July 08, 2007

Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation. ...a 100-minute shot-for-shot amateur-video remake of the 1981 Spielberg-Lucas adventure flick, created over a span of seven years by a group of kids in small-town Reagan-era Mississippi...Filled with ingenious contraptions and overweening jerry-rigs, The Adaptation remakes Raiders on less than 1/2,000th of Paramount's original $20 million budget, conjuring exotic locales out of cardboard sets in parents' basements, casting tweens in Boy Scout uniforms as Nazi bad guys, and rolling a gigantic hand-crafted boulder through the family garage to create the film's signature scene. See footage here.
posted by HawthorneWingo 17 years ago
  • I've seen this before (on Japanese TV) - I was really impressed by it at that time I recall. (^_^)
  • That's really cool. Wonder if these kids are going into the filmmaking buisness.
  • This is one of the best stories I've heard in a long time. I hope I get to see the full version someday.
  • that's so cool. I was so incredibly crazy about that movie!! I think I was 13 when it came out....
  • There was a movement to get the fan remake onto the DVD of Raiders, but for whatever reason it didn't happen. I'd love to see the full version!
  • What are you doing down there in the basement? Oh, I say!
  • Fakes. Why'd it have to be fakes?
  • Tres cool article. Will have to look at the footage later.
  • I have actually seen it all the way through. They showed it last year at the SF Indie Fest as part of a fund raiser. All three of the guys involved in making it were there to do Q&A after the movie. Without question, it's one of the most fun movie experiences of my entire life. You would think it would just not live up to the hype its received, but it's not true. It's amazingly to watch and more than a little hilarious in some parts, but overall it's damn near the pinnacle of devoted fan films made with no budget, started by 12 year olds, and pursued to completion for years and years. It damn near caused an uproar at Butt-numb-a-thon 4 because they started showing part of it and didn't let it finish. :)