Raiders! by Alan Eisenstock

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In 1981, a legend was born.
Sorry but no, I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about a little movie called Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark. A movie that sparked an entire generation of young boys to aspire to great heights. Two 11 year old boys in particular, who set out to do what seemed impossible. In 1982 Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos decided to film a shot for shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Shot for shot as in, every scene, every stunt, each and every piece of dialogue. What started as one boys dream of playing Indiana Jones, and another's aspiration to be a director, became an 8 year project neither had anticipated. That's right, an EIGHT year long project. In this generation you can't get children to focus on one thing for eight seconds, let alone eight years! Nevertheless, these two were determined to finish their remake, come what may. This included lighting not only Eric but the basement on fire, constructing a six foot round fiberglass boulder and much, much more. You'll remember (or maybe you wont) back in the day, you couldn't rent movies. There was no Netflix, or Redbox, or Ondemand. Just good old fashioned movie theaters. I'm sure your wondering, as was I, how did they manage to make a shot for shot remake? They did it from memory. MEMORY! I lose my phone every time I put it down, and these boys remembered an entire film. Mind blowing isn't it? Eric Zala spent an entire summer drawing storyboards for the movie. Meanwhile Chris Strompolos spent hours practicing the classic Indy smirk in the mirror. While it may sound like a lot of fun, and I'm sure it was, this was not an easy task for either boy. In fact, this project actually caused their friendship to end on more than one occasion. However, in the end, nothing was ever serious enough to end the friendship or the partnership for good. Which is why, eight years after that initial conversation, they finally finished their film. In recent years it was rediscovered and whom should see it, none other than Spielberg himself. This book follows their remarkable journey throughout every trial that beset them both film wise, and life wise. Truly a heartwarming tale of persistence and friendship that stands the test of time.

Raiders! The story of the greatest fan film ever made by Alan Eisenstock with Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos