Review of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) by Jeff R — 30 Mar 2014
In defense of Temple Of Doom: half of the iconography that people identify with Indiana Jones actually comes from this film. For starters, it's the only film where "Fortune and glory" is ever spoken.
It's the only Indiana Jones Film primarily set in a jungle or temple. Raiders may be the best of the series, but only the prologue takes place in any sort of temple setting. Temple Of Doom takes that motif and runs with it.
It also has some of the most prominent music from the series, like "Slalom on Mr. Humol" or "Bug Tunnel and Death Trap," which is just about all you hear throughout the Disney ride.
Speaking of which, the booby trap with the spikes coming out of the ceiling is from Temple Of Doom. Indy uses his whip more in Temple Of Doom than any other film, particularly in fight scenes. It's also the only film where he actually dangles from the whip in motion.
With regards to the tone, yes it's unapologetically dark. It took some real balls to go in opposite direction of "Raiders" and deliver an uncompromising Eastern fantasy. By today's standards I'm convinced it would be an R, and we should all thank Shiva that Spielberg cranked it to 11 in a pre-digital age.
One of the things that works best about the stunts in Temple Of Doom is that they are all practical effect thrill rides. You can forgive that they just jumped out of an airplane because who wouldn't want to ride down that slope in a raft? It's not like the fourth film, where gratuitous digital effects actually lowered the stakes.
There is a certain degree of charm that comes along with practical effects (that means physical props and stunts, people). I really think most of the "too dark" stuff stems from cultural bias.
As if drinking the blood of Kali is is any less plausible than drinking from the cup of eternal life or damnation. It's all fantasy, folks. I also appreciate that Short Round has a strong screen presence, but he isn't spared any of the peril.
It's a great companion film to the father/son dynamic of Last Crusade. If you really want to deconstruct the problems with these films, we could talk about how Last Crusade turns Marcus, Sala, and Henry Jones Sr.
into the three stooges.
This review of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) was written by Jeff R on 30 Mar 2014.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom has generally received positive reviews.
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