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Movie · Action · 1981 · PG

Raiders of the Lost Ark: parents' guide

11+our pick

Best for ages 11 and up. Rated PG.

A classic adventure serial that thrills most tweens, though its scariest moments can shake younger kids. Archaeologist Indiana Jones races the Nazis to the Ark of the Covenant through fistfights, chases, booby traps, a pit of snakes and a swarm of spiders, and plenty of henchmen die, one with a spray of blood when he meets a plane propeller. The finale, in which spirits pour out of the Ark and villains' faces melt, is the big shock. A monkey is poisoned, and there is drinking and a little swearing, including one s-word. Rated PG before PG-13 existed, it plays more like a modern PG-13, which is why we suggest 11.

What's in it

Violence

Moderate

Frequent fistfights, whippings, sword and gunfights with a high body count. A mechanic dies under a spinning propeller as blood spatters, a rival is found impaled on spikes, and one man is shot at point-blank range.

Language

Moderate

Light overall: one s-word, plus "bastard," "b--ch," "damn," "hell" and a handful of misuses of God's name.

Sex and nudity

Mild

Indy and Marion flirt and kiss several times, and a later scene with them waking in his bed hints they spent the night together. A captor watches Marion change clothes, and her bare back is shown.

Drinking, drugs and smoking

Moderate

Marion wins a drinking contest by downing shot after shot, and Indy drinks heavily after a loss. People drink throughout, and characters smoke cigarettes, cigars and a hookah.

Scary or intense scenes

Strong

Snakes, spiders, rotting corpses and deadly traps deliver many jolts. In the climax, ghostly spirits rise from the Ark and villains' faces melt and one head bursts on screen, images that can badly scare young children.

Sensitive topics

  • Animal death

Worth talking about

Indy and his rivals treat ancient treasures as prizes to grab. Who should own artifacts from other cultures, and how well do the film's portrayals of local people in Peru and Egypt hold up today?

Where to stream →

On our lists

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Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, bbfc.co.uk, the MPA. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.