Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation

For those of you who have not had the chance to see this film please watch for the next screening. Go to their facebook page for the most up to date information on screenings in your area.

I had the pleasure of finishing off the one last final epic scene in the this film. see the kickstarter "RAIDERS GUYS AND THE LOST AIRPLANE SCENE" site for more info.

I took part in many rolls for this final HUGE scene and have to say there is nothing like these two guys with their passion and desire to have this film come full circle and finish in the town they grew up in.

This final epic scene will be edited in the the current film with a great cut from them as kids to them as their current age. With so much thoughtfulness behind this project and what this project does for the fans as well as the charities they donate to. Nothing compares to a project such as this and please do come to a screening and see how it all comes together, and as with any fan film there are little tidbits of secret items hidden throughout this new scene that fans and newcomers will certainly appreciate. I know I did.

-JAy

I was dumbstruck watching this. Yeah, it's obviously not as well-executed as the original, but you have to admire the dedication and energy.

At the end, after the lid on the ark comes down and Indy and Marion hug, I cried. I didn't cry at this point when watching the original. I was just so touched at the love and passion these kids lavished on trying to pay honor to the wonderfulness of the original.

Well! All that gushing aside, anything else? This was certainly a worthwhile enterprise, but I do sincerely hope these kids have gone on to create and wrangle media. It'd be nice to see them get a budget and bring something fully of their own to marvelous fruition.

I too cannot fathom why the rating is so low unless a bunch of people put in bogus ratings. Up until a major showing in Minneapolis in June 2007 (a week and a half ago from this post), I doubt many people have ever even seen this movie in its entirety - making the 51 ratings pretty suspect.

If you know the background then watching this movie is more thrilling than watching the original.

Incidentally, Paramount (the original Raiders studio) has just optioned the life story of the kids who made this movie. I'm eagerly awaiting the "movie of the movie of the movie"!!!

A trio of schoolchildren spent eight summers in the 1980s filming Raiders Of The Lost Ark in their parents' cellars, impressively setting the cellars on fire, and doing all of the stunt-work themselves, getting ships to film scenes, with all of the passion and intensity Spielberg must have had.

The trio used comic book adaptations, and saw the film as many times as possible, snuck in audio recorders to the cinema, hand drew storyboards, and filmed and starred in it themselves.

A true labour of love, and well worth it. We, the audience, watch, knowing what scene comes next, and not wondering *if* these kids will do it, but trying to figure *how* they will do it.

Some of the fire stunts were quite impressive, and could have turned disastrous, had anything gone wrong. (One of many jokes put into the closing credits says, thanks to "Mary Zala, for her support and for destroying her home")

This film, and its 2015 documentary counterpart, Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made, are required viewing for Indiana Jones fans, and film buffs.

I haven't watched all of this yet, though I'm thrilled to now have a copy of this hard-to-find video which I had read about at various times over the past few years. Makes me want to get out my camera and start shooting. I'm also thrilled to hear that Daniel Clowes is working on adapting these kids' adventures for a big-screen film. Maybe their story will inspire the next generation of Spielbergs.

I'm somewhat surprised to see that no one else has commented on this film, though I suppose it's a bit difficult to find. My suggestion is to look for obscure film torrent sites like Karagarga, though some probably require invitations. I believe the film was shown in Austin a few years ago at the Alamo Drafthouse, but I wonder what sort of condition it was in at the time. The copy I have is fairly poor -- not unlike something you'd find on a VHS tape from 1985 that was re-recorded over several times. Makes me wonder if they'll show clips from the actual adaptation in Clowes' film or if they'll re-shoot clips using the actors who will play the kids in the movie. It'll be interesting to see how it pans out...