A Behind the scenes look at the Melting Face scene within Raiders of the Lost Arc NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED VIDEO IS INTENDED ONLY FOR RU-vid PURPOSES
Collapsible scared the shit out of me when I was a kid LOL and my family was like nothing to be scared of it was the power of God killing the nazis lol and I'm like uhh is this why the pastor at church says to fear god? LMAO I was terrified first time seeing this as a kid but later on after learning about the nazis I loved this scene
That’s really amazing 😮 on how they use the red gelatin to look like there is blood just melting away and they use the makeup to cover the face to use for this scene
What always struck me was the look of suspicion that he gives it right before it before it changes. The other characters are saying, "It's beautiful!" but he's such a sadistic, hateful character that he reacts to beauty with mistrust.
When I watched this scene as a kid, I was so terrified that I cried brushing my teeth having that horrible memory in my head, they really did a great job
haha you aren't alone, that was pretty rough for a kid 🙄 I avoided this movie so much. in fact, all the indiana jones movies traumatized me. that shit was no joke!
For me it's not so much the actual effect, it's the moment it represents in the movie. This is the first time these characters, who had been so ruthless and in control show complete and utter fear and horror. The build up of Tohte during the movie then seeing him scream like that shows just how powerful the ark is and how massively they underestimated it
_Raiders of the Lost Ark_ is nearly a perfect movie. A virtual perfect storm of story, actors, director, effects and John Williams incredible musical score. I've seen this movie over a hundred times and it still delivers.
I remember recreating this as a kid, when I was about 7 or 8. I used a red cloth spider man mask for the meaty face, with big white mushrooms for the eyes, fake teeth, and one of my dad’s hats. I thought the resulting photo was hilarious. Hope I can find it again some day. That shot in the film is definitely one of the best ever! So awesome!
I always thought the Dietrich shot looked hokey. It could have been done a lot better. I do love the amount of detail they put into Toht's gelatin sculpt, right down to the overbite and the big teeth.
Thanks, FRPowerSlave! Yeah, as great as Toht's melting head is, especially once you know how much fine-tuning went into it, ever since I first saw the film in '81, I've found Dietrich's collapsing/stretching head to be a much more horrific image. If you pause it, it does look pretty hokey, and much faker than the Toht head, but that imploding motion is just so freaky-looking, and as that oddly unattributed quote rightly points out, Lucas (note all credited editors on the film are "assistants" or "apprentices") edited it perfectly. Another thing that helps is how well Wolf Kahler sells the lead-in to the head-shrink-it really looks like something unimaginably horrible is happening to him, much moreso than than the more garden-variety terror that Lacey and Freeman display. He emotes extreme, unhinged fear and torment so well he's like Don Bluth's Dirk the Daring IRL.
That was my favorite death not tout's death I love how the head just shrunk now in the storyboards Dietrich's skull was hollowed out by the fire and caved in when the fire spread shrinking the head. I think when you pause right before Dietrich's head shrinks it does look pretty fake but I always liked to think of his head already beginning to shrink right right before they cut to his head fully shrinking.
Every time I see this scene what scares me about it is how the eyes roll back until they are both completely white, like snowballs. Still awesome! 😨😉🎺🐼.
Yeah, it's amazing how much more horrific that one element makes both the Toht and Dietrich head gags. That was crappy that in the recreation they didn't resculpt the eyes to be open.
I think this demonstrates that the best and most realistic effects can still be achieved without computers. I was 15 when I saw this in the theater and its still one of my most favorite scenes! Hats off to the very dedicated actor who played Toht, Ronald Lacey. He was in very poor health throughout the filming. RIP
I think the most realistic effects are done with computers (see Avatar 2), but most movies don't have the financial or time budget to make those effects look their best. That's when optical/physical or hybrid effects really shine because even if they are less perfect, our minds are tricked by their physically based nature. Hence the success of stop motion animation.
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I am with what Chris Walas said at the end of this interview, sometimes it's best to combine both.
This scene scared me as a kid (like many others in here I see). The intense music and my dad shouting "don't look!" during it didn't help the situation either. ^^'
Yep. It sure is. I was watching the movie until I annotated a cruel punishment the Nazis deserved for questioning the Lord. I read about it from the bible with my father in Sunday school class and took a lot of notes.
