preguntas frecuentes for
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

The character Alfred Molina plays is named Satipo in the script, credits, and novelisation. While it's true that "sapito" is Spanish for "little toad," it appears to have just been a mispronounciation made on Harrison Ford's part. If you prefer to see it as a final insult from Indy, that works too.

Another common opinion is that Indy actually says "Adios, stupido!" (bye, stupid!) which would explain the context and the sarcastic atmosphere of the scene.

It seems the Ark is put into storage, the government's answer to any problem of this "sort". It seems an enormous warehouse has been allocated for the use of placing objects that cannot be used and/or destroyed. The Ark becomes one of many artifacts that are just left with the hope that nobody ever finds them.

The final scene was also meant as an homage to the final scene of Citizen Kane (where Kane's property ended up being stacked into boxes throughout his house).

Most likely this will be answered as images from the trailer for the fourth installment, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, show Indy and company wreaking havoc in the warehouse where the Ark was last seen suggesting it is of importance in the next movie. In the movie's trailer, a wooden crate, similar to the one the Ark was in, is marked "Roswell"

There is no real explantion for this, and Indy puts it best when he describes it as the "power of God... or something". The face of a woman is clearly seen and this could be anything from a biblical reference to a trapped spirit within. Whatever it is, it has enough power to destroy anything that is brave enough to look at it. The contents of the Ark could also be viewed as God's wrath and his punishment for anybody daring to abuse the Ark and its supposed power. It should be noted, however, that the Ark of the Covenant is a symbol for the God of the Old Testament as opposed to the God of the New Testament. God, as he appears in the Old Testament, is a much less abstract entity than the christian God people worship nowadays. He controlled the weather and could bring natural disasters. Being an old animistic semitic deity this God would burn his enemies with lightning and fire, send them the plague or eradicate them with earthquakes. It is quite possible that the spirits emerging from the Ark are angels sent by this God, like, for example, the Angel of Death who committed the massacre of Egypt's firstborn (Exodus 11:1 - 12:36). Another hint is the giant darting flame that ends the scene which is quite reminiscent of the column of smoke (daytime) and the column of fire (nighttime) which lead Moses and the Israelites through the desert. Interestingly, this was about the same time that the Ark of the Covenant is supposed to have been built.

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The above is not exactly a correct portrayal of the God of the Old and New Testament. But in the film, basically what came out of the Ark is what was mentioned in the beginning of the film: the glory and wrath of God. In the Old Testament, the Ark held the presence of God. It was so full of power that people have died just touching it, and enemies have stolen it to win battles. But like the Nazis in the film, the enemies in the Bible eventually came to justice.

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In the original script, the punishment that came from the Ark was that a blinding light came out of the Ark, turning the Nazis to salt and ash. Though a description of the beings is not found in the script, Steven Spielberg referred to them as "ghosts" in his commentary on the Making of Indiana Jones. Concept art listed them as "scorned spirits."

There is a deleted scene in which you see Indy holding on to the periscope, which is sticking out of the water.

Also early submarines generally travelled the oceans on the surface of the water under diesel power, which requires access to the air for inlets to the engines. They could only travel short distances under water as this required electric propulsion and the battery power of the submarine did not last very long.

---------------------------------- In the novelization, Indy lashed himself to the periscope with his bullwhip and rode/dozed through 20 frigid hours in oceanic water. Either way, we are left to assume that Indiana remained on the exterior of the submarine and that it never fully submerged.

It is the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol, a sacred object that the Hovitos protect.