Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Submitted by movieguy2004 t3_yh46v0 in movies

This was one of my major blind spots since I had somehow never seen it until now. Raiders is one of my favorites and I’ve loved it since I was a kid, but for whatever reason I never got to any of the sequels.

This one struck me because I felt it was quite different from its predecessor. Raiders of the Lost Ark is a pulpy action adventure movie with supernatural elements. This is a lot more heightened and a lot scarier. It’s appropriate that I watched it around Halloween since I would go as far as to call this a flat out horror movie.

But it’s quite good. All the stuff that was good in Raiders is good here, but I loved the addition of Short Round. I loved Ke Huy Quan in Everything Everywhere All At Once, and he’s great here too. Here’s a character that could’ve been annoying enough to bring the whole movie down but instead is hilarious, useful in the action sequences, and has a genuinely heartwarming relationship with Indy that I loved to see.

Although I will say the female lead is pretty weak. Especially since Marion from Raiders is such an awesome character who’s both likable and actually necessary for the film to work, going from that to this where the main female character is just an excuse to do the spoiled bimbo routine is unfortunate.

It’s not as good as Raiders, but that’s a really high bar. This is still good, and definitely different enough to stand out. I’m excited to watch the other two sequels, and I’ll definitely be at the theater opening night next summer to watch the fifth one.

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weprechaun29 t1_iuc0tq8 wrote

ROTLA will always be the best one. Didn't care for Temple of Doom, but Short Round was a great character where as Willie was annoying. Kate Capshaw was Speilberg's girlfriend at the time. The Last Crusade was excellent where as Kingdom of The Crystal Skulls wasn't. Don't wanna see Indy 5.

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vVWARLOCKVv t1_iuc4j5m wrote

Bali Mangthi Kali Ma. [Sacrifice is what Mother Kali desires]

Shakthi Degi Kali Ma. [Power is what Mother Kali will grant]

Kali ma... Kali ma... Kali ma, shakthi deh! [Mother Kali... Mother Kali... Mother Kali, give me power!]

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tomandshell t1_iuc8b4p wrote

Marion was such an incredible female lead that they just had to go in a different direction—I understand why they came up with such a different character with Willie, but she’s definitely a test of the viewer’s patience at times.

I think that fits in with the overall approach of the film, though. Rather than just doing a retread of the first and giving the audience more of the same, they went in a very different direction at every point possible. Throw out whatever you were expecting, because “anything goes.”

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Nobodycares2022 t1_iucgqky wrote

I believe Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom is actually a prequel and not a sequel.

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Valdamier t1_iucn0ct wrote

I just want to finish watching The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

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davidjw75 t1_iucocri wrote

There's an account by Key Huy Quan from just over a week ago of meeting Harrison Ford again for the first time in almost 40 years.. basically half a lifetime.

I don't know how I feel about the idea of Indy 5, but I found it heartwarming to read of those two having a chance to reconnect again. I love the first three Indy films, having grown up watching them, but Crystal Skull was a bit hit-and-miss for me.

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MovieMike007 t1_iud39co wrote

Watching this film I really feel bad for Kate Capshaw, who was stuck playing a shrill unfunny character who screams about breaking a nail while people are trying to kill her, yet I don't think anyone could have pulled off that character and the fact that Willie Scott was such a drop-down in calibre from the Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark makes it all that much worse.

On the plus side, Harrison Ford is still great as everyone's favourite adventurer Indiana Jones, the John Williams score is still a baller one, and the action set-pieces are incredibly fun even if a little sillier this time out - the mine car chase includes one eye-rolling-moment after another - and the film is simply littered with great production designs from the Thuggee temple to the most elaborate mining system ever created.

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Now_Wait-4-Last_Year t1_iudb65c wrote

I have some relatives whose relatives were some of the most famous film directors in Sri Lanka. They could have met Steven Spielberg when he was filming Temple of Doom but they were busy doing something else. A lot of their crew met him, though.

Here ends my almost anecdote.

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whitepangolin t1_iue77p1 wrote

Temple of Doom has really come around for me. I feel like this is the movie that established Indiana Jones as a world-adventurer, not just a guy fighting Nazis. The movie kicks off in China and ends up in India. There are references to past adventures in Morocco and Madagascar. Loved seeing Indy in Asia - hope the final sequel has him going outside of the Middle East and Europe for once.

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farseer4 t1_iuihd87 wrote

I love that movie. It's a lot of fun and has a great pace, pure pulp adventure. Some all-time great action set-pieces. The mine cart chase, as an adult, seems a bit silly, though, although I loved it as a kid.

It gets criticized because the female lead is not a "strong female character", but for me she was the only sane character in the cast, a good comic foil for Indy and Short Round, freaking out quite reasonably while the other two took all the craziness in stride.

The first three Indiana Jones movies were great, while the fourth was very disappointing. I don't really want to see the 5th. I don't trust them to do anything good with a 90 years old Indy.

They should either end the franchise or recast Indy, just like they do with James Bond. If they recast, it won't be easy to capture the roguish charm that Harrison Ford used to have, though. Also, if they go back to the 30s they will basically be restricted to fighting the nazis, since having those exaggerated pulp adventures outside that will be called racism.

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