By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 1 hour ago

If you were a child in 1981, odds are high you saw Raiders of the Lost Ark at some point. The blockbuster hit needs little introduction. It famously stars Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, an archaeologist and antiquities professor who travels the world on adventures for ancient artifacts and gets recruited by the United States government before World War II to find the legendary Ark of the Covenant, the Biblical container of the Ten Commandments. The movie spawned four sequels, two television shows, and myriad knockoffs.

Three imaginative pre-teens named Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos, and Jayson Lamb fell in love with the movie and saw it multiple times in the theater. They decided they wanted to remake the movie themselves and began to take copious notes. Their love letter to Raiders is called Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation, and it is nearly a shot-by-shot remake made by the three boys and their friends.

The Finest Amateur Hour Ever Documented

Sure, the sets are obviously cardboard, they replace the plane Indy escapes the Hovitos from in the beginning with a boat, and the original version of the film does not include the boxing match with the big German that takes place around a moving plane. Barrel-chested, deep-voiced Sallah is played by a skinny kid named Alan Stenum whose voice hadn’t cracked yet, and some of the sets are really fudged, with the whole thing giving off the impression of being a stage play.

Yet the movie is infinitely watchable and even enjoyable. Strompolos stars as Indy opposite Zala’s smooth and slimy Belloq. Angela Rodriguez co-stars as Marion, and the cast is rounded out by Ted Ross as the sinister Toht, and Michael Bales as Nazi project leader Dietrich. Yes, these are obvious children (by the time the last scenes of the movie were actually filmed, Zala and Strompolos were almost 20) but they all put on amazing performances that carry the film, particularly Zala, who almost out-smarms and out-charms the original Belloq, Paul Freeman.

And those cardboard sets are actually very well-done. They are not only not distracting, but it is obvious a lot of work was put into them, especially the map room in Tanis and the Well of Souls, two of the largest and most complex sets in the original film. Some members of the cast and crew (and everyone who worked on it was both cast and crew) put a lot of effort and thoughtfulness into creating the world of Indiana Jones. The locations are occasionally a bit jarring, being obviously not from the 1930s or Egypt, but viewers will be so wrapped up in the action and creativity that by the time they register the anachronisms, they’re onto the next scene and the next adventure.

Kids Do The Darndest Things

Part of the film’s charm is the noticeable differences, anyway. Viewers are not going to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation because they want to see the special effects of masters George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. The first time watching this film is entirely for the appreciation of what these kids accomplished over the six-year period during which they produced and made the film.

Strompolos produced and Zala directed, with Lamb handling the cinematography, and the group did an excellent job of doing a top-notch amateur film that audiences will recognize and love as much as the original, but for different reasons. Some of the sets are even real: they shot the exterior submarine shots on a real submarine, and also managed to use a battleship to stand in for Captain Katanga’s freighter.

To top it off, 14 years after the movie was made, it was discovered by none other than Spielberg himself. It received critical acclaim as “the best fan film ever made” from names such as Harry Knowles and boasts a 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, with fans agreeing at 88 percent. This caused the group to reunite in 2014 to attempt filming the airplane scene. Zala wrote about the experience of reuniting the cast and crew for the 124-shot scene. It is included in the 2015 documentary about the fan movie, Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made.

Its Legacy Speaks For Itself

The best part, though, is how Zala and Strompolos continued careers in entertainment. At the time of the filming of the airplane scene, Zala worked for a video game publisher and Strompolos was the Executive Director of Operations at The Gnomon School of Visual FX, Games & Animation in Hollywood, as well as an accomplished musician with an upcoming album. That was a decade ago, but Zala’s article was written in 2023, showing that the pair is still actively creating entertainment. The website for the movie also states that Zala tours campuses and art centers to help inspire other creators to follow their dreams as he did.

Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation SCORE

Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made is streaming free on Tubi. Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation is available to rent, download, or own on DVD or Blu-Ray at Raiders Kids, the official store for the production, and there is even a version that includes the 2014 footage. The movie is reasonably priced and a very worthy addition to the video collection not just of movie buffs and Indiana Jones fans, but anyone who likes movies. It is easily as enjoyable as the original, and shows what a group of determined young creatives can do with a little motivation, ingenuity, and a true passion for the source material.