Susie Towers and unfortunately film makers these days are too lazy to do it the old school way and would rather use a computer to cut out the work for them and in turn we get a movie with shitty effects. Wish movies would be made like they used too be.
Austin Jones i wish i had friends who could appreciate old school practical as much as you guys. But no, most my friends completely bash practical effects for "not looking real enough" which is totally bizarre.
LOL I'm roasting hot dogs in my oven as I'm watching this clip. I usually cook them on the side of "over done." Too bad I don't have some cheese to recreate an evil Nazi frankfurter meeting his end.
Arioch IV Not really a “teleport”. Think about it. Your nose and ears are what hold your glasses up on your face. If the nose and ears are melting quickly, the glasses would do a quick drop.
I think today, as the FX creator said, they would have computer corrected that. But for the early 1980s, it was a pretty awesome effect, flaws and all.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Seriously! This scene tramatized me for life! It wasn't til I was in my 30s that I found THIS video and thought how awesome that scene was!
Arguably one of the best special effects moments in movie history. Also from that era, I really liked the mirror scene from Poltergeist (where he starts peeling his face off). Hooray movie magic!
I was in 4th grade when I first saw the face melting part in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. And it DID NOT scare me at all, I really loved it a lot like you can’t ever imagine how.
GingeyRe What about the recent Planet of the Apes Trilogy or Avatar or Davey Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean or even Jurassic Park? Those are regarded as having some of the best CGI in cinema. Or are we gonna forget those and play the ignorant card?
@@corban7503 He has a good point. Most supporters of practical effects usually hunt down shitty CGI movies to support their bias, despite the numerous amounts of movies that actually do good with their CGI.
The melting head was an outstandig visual effect at that time. But the female ghost turning into the angel of death scared me so much more when I saw the move for the first time as a kid
As soon as he said that if someone wanted to do that effect today that they should enhance it with digital effects my eyes rolled harder than the boulder at the beginning of the movie.
This effect could almost certainly be done entirely in CG today, but to be able to do this so effectively back over 40 years ago just shows how talented these guys really were/are.
1:07 "It's pretty gory, pretty gross but... I LOVE THAT EFFECT!!! :D " it's exactly how I felt when I watched this for the first time as a kid. It didn't gave me nightmares I just LOVED IT SO MUCH!!!!
@@dan_hitchman007 That's more or less Toht(Ron Lacey) seeing an actual angel turn into the grim reaper in the movie. Toht is literally scared shitless in that scene. To see an actual angel turn into the reaper before your eyes..... Imagine if that was possible, just HOW nightmarishly terrifying it would be
1:10: Who wouldn’t? I think Steven Spielberg is a total legend; he is probably my favourite director. ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ is my favourite film of all time and Harrison Ford is probably my favourite actor. Everybody involved with and who have connections to my favourite film have my utmost credit and respect. I would love to meet Spielberg.
Thankfully I didn't get nightmares compared to the sacrifices heart in Temple of Doom, but it did make me cry lol. I was praying for people to do good and not end that way. I do not like computer animation except for Jurrasic Park films but I still prefer real if possible. They are also designing things to where you don't need actors basically 😕
No CGI, regardless of how good it is, can come class to good practical effects. Interstellar had little CGI and no green screens. On my channel I show the behind the scenes. Practical effects are amazing.
I'd like to put up practical effects and modeling, and then smooth some edges and cut out unwanted outcomes if everything else is perfect. Everyone spams greenscreens now. EDIT: I'd pretty much only use greenscreen for inside starships, starfighters, and stuff, because it's easier to do that, but every other situation is unnecessary
Can you remove someone's intestines or seperate the torso from the pelvis with practical effects? CGI can still create gore effects that can't be done with practical effects without *actually* committing murder
Actually, you can do both those things. There is a scene from Dawn of the dead where someone is ripped in half, and the chest-burster scene from alian. I have seen many zombies with there guts pulled out. You just need a body cast, and stick your head on top, using prosthetics to blend the neck.
My parents took me and my brothers to see this during its opening run. I was freaked out, but somehow internalized it. Suddenly after that, the frequency of taking the family to the Movie theater dropped DRASTICALLY.
