The Basket Game

The Basket Game is a piece from John Williams' score for ''Raiders of the Lost Ark. It is often cited as being a perfect combination of both danger and humor, reflecting the feeling of the movie itself (a feeling Williams seems to have later referenced in The Snake Pit, from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'').

The piece begins with a minor chord, as several masked swordsmen step out to confront Indy and Marion at in a Cairo marketplace. It takes on a general Arabic flavor, as well as a frenzied sound, mostly carried by wind instruments. The music raised to a foreign-sounding grand crescendo when the Arab Swordsman appears and challenges Indy, then gives a single, comical high note after Indy shoots him. This section of the piece is quoted in the track The Sword Trick from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, in a similar situation that finds Indy confronting two swordsmen.

Marion's Theme is heard in the wake of the explosion Indy believes to have killed Marion, first as a shrill lament, and then as a quiet memory accompanying Indy in the bar as he tries to drink away his sorrow.

Several sour minor chords follow just before the piece's end, as Belloq and his men show up.