellent chemistry with Ford, they had a real Bogie/Becall thing going on there. If there's any one thing I think "Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull" did right it was brining her back. "Raiders" is a true classic. Iconic, even.