Movie review by Greg Carlson
Once its cult bona fides were established at the 2002 Butt-Numb-A-Thon (when Eli Roth presented a VHS dub to Harry Knowles as a birthday gift), the adaptation of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” made by kids over the better part of a decade in the 1980s enjoyed a run of successful public screenings – including a stop at the Fargo Film Festival courtesy of Ellen Shafer and Margie Bailly. While Steven Spielberg and George Lucas graciously looked the other way concerning rights issues, audiences finally enjoyed the opportunity to be thrilled and delighted by the time-capsule oddity that saw a trio of childhood friends painstakingly recreate a shot-for-shot homage to the screen debut of Dr. Henry Walton “Indiana” Jones, Jr.
Mississippi teens Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala, and Jayson Lamb accomplished what many movie geeks now call the ultimate “sweded” artifact, the subject of new documentary “Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made.” Directed by Jeremy Coon and Tim Skousen, the curious “making of a making-of” giddily covers the saga that Alan Eisenstock wrote about in the official companion book of the same title. Quick sketches color many of the highlights of the disaster-courting production: multiple failed attempts to construct the giant boulder; setting fire to basement walls to achieve the Nepalese tavern inferno; an industrial plaster mishap requiring an emergency hospital visit; the endearing and hilarious age and voice fluctuations caused by the necessity of shooting out of sequence.
During post-screening interactions with viewers whenever the “Raiders” remake was shared, one question inevitably got asked of the moviemakers: how come your version didn’t include the Flying Wing scene where Indy dukes it out with the hulking, bald Nazi mechanic? Given the seemingly never-ending blessing/curse of Strompolos and Zala’s childhood dream, it’s a minor stroke of genius for Coon and Skousen to use the “lost” sequence as the backbone of their account. Once again with personal safety at risk and this time with careers on the line, Zala and Strompolos decide to capture the ambitious and elusive puzzle piece and insert it into their epic.
While Strompolos and Zala are the public faces of “Raiders!” and the co-founders of Rolling Boulder Films, “visual effects wizard” Jayson Lamb emerges in the documentary as an instrumental contributor to the success of the adaptation. Commendably, Coon and Skousen clarify and explore Lamb’s partnership with Strompolos and Zala, allowing Lamb to address several of his most innovative DIY solutions to thorny challenges like melting faces, exploding heads, and ghostly angels of death flying out of the Ark of the Covenant. Lamb’s eccentricities are a welcome addition to the narrative, especially as he continues to insist that the Flying Wing should be accomplished with a scale model.
The only significant complaint is the scant amount of time afforded to Angela Rodriguez, the actor who portrayed a spirited version of Marion Ravenwood. As the only significant female participant, her commitment to the project is noteworthy, especially since she was not close friends with the filmmakers and still stuck it out – including her return as an adult for the completion of the Flying Wing content. Rodriguez and Strompolos generated heat when the camera rolled, and it was no accident that the cabin kissing scene was handled early and with plenty of takes.
Practically designed to be shown as a companion to the adaptation in a double feature, “Raiders!” draws on vintage local news packages, TV interviews, outtakes, behind-the-scenes footage, clips of Spielberg directing the actual “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and of course, a healthy collection of shots from the final cut of the lo-fi love letter that inspired all the attention. Following Eisenstock’s lead, Coon and Skousen concentrate on the offscreen divorces and rivalries that partially account for the fire-and-ice alchemy of Strompolos and Zala’s complex relationship and their need to keep an impossible dream alive.