Back in 1982, two 11-year-old boys, Chris Strompolos and Eric Zala, set off to make their own shot-for-shot remake of Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, spending a full seven years to complete what is now known as Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation. Their fan film achieved quite a bit of notice some years back, including commendations from Spielberg himself. Now, their story comes to the big screen in the new documentary Raiders!, which aims to tell the true story behind “The Greatest Fan Film Ever Made.” Set to have its world premiere at SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX on March 14, 2015, Raiders! has just released a trailer that you can check out in the player below!
Eric, Chris and their childhood cast and crew reshot every scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Every scene except one: the infamous Flying Wing scene where the shirtless Nazi strongman is cut up by the circling plane’s propeller. Needless to say, as children in the early 1980s, it was difficult for them to procure a suitable plane to blow up in Mississippi. Being the perfectionists that they are, it’s something that has always nagged at Eric and Chris.
Raiders! follows the twenty-five year reunion of most of the original cast and crew, now in their early 40s, in Ocean Springs, MS to finally complete the adaptation with this last missing scene in the summer of 2014. How have time and adulthood changed everyone? Will they still have the same determination and excitement they had as kids? What do their family members think of it? This insightful and heartfelt documentary reveals for the first time the full behind-the-scenes story of Chris and Eric’s inspiring journey to finally finish their labor of love. Raiders! digs deep into their friendship and their mutual persistence to complete a seemingly ridiculous and impossible task, reminding us of the innocence and purity we had as children to follow our dreams no matter how crazy or stupid others said they are.
