Thesis: "Temple Of Doom" is over-hated and under-appreciated
- Thread starter IrishJedi
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DarkArtist81
Super Freak
That paragraph.... brought a tear to my eye...
Perfectly spoken. That film was an amazing ride and as crazy as it should have been. I love every second of that film and always will.
Also, there may not be a shot in the history of cinema more bad ass than the one of Indy standing tall after punching a Thugee across the gravel just before he, Short Round and Willie begin freeing the slave children. And it comes with the requisite John Williams music that inspires you to want to pummel a cultist yourself. 
You're right. They do need to re-release the original scores, especially TOD and LC which haven't been in print for years (there was a very good 2-disc RAIDERS remaster a few years back).
Agent0028
Inebriated
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Wow, y'all are making me want to go watch Temple of Doom now. It is my least favorite of the three. I like everything about it up until the very end. I really like the elements of Indian mythology and such, but the mind control, and the brainwashed boy king, and the pulling out hearts loses me. For some reason I find that harder to believe than the Ark destroying all the Nazis and the holy grail healing someone. But I really do like how different it is and I personally hope that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is more like it, the title puts me in mind that it will be.
Darth Caedus
Formerly Congerking
I'm sure that people will disagree with me, but these are my reasons for thinking that ToD is the least of the trilogy:
BUT, reasons why I still like the movie:
Overall, all three movies are great, just in their seperate ways
- No Nazis nor Marcus nor Sallah. Great characters that I love and love to hate.
- No christian religion mythos. RoTLA and TLC deal with acts of God and the supernatural; which to me is quite interesting. ToD dealt with glowing rocks and a guy who rips hearts out of people (doesn't quite hold up in my book)
BUT, reasons why I still like the movie:
- John Williams...pretty much anything done by him is gold IMO
- Shorty. Wish we got to see him again. Putting an adult shorty is KotCS would have been a great little cameo IMO
- Indy/Willie banter throughout the entire movie. While the story wasn't that great, the dialogue and interactions were great
- Voodoo was cool, but doesn't beat the holy grail or lost ark
Overall, all three movies are great, just in their seperate ways
Really? I didn't see that when looking through Amazon's list of stuff the other day. Was hoping I might find a PO for something but not as of yet.
Anzik
Super Freak
Raiders is my favorite and I wish I could be certain if it was the original feel of when it first came out, the quality of the film or the sentimentality of seeing it in the theater with my dad.
I was fourteen and it was one of the last movies I went to see with him since I was a stupid kid and didn't realize how great it was to hang with the old man.
It was also really cool that it was set during WWII that he fought in.
I was fourteen and it was one of the last movies I went to see with him since I was a stupid kid and didn't realize how great it was to hang with the old man.
It was also really cool that it was set during WWII that he fought in.
BadMoon
Demi G0D Overseer
Anzik I know what you mean. I seen Return of the Jedi with my dad. It was the first movie I can ever remember seeing with him and I was only 4. That is why that movie is my all time favorites.
galactiboy
OT Preferist
This is an interesting thread... I always figured people like Crusade least since that was my least favorite.
TOD is definitely a campier, more over-the-top film... but it is just a lot of fun. And who doesn't like a guy getting his heart ripped out of his chest?!?
TOD is definitely a campier, more over-the-top film... but it is just a lot of fun. And who doesn't like a guy getting his heart ripped out of his chest?!?
piccolodaimaoh
Super Freak
When I was younger Temple was my favorite, partly because in the late 80's it was on all the time on HBO and like USA. Also, it reminded me a lot of Duck Tales. As a matter of fact the whole Indy series bears some similarities to the old Scrooge McDuck comics but that is why I think I love them so much.
Once I got into High School I was able to watch Raiders and Last Crusade more and for some reason they appealed more to me than Temple. Looking back on it I think the reason why I like Raiders and Last Crusade more is because there was more at stake. Indy was trying to save the world from the Nazis while in Temple he was looking for fame and fortune and ended up learning that there is more.
I think all 3 movies have their place, Temple is a prequel to Raiders so even though Temple is a more compact story you can see the maturity of Indy from Temple to Raiders and finally the "conclusion" in Last Crusade. They all serve a purpose, hopefully the new one will continue the Lucas/Spielberg magic.
Once I got into High School I was able to watch Raiders and Last Crusade more and for some reason they appealed more to me than Temple. Looking back on it I think the reason why I like Raiders and Last Crusade more is because there was more at stake. Indy was trying to save the world from the Nazis while in Temple he was looking for fame and fortune and ended up learning that there is more.
I think all 3 movies have their place, Temple is a prequel to Raiders so even though Temple is a more compact story you can see the maturity of Indy from Temple to Raiders and finally the "conclusion" in Last Crusade. They all serve a purpose, hopefully the new one will continue the Lucas/Spielberg magic.
galactiboy
OT Preferist
Murderofcrows71
Super Freak
Raiders was for me the perfect Indy movie. He was driven enough by the artifact that he was willing to die or kill for it. In "Temple" it was as if he just fell into the search and it wasn't his motive at all but a side quest. Then in Last Crusade it was back to something he actually had a connection to, for the search. I like Temple but it, and crusade just don't have the feel of ruthlessness or importance for obtaining for the prize that Raiders had
I think Temple of Doom gets grief because we expected an Empire Strikes Back type of sequel -- one that expanded the story, opened up the world and let us see the characters in a new way. Instead we got a pop-corn movie. As such, I think it holds up better than Last Crusade. But neither sequel holds a candle to the original. Raiders is film history.
The thing about Temple of Doom that I didn't see mentioned in the thread is that it's a prequel to Raiders, set in 1935, while Raiders is set a year later, so Indy's sense of purpose may be different than that of what viewers were used to seeing in Raiders.
I personally loved Temple of Doom because of it being a prequel, and it's extremely dark nature. I think many viewers were turned off by TOD because they expected it to be more like Raiders, and perhaps black magic and enslaved and tortured children were a bit shocking for such a film for the time.
I personally loved Temple of Doom because of it being a prequel, and it's extremely dark nature. I think many viewers were turned off by TOD because they expected it to be more like Raiders, and perhaps black magic and enslaved and tortured children were a bit shocking for such a film for the time.
I think it's interesting that TOD was so dark because Lucas came up with the story and it went it to production when his wife left him for the young Ranch hand and filed for Divorce. I'd say it was easy for him to be in a pretty dark place at the time.
