Review: Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation

Director: Eric Zala
Writers: Lawrence Kasdan, Philip Kaufman
Producer: Chris Strompolos
Starring: Chris Strompolos, Angela Rodriguez, Eric Zala, Ted Ross, Alan Stenum, William Coon
MPAA Rating: NR
Running time: 100 min

I have yet to see a movie that has inspired me to the point were I wanted to re-make it or to, generally, just make films. It may have something to do with my late introduction to the movie-going experience and by the time I started to watch movies, I was old enough to know better than to re-make a classic but youth and inspiration are great things as is proven by Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation.

Filmed over a period of seven years, the film is the result of passion, talent and three twelve year olds who wanted to re-make their favourite movie. Though made by fans, it’s not a fan film in the typical sense since it is a nearly perfect, shot by shot remake of the Spielberg’s film and by perfection, I mean perfection – just without the budget.

True, it’s not an original story but what shines through in this little gem is the talent of the young men determined to finish their pet project. Anyone with a big enough budget could rig up a giant rock rolling down a narrow cave but it takes innovation to accomplish the same feat with no money or stunt doubles. The same is true for nearly every scene in Raiders: The Adaptation.I can only begin to imagine what these kids were thinking at the time but seeing it unfold was sheer joy. Every new scene presents a new set of problems – how do you get Indy to escape on a plane? How do you recreate the rolling boulder? The chase scene? The final unveiling of what’s inside the Ark? The crew manages to not only do a solid job recreating all of these moments but in the back of your mind you recall that these are tweens doing this and the joy of watching it unfold is that much more exciting.

Enter the said kids Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos and Jayson Lamb, three friends who set out on this adventure in hopes of making their version of the film they love. While most teens would have given up after one or two summers of work, these three kept their dream alive for seven long years. Add in the fact that technology was no-where what it is today, and you really start to grasp the size of this undertaking. How on earth did they manage to edit this so well never mind recreate the closing scene with nearly complete accuracy? It’s called talent.

I’ve never been a big fan of home made movies but there’s great joy in seeing one of your favourite films recreated with such love and detail and it’s easy to overlook the shortfalls of the adaptation when you consider the adversities of making a film like this one. What started out as a passion project has proven to be the best ever resume for a group of obviously talented teens and for the viewer, it’s sheer pleasure seeing it unfold.

There have been sweeded films in the past and we’re likely to see more in the future but I doubt any will hold up quite as well as Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation. Part of it is the fact that it’s a product of it’s time, having been made when computers were huge boxes capable of little more than Pong but mostly because there’s no novelty here – just down right, good old fashioned entertainment.

Links:
IMDb profile
Official Site