Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (2016) – Review

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

How often do you listen to covers of well-known songs? Unless you are at a company party or a wedding where you’ll encounter cover bands, it probably won’t be that often. The reason for it is simple: The original song is usually better. With that thought in the back of your mind it is really weird that when it comes to movies people love visiting covers of movies, although it is called a remake then. And usually they aren’t as good as the original. The reason to make them though is obvious. For the studios it’s a fairly easy way to make money, using nostalgic feeling to audiences in the seats. But what if you don’t produce a remake for the money, but puerly because you love a specific film? That doesn’t happen as often. I can remember it from the brothers in The Wolfpack, but they only did it to entertain themselves. Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos and Jayson Lamb were three teenagers who, after seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark, decided to remake every shot in the film.

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

During a time when they weren’t able to watch the movie at home, they had to make it purely based on what they remembered from seeing it. During their teenage years they spent each summer recording scenes. They used friends as extras and their parents house as a movie set. And when it’s a movie like this, with lots of special effects (including fire) you can imagine that meant some risks were attached. They were never able to finish their remake because the last scene, the fight near the plane, would be to expensive to make. Now a lot older they decide to do it. They start looking for investors so they can realize their dream by hiring a crew, building a life size plane and finishing the film. But it that a dream you should still be chasing?

“interesting documentary…”


 Raiders! consists of two parts. The first one is the story about the boys who were making a movie. The now grown men talk about how they managed to do it. The parents too talk about their experiences and the (almost) accidents. It’s this part which is most interesting to watch. The other half is about finally shooting that final scene. Sprinkled throughout there are interviews with famous people, including Eli Roth and Harry Knowles (Ain’t It Cool News) who talk about the almost mythical status the movie has among fans. Unfortunately this documentary isn’t flawless. The two parts are mixed together, which sometimes means that transitions don’t feel natural. Because of that the part about shooting the final scene feels messy. A chronological way of telling the story would have probably worked better. Despite that criticism Raiders! still is an interesting documentary, even though I would have liked the movie itself also to be available through Netflix.

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