Temple of Doom Lovers

For me, one of the best things about KOTCS coming out was that it gave me a new appreciation for Temple of Doom. CS was so terrible, it elevated TOD. I never disliked TOD, but it was always my least favorite. Now it's 3 of 4.

It's great to see the reality of a dark side in Indy's adventures. And compared to many modern movies, it's not all that dark, even with ripping out hearts and such.

Awesome action with the minecar, and eventually running from the water. "Water...water....WATER!!" Great comedic lines ("Nice try, Lao Che!") comedic scenes with the banquet, Shorty playing poker and setting off the spike trap, etc. Huge payoff when the kids return to the village. Cameo by Dan Aykroyd. There are so many good things to say about TOD the list goes on and on.

And Anything Goes puts the soundtrack over the top.

Some how Spielberg was able to put us on the edge our seat even if we knew Indy wouldn't die! Some how KOTCS was missing that. I mean they had it but it didn't seem to work. Maybe I am just older now, not sure

I love Kingdom of the Crystal Skull sorry if that shocks you but isn't everyone entitled to an opinion of the fourth Indy film anyway Temple of Doom is great very interesting to see Indy so carefree and younger before the events in Raiders

Something interesting I've noticed with the Indy films is that if I rank them by quality, I get Raiders, LC, ToD, and CS. If I rank them by my favorite, I get Raiders, ToD, LC, and CS. If I rank them by rewatchability, I get ToD, LC, Raiders, and CS.

Suffice it to say, rankings are silly.

some fans do rank them as Raiders,Crusade, Temple and Skull don't know why Temple is underrated as an Indy film

Ajax the Great said:

Really, that was a cringe moment for you? I thought it was really funny, and it sort of showed that the poison was getting to him. The quicksand for me was absolutely ridiculous. I know its his phobia, but he was acting completely neurotically. In Raiders he thought he was going to be trapped underground with hundreds of thousands of snakes and in ToD he had to watch people eat them. His dealings with snakes in CS were considerably milder, so it doesn't make sense to me that Indy would go that crazy over it.

There's definitely a character progression from Temple to Raiders. In Temple, Indy is searching for fortune and glory. He's much more of a rogue, and much rougher around the edges.

I love the beginning when the band starts playing Anything Goes amidst all the chaos. That was just such a fun scene to watch.

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I understand what yuo're saying and I too love the way that the band continues to play, however that just seemed a little silly and almost pointless, why would he waste time and sway in front of the dancers when he had bussiness to take care of? I realize that he was drunk but really?

I presonnally think that the quick sand was an interestin way to incorporate snakes in there, I enjoy the lines and while it's not prefect I like the idea.

Now I get where you're coming from where when there are 7,000 snakes to go into it's just "snakes why'd it have to be snakes?" but when it's one he get hysterical. However he HAD to go into the pit to retrieve the ark of covenant, he wanted to be the person to retrieve it so he over came his fear, skull there was no goal, not pirze after the missery so he would rather die than touch that snake. There's not an ark of the convenant or crystal skull for the matter sitting right beyond the pit, it's just a son he just found out about and a girl he was just in a huge argument with woopdedoo

at least that's how I see it. Now don't get me wrong, I am not a skull fan (it's my least favorite) but I still think that it is incredibly underrated,which no matter what it was Indiana Jones 4 would always be underrated. The first half of the film is actually really well done, there were a few strange moments but it was around the same quality of Last Crusade I'd say. But in the second half it went down hill

FedoraHead said:

Some how Spielberg was able to put us on the edge our seat even if we knew Indy wouldn't die! Some how KOTCS was missing that. I mean they had it but it didn't seem to work. Maybe I am just older now, not sure

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yes, I agree. that rope bridge scene still gets me. I was just so wonderful and so edge-of-your-seat

lao che & sons said:

yes, I agree. that rope bridge scene still gets me. I was just so wonderful and so edge-of-your-seat

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Agree rope scene was great, love when he sees the thugee guards coming both ways and say "oh sh_t"

When he cuts the rope the look on Mola Ram's face is great..

lao che & sons said:

that just seemed a little silly and almost pointless, why would he waste time and sway in front of the dancers when he had bussiness to take care of? I realize that he was drunk but really?

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If you look at it that way, it is pretty retarded! But I never saw it that way. I just took it as Indy is kind of out of it, and is trying to get around the dancers, and happens to accidently sway to the music. I never took the dancing bit as Indy actually trying to boogie down.

