Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, Paramount Pictures) is arguably the most defining treasure-hunting, adventure flick in the franchise, if not the entire movie industry. In the movie, the boulder scene was perhaps the most iconic. So much so that it inspires a thrill ride in Disneyland which I personally enjoyed. Clearly, I am kind of a fan and when someone recreated the iconic boulder scene from the first Indiana Jones movie out of LEGO, I was absolutely thrilled.
Meet the custom LEGO Indiana Jones Boulder Scene created by young LEGO enthusiast Caleb Watson. Watson has recreated the entire boulder scene, starting from when Jones grabbed the idol to dodging the booby trap arrows to the boulder chase scene – all in a massive custom LEGO creation that stretches 102 inches (8’ 6”, or 2.56 meters) long and weighs in at a hefty 50 lbs (23 kg).
Mind you, Watson’s custom LEGO Indiana Jones Boulder Scene, which he named Raiders of the Lost Idol, is no static piece. It packs some pretty insane LEGO engineering in it, including a complex conveyor and stepper system that continuously recycle two LEGO element boulders to replay the boulder scene. All told, Caleb Watson’s Raiders of the Lost Idol is powered by 6 LEGO motors and 4 LEGO battery packs, and stars no less than 10 LEGO minifigures, including multiple Indiana Jones.
It took Watson over 300 hours in a year to complete. Man, that’s one LEGO work of art that can only describe as the next level of LEGO engineering and one that requires utmost dedication. We salute Caleb Watson for this amazing LEGO creation. Watson’s Raiders of the Lost Idol was showcased at BrickCon 2018 held between October 06 and 07 in Seattle where Beyond the Brick’s Joshua Hanlon had the opportunity to interview the man responsible for this fabulous creation.
You can catch the interview in the video embedded below.
Fun fact: the sound of the boulder crashing down in the movie was actually sound designer Ben Burtt’s Honda Civic going over some rocks.
Images: YouTube (Beyond the Brick).
