Am I the only one who's noticed that, for the first half of the film in particular, that there are uncanny similarities between the two films? Below are some that I've picked out (oh, and major spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen Raiders of the Lost Ark).

1) Both films start with the protagonist stealing something valuable in a scene which isn't directly linked to the main plot - Cobb extracting from Saito, and Indy stealing the Idol. In both cases, the two are ultimately betrayed (Nash with Cobb, and Satipo with Indy), and the main characters find themselves running for their lives in a collapsing structure.

2) Both of the main characters return to the colledge where their step fathers work (both characters, Miles for Inception and Brody for RotLA are played by veteran British actors), and, soon after, pick up their first sidekick for the job - Ariadne in Inception, Marion in RotLA.

3) After this, both of the main characters travel to an African city to pick up their second sidekick (second and third, in Inception's case). With Indiana Jones, he picks up Sallah, and Inception, he obviously gets Eames and Yusuf. In both scenes, there is a brief chase through the city.

One other thing - both villains are French (though Mal isn't exactly a villain). I'm not saying that Inception rips off RotLA, though, they're both my favourite films.

Inception has really much elements from other movies too.That's why some critics say "Inception is a movie about making movies itself" and i founded out thats true.

When the team sits and discusses how they are going to plant the idea at fischer,it's like they are reading a script.

raiders ofthe lost ark? i noticed elements of eternal sunshine of the spotless mind & the matrix but never had raiders of the lost ark come to mind. interesting.

thenextnolan wrote:raiders ofthe lost ark? i noticed elements of eternal sunshine of the spotless mind & the matrix but never had raiders of the lost ark come to mind. interesting.

Not so much in concept, but in content and structure - I read in an interview that Nolan wanted it to be like a Bond or Indiana Jones film, and I'm starting to see how similar they are.

Hey guys, first post ever. Nolan, along with George Carlin is a genius that I follow intently. I'm also a lifelong bat-fan, so no trolling from me...anyways, I also noticed influences from the Indy trilogy, particularly in ROTLA. Nolan stated he had many influences on this film so it got me thinking, and Inception seems to share a serial taste that the Indy films have, especially in the beginnings of each. Good points on the similarities everyone, very interesting. I also noticed that the "pointer scene" in Raiders when Indy, Brody and the govt types talk about the ark is very similar to the "last job" scene with Michael Caine, at least in tone and within the structure of the film. That seemingly impossible goal, be it the ark of the covenant or "going home", practically whispered to respective mentors from each protagonist. Also, each man lives the life of a thief and not as Speilberg said a perfect dudly do-right. More than anything, Inception feels like a metaphysical Indy movie. Bond, Blade Runner, and Philip K. Dick all come to mind, but as Nolan said there are many influences and we can find them if we look. Though of course, there's nothing quite like it.

christophmac wrote: 2) Both of the main characters return to the colledge where their step fathers work (both characters, Miles for Inception and Brody for RotLA are played by veteran British actors), and, soon after, pick up their first sidekick for the job - Ariadne in Inception, Marion in RotLA.

Interesting idea. However, I must point out that in Raiders, Brody is not Indy's step father, nor his father-in-law... Marcus Brody is not Marion Ravenwood's father. Still you did pick up on some structural similarities.

Hi all,

Tonight, I just finished watching Inception for the first time.
I thought there were several scenes that were too similar to Indiana Jones and got onto the interwebz to see what other people had discussed.

The classroom scene with the chalk diagram in the background (how many times have I now seen this in movies other than RotLA?!?), and the recruiting of the Yusuf and the other guy in the Morocco (I believe that was the city).

I wasn't too keen to see Nolan use these homages scenes in the film because it felt so blatant.
The OP mentions the opening scene being similar to the Indiana Jones film. I hadn't thought of that, but agree with the similarities (temple/dream crumbling all around the hero).


Anyway, I'm surprised more move fans haven't made a bigger fuss about these similarities, or perhaps they have on other forums or in Amazon reviews?


Thanks for your time.

As a big fan of Raiders, this comparison ... I don't see anything

Now that I've read this thread, it makes a lot of sense. You would not have though about this during the movie unless a major RLA fan. The comparisons make a lot of sense.

good observation, buddy...