Claim: Indiana Jones has been played by Harrison Ford.

Raiders of the Lost Ark -LRB- also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark -RRB- is a 1981 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg , with a screenplay written by Lawrence Kasdan , from a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman . It was produced by Frank Marshall for Lucasfilm Ltd. , with Lucas and Howard Kazanjian as executive producers . Starring Harrison Ford , it was the first installment in the Indiana Jones film franchise to be released , though it is the second in internal chronological order . It pits Indiana Jones -LRB- Ford -RRB- against a group of Nazis who are searching for the Ark of the Covenant , which Adolf Hitler believes will make his army invincible . The film co-stars Karen Allen as Indiana 's former lover , Marion Ravenwood ; Paul Freeman as Indiana 's nemesis , French archaeologist René Belloq ; John Rhys-Davies as Indiana 's sidekick , Sallah ; Ronald Lacey as Gestapo agent Arnold Toht ; and Denholm Elliott as Indiana 's colleague , Marcus Brody .   The film originated from Lucas ' desire to create a modern version of the serials of the 1930s and 1940s . Production was based at Elstree Studios , England ; but filming also took place in La Rochelle , France , Tunisia , Hawaii , and California from June to September 1980 .   Released on June 12 , 1981 , Raiders of the Lost Ark became the year 's top-grossing film and remains one of the highest-grossing films ever made . It was nominated for eight Academy Awards in 1982 , including Best Picture , and won four for Best Art Direction , Film Editing , Sound , and Visual Effects with a fifth Academy Award : a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing . The film 's critical and popular success led to three additional films , Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom -LRB- 1984 -RRB- , Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -LRB- 1989 -RRB- , and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull -LRB- 2008 -RRB- , with a fifth slated for 2020 ; the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles -LRB- 1992 -- 1996 -RRB- , and 15 video games as of 2009 . In 1999 , the film was included in the U.S. Library of Congress ' National Film Registry as having been deemed `` culturally , historically , or aesthetically significant '' .   Raiders of the Lost Ark is often ranked as one of the greatest films of all time , both in the action-adventure genre , and in general . The film also ranks # 2 on Empire 's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time .