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Raiders Of The Lost Ark -- Indiana Jones' Nazi Rival Was Almost ... A Cyborg?
Indiana Jones has vanquished a number of foes over the years -- Soviet agents, bloodthirsty cultists, multiple states' statutory rape laws. But his greatest adversary has always been the Nazis (he hates those guys). One particularly memorable member of Hitler's gang is Major Arnold Toht from Raiders Of The Lost Ark. You know, the guy who looks like a skeezy alt-right Troll Doll.
Paramount PicturesThe only character who looked less disturbing as a screaming wax skull.
Amazingly, the initial idea for Toht was more Skynet than Third Reich. Steven Spielberg originally envisioned Toht as a friggin' cyborg, complete with a glowing eye and a bionic arm that could transform into a machine gun or (if the situation called for it) a flamethrower. According to the director, Toht was to be "The Terminator before The Terminator" -- if the Terminator was an actual Nazi instead of just Austrian.
Paramount PicturesWhy Hitler is still putting all his faith in the "mythical artifact" plan when killer cyborgs are an option is never made clear.
Proving that the early '80s were a backward, topsy-turvy time, it was George Lucas who put a stop to this silly concept. Spielberg's "heavy-metal view of the character" was halted once George "put his foot down," telling Spielberg: "you're crossing out of one genre and into another." To be fair, this was several decades before the same dude would insist on throwing aliens into the selfsame series.
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Ghostbusters -- The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Was Almost A Demon
The most iconic scene in Ghostbusters that doesn't involve Dan Aykroyd being pleasured by a poltergeist is probably the appearance of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, the junk food mascot who's magically transformed into a Godzilla-like menace. Thankfully, the movie didn't exploit the scene for some cash-grabbing product placement and have the team, say, explode a 50-foot Col. Sanders.
Columbia PicturesIt certainly would've changed the flavor of that final scene in which everyone is covered in gooey chunks of the monster.
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