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50 free Raiders of the Lost Ark trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
48 free Raiders of the Lost Ark trivia questions with answers. This Raiders of the Lost Ark trivia quiz digs through the 1981 film from the Peruvian temple to the government warehouse: the plot and characters, how George Lucas and Steven Spielberg cooked it up on a Hawaiian beach, the casting near-misses (Tom Selleck, Danny DeVito, Klaus Kinski), the shoot in France, Tunisia and Hawaii, the stunts and effects behind the boulder, the truck chase and Toht's melting face, John Williams's march, the box office and the Oscars, and the kids in Mississippi who remade the whole thing shot for shot. It opens with questions anyone who has seen the film can answer and builds to production details for people who own the making-of documentary. There is a short tail of questions on the wider Indiana Jones series, but the film itself is the subject. Every answer has been checked against a reference source, and each question shows its explanation and citation once you have answered. Play the full set for a shareable score, then see how a friend does.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In what year is Raiders of the Lost Ark set?
1936
That places it three years before Last Crusade and a year after Temple of Doom, which was made second but set first.
Q 02What does Indiana Jones grab from the booby-trapped temple in the film's opening sequence?
A golden idol
The idol was modelled on a real Aztec-style birthing figure, and Belloq takes it off him minutes later.
Q 03The opening temple is in which country?
Peru
The jungle exteriors were actually shot on Kauai in Hawaii, with Kalalea Mountain standing in for the Andes.
Q 04Which rival archaeologist takes the idol from Indy and later opens the Ark for the Nazis?
René Belloq
Paul Freeman played him; during one scene a fly crawled onto his lip mid-line and he simply kept talking.
Q 05The Nazis are excavating for the Ark of the Covenant at which ancient Egyptian city?
Tanis
The real Tanis was a Nile-delta capital; the film's version was built in the Tunisian desert.
Q 06In which country does Indy find Marion Ravenwood running a bar?
Nepal
The bar was a set at Elstree Studios in England, and Karen Allen's drinking-contest introduction became her signature scene.
Q 07What does the Gestapo agent Toht end up with burned into the palm of his hand?
The medallion's image
The Nazis build their Staff of Ra from that scorched half of the design and dig in the wrong place because of it.
Q 08The Ark's resting place beneath Tanis, crawling with snakes, is called what?
The Well of Souls
The production asked snake handlers around Europe for reptiles and ended up with thousands, plus one cobra kept behind glass.
Q 09What does the Nazis' French archaeologist find inside the Ark when he opens it on the island?
Only sand
Then the spirits arrive; the puppets were shot suspended in a clouded water tank against blue screen.
Q 10How do Indy and Marion survive the opening of the Ark?
They keep their eyes shut
A 2013 Big Bang Theory episode argued this proves Indy is irrelevant to the plot: the Nazis would have died opening it anyway.
Q 11At the end, the Army Intelligence agents say the Ark is being studied by whom?
Top men
The final shot of the crate lost among thousands of others is one of the most parodied images in film.
Q 12Who directed Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Steven Spielberg
Lucas came up with the story and produced; the beach conversation where he pitched it happened just after Star Wars opened.
Q 13Who wrote the screenplay for Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Lawrence Kasdan
He had been a professional screenwriter for about a month when Lucas hired him, and went straight on to The Empire Strikes Back.
Q 21Which sitcom kept Danny DeVito from playing Sallah?
Taxi
John Rhys-Davies took the part and returned for Last Crusade and Dial of Destiny.
Q 22Which notoriously volatile German actor turned down the role of Toht for a better-paying horror film?
Klaus Kinski
He chose Venom instead; Ronald Lacey got the part and the gelatin face.
Q 23Which future Doctor Octopus made his film debut as Indy's treacherous guide Satipo?
Alfred Molina
The tarantulas on his back refused to move because they were placid males, so the wranglers swapped in a female to stir them.
Q 14When Lucas pitched the idea on a Hawaiian beach, what did Spielberg say he wanted to direct next?
A James Bond picture
Lucas's answer was that he had something better than Bond, and pitched The Adventures of Indiana Smith.
Q 15Lucas named his archaeologist hero after what?
His dog
The Alaskan Malamute also inspired Chewbacca; Last Crusade later worked the dog joke into the script.
Q 16What was the hero's surname before Spielberg objected to it?
Smith
Spielberg thought it sounded like a Steve McQueen character, so the three men settled on Jones.
Q 17Which writer-director, credited on the story, suggested making the Ark of the Covenant the film's goal?
Philip Kaufman
He also stripped out Lucas's idea of the hero as a nightclub-hopping womaniser.
Q 18Which actor was originally cast as Indiana Jones but was tied to a TV series?
Tom Selleck
The pilot he had shot was picked up as Magnum, P.I., and Ford was hired only weeks before cameras rolled.
Q 19Why was Lucas hesitant to cast his eventual leading man?
He had just been in Star Wars
Ford's eventual deal gave him a seven-figure fee, a slice of the gross and the right to rewrite his own dialogue.
Q 20Spielberg noticed Karen Allen for Marion because of her role in which 1978 comedy?
Animal House
Sean Young, Barbara Hershey and Stephanie Zimbalist were also discussed, and Lucas wanted Debra Winger.
Q 24Which actor plays museum curator Marcus Brody, Indy's loyal friend?
Denholm Elliott
The character became comic relief in Last Crusade, getting lost in his own museum.
Q 25The Paramount studio logo dissolves into a real mountain at the start of the film. Where is that peak?
Kauai, Hawaii
The match was Spielberg's on-set improvisation and became a running gag in every sequel.
Q 26Principal photography began in June 1980 in which French port, for the U-boat scenes?
La Rochelle
The submarine was borrowed from the production of Das Boot on condition it never went into deep water.
Q 27Which country stood in for Egypt during filming?
Tunisia
The Cairo streets were shot in Kairouan, in heat that often topped 130°F, and over 150 crew caught amoebic dysentery.
Q 28Why was the elaborate whip-versus-sword fight in the Cairo market cut down to a single gunshot?
Ford had dysentery
Stuntman Terry Richards had rehearsed for weeks; the shortcut became the most quoted moment in the film.
Q 29The rolling boulder was built from fibreglass, plaster and wood. How wide was the finished prop?
22 feet
The original design called for 65 feet; even at a third of that, Ford outran it for ten takes.
Q 30Sound designer Ben Burtt made the boulder's rumble by recording what?
A Honda Civic on a gravel hill
The snake slither was his hands in cheese casserole plus wet sponges dragged over grip tape.