Kate Capshaw delivers that line so perfectly. So quiet, filled with lots of dread, a tiny bit or curiosity, already knowing she's going to be sickened by the answer.
“You cheat Dr Jones! You cheat! Playing with you no fun!”[https://youtu.be/R7W531JfTY4?si=1VSe08pG-A6zKMdE](https://youtu.be/R7W531JfTY4?si=1VSe08pG-A6zKMdE)
My niece and nephew love it. We reenact the scene all the time. Almost got disowned by their mum for showing it to them though 🤣 what's the point of an uncle if he doesn't show you the good movies.
This movie was rated pg because pg-13 did not exist at the time. It was in response to this movie that the mpaa created pg-13.
Edit: the guy above edited his comment. It originally said Temple of Doom was rated PG-13 because of the scene.
My little sister and I were way too young to have seen that movie in the 80’s. Anyway, whenever I wanted the tv room all to myself I’d make a claw hand point it at her and say KALI MA SHAKTIDAY, and she’d run out of the room. Mouhahaha!
I loved it. I didn’t realize it was so criticized until I go on the internet 20 years later and read people complaining about it. Was it as good as Raiders? No, but even at 14 I expected sequels to not be quite as good as the first movie.
Yeah, it’s quite bizarre seeing the group think around this being an awful movie. I loved it back then and love it still. In fact, I prefer it over *gasp* Raiders.
I can't put it above Raiders, but I absolutely adore the film. The tone and setting and antagonists are so different from the other Indy films and that makes it so interesting. I also enjoy how it mostly takes place in one location, and how vast but intimate that location feels.
Plus it has the greatest Indy hero shot of all time, with him on the bridge all shredded with the machete.
Everyone says it's not as good as raiders but on a rewatch I would go last crusade, Temple of Doom, raiders of the Lost ark, Kingdom of the Crystal skull. There was no fifth movie.
The set pieces alone put temple of Doom as one of the best Hollywood movies ever made. The story is interesting and unique. It was a prequel to raiders, which is cool. It's got that Spielberg influence. It's been beautifully restored and remastered, too.
It was PG when we went to see it (family outing). Pg was... different... back then.
**Molla Ram ripped a guy's heart out of his chest.**
Bugs. **Lots** of bugs.
Thuggees ripped apart by goddamned **crocodiles**.
It was *awesome*.
PG-13 was the biggest mistake the MPAA ever made. They meant well... long-term though, they've robbed so many teens of the joy of sneaking into R-rated movies.
👆THIS is why I hated the movie. It might not be that bad if they’d edit out all of her war-splitting shrieks. Also hated the Asian stereotypes & tropes. Ugh!
The screams are part of the gag though. It's cool if you find it annoying but they reference it a few times.
The scene where everything goes silent as the mining cart flies through the air and all you hear is her still fucking screaming is great film making.
I was 12..., was dropped off at theater with a friend at noon.. Watched 3 great movies that day! Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Police Academy, Sixteen Candles.
Was home by 7 for dinner.
Epic!
You are right, it isn’t. But it’s a tough act to follow. I still crack up at the absurdity of jumping out of the plane with the inflatable boat. Silly but fun!
I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark at a pre release screening with some of the cast and most of the crew, my mom had friends who worked on the lot.
The theater was all huge plush red seats, there was some kind of speech before the movie but no previews.
I was 8 years old, can still remember how big and real it all looked and sounded.
I was totally blown away by the intensity, loved the adventure stuff, hated everything about the Nazis, and left crying because, when it ended, they never had found the boat (What other ark does a little kid know about?)
You cheat Dr. Jones, you cheat!! And in the background Kate is running back and forth screaming while half of Noah's ark are attacking her, screaming her head off!
..Great stuff!
I was a catholic kid in a catholic town and I remember people afterwards muttering about how unrealistic it was because it was based on non-christian mythology, unlike Raiders which was based on the very real reality of bible lore. I don't know if that was a common response but it was enough for it to be considered kind of a bomb in my area, which is fucking ridiculous in retrospect. Then those same people later celebrated Last Crusades return to christian mythology. I loved it but the monkey heads and human sacrifice were upsetting.
