Dear Johnny Fanboy,

While recently re-watching Raiders of the Lost Ark on DVD, I spotted a couple of nit-picks at the beginning of the movie.

Firstly, why does Indy run in front of the boulder so that it can chase him? If you look very carefully, you will see that all he had to do was take a few steps back in the direction he had come from and the boulder would have passed over his head. Indy is usually good at thinking on his feet in situations like this, so you'd think he would have spotted that.

Secondly, why, when escaping from the island in the plane, does Indy seem surprised that Jock, the pilot, has a snake in the aircraft? Jock says: "Oh, that's just my pet snake Reggie!" Didn't Indy arrive in the same plane (unseen by us)? If so, it would have been a little hard for Jock to hide the snake.

Yours,

Marc Covington

Johnny Fanboy replies:

In response to the boulder question, I think Indy runs ahead of the rock because he is afraid it may seal the tunnel and trap him in there forever.

In answer to your second question, maybe after dropping off Indy at the island, Jock returned home or visited the snake pound to pick up Reggie!

Or perhaps, while waiting for Indy to return from the tunnel, Jock noticed a snake slithering into his plane. "Hey there, Mr snake," said Jock, taking an instant liking to the reptile, "I'm gonna make you my pet. I think I'll call you Reggie!"

More seriously, perhaps Reggie remained unseen in the pilot's area of the plane during the journey out, and so Indy only noticed him when he slithered into the passenger area.

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