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Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984)
It seems like I'm always going against the grain when it comes to my family and movies. Specifically franchises. I always love the one they find the weakest. My family loves the first three Rocky films, but I love the fourth. They prefer the first Mad Max to the second. The Fellowship Of The Ring is the weakest of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, ITO, and don't get me started on The Godfather. But the one I keep coming back to is the Indiana Jones franchise. The reason I do is because they hate The Temple Of Doom. All of the other trilogies or series, they like all parts to some degree, but they would much rather watch Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull than The Temple Of Doom, and a though of WTF runs through my mind. But I don't really care, because it's their loss that they can't appreciate a film, that's of a completely different tone than that which precedes it. A film that captures my immature imagination and takes it on a journey that I will never forget.
For those who don't know, this is a prequel to Raiders Of The Lost Ark, in which Indiana Jones is recruited by an Indian village to retrieve a magical stone from a vicious cult that runs from underground a marvelous palace.
A small piece of information that might be important towards the reason I love The Temple Of Doom is that it was the first Indy film I saw. My mum got the whole boxset (back when it was three movies, not four) and I wanted to watch The Temple Of Doom first, simply because it had Han Solo AND Data from The Goonies in it. And even though I was at a young age when I first watched it, I fully recognised that Steven Spielberg was directing it. The guy who directed Jurassic Park, E.T and Jaws? Count me in.
My parents wanted to watch Raiders first, but I was very persistent. Finally, we popped Temple into the DVD player and I couldn't believe my eyes. Firstly, what a great opening. It presents Indy as more of a James Bond-ish character than an adventurous archeologist. The whole sequence, where Indy runs through the restaurant, looking for the antidote for the poison he drank, and Willie, the nightclub singer, chasing after the giant diamond that she just can't her hands on for long, still manages to keep me on the edge of my seat, even though I've seen this movie a million times. It caught my attention and set alight the fire of wonder in my heart (that was bad). I wasnt watching a movie. I was on an adventure.
From then on, it's non-stop thrills, as planes crash, spikes threaten to impale and people get burned alive in lava. It's a big cartoonish mess at times, but Spielberg, a master of the camera, knows what he's doing and delivers, more or less. However, the film really kicks into the highest gear in the final 45 minutes, where Indy frees child slaves, rides mining carts and hangs off a broken bridge (which he broke himself). It's certainly highly illogical (that part where the mining cart jumps the tracks), but honestly, should I care? No, it's movie magic and magic I'm happy to witness.
Harrison Ford does a wonderful job as Jones, and manages to play the role heroically, comedically and dramatically and handles it quite well. Kate Capshaw is a bit annoying at times, but her performance doesn't hinder the film. Ke Huy Quan is solid as Indy's sidekick Short Round, and puts in a child performance I can actually tolerate.
Revisiting this film is always fun, even if it's for the most trivial reasons. The actual reason I watched it today is because I read a small article on "Spielberg's Grace Notes", moments that capture the breath in each of his films. There is an example from each film, and from this, it was the heroic dolly up to Jones' face. The moment they speak of is a wonderful shot. As is the rest of the film.
It seems like I'm always going against the grain when it comes to my family and movies. Specifically franchises. I always love the one they find the weakest. My family loves the first three Rocky films, but I love the fourth. They prefer the first Mad Max to the second. The Fellowship Of The Ring is the weakest of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, ITO, and don't get me started on The Godfather. But the one I keep coming back to is the Indiana Jones franchise. The reason I do is because they hate The Temple Of Doom. All of the other trilogies or series, they like all parts to some degree, but they would much rather watch Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull than The Temple Of Doom, and a though of WTF runs through my mind. But I don't really care, because it's their loss that they can't appreciate a film, that's of a completely different tone than that which precedes it. A film that captures my immature imagination and takes it on a journey that I will never forget.
For those who don't know, this is a prequel to Raiders Of The Lost Ark, in which Indiana Jones is recruited by an Indian village to retrieve a magical stone from a vicious cult that runs from underground a marvelous palace.
A small piece of information that might be important towards the reason I love The Temple Of Doom is that it was the first Indy film I saw. My mum got the whole boxset (back when it was three movies, not four) and I wanted to watch The Temple Of Doom first, simply because it had Han Solo AND Data from The Goonies in it. And even though I was at a young age when I first watched it, I fully recognised that Steven Spielberg was directing it. The guy who directed Jurassic Park, E.T and Jaws? Count me in.
My parents wanted to watch Raiders first, but I was very persistent. Finally, we popped Temple into the DVD player and I couldn't believe my eyes. Firstly, what a great opening. It presents Indy as more of a James Bond-ish character than an adventurous archeologist. The whole sequence, where Indy runs through the restaurant, looking for the antidote for the poison he drank, and Willie, the nightclub singer, chasing after the giant diamond that she just can't her hands on for long, still manages to keep me on the edge of my seat, even though I've seen this movie a million times. It caught my attention and set alight the fire of wonder in my heart (that was bad). I wasnt watching a movie. I was on an adventure.
From then on, it's non-stop thrills, as planes crash, spikes threaten to impale and people get burned alive in lava. It's a big cartoonish mess at times, but Spielberg, a master of the camera, knows what he's doing and delivers, more or less. However, the film really kicks into the highest gear in the final 45 minutes, where Indy frees child slaves, rides mining carts and hangs off a broken bridge (which he broke himself). It's certainly highly illogical (that part where the mining cart jumps the tracks), but honestly, should I care? No, it's movie magic and magic I'm happy to witness.
Harrison Ford does a wonderful job as Jones, and manages to play the role heroically, comedically and dramatically and handles it quite well. Kate Capshaw is a bit annoying at times, but her performance doesn't hinder the film. Ke Huy Quan is solid as Indy's sidekick Short Round, and puts in a child performance I can actually tolerate.
Revisiting this film is always fun, even if it's for the most trivial reasons. The actual reason I watched it today is because I read a small article on "Spielberg's Grace Notes", moments that capture the breath in each of his films. There is an example from each film, and from this, it was the heroic dolly up to Jones' face. The moment they speak of is a wonderful shot. As is the rest of the film.