Offermann.us

Five years ago, a story made the rounds of Slashdot and Ain’t It Cool News that seemed too impossible to be true. A tale of inspiration, and obsession, and pushing way past any preconceived notions of what is possible for three 12 year-old boys to accomplish.

The story: In 1983, Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala, and Jayson Lamb see “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for the first time and fall in love with the movie. So much so, that they decide to recreate the movie, with themselves in the starring roles. They star as Indiana Jones and Belloq. They direct. They create their own sets, make their own costumes, do their own special effects, and do their own stunts, all the while filming with 1980s era video equipment. (No digital editing for them.)

The boys work for seven years before they complete their project: a shot-by-shot remake of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.

Very few people have seen this film. Due to copyright issues, it’s never been issued on DVD (and probably never will), so it’s only been screened at a few film festivals and special charity events over the years.

On Friday night, “Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation” got its Portland premiere.

It’s an amazing thing to see. Sure, as the makers admit, the video quality is not-so-great, and the sound quality is worse. Instead of Amazonian natives chasing Indiana Jones, you see blonde boys in grass hula skirts. An “Arab native” rides a bicycle instead of a motorcycle. And, they didn’t have a monkey, so a small dog fills in the part nicely. But, as you watch, none of that matters. You really are transported, just like watching the original. And, at the same time, you can’t believe how they are able to so faithfully recreate these famous scenes.

The shootout in Marion’s bar as the the bar is set ablaze? It’s in there. How about the stunt sequence on the moving truck? The one where Indiana Jones is hanging off the front of the truck, lowers himself under it, and then lashes his bullwhip to the back of the truck so he can pull himself up. Yep, that’s in there too. They even borrowed a submarine from the US Navy to film several scenes.

Don’t believe me? See for yourself. Here are side-by-side shots from the original and the remake.

After the lights came up, Chris Strompolos and Eric Zala answered some questions from the audience, where we learned:

• They had to create the giant rolling boulder five times before getting it right. The first was created in their bedroom, but when they finished, it was too big to roll out the door. One was an unimpressive three feet tall, while another one made of chicken-wire blew away in a hurricane. Working with fiberglass turned out to be the key to getting it right
• The scene where they open the Ark of the Covenant and Belloq’s face melts required a plaster mold of Eric’s head. While making it, Eric nearly suffocated, since, instead of using dental plaster, they mistakenly used industrial plaster. Eric was rushed to the hospital with his head encased in plaster, where doctors sawed and chiseled and cut it away. Eric gave up one eyebrow and all his eyelashes for that scene!
• Chris’s cabin scene with Marion was not only his first kiss on screen…it was his first kiss ever.
• The boys were fearless with fire, and it’s a miracle they didn’t burn their house down, or seriously hurt themselves. Not only did they light numerous fires with rubbing alcohol in their basement, but once Eric lit himself on fire with gasoline.
• Steven Spielberg watched their version two times. When the filmmakers met Spielberg, he paid them a huge compliment: “Even I was inspired by what you accomplished.”

UPDATE: I just realized that I left out my favorite part from the Q&A.

• When they started this project, they didn’t have a copy of the movie on videotape, so to plan out their version, they created 600 individual storyboards. Mostly they were working from memory, but they also had a copy of the script and had a comic book version of the movie. These storyboards guided their work for the entire project. When the laserdisc version of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” came out a couple years later, Eric and Chris checked their work, and discovered that their storyboards were largely accurate.

Video from Eric and Chris’s Q&A are now posted on Youbube: (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3). Also, someone else has uploaded the first 10 minutes of their remake.