Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Rated PG
(for intense sequences of action violence throughout, thematic material including torture and child abuse, scary images, and brief sensuality)
Released: May 23, 1984
Runtime: 118 minutes
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Roshan Seth
Available to stream on Paramount Plus, rent through Amazon Video, iTunes, and most VOD platforms. Purchase on 4K or blu ray.
Day 11 of “30-Plus Days of Spielberg”
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the greatest popcorn movie ever made.
But how can that be? Raiders is a popcorn movie, too, isn’t it? Yes, but it’s also much more than that. Temple of Doom isn’t.
From beginning to end, it’s a crazy — at times gonzo — travelogue adventure that’s all about thrills, spills, laughs and chills. It’s the kind of movie that I go to summer movies for.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a spectacular a piece of escapist moviemaking, as much has ever been made, and the haters can go stick it – including the guys who made it. (We’ll get to that.)
After the bomb of 1941, Spielberg redeemed himself with Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T.. Both films seemed to reinvigorate Spielberg, and Temple of Doom revels in that renewed freedom.
It introduced the notion of a prequel, too, further liberating it from any obligatory continuity with Raiders. The film even opens, quite literally, with its lead damsel declaring (in song) “Anything Goes”. Temple of Doom is a pull-out-all-the-stops actioner that isn’t looking to prove anything to anybody (sentimental this ain’t), and is simply having a blast with its full-throttle inventiveness.
Even so, Temple Of Doom incorporates children into its narrative and themes in such a meaningful way that it gives the adventure a substantial layer, one that should be applauded by parents, not chastised. More on that later.
Spielberg’s old Hollywood influences are still here, too (and not just the cheap matinee cliffhangers), whether they be subtle influences from films like Bridge On The River Kwai or a blatant wholesale rip-off (at least in premise) of Cary Grant’s Gunga Din.
Not familiar with that 1939 classic? It’s the story of adventurers in India who must stop the Thuggee cult’s revival of Kali worship from spreading around the world. Sound familiar?
(Spielberg even devised an opener that put Indiana Jones in a Cary Grant-style tux, and both films begin with titles appearing over a gong.)
Temple of Doom boasts the most imaginative, well-staged set pieces of the entire series, and they just keep coming. Most are insanely impossible to survive and a few completely defy physics, but that’s what makes them so brilliant.
They were done in an age of miniatures, matte paintings, and actual stunts, too (rather than overly-smooth digital fakery), which makes them all the more exhilarating.
It’s a pipe dream, but I would absolutely love it if Indy 5 director James Mangold (taking over for Spielberg) would commit to using zero digital effects and restrict himself to 1984 methods. That, in itself, would be a brilliant marketing tool.
Ford turns up the cocksure swagger a few more notches; smoother, cooler, more confident, with the occasional sly smirk or smile. His Indy is every bit a Man’s Man. And with the peril putting kids’ lives on the line, the stakes are far from superficial. In them, we see an Indiana Jones as we’ve never him seen before (or since): the altruistic hero.
Jones is so completely selfless that, quite frankly, my hackles rise when I hear people dismiss the film simply for having a “dark tone”. What better expressions of courage and valor could there be than for Jones to be sacrificing his archeological ambitions, his guaranteed “fortune and glory” and even his own life for the sake of rescuing children from slavery? Repeat: he’s rescuing children from slavery!
The more evil the bad guys are (in this case, very) the more noble Indy becomes, and the better example he sets.
People gripe (and admittedly, some moments are definitely not suitable for kids), but on this film’s terms, from what’s at stake (the lives of many innocent children) to what Indy gets in return (a thank you at best), The Temple of Doom gives us Indiana Jones at his most heroic.
Clearly, I don’t hold the disdain for Temple of Doom that most seem to. Indeed, that collective negative sentiment is revisionist when you look back on the film’s box office success and critical embrace (read the quotes in the ad below as evidence, including a 4-star review from Roger Ebert).
Even Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have become apologetic in the intervening years, not for the film’s quality (which, I think, no one argues) but rather for the level of graphic intensity that would spawn the PG-13 rating (note: other Spielberg productions like Gremlins and Poltergeist also helped lay that groundwork).
Spielberg and Lucas attributed the film’s violent nature as being reflective of dark times that both men were going through in their personal lives.
Sorry, but I call B.S.
Not to the veracity of those struggles, but to their effects on this movie. There’s way too much fun being had by everyone involved for this to be some Freudian result of deep personal angst.
If anything, this is an escape from all of that.
And yes, that includes the live-snake eating and bug-crawling and heart-pulling and human-sacrificing. You know, everything that a 12-year-old boy would love to watch and think is “soooo cool!”, along with all of the other action derring-do. (Full disclosure: I was 12 in 1984, and whenever I watch this movie again I still am.)
