Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made

Studio: Drafthouse Films
Directed by Jeremy Coon & Tim Skousen

Jun 16, 2016 By Austin Trunick Web Exclusive

By now, it seems that every self-identifying film fanatic has, at the very least, heard whispers of Raiders: The Adaptation. A legend had built around the movie among savvy tape traders, and after its wider discovery at a film festival hosted by Harry Knowles, it’s grown into what’s easily the most talked-about fan film of all time. Those who’ve caught a rare screening can vouch, and those who haven’t should know that Raiders’ reputation as an absolutely unique cinematic experience is wholly earned. And what’s not to love about a meticulously recreated, shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark shot on VHS by three children in Mississippi from 1982 to 1989?

Raiders! has two points of focus: telling the story of three kids who dedicated years of their youth to an adorably insane film project, and then following them today, as adults, as they attempt to get the gang back together to shoot a final scene they’d skipped as boys. The former is the more compelling of the two storylines. Told here in mostly chronological order, the Raiders backstory is a near-universal tale of American childhood, and one that many viewers—particularly those who grew up geeky in the 80s and 90s—may recognize as similar to their own. Even as they toil away at building large, rolling boulders and staging elaborate chase scenes, you’re reminded that these are still kids, dealing with all of the same, awful issues that so many go through from those awkward ages of 11 to 17. Learning that the remake came about as one prepubescent filmmaker’s way of coping with his parents’ divorce, or that production fell apart when one boy stole away another’s high school sweetheart—that context puts their zany film project in an all-new perspective. It’s like watching Boyhood, but where the preteen protagonist spends the runtime wearing a leather jacket and tussling with other little kids dressed like Nazis as he grows into a man.

The modern angle of the documentary is less endearing, but it’s a necessary coda. Two of the boys (now men)—Chris Strompolos and Eric Zala—raise money to go back and film the movie’s famous plane scene, which they skipped when they were kids. Much of the drama rises from two adults risking their livelihoods and putting their family’s financial well-being on the line to achieve a childhood dream—by sinking money into building a full-size replica airplane, which they plan to blow apart with explosives. Sometimes you’ll feel like you’re watching a highly inspirational trainwreck occur before your eyes. When teenagers put themselves in danger attempting special effects they’re far unqualified to pull off, you can chalk it up to the folly of youth; when it’s grown men endangering themselves and their crew doing the same thing, it stops being quite as cute.

A heads-up: the little clips of their Raiders re-make littered throughout the documentary will make you need to see their full film (or see it again.) Fortunately, Strompolos and Zala are touring this doc and the original movie as double-feature—you can look for dates near you at the link below.

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