Let's just take a moment and realize that Indiana Jones didn't have to be a part of this movie. The Nazis would have found the ark and the same outcome would have happened. The end
If you watch 1960's big action movies like Khartoum, with lots of cavalry charges, all the horses fall over exactly the same way. They trained them consistently to fall in a way to avoid injuries. Before that, they actually put trip wires in the ground and horses and stuntmen were flung all over the place in random ways, breaking bones. They put down a lot of horses from those really old films. The cost of making a film in the mind of production.
I remember about 12 or 13 years ago showing this movie to my mother's friends son who was 6 or 7 at the time and I told him about this scene and he was so nervous that the shot was gonna scare him when it showed up. I assured him it wouldn't since I had seen the movie since about his age or younger and was never scared by the shot. The scene comes and what does he say?? 'That's not scary!' Haha nonetheless an iconic moment from an classic movie! Great behind the scenes video!
Loved that effect my entire life. As a kid, I didn’t question it - it was wrath of god - simple as that. But, when I grew up, and saw some behind the scenes on other special effects, this one scene stood front and centre in my mind under the heading of “how on earth?”
I know this kind of isn’t related to this subject but doesn’t Marion’s theme song sound like leia’s theme song (i know that John Williams was the conductor of both Star Wars and Indiana Jones ) so just putting it out there
Why does the eyes not melt though? That has always been my question. In skinless skulls the eyes are the only infinite part. Makes no sense since they are jellatinous.
I can see the writer of this movie knew his scripture from Tanakh as the words written speak of men's faces being burnt off and tongues boiling. All of these also are connected with a nuclear detonation.
Also, in the Old Testament, in 1 Samuel 6, we read about the incident that probably was the inspiration for this scene, where the Philistines opened the ark, and either dozens or thousands of men were killed.
Never been a fan of CGI for all its benefits. That's why I love films like this. The original Star Wars falls into the same category. Somehow 'real' stuff just feels more, well....real!.
Josh Sharpe well unfortunately they don't listen to the fans of what they like and want to see. They get this notion that somehow the computer is gonna make it more realistic and somehow exceed a practical effect and be cheaper, however, in the end you get a cheaper shitty looking effect on screen. They think by using computers they'll get a better more realistic look and save a lot of money but fail to realize that their movie would most likely sell better if they used practical effects mixed with a hint of CGI to enhance the effect rather than go full CGI.
@@klankfanclub3152 Yeah, I totally agree. See for example what happened with The Thing prequel-sequel. First original The Thing, wonderful movie with unbeaten practical effect. Sequel (which it's actually a prequel) had too much CGI, although the guys did a lot of practical animatronic effects, but the CGI buried them or replaced them completely, and some scenes look too fake. It's a shame since in my opinion that movie is overall quite good, capturing a lot of the original movie vibe.
Yo... These sort of videos make me wanna get into acting, help with the behind the scenes and make a movie magical! I have always wanted to do something like that!
The glasses drop doesn't bother me...I saw it first run, and was BLOWN away...I consider it to be THE perfect movie...first run in the theatre I thought it was over once they were on the boat with the ark in the crate and having the romantic interlude. I thought it was over! It would have been great right there...then, a submarine! Then a secret base! Then the ark opened! Then the end back home!! What a freaking great movie...the glasses? Yeah they dropped fast...never bothered me...best movie ever....
Toht was a very cynical man. When they opened the Ark and found nothing but sand, he started cracking up like it was hilarious. And let's face it... after all they went through to find the thing, it really was.
This has got to be one of the best “0 to 100 real quick” moments in all of cinema. Remember, up until this point absolutely nothing supernatural or “other-worldly” happened in the film. Yeah, there were a couple lines about ancient power and God at the beginning of the movie, but aside from the box the Ark was in becoming charred, there was nothing extreme happening - it was a pretty straightforward (but good) adventure movie. Then all of a sudden in a matter of a 3-minute scene you have ghosts killing Nazis, people’s faces melting off, and someone’s head actually explodes. I can only imagine sitting in the movie theater during 1981, seeing this for the first time, and going “What the fuck just happened?!”
