Raiders!

Released Jun 17, 2016

1 hr. 35 min.

Documentary

List

91%

54 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Childhood friends Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala and Jayson Lamb reunite 25 years later to shoot the final scene of their shot-for-shot remake of Steven Spielberg's classic film "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

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Critics Consensus

As fascinating as it is affecting, Raiders! offers an insightful look at fan culture while presenting a poignant portrait of friendship over the passage of time.

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Audience Member

Raiders is a documentary about three 12 year old boys from Mississippi who set out to make a scene by scene remake of The Raiders of the Lost Ark over the course of 7 years. However, one scene was missing, the explosive airplane set piece close to the end of the movie. As adults they reunite to try and complete their masterpiece, raising money and calling in favours wherever they can. The Raiders adaptation is a film that has gained a cult following should through the sheer determination and skills of these young teenagers as they paid tribute to their favourite film. It's worth watching through the credits because if you haven't seen their film you can see a shot by shot comparison between their efforts and the Spielberg's and it is very impressive what they created with such a small budget and a bit of imagination. Worth watching for any film fan.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Like all good documentaries, the hook of kids spending several summers making a shot-for-shot low budget VHS version of Spielberg's blockbuster is only the surface. What this poignant and fascinating film reveals is how family trauma fuelled the burning hunger to recreate the exploits of such an idealised male figure as Indiana Jones. No wonder Spielberg - himself the product of a broken home - recognised kindred spirits and invited them to his offices.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

spencer p

While I personally still don't see "The Adaptation" as the greatest fan film ever made (having seen many in that genre), and as a novice filmmaker, it's certainly painful to watch the process and hear the difficult stories, but after seeing the results after so many years of dedication, it would be harder to turn your attention away from this fascinating odyssey, and it actually packs a shocking twist to boot.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made" is definetly a must see documentary, and it really delivers a lot in depth with the people that the filmmakers had interview as well as the three guys (Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos, and Jayson Lamb). It really is fascinating to see how these guys were able to remake "Raiders of the Lost Ark" as it took them seven years to make; even trying to complete the airplane scene that they couldn't film, since they were kids at that time. I have read the book, which I really loved and I am very happy to see this documentary, and I am dying to see their fan film that I have yet to see. I love it, and I strongly recommend this documentary.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made" is a quirky documentary, but it is also kind of genius. This story is 30+ years in the making and its origins are just as fascinating as its current predicament. In 1982, a trio of 11-year-old friends began work on a shot-for-shot recreation of "Raiders of the Lost Arc." Not only did they decide to take on one of the greatest action films to date, but they had to do so before VCRs and home video was an option! Their early storyboarding of the film is incredible on its own, but the actually filming is even more fantastic. The documentary is full of stories that involve nearly burning down a house, almost being run over, dealing with the police, and the resourceful MacGyver-like techniques used to bring these special effects to life on a budget that consisted of... their allowances. Unfortunately, there was one scene that was impossible to film with their lack of resources: the airplane explosion. Their incomplete film became a cult favorite at film festivals but now, it is time to invest the money into completing this final scene. One of the coolest parts of the film is seeing these boys grow up and watching the support that they now receive from their own children in pursuing their dreams. But there is a greater theme to this film than following your dreams. I feel that it really captures the imagination of a generation that didn't need the newest phone, tablet, and video game system to have fun. It is that group of "Sandlot" kids that would play baseball all summer, the group of "Goonies" kids who went on one final adventure. But the people in this documentary are not characters - they are real kids who lived the dream of every nostalgic coming-of-age film. "Raiders!" captures a piece of our childhood that has been lost in modern generations. Get ready unrefined acting, improvisatory special effects, and a strong dose of nostalgia.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There's something fun about being steadily won over by a movie. What starts as a cute-at-best Americana doc with less-than-intriguing characters becomes surprisingly engaging as the drama unfolds. Through drug addiction, cheating friends, lost jobs, growing pains, and unforeseeable notoriety, this group of misfit cover-directors become beacons of film-love, suburban boyhood and human ingenuity.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

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Tim Skousen

Director

Jeremy Coon

Director

Chris Strompolos

Self

Eric Zala

Self

Jayson Lamb

Self

Harry Jay Knowles

Self

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John Monaghan

Detroit Free Press

The joy of the Raiders! remake (and the doc about its making) is the ingenuity with which the kids face filmmaking challenges, from borrowing snakes from the local pet shop to creating a wall of flame in one of their basements.

Dec 31, 2016

Full Review

Scott Marks

San Diego Reader

Unoriginal behavior such as this should be shunned, not encouraged.

Rated: 0/5

Jul 21, 2016

Full Review

Keith Phipps

Uproxx

The brisk but rich Raiders! doubles as a story of how creative partnerships, even those of many years, can fall apart and how childhood dreams can linger deep into adulthood.

Jun 20, 2016

Full Review

Jorge Ignacio Castillo

The Canadian Crew

Raiders! offers glimpses of growing pains and dreams fading away, which only makes the movie more human and relatable.

Rated: 4/5

Jan 30, 2020

Full Review

Oscar Goff

Boston Hassle

What makes Raiders! really work is the even tone with which it treats its subjects. The adaptation is never ridiculed ... nor is it held up as a grand artistic achievement.

Jul 24, 2019

Full Review

Dominic Griffin

Spectrum Culture

Raiders! is less an ode to the classic Spielberg film than a long form exploration of the fantastical manifestation of the inner lives of three young boys.

Rated: 3/5

Jul 17, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

Childhood friends Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala and Jayson Lamb reunite 25 years later to shoot the final scene of their shot-for-shot remake of Steven Spielberg's classic film "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Director: Tim Skousen, Jeremy Coon
Executive Producer: Kyle Newman, Jonathan Coon
Screenwriter: Tim Skousen, Jeremy Coon
Distributor: Drafthouse Films
Production Co: Jeremy Coon Productions
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 17, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 17, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $71.9K

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