The three friends – Chris Strompolos, who played Indy;
Eric Zala, who played Belloq and directed; and Jayson Lamb, who was behind the
camera and did the effects – are at the center of the film, and are all
interviewed. They take us to the places where they originally shot their film.
There are also interviews with other people who played parts in the kids’ film,
as well as family members. There were lots of troubled childhoods. Did all of
the kids involved in this project have parents who divorced? Seems that way.
And perhaps that’s part of why this project took on such importance during
their childhoods. Interestingly, John Rhys-Davies is also interviewed, and
talks about the difficulty of the actual Raiders Of The Lost Ark shoot.
The adaptation’s shoot of course had its own problems,
and this documentary treats us to plenty of outtakes. Holy moly, watch them
trying to put a fire out. The stuff about the adult supervision they got after
the first fire is hilarious. And the stunt work is insane. Eli Roth is
interviewed about a screening of the videotape he had managed to obtain, as is
Harry Knowles. The information they provide is wonderful.
As I mentioned, part of this documentary is about these
guys completing the project by shooting the fight scene around the moving
airplane. So we meet the people responsible for building the plane and for
blowing it up. For one shot, they even got a camel. There is a great moment
where a woman gives the camel a bottle of water, then tells, it, “Go on,
back to one.” This is a fantastic and fun documentary, and the end will
stun you.
Special Features
This two-disc set includes a lot of bonus material,
including approximately thirty-two minutes of deleted and expanded scenes.
Among these scenes are bits on purchasing an Indiana Jones whip, launching the
Kickstarter campaign, and more on the poor look of their movie, and how the
camera had automatically rewound a few seconds which led to them recording over
their own footage multiple times. There is more on the designing and building
of the plane and other parts of the set. There is also some stuff on the girl
who originally played Marion before Angela came on board, as well as some
material on editing at the local television station.
The special features also contain some behind-the-scenes
footage and outtakes from the adaptation, including some of their stunts and
special effects shots. These outtakes are approximately twenty minutes. And
there is footage from the Alamo Drafthouse premiere of the adaptation on May
31, 2003, the first time the film had been shown since 1989. This includes
footage of the line, plus the Q&A with Eric, Chris and Jayson, which is
often hilarious. During the Q&A, someone asked about the missing scene with
the plane. This feature is approximately forty-one minutes.
There are also two separate commentary tracks. The first
is by the directors of the documentary, Tim Skousen and Jeremy Coon.
Interestingly, the interview with John Rhys-Davies is the first thing they
shot, before they even went to Mississippi. Tim and Jeremy mention that they’re
both fans of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, and that’s part of what drew them
to this project. The second is by Chris Strompolos and Eric Zala, who mention
that they weren’t aware at the time what a strange thing it was that they were
doing.
The film’s trailer is also included, as well as a booklet
which contains some of the storyboards.
Raiders! The Story Of The Greatest Fan Film Ever Made
was directed by Tim Skousen and Jeremy Coon, and was released as a two-disc
Blu-ray/DVD set on August 16, 2016 through MVD Visual.
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