Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Off-List: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

The three original Indiana Jones movies are to my mind all masterpieces and although the second instalment, “The Temple of Doom”, is often considered the poorer of the three, it is still far ahead of anything that came after “The Last Crusade”. It is a mystery why these three were not all adopted for the List.

“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (IJTD) is a prequel to “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. If you did not catch that from the date displayed (1935), it is apparent from the complete lack of Nazis. The setting is also quite different, taking place exclusively in Asia (China and India), but the most notable differences are how far it ventures into dark mystery and unbelievable stunts.

The opening is light enough. At the cabaret venue of Bar Obi-Wan (caught that?) in Shanghai, a transfer of an archaeological artifact for a diamond between Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and a Chinese gangster (Roy Chiao) goes haywire with shooting, dancing, poisoning and general confusion. Dr. Jones barely manages to escape with cabaret singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) and child sidekick Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) in tow.

Finding themselves alone on a plane about to crash in the Himalayas, they bail out, using an inflatable boat as a parachute (!). After a completely insane decent from the mountains, they end up in India. Here the villagers believe our unlikely trio is godsent to save them from the evil flowing out from the Pankot palace. This sets off the real adventure of the movie, involving a Thuggee cult (See Gunga Din) and some very dark magic.

Some elements suffer from the classic sequel problem of “let us do the same but bigger”. The stunts are crazier where both the bailing out of the plane and the rollercoaster ride in the mines had been abandoned in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for being too much and unbelievable. Instead of snakes, we get bugs, and instead of Nazis we get cultists. It is exhilarating, but also a tad stupid.

What we also get is a lot of the Indiana Jones vibe we love. The dry humour and the outlandish adventure and of course the gung-ho attitude. We also get a setting and a plot that is sufficiently different from the first movie to set it apart as a different movie. I used to find this darkness a detraction, but as I got older, I see it as an asset. There is something at stake here, it is not just fun and games and that adds much needed depth to the movie.

In our household, the most common talking point is the choice of lead actress. Kate Capshaw is, for lack of a better word, annoying. Her shrieking voice and her attitude is a source of pain throughout the movie, but again, as I get older, I see it actually works for the movie. I am not certain my wife has come to that conclusion yet.

Mostly “IJTD” is a fun adventure ride, made by the champions of such rides, Lucas and Spielberg. Many have tried to copy the format, but I have yet to see anybody besting it. Any of the three classic Indiana Jones movie are worth taking out any given evening or Sunday afternoon and it is a guaranteed good time. “The Temple of Doom” is my pick when I need it to be a bit darker and as such it does what it needs to do perfectly.

My favourite scene of the entire movie is the dinner scene in the palace. It takes the concept of disgusting local delicacies to an entirely different levels, and we often refer to one of these amazing dishes when we want to describe horrible outlandish food (nice, snake surprise!!!). Childish, I know, but this is a movie of my childhood.

Interestingly, both the Chinese and Indian authorities would not allow the movie to be filmed in their countries. Some people are so touchy.