2003

'Emperor's Tomb' art competition coming!
Monday, January 20, 2003 - Gilles V

TheRaider.net will soon hold it's very first competition! You will get the chance to win one of 5 Drew Struzan's Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb posters donated by LucasArts. But not for nothing.

You will have to draw/paint/photoshop a poster, wallpaper, etc. that is clearly inspired by the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb game.

This competition will start on January 31, 2003 and end on March 1st, 2003. More information and rules about this competition will come online on January 31st but you can already begin with searching for ideas.

Here are some helpful "inspirational" links: Gamespot.com has a gallery filled with 83 screenshots. The official site got more great screenshots and concept art and there is also TR.N's own 'Emperor's Tomb' page filled with info on the game and links to related previews and interviews.

See you all on January 31st!

The Fan Fiction Archive has been updated
Friday, February 28, 2003 - Gilles V

"The year is 1937. After a prelude in the deserts of Africa, and a harrowing adventure in the concrete jungles of New York City, Indiana Jones heads south in search of clues to the secret of Nan Madol. His journey takes him deep into the swamplands, where danger, adventure, and romance await." The action heats up as part 3 of the ongoing Indy adventure Indiana Jones and the Secret of Nan Madol gets downright steamy!

The other ongoing Fan Fiction story Indiana Jones and the Secret of Solomon's Temple has also been updated with a new chapter.

New additions to the Fan Fiction Archive are:

• Indiana Jones and the Ghost of the Future by Rob Thomas. This short story begins with Indy's arrival in Iceland. Indy is prepared to work on the 'Jastro Expedition.' But a strange turn of events explains some of the hidden mysteries of the Icelantic Tunnels first shown in "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis".
• Indiana Jones and the Quest for Peace by Tim O'Neill. Here Indy is drawn into Cold War espionage to save Henry's long-lost love. This adventure takes our heroes through war-torn Afghanistan and into the furthest Siberian tundra.

Do you have a question for Michael Sheard?
Thursday, March 6, 2003 - Gilles V

We are currently working on an interview with actor Michael Sheard. Mr. Sheard has appeared in The Empire Strikes Back as Admiral Ozzel and also played Adolf Hitler in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but he should have been in Raiders of the Lost Ark as well.

Michael Sheard played the uncredited role as the U-boat Captain in Raiders although he originally passed the audition for the role of Gestapo agent Toht. His friend Ronald Lacey eventually got the part. Michael Sheard returned for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in which he played Adolf Hitler.

As usual, we give you the chance to ask Michael Sheard a question about his acting career. All you have to do is sending your question to gilles@theraider.net 'til Wednesday, March 12. I will then select the best questions from the stack and make sure they get answered by Michael Sheard.

Art Museum updated plus new "caricatures" gallery
Tuesday, March 18, 2003 - Gilles V

Our Fan Art Museum has been updated with some great art.

The Classical Art gallery has been updated with 2 pieces of art from illustrators Jeff Pittarelli and Jeff West. They both made something very good and worth checking.
The Digital Art gallery of Hans de Bisschop has also been updated with 6 new images that are perfect for use as a desktop wallpaper.

I have also opened a new gallery at our Fan Art Museum, the Caricatures gallery.
During the past week I received an email from professional illustrator Gavin Lines who has been obsessed with trying to capture the Indy likeness for as long as he can remember, in as many different styles as he can. He so far finished 2 first Indy caricatures and I must say that they are both superb! Gavin's second Indy caricature is just hilarious!
The Caricatures gallery also contains a Raiders of the Lost Ark poster caricature drawn by Jeff West that "kicks ass"! I hope that we get to see more work from both Gavin Lines and Jeff West soon. Click here to view their caricatures.

About the Emperor's Tomb art competition. We are currently judging the work we have received and will announce the 5 winners this friday.

Interview with German novelist Wolfgang Hohlbein
Tuesday, March 18, 2003 - Gilles V

Author Wolfgang Hohlbein has recently been interviewed by TheRaider.net's James Bradley. Armed with Member questions, as well as a few of his own, Bradley has provided us with a rarely seen view into the European version of our famed adventure hero. Wolfgang Hohlbein has written over 160 fantasy and adventure books, each filled with the vibrant world of a remarkable author. Hohlbein is most noted by TheRaider.net fans for his Indiana Jones novels.

