Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (2015) Reviews

• Now that's dedication

  ferguson-62015-04-12

  Greetings again from the darkness - from the Dallas International Film Festival 2-15. Most documentaries are pretty simple to recap: A filmmaker makes a movie about a topic or person. However, simplicity just doesn't fit here. Filmmakers Jeremy Coon and Tim Skousen made a movie about the making of a movie that is a movie re-made in honor of a movie that was already made. This isn't Coppola's Hearts of Darkness which portrays his difficulty in making Apocalypse Now. Far from it. This is a modern day look back at two/three geeky eleven year old boys making a shot-for-shot remake of Steven Spielberg's classic Raiders of the Lost Ark. Coon and Skousen catch up with forty-somethings Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos and Jayson Lamb as they are trying to put together the financing and logistics to film the final scene of their unfinished movie Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation. These are the same boy that started the process in 1982 and filmed each of the next seven summers until they graduated from high school. If you are a total film geek, you have probably heard of their film and know that it has been an underground film favorite for years. But you may not know the real life details behind it and certainly not the modern day drama of Eric and Chris as they try to complete it. How about some interviews with their mothers? How about the real world possibility that Eric risks losing his job to complete this thirty plus year old kid's summer project? How about the personal struggles of Chris over the years, or the fallout with Jayson as he is left out of this final chapter? Director Eli Roth was instrumental in spreading the word of this film project throughout Hollywood, and the boys even got invited to meet with Spielberg. Mostly we are left with the fascination that young boys can have such passion and persistence over so many years. When asked about whether they missed out on their childhood, Chris responds "We filmed childhood". A true and fitting response, that doesn't tell the whole story. Fortunately, Coon and Skousen do.

• Well done documentary

  Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki2016-08-07

  Inspiring, often times funny documentary about a trio of eleven years- olds who set out to do Raiders Of The Lost Ark- they didn't remake it, they *made* Raiders Of The Lost Ark- in its entirety, in the homes and cellars, with next to no money, and over the course of several summers in the 1980s. Four documentary film crews then followed them in 2014, as they filmed the sole scene they could not film originally. This doc includes new interviews with them, along with clips from the film itself, and a few blooper reel scenes and outtakes, and original, hand-drawn storyboards (of which there were 602, as explained in a film festival Q&A session after the screening, and before showing Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation) and people like John Ryhs-Davies, who have publicly commended the film. Required viewing for fans of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, film buffs, and anyone who ever dreamed and fantasised about making a film.

• This documentary is one of the reasons I truly love movies and making them.

  bryank-048442015-05-06

  There are a lot of good movies out there. Hell, there are even some damn near perfect ones, but there are only a small handful of films that fall into the legendary category. These films that have become legend only come around once in a blue moon, but when they do, they tend to hit an emotional cord and stick around forever. I'm sure we can talk for days about what movies fall into this category, but there is one film in particular that definitely belongs here, and I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts that you've never even heard of it, nor seen it. Reason being, is that I'm talking about a home movie here. That's right, a home movie. Back in the early 80s, a few friends by the name of Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos, Jayson Lamb, and Angela Rodriguez, who were all around 11 years of age, saw 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. It blew Zala and Strompolos's minds and at the age of 11 they decided to make a shot for shot remake of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. Over the next seven years, Strompolos and Zala would enlist the help of all their friends and their friend's friends each summer to complete their film, which was made with money from their allowances and on their home video camcorders. The result is nothing less than spectacular or well, legendary. These kids spent the best summer years of their lives making a movie that hell, has already been made, but it's their sheer passion and love for this film and character that drove themselves and everyone else around them to finish the movie. The result is actually a very kick-ass kid made film that captures each camera angle and expression just like it was made in the original film by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. over the years, some of these friends lost touch, but the movie was still stored away on VHS, until a few people got a hold of it and began showing it to other people. Those people then got it into the hands of a few filmmakers who are well known, which led to this homemade 'Raiders' movie being shown at a film festival, to which the crowd went crazy over. Everyone loved it, because it was pure magic. It reminds those of us who use to take our dad's over the shoulder camcorder and make our own movies with friends. Back to a time when nothing else mattered but making a fun adventure film with your best friends. Let's fast forward to present day where filmmakers Jeremy Coon and Tim Skousen ('Thunder Broke the Heavens') found out about this documentary and thought there would be a good story to tell here in the form of a documentary. Well, they did just that. Coon and Skousen tracked down Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos, Jayson Lamb, Angela Rodriguez and their families and asked them to tell just how they accomplished this amazing achievement in movie-making. Come to find out, this homemade film was not yet finished. It was still lacking one scene, which was the iconic fight scene on top of the Nazi airplane with Indiana Jones and that huge giant of a beast guy. So, 'Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made' tells the story of the ups and downs of the making of this homemade movie along with the entire cast and crew reuniting to make the last scene with a decent sized budget. This documentary has tons of archival footage of these kids making this movie during their youthful summers as well as interviews from each cast member and their families. For those of you who have ever tried to make something, whether it be a movie, a song, or a piece of art, will completely become infatuated and fall in love with these people's stories and passion for making a movie and for their undying love for 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. You'll laugh throughout, shed a tear or two, and jump out of your seat at a couple of truly shocking moments. This documentary is one of the reasons I truly love movies and making them.

