You know what I never understood about that movie? We have this long adventure and journey to find the ark, but Indy told Marion to not look at it, they had to keep their eyes shut. How did Indy expect to open and study the ark himself, if you experience death of you look at it??
Welding shield
Indy really could tread water.
Maybe it only did it to Nazis.
Amy Farrah Fowler pointed out:
Indiana Jones plays no role in the outcome of the story. If he werent in the film, it would turn out exactly the same If he werent in the movie, the Nazis would still have found the Ark, taken it to the island, opened it up, and all died, just like they did.
Here’s a decent rebuttal:
Once it becomes inevitable that the Ark should be removed from its resting place, the only suitable ending is for it to wind up in another resting place where it will never again be disturbed. And it never would have made it to the unnamed warehouse without the efforts of the redoubtable Dr. Jones.
Source: http://ordinary-gentlemen.com/2013/10/19/the-big-bang-theory-gets-it-wrong/
stop introducing logic into movies. What’s wrong with you? LOL
It’s only when the ark is opened that they needed to keep their eyes shut. Once the ark was closed it was ok to look at the outside again.
Else as soon as they found it they would have died. Same after they were freed. So doors open, eyes shut; doors closed, eyes open.
Studying the outside alone would have been sufficient for Indy I think - he just wanted to be the one who found it more than anything.
I don’t think he wanted to open it...he just wanted to take it back to his University for display.
It could only be opened by the pure of heart, much like the Chalice.