1000th post, btw:

lao che & sons said:

woopdedoo

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I love ToD, but Raiders is my one and only, my first love.

Ajax the Great said:

His dealings with snakes in CS were considerably milder, so it doesn't make sense to me that Indy would go that crazy over it.
.

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I agree though maybe, just maybe his adverse reaction to the big rat snake might have been more to do with Marion's revelation. Maybe that got to him and then the fact that his son is holding a snake at him made his reaction to the revelation worse, thus making him going crazy over something that would be considerably minor in comparison to snake scenes of the past.

Back on topic, ToD is awesome. It has my favourite opening ("Anything Goes"/Club Obi Wan) of all the films. As a girl, always wanted to wear a dress like that! The opening is dramatically different to the others, in the sense that Indy is actually clean, though still dealing with some dirty characters. Of the three films I grew up with when I was a kid, I used to watch ToD the most. And admittedly, kind of enjoyed the gross out factor in the film (which is pretty tame with today's standards, which I can't stand coz a lot of films now go too far). I enjoy Shorty as a character and who could forget his cute little accent!

I agree Violet {may I call you Violet?}! I just love Shorty in ToD!!! "You listen to me more, you live longer!} hilarious! Yeah, gross out films today make me want to puke. Willie is my favorite part of ToD {she'd also my favorite Indy girl beleave it or not}.

opening scene

Great opening scene a true throwback to the early serials...

I love after he finds out he was poisoned he punches the ciggr. girls and gets out of instant danger every time, when the balloons fall from the ceiling on the gang of thugs. Also how great was it when he threw the drum symbol and hit the guy in the face. Just a nice fast paced, fun opening....

Finish off with Dan Aykroyd and that great british accent showing him to the plane..

Indy's brother said:

If you look at it that way, it is pretty retarded! But I never saw it that way. I just took it as Indy is kind of out of it, and is trying to get around the dancers, and happens to accidently sway to the music. I never took the dancing bit as Indy actually trying to boogie down.

1000th post, btw:

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Ok, I get you, but why would he be trying to get around them? to get into the dragon and hide? well, thanks for your insight I will now like that bit so much more.

oh, and congrats on your 1,000 posts

lao che & sons said:

Ok, I get you, but why would he be trying to get around them? to get into the dragon and hide? well, thanks for your insight I will now like that bit so much more.

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Can't tell if that's sarcasm or not, but anyway, you're welcome.

Indy's brother said:

Can't tell if that's sarcasm or not, but anyway, you're welcome.

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just for the record, there was no sarcsm intended

lao che & sons said:

just for the record, there was no sarcsm intended

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Good to know, it's been kind of tense around here lately. (or maybe that's just me) Anyway, the resurgence of "Anything Goes" in this scene is kind of an intentionally farcical musical number. Another perfect example of this is the cymbal crash to the face occurring perfectly in step with the music. (mentioned here previously by RTR). In the same vein as the Indy-dancing, I don't assume that Indy was trying to play in the band by doing this.

Indy's Brother: It's been tense for as long as I can remember on these boards for whatever reason. And I agree with you on anything goes. It fit in nicely and I enjoy it. It always bugs me that it isn't in the soundtrack though.... probably b/c of liscensing rights and all that

It's actually pretty calm on these boards at the moment. Not as tense and tetchy as it has been in the past. The only biut of recent excitement was the occasional humorous 'Sharkey' attack.

As for The Temple of Doom, I've always liked this film, as I have all four of them. For me TOD came at a time when I was learning about the 1930s and finding a fascination for it. Shanghai of this period has been an interest to me ever since. And I've always had a fascination for subterranean environments, so the Thuggee temple fitted the bill perfectly. I think I can put the underground thing down to my love of the old Dungeons and Dragons RPGs, and recently I finally got hold of a copy of West End Games Temple of Doom Sourcebook .

"Temple of Doom" is #2 on my Indy list. I love it.

ronthereviewer said:

Great opening scene a true throwback to the early serials...

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Hi, Ron the Reviewer. I collect old adventure films & serials and am very interested to know which ones you're talking about here. If you have a chance, please, let me know what serials you know of that are similar to the Shanghai opening of "Doom"!

By the same token, if anyone knows the answer to this question (from goodeknight), please reply: Temple Dance Sequence origins