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Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation
jonerik writes "Ain't It Cool News has an article on one of the more fascinating fan film projects ever conceived: A shot-for-shot remake of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" filmed in Biloxi, Mississippi between 1982 and 1988 by Eric Zala, Jayson Lamb and Chris Strompolis. What's particularly amazing is that the trio began filming the project when they were twelve and finished six years later when they were eighteen. Now, fifteen years after the project was completed, word of the film's existence has gotten out and audiences who have seen it have reportedly been stunned by the trio's ingenuity, with none other than "RotLA" director Steven Spielberg giving Zala, Lamb, and Strompolis a big thumbs-up. The complete film isn't available online, but a trailer that gives a bit of the feel of the finished project can be viewed. The Austin Chronicle also has a story on the project."
Maybe the DVD to the adaptation will be out before the original version's. I certainly have stopped holding my breath for RoT and the original Star Wars series on DVD.
I was gonna throw in a "now three young girls progressing through....." punch line....but....nahhhh, even I'm not that perverted.
that's alot of work just to duplicate your favorite film and it's not like they'll make anything from the effort other than the satisfaction of having done it.
But then, back in my teens in the mainframe and paper tape days, I wrote my own version of the ever popular Star Trek game. I didn't need to, I could play the original all I wanted. Even the source code was available. But I thought I could do the same job in a more easily understood manner. So I coded up a virtually identical version. It was much less code and alot easier to read, although the original was a little faster.
So I guess remaking something you like just because you can must be some kind of teen geek ritual.
Man they'd have to have big balls to attempt that scene!
Esteem isn't a zero sum game
6 years of doing this. Now that's dedication. My interest in re-enacting scenes from Indiana Jones waned after a heated August afternoon with a bunch of friends, following which the guy who played an evil German had to be rushed to the hospital.
Ahh...good times.
"The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it." - G.B. Shaw
Am I the only one who saw 'RotLA' and thought:
"Rolling on the laugh ass", what the hell?
This is left as an exercise for the reader.
I got it at 100kbps too. And I dont subscribe. Ah it pays to keep your money in your pocket.
Back in my day, we didn't have all that new-fangled technology to put ourselves in our favorite movies. We did it all in our minds! Uphill! In the snow! Through barbed wired and acid pits! And we liked it!
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
I think more than anything else, people are cheering it on because of the ingenuity displayed by these kids in filming this movie. Low budget movies like that are far more impressive than stale Hollywood remakes precisely because they are low budget - people have to improvise. Surely you would not see the remake for the plot or anything new - it's a remake, you've seen it before. It's just something that makes me step back and marvel at what can be accomplished if you are dedicated enough.
When you read the article, Speilberg praises the boys' "vast amounts of imagination and originality".
That's good enough for me.
Besides, these kids were *kids* - not Gus Wossname with millions of bucks and a full production crew.
Kudos to the kids !
-- You can't give it, you can't even buy it, and you just don't get it!
If anyone cares the song that plays during the trailer is Four Ton Mantis by Amon Tobin. An excellent song.
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I'd think it wouldn't be Spielberg who'd make trouble - after all, he got his start as a punk kid making films at a very young age. If anything, he probably be supportive. It's the numerous monied interests who own various bits and pieces of "intellectual property" who would sue the pants off of anyone they thought might "reduce the value of the asset", despite the fact that many fan-derivived works serve to sustain interest in the original property, thus ENHANCING the value of the asset...
It was insane. People wrapped around the Alamo two wide. The adaptation is very true to the film while still being very creative. I mean, how would you have done this stuff when you were twelve? I wish I had the ability to finish things I start like these guys. The Q&A's should've been filmed for the DVD special features. It was almost as entertaining listening to these guys describe how the risked life and limb and broke the law numerous times. Tbey basically played with guns, blew things up, got plaster molds stuck on their heads, (NOT dental plaster either) and lots of other stupid stuff kids do.
Four words in closing. The fire is real.