Indiana Jed

Identical twin-filmmakers Michael and Marc Linn made this film when they were 15 and 16 years old, and think this film is more a rip-off than a parody of the _Indiana Jones_ films, the end credit actually says "based on...") but _Indiana Jed_ is full of youthful inspiration in the all-teenage cast. They spent almost $4,000, and budget constraints put the film in a contemporary setting, which gives the film a lot of funny twists in itself. Unlike the Jones film, this is a male-buddy film with Jed and Cmdr. Marc as the buddies, and the film is played for laughs, which it does effortlessly. Highlights include the character Jeremy, some drunken teenagers, Carl Schoenborn, and especially Hethe Henrickson as Beloch, a rival archaeologist (whose last name happens to be Henrickson), who is also the ultimate in ham villainy, who is after the Infinte Power, which will make him shoot rays like Emperor Palpatine. Unfortunately, because the brothers see the film as a rip-off, they have no plans to re-score it (it currently uses a temp-track that includes the Jones films, The Addams Family, The Rocketeer, Ricochet, The Hard Way, Mountains of the Moon, Sleeping With the Enemy, JFK, and lots of Cliff Eidelman's _Star Trek VI_ music, among others) and release it officially (which they can't in this current state), though they do sell it through their website. By the way, the film contains some stupendous car chases, in which windshield wipers are used as weapons...

In 1992, two twin highschooler brothers had a dream--they would make a movie. Indiana Jed is that movie.

As an teenage amateur filmmaker myself, I must say that this was very well done. The acting may not be great, but the film was very exciting(I still can't believe they really pushed that car off the cliff!) and humorous(The "My comb!" line makes me laugh every time).

Hey, what can I say? My son, my then-future son-in-law, and most of their friends were involved with it! A good amateur first effort. Filmed in and around Rapid City, South Dakota, with Stevens High School students and staff(?). Few movies out there will thank a local preacher for the loan of his car! A few of the people involved with this film went on to bigger and better things in the entertainment world. Part of the reason this movie was made, IMO, was a tribute to a very good and popular drama teacher. These guys discovered that the Black Hills and the Badlands were good movie ground before Hollywood did. Then they went on to experiment with making their own. This was big stuff for high schoolers in 1992! Now, it would be on YouTube. Compared to some of the stuff I've seen on SciFi channel lately, this is still awesome and certainly wears better.

The mere fact that these guys were 15-16 when they made this is insane. They captured the feel and look of the Indiana Jones trilogy so well, and made a great film while they were at it. Sure the opening of the movie starts off king of copying Raiders... but the rest of the movie is pretty much original good old fashion early 90's / late 80's style action! Such featured items in the movie are: lots of crazy one liners, mullets, car chases, fire, glorious scenery, fight scenes, special effects, CIA agents, arabs and lots lots more! I love this movie and consider it to be a favorite amateur film of mine, because so little amateur films are this entertaining. The only thing that drives me mad is that because they lived in such a nice place, they had the luxury of filming in waterfalls and badlands... and I ain't got any of that!! DANGIT! But I must appreciate it anyways. =) A wonderful film indeed, look for the Linn brothers in future films!

When I first reviewed this movie on my website, I was very harsh regarding the acting. In retrospect, I was far too critical. Since then I've learned a lot about this movie, how it was made, and when. It's important to realize that this was made by high school kids! If you keep this in mind when you watch, it is in fact a terrific achievement, and a testament to the drive of young minds. It has cheesy moments sure, but as a whole you have a full-out feature based on a popular series, and it's well done for it's age. Check it out and get inspired to do one of your own..