'Raiders of the Lost Ark' turns 40: How the classic film inspired J.J. Abrams, Zack Snyder and more

Yahoo Entertainment
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This year, Raiders of the Lost Ark turns 40 years old. The classic film inspired a whole genre of adventure films and Yahoo Entertainment recently asked several filmmakers (J.J. Abrams, Zack Snyder, and more) how it affected them and their own work.

Watch the full video interview above.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

JJ ABRAMS: It's one of the great movies ever. And getting to know the man behind that movie has been a thrill of a lifetime for me, becoming friends with Steven. But that movie is just so beautifully and perfectly done. And talk about a classic movie. That's just one of the greats. 40 years. Holy crap. That's insane.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN: I mean, I've had a few moments where-- Star Wars was one-- and then that was the one, I think, that I was like, that feeling I just had, that's what I'm going to do. I don't care if I'm flipping burgers somewhere, I'm going to do that in my spare time. I'm going to be doing that for my life. I don't know if I'm going to get paid for it, but I'm going to do that.

ZACK SNYDER: That was a seminal movie for me. I'm sure everybody says that. It just locked in, for me, this notion that the movies were a magical and impossible place. That anything could happen.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

KATE HERRON: I've dressed up as Indiana Jones so many times by this point I've lost count. I don't know, it was fun. It's the perfect Saturday kind of movie outing. It's escapist. And the thing I love about the film is I loved the escapism of it when I first saw it. But then when I started filmmaking, it was like, oh, how did they do that, and how did they do that?

ZACK SNYDER: The thing about it I remember, even when I saw it as a child, was how specific it was to its world, right? In that way it was transformative. It's not like a sci-fi movie in the sense that it takes place at a certain time period. There's Nazis in it. It's a period piece. It's just this perfect blend.

M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN: I don't know why, I'm always repeating the kadam one where he tells what the transcript is on the other thing. It says, but take back one kadam to honor the Hebrew God whose Ark this is. Whenever he does that, it's so dramatic that they know where the Ark's hidden.

- And take back one kadam to honor the Hebrew God whose Ark this is.

- Do you have a favorite scene that you just love from that movie?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

KATE HERRON: I think, honestly, the opening. I know that it's such a cliche thing.

ZACK SNYDER: The match cut from the Paramount mountain to the actual mountain.

M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN: And then the logo for the mountain for "Raiders of the Lost Ark" comes on. I mean forget about it, it's over. I'm in the cult. That's the cult I'm in.

SAM LEVINSON: Actually, when Soderbergh did that release where he put "Raiders" out but in black and white, that I watched. And that blew my mind, because I was just watching it for it's shot construction, and you realize the true brilliance of that film.

M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN: That moment of me seeing that movie, it was in the Narberth Theater. I was on the right hand side. I was on the aisle. And I couldn't sit next to my friend, and I was sitting with an older couple. In my mind that couple was ancient, but they were probably 15 years younger than I am now. But they were sitting next to me and they got me popcorn. And again, that was much more innocent times. Today you would be like, oh, they're trying to drug me. But back then it was like, they were just super sweet. They saw a scared little Indian kid sitting by himself and they gave him popcorn and said, here, we got this for you.

- Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?