Raiders of the Lost Ark : The Adaptation

I will be at Disneyland Paris today for the Mickey's Magical Party press event. Expect a review of everything for tomorrow. In the meantime, i have something fun for you, it's called "Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation".

In 1981, after seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark, three twelve year old friends, Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala and Jayson Lamb, began filming their own shot-by-shot adaptation in the backyards of their Mississippi homes. It took them seven years to film this 100-minute recreation of "Raiders" and their "adaptation" is now a cult movie.

Back in 1981, the three young boys even did some storyboard or costume sketches for their "adaptation".




From IGN: "The results are astonishing, with these junior-Spielberg's shooting everything from the rolling boulder and the live snakes to the death-defying truck sequence.

Along the way they had to improvise - a puppy stands in for the Nazi monkey, a boat for a plane - but they didn't skimp on production values, filming on a submarine and even appearing to melt a face during the film's dramatic finale.

The Adaptation wrapped in 1989, and in recent years has developed something of a cult following, with Vanity Fair publishing an 11-page article on the subject, and Spielberg personally writing to the boys to express his admiration for their work."

The story of the production and how they did recreate all the scenes is incredible. Just an example about how these three young boys succeed to shoot the famous boulder sequence (that you will see in the video below): "The shot of Indy (Chris) running from the boulder right behind him that tracks backwards with him was achieved by Jayson constricting himself into a shopping cart and pointing the camera at Chris – and Chris pushed the shopping cart with Jayson in it, his hands on the cart out of frame!"

The Raider.net did a brilliant article about it. After you've seen the video below have a look at it as the story of the making of this Raiders "adaptation" is amazing.
There is also an interview of the three "boys", now adults.

If you live in the U.K,IGN.com will present the movie in the first ever UK screening at a charity premiere. It will take place at the Vue West End, Leicester Square on April 28, at 6.30 pm. You can read more about this premiere event on the IGN web site.

Below is a youtube video of the first ten minutes of this "Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation" shoot in Betamax by three young boys. Enjoy!




Youtube video: copyright Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala and Jayson Lamb