Adaptation

How can I even begin to discuss the fabulousness of Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation? Especially when seen at a small screening, with the filmmakers present?

This film is way better than it had to be. I probably would've been thoroughly entertained if the sets and costumes were half as good as they were. I don't mean to say that they were convincing, but they were far more ambitious than what I expected. (There was, I admit, a moment when I briefly thought we were in Cairo. No, really.)

Having not seen the "real" Raiders in at least five years, I had a fairly fuzzy memory of the story. Certain shots are unforgettable -- the hand with the medallion's runes burned into it, the rolling boulder, the melting face -- but, for example, I didn't quite remember how the truck scene ends up. And this is where the big surprise came in for me: Raiders: The Adaptation is genuinely suspenseful.

These kids did some really dangerous things while filming. There is a substantial amount of real fire, including a shot of a truck with a well-fed chemical fire in its bed. I'm pretty sure someone places a flaming torch in his mouth at one point too. One kid is dragged by, and possibly beneath, a truck; he also appears to jump onto a moving vehicle.

A few things I learned during the filmmakers' Q&A session after the screening:

*The film was shot on a Betamax camera, and eventually edited at a local TV studio.

*People age four years -- an eternity in one's teens -- in reaction shots.

*The filmmakers have to screen The Adaptation for charity or for educational purposes. They can't make money off it.

Anyway people loved it. The crowd of about 200 people erupted in applause and cheers about a dozen times during the screening.


Songs now playing: The Meat Puppets' gentle "Up On The Sun," and Coleman Hawkins' "On The Sunny Side of the Street"