Click here to read the interview with Wolfgang Hohlbein.

TheRaider.net is back online!
Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - Gilles V

Good news! TheRaider.net is back online after an absence of 3 days. The problems began on sunday when our server suddenly went all wrong... Badly!

All our TheRaider.net files have been erased, including everything from The Raven message boards. But luckily all we had to do was simply putting everything back on the server, except for The Raven.
Many members at The Raven bar might not like this but our last backup was done on August 15, 2003. Every thread started and post placed since then is lost. For ever. We looked everywhere but could retrieve none. My apologize for that.

But fortunately, every bit of information that could be found on TheRaider.net on Saturday evening is back online. Nothing is lost. But if you do find a missing link or an other error, please send me an email to gilles@theraider.net.

One last thing, the gilles@theraider.net email address was inactive as well. I would appreciate it very much if everybody who has send an email to that address, or replied an email by me, during these last 3 days could send it again. Thanks a lot.

Fan made Indiana Jones comic strip online
Friday, September 05, 2003 - Gilles V

Our Fan Art Museum has been updated with a very good four page Indiana Jones comic strip adventure with as title The Original. This comic strip has been made by Krzysztof Radwanski and Rafal "TheOther Jones" Westerowski.

Click here to view the comic strip. Certainly worth checking out!

3 new Indiana Jones fan films online!!
Thursday, September 11, 2003 - Gilles V

Our Fan Films Theater has been updated with not 1, not 2, but 3 new fan made Indiana Jones short films! At this moment you can only view the trailers of these new fan films but if everything goes well, you may expect to find the full length versions of the films online later this year. Here follows an introduction to the three new fan films:

Indiana Jones and the Slayer of Thousands is a short film written, produced and directed by Matt Cikovic & Jeremy Lowery. In their adventure, a voice from the past pulls Indiana Jones into an adventure through the wild jungles of Brazil. There he, and his team search for the fabled, but grim instrument of death that slew thousands of innocent victims in ancient times... This short film is expected to be released on November 8th.

Indiana Jones and the Saint of Cabora is the second short film written by Christian Pedraza and directed by Abraham Sanchez. Here Indiana Jones is sent to Mexico to aid a professor in a map translation in search for a mysterious artifact that belonged to a legendary saint. But greed and betrayal lies ahead as Mexican bandits and Yaqui Indians try to stop Indy and his friends from reaching it... This fan film was made entirely on location in Mexico. It's currently unknown when we will get to see the full length version of this fan film.

And last but not least: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Labours is a film produced and directed by Carlos Miranda. This film has no real storyline but is therefore not less interesting. Temple of Labours is put together from footage recorded for a longer fan project about Indy, but with a different plot. Only the beginning and the ending of this spoof were added later to set the story as it is shown now. Believe it or not, but Carlos Miranda started shooting scenes in the 1993, and he keep going. The finished film will be over an hour long and is expected to be released online somewhere this upcoming winter.

Many thanks to the creators of these 3 Indiana Jones fan films for making them and giving us the opportunity to view these short films.

Indiana Jones fan films update
Thursday, September 18, 2003 - Gilles V

Ronald Fuchs, the Austrian director of the Indiana Jones and the Call of the Ancient fan film has let me know that we may expect a new trailer of his fan film hopefully in October. You can already view 4 new photos of his Call of the Ancient film here.

Fran Casanova's Indiana Jones and the Secret Manuscript fan film production is no longer happening. But the filmed material won't be lost as Fran has already finished Indiana Jones: In Search of the Lost Dream. This is a comedy parody that uses some of the material filmed for the Secret Manuscript. You may expect to see Fran's comedy parody here online around the end of this month.

But that's not all, Fran Casanova is now making an other new Indy fan film named Indiana Jones and the Dagger of Hell. Fran informed me that he is currently filming this short film in Madrid - with Rafa Rodriguez as Indiana Jones - and that he will start editing the film in October. So if everything goes well, we might get to see the finished film in November. Click here for more information and some photos.

