Thesis: "Temple Of Doom" is over-hated and under-appreciated

[chuck20]

HAHA! I had forgotten about that moment. I like ToD, but its just not much fun. I mean, the plot is depressing as all hell, Kate Capshaw was SUPER annoying and everyone in the productions admits that it could have been better. Now it is nice to have something significantly diffrent from the other 2 movies, but when i like the other two so much, the other suffers by comparison.

I liked short round tho, he was a fun character and I always wanted to know what happened to him.

 

[cedric72]

I dont see George and Steven taking too many risks with the next installment.
All the "place holders" are present, geez even the Ark and Marion are back.

I liked "Temple" but Willie was annoying. Thank heaven Steven didnt bring his wife back over Marion.

If Steven had have bought Kate back in the next movie,I wouldn't bother seeing it.
She's about as irritating as fingernails being dragged down a chalkboard.

 

[cedric72]

TOD was ALWAYS my favourite. I usually found Raiders pretty boring, and I haven't seen Last Crusade as many times as the first two... TOD was the movie that started my Indy love. I loved the wild and gory parts, and also the cheesy stuff. I never understood why Spielberg would bash his own movie. TOD is pure entertainment, and as that, it succeeds completely in my opinion.

RAIDERS BORING!!!!!!!!!!!! What the hell are you on dude!

 

[Coheteboy]

Temple of Doom was the first Indiana Jones movie that I saw when I was a kid. Watched it during a weekly activity run by the town's youth activity committee that particular summer. I was only 7 but I was hooked on Indiana Jones after that point.

I remember going home and telling my parents how great that movie was. I actually made it a task to try to find Indiana Jones merchandise that summer but only came home with a Temple of Doom lunchbox and matching thermos. I was so cool going to school back in the day, a couple of the other kids thought it was the coolest thing...I was so proud of that lunchbox.

Anyways, to this day...Temple of Doom stands with me the most, followed by Raiders, and then Crusade.

Temple of Doom was my first Indy as well and it's what made me a huge fan. It's just cool. Yah it has a lot of bugs with the story and is pretty silly how it all goes down, but I love it.

And yes, this was John Williams' finest indy score. Can't wait to get a remastered extended release on that one!

 

[chuck20]

hey! its Coheteboy! Anyways, that's a great point, the soundtrack for temple of doom was amazing.

 

[icruise]

I'm just about done watching TOD for the first time in a number of years (I'm going through the trilogy to prepare for the upcoming movie and related releases). I haven't gotten to Crusade yet, and I haven't seen that for a while so my opinion may change, but I always thought it was great and second only to Raiders. TOD is also great as an action film, but as an Indiana Jones film, it leaves some things to be desired. Specifically:

There's too much supernatural stuff going on. In Raiders, there's basically nothing supernatural until the very end, and as I recall Crusade was very similar. That's the payoff. I always thought of the world of Indiana Jones as being more or less grounded in reality (or as close as you can get with this kind of over-the-top action film). But in TOD, you have mind control, glowing magic rocks, people getting their hearts ripped out of their chests while they're still alive, and voodoo dolls (since when is voodoo Indian, by the way?).

Indy doesn't do any kind of investigating or discovering. The reason Indiana Jones is compelling compared to the average action hero is that he is an archeologist and uses knowledge to solve puzzles and locate artifacts. There's very little of that to be found.

It's still a great movie, but it is third on my list. (And I'll have to admit that I never realized that it was a prequel until today when I saw the date given at the beginning of the movie.)

 

[Khev]

Since TOD was a prequel, the events in that movie made him change focus from "fortune and glory".

Nevertheless, the opening scenes of Last Crusade still predate Temple of Doom and they clearly set young Indy up as someone with more altruistic motives than "fortune and glory." You could pull a "SW apologist" and contrive a reason that Indy wanted artifacts in a museum as a kid, then wanted to make money, then went *back* to wanting them in museums, etc., but the fact of the matter is his character does have some continuity blunders from film to film. Its even more apparent when you hear his speech about not believing in boogie men or supernatural mumbo jumbo in Raiders and then realize that he's saying that AFTER his time in the Temple of Doom. But eh, no big. They made up the movies as they went and they're all terrifically entertaining regardless.

 

[piccolodaimaoh]

I'm just about done watching TOD for the first time in a number of years (I'm going through the trilogy to prepare for the upcoming movie and related releases). I haven't gotten to Crusade yet, and I haven't seen that for a while so my opinion may change, but I always thought it was great and second only to Raiders. TOD is also great as an action film, but as an Indiana Jones film, it leaves some things to be desired. Specifically:

There's too much supernatural stuff going on. In Raiders, there's basically nothing supernatural until the very end, and as I recall Crusade was very similar. That's the payoff. I always thought of the world of Indiana Jones as being more or less grounded in reality (or as close as you can get with this kind of over-the-top action film). But in TOD, you have mind control, glowing magic rocks, people getting their hearts ripped out of their chests while they're still alive, and voodoo dolls (since well is voodoo Indian, by the way?).

Indy doesn't do any kind of investigating or discovering. The reason Indiana Jones is compelling compared to the average action hero is that he is an archeologist and uses knowledge to solve puzzles and locate artifacts. There's very little of that to be found.

It's still a great movie, but it is third on my list. (And I'll have to admit that I never realized that it was a prequel until today when I saw the date given at the beginning of the movie.)

