- Title: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
- IMDB: link
1984…are you serious? Damn I’m old; I had no idea it came out that long ago. Great thing is it’s just as entertaining today as it was when it released. Brilliant how Indiana Jones flicks can hold the test of time and, with the next installment, it’ll be like they never skipped a beat. I’m going to share a little secret with you, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is my favorite selection of the series so far. I know it didn’t get a big ass welcome like Raiders did, but I like my films a little darker and not all “PC”. The massive vampire bats, slithering eels out of a python carcass, mmm_mm_yummy monkey brains, crunchy bugs and kids having their hearts ripped out of their chests, now doesn’t that sound like a hell of a good time to you?
He’s back and in full swing action, but this time he’s not alone. Archaeologist, professor and hero, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) finds himself in a swanky nightclub trading with Chinese gangsters, who try to poison him and take the artifact without paying. In a desperate attempt to save himself he grabs the nightclub singer, Willie (Kate Capshaw) and heads for the window. Falling to his ride below chauffeured by a twelve-year-old squirt called Short Round (Jonathan Ke Quan), Indy escapes only to find himself on an ambushed plane by the same gangsters.
Indy and his sidekicks crash into the Himalayas and now find themselves in the middle of an impoverished India, needing his help to find the magical stones to bring water back to their lands. The crisis does not stop there, Indy must find out what has happened to all the children from the villages.
Out to find the mystic stones and missing children, Indy, Short Round and Willie go through the jungle, snakes, elephants and big ass bats to find themselves at the end of the trail staring up a huge daunting temple. Agreeing to spend the night to find out more about the sacred mission he is on, Indy his crew end up dining on monkey brains, eyeball soup and live eels. Willie just about passes out and retires to her chambers where her and Indy have a bit of a tryst and fall into a hidden passage way.
In the dark they go through this passage of crunchy creepy crawlies and get covered is some of the most grotesque looking 4, 5, 6, 8 and 12 legged creatures ever seen. Then they lock themselves into a spiked filled room only to escape into the torturous hands of the psychopathic high priest, Mola Ram (Amrish Puri).
In this temple of doom there are children in slavery working in the mines below and soon are turned into sacrifices to Kali (goddess of death). Indy is given a potion that turns him into a zombie and he begins the sacraments on Willie, while Short Round is getting a good beating. Finally Short Round grabs a torch, burns Indy awake and the adventure turns into high-octane status.
Great fights, great effects, awesome characters and a spine tingling mine shaft ride follows up this film. Indy saves the day and brings joy back to India and their villages by releasing the children and returning the stones. I almost forgot, he gets the girl in the end.
Here’s an interesting piece of trivia, did you know that the Temple of Doom actually takes place before the Raiders of the Last Ark? I wonder if Steve and George thought that one through, I’m going with no. More interesting little trivial items…
1. WILHELM SCREAM is used twice in the film can you find it?
2. Giant vampire bats are actually fruit bats and is footage from David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), one of Spielberg’s favorite films.
3. Willie (Kate Capshaw) was covered with over 2,000 bugs and goes on to say “I Do” to Spielberg. Interesting way to meet your future husband.
4. The violence was too much for a mere PG rating so the rating folks decided to create a PG-13 category.
5. Can you find the three references to Star Wars?
I found the trivia to be quite entertaining from IMDB, I never knew so many secrets about a film from what the monkey’s brains where made of to the actual filming location due to what may have been considered misrepresentation.
Overall Temple of Doom may not be ranked as high as Raiders, but it’s an action packed punch that keeps you on the edge of your seat time and time again.