Talk about commitment!
RAIDERS! THE STORY OF THE GREATEST FAN FILM EVER MADE! tells the tale of three teen boys who decide in 1981 that they MUST make a shot-for-shot adaption of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Before graduating high school, they manage to finish the film, except for the famous Nazi gull wing scene in which Indy battles a strongman below, around and in top of the moving airplane.
The documentary follows our teens, now grown up into very different adults, as they assemble to try and compete that shot for the documentary.
While interesting, I grew frustrated with the documentary on several counts. First, I wanted to see a lot more of their final film. We get snippets and rarely a side by side comparison. I would be have been a lot more excited with a half hour doc and then the whole damn film they crafted, maybe run in a split screen with the real Spielberg movie.
Now THAT would have been fun to watch.
This doc tends to get bogged down in the personal relationships of our grown up boys, with nearly ten minutes bogged down in one of them asking his boss on the phone if he can have extra days off to film the final scene.
That does not lend itself to riveting suspense.
The guys are obviously talented and devoted and some of their spouses are fantastic partners to put up with the never ending weekend project.
One of the boys grows up to have some serious personality quirks while another gets mired in crystal meth and an almost laughable allergy to a real job and "corporate America".
After awhile, I just wanted to see the movie they made and skip all the third rate drama.
As a documentary, RAIDERS! gets a C.
(But oh how I'd like to see their version of the film! The glimpses you do get are fun, fascinating and dangerous!)
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