A couple of highschoolers spent every summer from the ages of 11 through 18 filming a fan remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark, shot for shot. One or two scenes are missing but in large part it's all there; snakes, car chases, explosions and all that. This was started in early 80's and it was filmed on beta-max(!) so granted it's a bit grainy at times and the sound is pretty horrid but it's very impressive considering the technology back then and the fact it's all kids.

I just got back from a screening of this at a local film festival and it was very awesome. If you guys get a chance to see this you should take the opportunity; it seems like they sort of randomly hit up local film festivals accross the states.

There was a talk back after the show and hearing about everything they did made it even cooler. The guy who played Indiana talked about how he and his friends got in trouble with their mothers at around 12 or 13 for setting a friend on fire for the scene where the nazi's find Indy at Marion's bar and set it on fire. 16 years after they finished it, Steven Spielberg heard about it and invited them to his place to chat about it. They also got invited to Skywalker Ranch by George Lucas!

Very cool stuff. Here's a link to their site: http://www.theraider.net/films/raiders_adaptation/index.php

Unfortunately I only see stuff for Olympia and NY but I bet there will be more screenings in the future. For those people in washington or nothern oregon with nothing to do tonight I suggest you get your ass to olympia, there's another screening at 9:30. Seriously, even if you live in Spokane it's worth the drive out here.

I don't know about you guys but I love shit like this because I know I had the same dream of remaking movies with a bunch of friends - it's so cool that they actually did it... seeing what they did really inspires me to work more on my own little projects.

Have you guys heard of similiar awesome fan projects like this, film or otherwise?

Oh cool, I heard about this in Empire. It's a shame it's an American thing, I might torrent the sucker. It actually interests me.