“We have top men working on it.”
“Who?”
“Top. Men.”
A brilliant ending that is both great homage and a classic moment in its own right. Frankly, Speilberg’s best moment in the director’s chair.
Stranger
At the time the movie came out, I had the incorrect belief that the Ark also contained the bones of Joseph and possibly others. So I used to think that the sand was partially crumbled bones (and the spirits were somehow associated with those). And I probably wasn’t the only one. (Joseph’s bones were carried in a second ark.)
If this was a common belief, then maybe some of the movie makers set it up that way. But that chances of Spielberg making a mistake like that has to be nearly 0. OTOH, it could be a “deliberate mistake” that movie/TV producers put in to conform to the legend rather than the reality.
Exactly.
You’re confusing Raiders with Ghostbusters. In Ghostbusters, Ray says “real wrath of God type stuff” to the mayor when describing the mass hysteria scenario.
And as a side note (if it matters to anyone), Indy himself calls the energy from the ark “the power of God,” not wrath, not that they are mutually exclusive, of course.
Fortunately, you don’t watch Raiders of the Lost Ark for just the end.
Besides, it’s not as though the Nazis were just going to say “Huh, wonder what ever happened of that island base we had. Oh well.” They’d send someone around, find the Ark and perhaps someone who could noodle out 2+2 and do a better job of “weaponizing” it. Instead, Indy gets the Ark into US hands where it’s (safely) warehoused.
Until the 1950s. 
There was a picture-book at the time that had some stuff not in the movie. I’ll try to get it later (it’s unreachable at moment) but it had something on the back of amulet about not looking. That’s how Indy knew to close his eyes.
I always thought the sand was the dust of those killed – they’re pretty much vaporized, and the lightning (or whatever it is) sort of swooshes back into the ark after it’s finished pulverizing. So, I assumed that it was an “ashes to ashes and dust to dust” thing where the ashes of those whom the ark had incinerated were sort of vacuumed into the ark.
[/QUOTE]
Ah! So this is the origin of the old “I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you” cliche!
Not to be sacrilegious or anything, but that bit of Exodus makes it sound like God doesn’t want you to look at his face, but he doesn’t mind if you look at his ass (“back parts”).
So you’re saying God is a butterface? 
Huh. I hadn’t heard that before, but it’s a nifty theory.
I think the Almighty probably also knew that the Nazis were no friends of his chosen people.
True, but then again, he’s friggin’ God. If he’s got a beef with the Nazis, couldn’t he just, you know, kill the Nazis? What’s he need the Ark for?
Yeah, what does God need with a spaceship?
(Sorry.)
And we have now successfully illustrated why a silly plot point can work in a well made movie, while look horrible in a poorly made movie.
Relevent excerpt from the Bible regarding why you are not supposed to be all casual around the ark:
And Uzzah didn’t even open it; he just touched it and was smoted.
Is that a Star Trek V reference?
Ha!
[sup]Damn, that was a bad movie.[/sup]
The Lord works in mysterious ways.
As Indy, in a bit of foreshadowing, learned to his regret not to put his faith in a bag of sand to prevent the Mayan tomb from attacking him.
Odd number. Not surprising.
Huh. Never looked at it that way.