Raiders! The Story Of The Greatest Fan Film Ever Made

In 1982, Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala, and Jayson Lamb got together to make a movie in their backyard. Not just any movie, mind you, but a shot-by-shot remake of the biggest movie of that summer: "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Thirty-five years later the videotaped epic is the stuff of legend, and in "Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made" audiences get to hear first-hand about the boys' adventures and watch as they set out to film the one scene they were never able to complete.

What began in the summer of 1982 would continue for seven more years until a girl would get between Chris and Eric and end their project. The boys put the video away and forgot about it until somehow, somewhere, director Eli Roth got hold of it. He gave it to basement film critic Harry Knowles who showed it at an all-night film festival, where the reaction was through the roof. People passionately responded to the pluck of these kids and just how elaborate and detailed their adaptation was. Not to mention that Chris had apparently only seen the film once. When people call it a shot-by-shot remake, they aren't kidding. It is dazzling in its mimicry and audacious in its attempts at realism. (The kids notoriously almost set a basement on fire while filming the infamous bar fight scene.)

All of this is revealed in the doc directed by Jeremy Coon and Tim Skousen. While it includes interviews with all three (now-grown) boys, not to mention various friends and family that were subjected to the filming, the doc also follows the boys as they set about filming the missing scene: The iconic fight that takes place beneath a grounded plane with whirling props.

What people respond to when they see the video or hear the boys' story is that the dream of these kids is inspiring. The creativity, drive, and passion to make their own film from a film they, themselves, were inspired by, is thrilling. This is a dreamer's movie, and while it feels like today's younger generation would rather sit behind a screen and interact on social media, these kids were playing and creating inside a world that they had grown to love. The sadness comes when you see the relationships disintegrate, lives get pulled apart by drugs, and career aspirations get tossed aside. It's a familiar story for many that have attempted to pursue a career in film -- many who were inspired by the same film that these boys were.

In that respect, the film works on a number of levels. Luckily, the film ends just as inspirationally as it begins. This is a film for film-lovers and dreamers. It is thrilling, hilarious, audacious and makes us nostalgic for summers long ago when movies truly meant something and screen adventures inspired us to have our own.