We just got back from seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation at Real Art Ways here in Hartford. I don’t even know how to begin to describe the movie, a clear labor of love and dedication from truly dedicated fans of the original movie. Going into it, I didn’t know what to expect — would it be any good? How close to the original could they get? How could they pull off the special effects at the end?

What’s amazing is that they pulled off nearly every scene with few changes. They did cut out the airplane fight scene, and they used a different animal than the spider monkey for the Cairo bits, but beyond that, they did everything from the boulder to the snakes in the Well of Souls to the submarine scene (!) to fiery destruction of the bar in Nepal. Oh, and they did the maps! On top of that, the acting was decent to very good — Indy, Belloq, and Marian were played brilliantly by the three teenagers.

I found a BBC video on YouTube that talks about the film. It contains scenes from the adaptation. Take a look:

The guy interviewed in the film, along with the friend that directed it, were both at the screening tonight at RAW, answering questions after the movie. It was totally worth going.

For the folks that are local, the film is showing again tomorrow at 2PM along with another Q&A after. If you’re nearby you should definitely go see it.

They’re still doing showings around the country now and again, so if you happen to hear about it coming near you, totally recommend watching it. You won’t regret it. You might get more out of it if you watch the original soon before. Heidi and I just watched the entire trilogy prior to seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (which I just realized I never reviewed on FM), so it was still fresh for me. Truly, the level of detail in this film was amazing.

Update: The Vanity Fair article mentioned in the BBC clip is available online on the VF site.

I’m also a little unsure about putting this up, but the first 10 minutes of the movie are on YouTube (of course). So, here it is, just to give you a taste of the whole thing. Go see this if it comes to your town. You won’t regret it, especially if you liked the original.

These guys are serious fans.