• A remarkable documentary about remarkable kids!

  Ramascreen2016-06-18

  When you watch a classic like 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark,' it's hard to not feel motivated to see and try if you can recreate those scenes or at the very least walk around cosplaying as Indiana Jones with your friends. So you may watch this docu and start out by wearing your adult or parenthood lenses on and wonder what in the world are these kids thinking but five minutes into it, you'll get a sense of respect and wonder because you've realized that they managed to accomplish what many of us can only wish for. I think one of the many fascinating things about this docu is that directors Jeremy Coon and Tim Skousen were given so much access into the lives of Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos and Jayson Lamb, even the darkest moments in their past when at one point their friendship fell apart. If anything, what's most inspiring about this 'RAIDERS!' docu is to see these guys from when they were kids all the way on till they've become grown men and have their own families, how over all those years, they still had that dream and passion lingering on the back of their heads and they act on it and see it through. While others would probably give up because of life happens, in their case, yes life happens for them as well, and the roads haven't been easy either, they have families to feed and think about as well, but they found away to support each other and to realize this dream and to ultimately finish their film. The docu jumps back and forth from the gradual process of shooting the explosive airplane scenes to the interviews with talking heads or people closest to them, to old archive footage and the outtakes revealing that only by some luck or miracle that the house at which they shot their fan-film did not burn down. This goes to also show that making a fan film, let-alone a full on feature film is never a walk in the park, it's a long and hard collaborative process, you work with people who may have different opinions and approaches, you see how this particular project impacts these kids, their friendships, their relationships, their personal struggles and their reconciliation. This shot per shot remake of "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" is nothing short of a labor of love, the result of following through on one's passion no matter what haters may say. Absolutely remarkable, worth a standing ovation. -- Rama's Screen --

• Beautifully captures what a 'love for movies' is all about!

  Hellmant2016-06-02

  'RAIDERS!: THE STORY OF THE GREATEST FAN FILM EVER MADE': Four Stars (Out of Five) A documentary on the making of the fan film 'RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: THE ADAPTATION'; which is a shot-for-shot remake of the classic 1981 Steven Spielberg movie. It was made by two 11-year-old Mississippi boys, and their friends, over the course of 7-years. They finished the entire remake, except for the final airplane battle sequence. The friends reunited, 30-years later, to finally film that one missing scene (and finish their movie). This film documents that process. It was directed and written by first time filmmakers Jeremy Coon and Tim Skousen; and it was based on the book by Alan Eisenstock. Being a past childhood filmmaker, myself, and a huge movie nerd, as well (to this day), I really enjoyed this documentary. Two 11-year-old childhood friends, Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos, setout to remake their favorite movie, 'RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK', in Mississippi in 1981. The film was not available on video yet; so they had to rely on a lot of other resources to pull it off (like a published script, and magazine articles), as well as their friends and memories. They completed filming every scene of the original movie, over the next 7-years, except for the landing pad battle sequence. 30-years later, the friends finally reunited; and raised the money they needed (through a Kickstarter campaign) to finish their childhood dream. I've never seen the fan film, this movie is about, but I have (of course) seen Spielberg's 1981 masterpiece (multiple times). I love the original film still, and I'm sure I'd probably like the kids' remake too. Spielberg has seen it (and he loves it), so have many others; like filmmaker Eli Roth and film critic Harry Knowles (who both appear in this documentary). Even though I haven't yet seen the beloved fan flick 'cult classic' (this is based on), I could still really appreciate this documentary; because it beautifully captures what a 'love for movies' is all about. I was a childhood filmmaker, and I still try to make movies (today); so I definitely found this film inspiring and relatable (to say the least). Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/_3w7EWxV5vg