To a less indignant (but no less snide) degree, Kate Capshaw’s Willie Scott and Ke Huy Quan’s Short Round also bear the brunt of scorn – Capshaw for being shrill and grating, and Quan for being a silly pander to kids.
I’ll concede the sentiments about Capshaw even though I honestly don’t share them; she’s no Marion, I’ll grant, but her Willie Scott fits the mold of many spirited dames from the genre (plus, she’s actually given a few more levels than people remember).
And Short Round, well, I’ve always been a fan. Yes, he may be a pander but it works, from Quan’s fiery spunk (which I find to be thoroughly entertaining; he’s sincerely precocious, not annoyingly so) to the added character layer it provides for Indy: a latent paternal side that gives this orphan boy more credit (and trust) than most adults would ever be willing to.
Plus, this sidekick inspired one of the great themes in John Williams’ entire oeuvre: “Short Round’s Theme.” Whenever I hear that cue pop up in my music shuffle, it instantly sends me back to my Summer Movie Happy Place.
Did I mention this movie has eyeball soup, chilled monkey brains, and vampire bats – and how awesome that is?!
Seriously people, when it comes to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, everybody needs to just lighten up, starting with Spielberg and Lucas. Stop apologizing already! Kids aren’t nearly as fragile as our helicopter parenting has led us to believe (or trained them to be).
Temple of Doom was made to be fun, old school escapism – including the scares and gross outs.
And it still is.
Available to stream on Netflix, rent through Amazon Video, iTunes, and most VOD platforms.
NOTABLE TRIVIA
- Several action sequences in Temple Of Doom weren’t original to the script but, rather, leftover ideas from Raiders Of The Lost Ark that they didn’t have time or money for, the most prominent one being the Mine Car Chase.
- In another instance of the series’ double-casting, actor Pat Roach – who played the hulking plane mechanic that Indy fights in Raiders – returns as a hulking Thuggee guard.
- Dan Aykroyd, a good friend of Spielberg following 1941 and Steven’s cameo in The Blues Brothers, generously contributed a brief cameo of his own as Weber, the airport steward who guides Indy, Willie and Short Round to their airplane at the end of the film’s opening sequence.
- Ernie Fosselius, director of the famous Star Wars parody Hardware Wars, provides the voices of the two Chinese bi-plane pilots.
- An early draft of the script contained a motorcycle chase scene across the Great Wall of China. That was scrapped when the Chinese government refused to grant permission for filming. (Oh, how times have changed. Today, that would be granted in a heartbeat.)
- Of the four Indiana Jones films, this is the only one in which the title is shown in the iconic logo font. The other three all have the same, more simple type font first seen in Raiders.
I’ve always felt the same way. I love this film – in spite of it’s slight of the culture of India. It reflects what were probably the very real perceptions of the country in the 1930s. And I like seeing the evolution of the Indiana Jones character – he had a very clear character arc over the course of this film and we can see him turning into the character we loved in the first (and still best) film.
Exactly right. I think the whole child slavery/rescue element works as some good backstory/character formation.
Regarding the slight toward Indians, I’ve heard that concern too, but the villagers are a positive, peaceful counterpoint to the Kali worshippers, so even that I think worry was a little unfair (and probably not felt until years after this film’s release, as those kinds of things have become overly-sensitized – for good and bad – since then).
Always great to hear from someone else who appreciates DOOM, thanks for reading and posting, Brian. Welcome to the blog!
Another complaint that I’ve actually heard from a couple of Indian friends concerns the “dinner” scene with the, um, delicacies that are served. I can understand the need for some comedic diversion, but it does kind of play into some stereotypes.
Also, on another note, I love this blog! I, too, was hugely influenced by both Star Wars and Raiders. I grew up just outside of Tulsa, near Sperry, and distinctly remember seeing Star Wars in ’77 and my mother (who had grown up on the old Saturday serials) actually took me out of school early to see Raiders.
And I really enjoyed the Tulsa World article in which you were featured. I used to live near the Circle Cinema and always wanted it to receive more attention, which it now seems to be thanks to people like you. I live in Atlanta now, but still keep up with my hometown 🙂
Yeah, I guess I can sympathize with the stereotypes, and I won’t judge people’s personal sensitivities to those things. Even so, I don’t see them as done with ill-intent, nor do I think any average person would think less of Indians as a result (I never did, even as an “impressionable” child). It’s comedy. That’s it.
Really appreciate the kind words about the blog, Brian! Grateful to have you following. And yes, we’re holding down the Film Fan Fort here in T-Town, and the Circle is thriving! They have 4 screens now, with a regular rotation of independent, foreign, and documentary films. It’s very cool to see. OKC doesn’t even have a comparable indie theater. Not one.