The Escape from Hangar 51 occurred in 1957 when the American archaeologist, Indiana Jones broke free from the confined holding of the Russian Spetsnaz Forces.
Event chronology[]
After being held at gunpoint by the Russian Forces, and Indy's old colleague turns out to be a traitor he is ordered to drop the weapon in which he stole from a soldier with his Bullwhip. Immediately after dropping it, the rifle fired with the bullet hitting a trooper in the foot, the soldier accidentally fires his own weapon as a subsequent reaction sending bullets everywhere. With this distraction in progress the now alone American archaeologist sprinted down a small passage in-between the crates, uncoiling his whip in the process as the other Russians opened fire, hitting the crates and sending splinters of wood flying behind him.[1]
Indy swinging from the ceiling light in an attempt to board the jeep.
Jones began to climb the crates, then started running on top of them still under-fire from the Soviets until he threw his whip forward over his shoulder in a 'Flick' maneuver sending & lashing his bullwhip around a ceiling light, then swinging attempting to land on the recently departed jeep with Spalko driving. His feet barely missed the rear of the jeep, then he immediately gets swung back with momentum until the whip gave way, making him crash land through the windshield of a truck that was close behind. Now hijacking the truck, he accelerated until crashing into Spalkos jeep, this time succeeding to board it and threw her out. Now with the faster vehicle Jones crashed through a tall wall of stacked crates, before speeding off ultimately revealing that in a half-broken crate, remained the Ark of the Covenant, intact and in the same location after two decades.[1]
Ark of the Covenant, still contained after two decades.
Speeding down a stretch of the warehouse Jones noticed a military staff car fast approaching with Indy's recently departed friend inside, foreseeing the inevitable collision he stood up on the jeep, grabbing a low hanging ceiling light which launched him towards the wooden roof beams above. The two vehicles collided with Jones unharmed, he then began jumping from one roof beam to another, under-fire from the still pursuing Soviet Troops until the track of beams ended, having to grab a hanging pulley chain which resulted in him making his descent back to the floor.[1]
The moment of collision, with the Archaeologist visible after gaining a grip on the wooden roof beam in appreciation of the ceiling light.
At that moment Colonel Antonin Dovchenko speared the archaeologist through a set of double doors onto a glass skylight, which subsequently broke sending the pair into a secret hidden rocket sled launching facility chamber, landing on a suspended metallic mesh flooring, Jones kicked the Colonel off, making him grip onto a suspended chain. Indy grabbed a chain opposite, swinging and kicking the Soviet off, through a glass pane onto a panel in the launch control room. This began the launching mechanism...[1]
The American loses the upper hand as he is strung up with a chain.
Dovchenko now with a heavy chain wrapped around his hand & arm began an attempt to strike Jones with it, though failing each time. He does however succeed in catching and wrapping the chain round Indy's Boot, keeping him in place and repeatedly punching him. Soon enough he got Jones strung up by the neck via a come-along pulley system, choking the American and continuously beating him in the torso. As the Soviet got the upper hand, the blast doors at the rear and front opened, with the rear ones revealing a horde of Soviet Troops closing in with Mac following. As the countdown strikes 3, Jones booted the high-ranking trooper in the higher torso, which sent him flying back therefore making him release the come-along chain, allowing Indy to fall back on top of the rocket sled.[1]
Ignited rocket fuel is thrown onto the Soviets, incinerating them as Mac barely escapes.
The countdown hit 0, with the rocket sled igniting, the flames and propellant of the device engulfing the Soviet Troops directly behind the engine burning them alive. (Mac barely made it out, by stepping aside behind a concrete wall connected to the blast doors.) Just before launching, just as rugged and persistent as ever, Jones manages to unwrap the chain round his neck, preventing a possible death. The rocket sled accelerated at supersonic speeds through the tunnel ahead of the forward blast doors, making the large Russian lose consciousness. It came to an abrupt end in a water trap, rapidly slowing down the sled as Indy quickly departed grasping his fedora to avoid the responding Russian Forces in jeeps, therefore completing his escape. He would later stumble across a what he thought to be at the time, an inhabited town.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
- "(giving Mr. Spielberg the opportunity to stage the most breath-takingly outrageous near misses every[sic] put on film!)."
- ―Frank Darabont's notes for what became the Hangar 51 escape during early script development[src]
The Hangar 51 Escape sequence appeared in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.[1] The sequence originated from Frank Darabont's Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods script, one of the many screenplays considered for the fourth film. In Darabont's script, Indiana Jones was chased by Soviet agents led by Yuri Makovsky over the unnamed military hangar due to him catching them trying to smuggle uranium and a mystery package out of the United States of America. Darabont even added a note that it allowed director Steven Spielberg the opportunity to stage the most breath-takingly outrageous near misses ever put in film.[2]
In LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues, the escape doesn't involve too many cars. Instead, Indiana Jones and a Janitor try to escape with a jeep car before crashing and then facing Antonin Dovchenko, with Soviet soldiers only looking at their fight and not going after them into the rocket sled's chamber. In the portable versions, Indy and the Janitor just jump through the boxes while all Soviets shoot at them offscreen and then they fall into a tunnel that leads them to the rocket sled's skylight, where several Soviets fight them until Dovchenko breaks the skylight, with only Indy, the Janitor and Dovchenko falling into the rocket sled.[3]
Appearances[]
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull novel
- "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" - Indiana Jones: The Official Magazine
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull comic
- LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues (Non-canonical appearance)