Sallah welcomes you to TheRaider.net
Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - Gilles V

Actor John Rhys-Davies recently visited the radio studio of the Los Angeles based The Film Freak radio show. There the actor who played Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark & the Last Crusade and Gimli in the Lord of the Rings trilogy was interviewed by Kevin Rubio. Unfortunately the interview with John Rhys-Davies can't be downloaded at FilmFreak.com. And I forgot to announce the interview 2 weeks ago, I apologize for that.
But Leo Quinonez, host of the radio show, surprised me with a special taped welcoming message for TheRaider.net he did together with John Rhys-Davies.

If you wish to view the welcoming video, it's a 3,37 Mb Windows Media file and can be downloaded by right clicking here.

Many thanks to Leo Quinonez and Kevin Rubio from The Film Freak for this video!

TheRaider.net presents Mike French' latest article
Thursday, October 30, 2003 - Gilles V

Michael French, the man behind the many Indy's Influences articles, is back in action with a new analysis titled: The Common Concept of Indiana Jones. This time he asked Indy fans and average film lovers the same question: "When you hear the words 'Indiana Jones', what do you think of?" The responses Mike got were markedly different. Here follows a part of the article:

Some Indy fans said things like "The whole truck chase," while others picked minute moments from such sequences. "I like it when he hits the motorcycle with the truck," for example.
For the non-fans, the responses were broader and more simplistic, with an interesting commonality. Many remembered Indy "running from the boulder" of course, but the vast majority also recalled "the guy who rips out people's hearts," and "the eyeball soup and monkey brains," and "'You call him Dr. Jones!'" There were many mentions of "the rope bridge" and "Shorty!" ...

Click here or go to our Articles section to read the full article.

TheRaider.net's own Indy Poll is back!
Monday, November 10, 2003 - Gilles V

Many of you might not remember it but TheRaider.net once had its own Indiana Jones poll - which was over 2 years ago - in the time that this site looked completely different. TheRaider.net's original Indy Poll was last updated in May 2001, to be exactly. And then it disappeared completely whit the new design & layout.

Until today! Our Indy Poll is back and more user friendly than ever.

One new option this time is that you can suggest a question - plus answers - for the next Indy Poll. You can submit your poll question here, and you might see your own question the next time the Indy Poll gets updated.

You can find the poll on the right side of the main page, in case you haven't noticed it yet.

2 new films influenced by Indiana Jones reviewed!
Monday, December 8, 2003 - Gilles V

Film reviewer Michael French has again review two films that obviously got their inspiration from the Indiana Jones films. The reviewed films are Magnificent Warriors (1987) starring Michelle Yeoh and Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003) starring Angelina Jolie playing Lara Croft a second time.

Click on the links here above to read the reviews or go to our Indy's Influences: Legacies section.

WANTED: Tintin comic strip fan!
Monday, December 8, 2003 - Gilles V

I'm seeking for someone to write a Tintin article for our Indy's Influences section.

As you might know, Tintin's comic strip adventures were a big inspiration for Steven Spielberg to make the Indiana Jones films, Spielberg even planned to make a film about Tintin in the 80's.

Are you familiar with all the Tintin strips and do you have some writing experiences? Then please contact me at gilles@theraider.net. Thank you!

Indiana Jones fanwork updates...
Monday, December 22, 2003 - Gilles V

Our Fan Films Theater and Fan Art Museum are updated with new work.

I have received the trailer of Fran Casanova's third Indiana Jones fan film titled Indiana Jones and the Dagger of Hell. You can now download the 2:34 min. Dagger of Hell trailer here.

The Fan Art Museum is also updated with 3 new pieces of art. The first is a poster made by Graham Clark using MsPaint. The second is a colored pencil piece drawn by Butch Hastaran. And the third is Trevor Grove's latest, a great Raiders poster. All three are worth checking out!

Downloads section updated... Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 25, 2003 - Gilles V

On behalf of the whole TheRaider.net staff, I would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas!

As our Christmas gift to you, I have updated the Downloads section with new wallpapers and more photos.
The new additions to the Downloads section are 13 new self made Indiana Jones wallpapers, 3 different TV commercials of the Indiana Jones DVD Collection, new 'Behind the Scenes' galleries of all three Indiana Jones films that contain all the photos from our Making of articles gathered, and 40 new quality screenshots of the Indiana Jones trilogy.

Happy holidays!