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In 1982, at 11-years-old, Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos began a shot for shot remake of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” They spent the next seven summers of their childhood shooting the film, saving their allowances and recruiting younger siblings and friends to participate.
For those who know me, they know that “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is my all-time favorite movie. After I saw the movie for the very first time in the summer of 1981 back in Dublin, Ireland, at age 9, I went back to see it an additional 41 times in theaters. A couple of years later it aired on TV and I recorded it onto a VHS tape which I completely wore out due to the amount of plays it received. Naturally, I went to see each new Indiana Jones adventure that came after, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” in 1984 and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” in 1989 and while they were enjoyable in their own right, none of them came close to the originality and sheer fun and excitement that Raiders possessed. The less we say about “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” the better. As far as I’m concerned, that movie does not exist in the Indiana Jones universe.
I had heard about “Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation” for many years now, about a trio of friends from Mississippi who after seeing Raiders for the first time, like me, became obsessed with it but took it a step further, they set out to completely remake it, shot-for-shot. Granted, the footage was old grainy VHS quality but their commitment to make the movie over the course of seven years, stood as a testament to their dedication. They premiered the film in their hometown in 1989 and then the trio went on about their lives, heading off in different directions. In 2002 however, filmmaker Eli Roth (“Hostel,” “Hostel II”), came across a copy of the movie on VHS and gave it to his friend Harry Knowles, the creator of the website Ain’t It Cool News and when he showed about half of the movie during their yearly film festival, the crowd went absolutely mad and cheered it on.
This prompted both men to track down and contact the film’s creators, Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala, and Jayson Lamb and offered for them to come to Austin, Texas where they held a one-time screening of their movie which sold out quickly and had a line of patrons that literally spanned blocks. After the film, they received a four-minute standing ovation and by this time, legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg managed to obtain a copy of their movie and called their achievement an inspiration. In 2004, film producer Scott Rudin purchased the rights to make a film about the experience of the three boys. This documentary, “Raiders! The Story Of The Greatest Fan Film Ever Made,” talks to all three filmmakers about what it was like for them making their movie over the course of seven years, utilizing all of their weekly allowances to fulfill their dream.
However, there was one scene they could not shoot and that was the scene in the desert where Indiana Jones fights the big Nazi who meets his demise at the hands of a propeller blade. As young teenagers, they simply did not have the know-how or funds necessary to construct a plane but the documentary follows all three men, who are now well into their 40s, and have managed to raise the funds to shoot that missing scene. With a local company willing to build the plane for $20,000, they all begin to fall into their previous roles as director, actor and special effects coordinator and with a large crew behind the scenes, watching people battle egos, electrical gaffes and the elements, makes for dramatic viewing. We watch in suspense and horror, as the set is besieged by torrential rain on a daily basis, knowing they only have a short window of time to shoot the scene.
The one big aspect that I was truly able to relate to, was that during the course of the film, we find out that all three men grew up in homes with absent or divorced fathers who were never around. This rang true for me too as my father left when I was only seven years old and Indiana Jones, just like the men in this film, became a father figure who helped guide them, and me, in their lives, well into manhood. As an indie filmmaker myself for well over 30 years, I know the hardships and struggles one has to go through to make their ideas become a realization and watching them battle all the essential elements required to make a movie, made me root for them even more. The movie itself, “Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation,” is still not available to view but after the success of this documentary, I sincerely hope that it will be picked up for distribution so that the whole world will finally be able to see what they’ve been missing. Very Highly Recommended.
“Raiders! The Story Of The Greatest Fan Film Ever Made” screened at this year’s Dallas International Film Festival