You have basically summed up my entire view of Temple of Doom. I thought it was good but if you look at Temple and the other 2 movies it was like they emphasized action over story in Temple more than Raiders and Last Crusade.
It's like emphasizing duels with laser swords over a great story with an interesting plot...

 

[Mesa]

I still have to catch up on this thread... so what I'm about to say may have already been mentioned. The temple of Doom is just an okay movie, the reason, "Willie" the "hot" chick of the film. Her whining "Indy" for majority of her dialogue was annoying as hell. I'm watching the trilogy again, and stopped about half way through on ToD, partly cause of work the next day, but more because I just was more annoyed with her character. She ruined it for me. I wold have preferred if Marian kept the female roll in this film.

 

[tomandshell]

Two decades later, Temple of Doom has held up better for me than Last Crusade.

After recently seeing it again for the first time in years, I think that the tone in Last Crusade is just a bit too light--a bit too breezy and fun, with the result being that you never feel a real sense of danger or threat. Of the three, it feels the most like a piece of fluff. Raiders was a bit more hard hitting, and obviously TOD had an edge to it. But with as much fun as they were obviously having on the set of Last Crusade, the resulting film is just too tongue in cheek and is more of a comedic lark with action than it is an action/adventure film with touches of humor, which is how I would describe the first two. Maybe the difference is slight, but I think it's there. (And although Willie was annoying at times, she is more memorable a character to me than Elsa.)

I hope that after overcompensating for the darkness of TOD by producing an overly jokey third installment, that the tone of the new movie will be a little more balanced and closer to the original.

 

[icruise]

I just watched Crusade last night, and I agree that the tone is much lighter, especially in comparison with TOD. For me personally it's not a problem, although I think they probably could have left a few of the jokes out. I still greatly prefer Crusade to TOD, and to tell you the truth if you asked me which film I would rather sit down and watch at any given time, it would be Crusade, even over Raiders. I just find it very enjoyable. I like finding out about Indy's past, the chemistry between Indy and his dad, and I like the parts about the grail.

 

[Mooncat]

compared to what followed it was an oscar winning master piece

 

[IrishJedi]

Two decades later, Temple of Doom has held up better for me than Last Crusade.

Also, out of all of the existing Indy movies TEMPLE OF DOOM is actually the most like the pulp 30's serials that inspired the series in the first place. It deserves special recognition on that note alone.

RAIDERS is still the best, easily. A perfect Action-Adventure movie that is untouchable. TOD is much different, yes... but it is those differences that makes it special on its own.

 

[KitFisto]

I have never disliked this movie. I did get annoyed with the blonde chick and the kid screaming what seemed like 90% of the movie though.

Raiders is by far the best. I have not watched TOD or LC in a long time. I will have to watch both soon and see which one stood up better IMO.

 

[IrishJedi]

Willie and Short Round are indeed annoying. But that's obviously by design... especially when you watch the movie now. Willie comes across much like Fay Wray and her ilk probably would have if the action movies from the 30s and 40s were made in modern times. And Short Round is the "cute" little kid sidekick that you want to high-five one minute and then punch across the room the next. Again... all by design.

And there are just so many classic adventure serial moments in TOD that are now iconic: My favorite of which is the bug/spike chamber scene. It's an utterly PERFECT sequence and has it all: creepy-crawlies, humor, tension, characterization. It's easily one of my favorite scenes in the entire series.

FIST: "Do it NOW!!!!"

 

[Khev]

From the time that Indy snaps out of his trance until closing credits is one of the most entertaining finales in action movie history. Its hard not to love a movie that ends on such a high note.

 

[zoid2323]

I love TOD lots of action.

 

[IrishJedi]

From the time that Indy snaps out of his trance until closing credits is one of the most entertaining finales in action movie history. Its hard not to love a movie that ends on such a high note.

Yep! And it also includes one of the most bad-ass shots in movie history:

 

[DarthNeil]

Nice article in the new ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY where they talk about the positives of each of the three movies... Can't miss it-- It's the one with Indy on the cover (an Indy pic from ToD naturally ).

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

Two decades later, Temple of Doom has held up better for me than Last Crusade.

After recently seeing it again for the first time in years, I think that the tone in Last Crusade is just a bit too light--a bit too breezy and fun, with the result being that you never feel a real sense of danger or threat. Of the three, it feels the most like a piece of fluff. Raiders was a bit more hard hitting, and obviously TOD had an edge to it. But with as much fun as they were obviously having on the set of Last Crusade, the resulting film is just too tongue in cheek and is more of a comedic lark with action than it is an action/adventure film with touches of humor, which is how I would describe the first two. Maybe the difference is slight, but I think it's there. (And although Willie was annoying at times, she is more memorable a character to me than Elsa.)

I hope that after overcompensating for the darkness of TOD by producing an overly jokey third installment, that the tone of the new movie will be a little more balanced and closer to the original.

I just recently re-watched TLC as well, and I share your sentiments. I hadn't seen it since it's original theatrical run and had forgotten just how heavily comedic it was. At times, it feels like it's actually spoofing the Indy movies. The young Indy/River Phoenix segment was great and had just the right touches of humor, after that, the movie borders on being a farce. It was still an entertaining watch, but I don't see myself coming back to it anytime soon.