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A review by mirable
Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made by Alan Eisenstock
5.0
SLJ starred review:
EISENSTOCK, Alan with Eric Zala & Chris Strompolos. Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made. 320p. Thomas Dunne. 2012. Tr $25.99. ISBN 978-1-250-00147-4. LC 2012035374.
Adult/High School–When two pre-teens decided to re-create the iconic Raiders of the Lost Ark movie, they had no idea what they were getting into, or that they were forging a friendship that would last long past the cut of the camera. Zala used his role as director to explore his abilities to prepare and be ready for any situation while Strompolos worked through his insecurities and body-image doubts by inhabiting Indiana Jones. Stubbornly, they spent each summer between 1981 and 1989 conceiving, casting, and recasting parts, filming and substituting when necessity demanded. Where were they going to get a submarine in gulf-coast Mississippi? They literally grew up on camera as their friend Jayson Lamb documented everything. Their sheer determination to finish is inspiring and a little frightening, skirting the edge of obsession. Against seemingly insurmountable odds, Eric and Chris and Jayson did what they set out todo: remake Raiders of the Lost Ark, shot for shot. Surprisingly, creating the boulder became one of the production’s biggest sticking points, working as metaphor for Eric and Chris’ lives, friendship, ambitions, and love, and illustrating their struggle to get one of the lynchpins of the entire project to work, but never giving up. Raiders! has a great narrative flow that reads like fiction and would make an excellent choice for teens interested in filmmaking, pop-culture history, and those who just enjoy a good story.–Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
EISENSTOCK, Alan with Eric Zala & Chris Strompolos. Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made. 320p. Thomas Dunne. 2012. Tr $25.99. ISBN 978-1-250-00147-4. LC 2012035374.
Adult/High School–When two pre-teens decided to re-create the iconic Raiders of the Lost Ark movie, they had no idea what they were getting into, or that they were forging a friendship that would last long past the cut of the camera. Zala used his role as director to explore his abilities to prepare and be ready for any situation while Strompolos worked through his insecurities and body-image doubts by inhabiting Indiana Jones. Stubbornly, they spent each summer between 1981 and 1989 conceiving, casting, and recasting parts, filming and substituting when necessity demanded. Where were they going to get a submarine in gulf-coast Mississippi? They literally grew up on camera as their friend Jayson Lamb documented everything. Their sheer determination to finish is inspiring and a little frightening, skirting the edge of obsession. Against seemingly insurmountable odds, Eric and Chris and Jayson did what they set out todo: remake Raiders of the Lost Ark, shot for shot. Surprisingly, creating the boulder became one of the production’s biggest sticking points, working as metaphor for Eric and Chris’ lives, friendship, ambitions, and love, and illustrating their struggle to get one of the lynchpins of the entire project to work, but never giving up. Raiders! has a great narrative flow that reads like fiction and would make an excellent choice for teens interested in filmmaking, pop-culture history, and those who just enjoy a good story.–Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI