AUDIO

Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made

93+ min. Tim Skousen & Jeremy Coon, dist. by Drafthouse Films c/o MVDvisual, www.mvdb2b.com. 2016. DVD UPC 760137844891. $34.95. SDH subtitles FILM
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In 1982, three preteens in Mississippi decided to remake Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark using storyboards drawn from memory and a budget limited mostly to their allowances. Seven years later, they premiered a version missing just one scene, then went off to college, and parted ways. Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made documents the making of this film and tells how a copy surfaced in Austin, TX, more than a decade later, setting in motion a chain of events culminating in the cast and crew reuniting as adults to finish it. Raiders! had been touring the country with Raiders: The Adaptation (as it is now known) throughout 2016. Seeing them together underscores how well directors Skousen and Coon explain why the idea of kids re-creating a Hollywood blockbuster in their own backyards is compelling and how much footage from the remake their film contains.
VERDICT Fan studies scholars and movie buffs will definitely want to see The Adaptation for themselves, but others will find the documentary just as enjoyable.
Reviewed by Joan Pedzich , Dec 01, 2016
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