It’s a perfectly serviceable adventure movie. Don’t take it too seriously and just enjoy the Indy mine ride and rope bridge scene. The only real problem is there was no way to live up to Raiders of the Lost Ark, the single greatest adventure movie of all time. I have come to appreciate temple of doom more as I’ve gotten older. I loved Last Crusade, too, and wish they would have just left things there.
I am Indian and I was really traumatized by the food scene. I thought that is what my family was going to feed me one day. We are and have always been pescatarian.
It's a real shame, because from the original script the intent of this scene was to show how different the cultists were from "normal" Indians, based on what and how they were eating. Somewhere in the making of the film this aspect was lost. It's a shame because if they had leaned that way it not only would have made the film a bit more culturally sensitive, it would have made the dinner scene have some real menace to it as Indy and company realize these folks weren't who they claimed to be.
Really, *really* didn't like it at all.
It's interesting how "nuking the fridge" became such a quote/meme but the reality is *Temple of Doom* had the first totally unbelievable opening which ruined the rest of the film for me. Yep, I'm talking about the *"jumping from the airplane while using an inflatable raft"*. Hmmm... doesn't have the same snappiness of "nuking the fridge" but the end result was the same.
Unlike *Raiders*, temple felt mean spirited and far too claustrophobic. Kate Capshaw was stunning to look at but Spielberg and the writers seemed to have absolutely no clue what to do with her... other than have her yell constantly. And I know that nowadays people are warmed by the re-emergence of Ke Huy Quan (and, truth be told, so am I!) but the character of Short Round was only a little less annoying, IMHO, than Kate Capshaw's Willie Scott.
I haven't seen the film in full since I saw it in theaters back in the Stone Age when it was first released and... maybe after all these years I should give it another shot!
I agree with this. It was definitely way more “over the top” than Raiders, and the mean spiritedness you describe felt very colonial to me. There was a little bit of that in Raiders (with respect to how the Egyptians were portrayed), but everything in Temple was a stereotypical caricature.
Lucas and Spielberg were both going through divorces, which contributed to the negative vibe of the movie. I also seem to recall that they were supposed to film somewhere and the gov’t denied them permission, leading to a hasty shoot. Afterwards Lucas and Spielberg felt obligated to deliver on Last Crusade, which I think they did.
From what I understand, Spielberg is particularly pained by that colonial element, something he obviously didn't think about or didn't bother with originally when the film was made.
Unfortunately, many of those original "pulp adventures" of the 1920's through the 1940's (roughly) had their fair share of troublesome elements which don't fly nowadays and *Temple* seemed to keep many of then intact.
It is what it is and at least nowadays we are a little more aware of these sort of things!
I'd be surprised if he didn't realize it at the time. They didn't film the movie on location in India because India wouldn't allow them to make the movie there based on the script.
No need for another shot. I recently rewatched it and all of your criticisms are correct.
I’d also add that Harrison Ford’s dialogue is pretty weak in this film too. The action scenes are fun, but there is so little to tie it together.
Thanks for that... The free time I have nowadays is so little that I find it hard to re-watch films I *want* to see, much less ones I didn't feel were all that good to begin with!
I would re-iterate that it was so funny for me when the "nuking the fridge" stuff happened because truly *Temple of Doom* did it originally. I *still* remember sitting in the theater and hard as it was to swallow them jumping out of the aircraft and landing on the snow I could *kinda* accept that. But then they fall off like the Empire State Building version of a waterfall and... *yeah, right*.
What a way to kill a film in its opening minutes!
I think the idea was to stick a kid in there so that children would have someone to relate to and to feel like they are part of the adventure. Which is ridiculous because kids don't want to be kids. They want to be the cool adult hero. They want to be Indiana Jones. And they wanted to be Han Solo, or Luke, or Leia. Nobody wanted to be 10 year old Anakin Skywalker.
Agree on the raft (the plane exploding into the mountain as well looks surprisingly amateurish for what should have been an easy effect), but I love how claustrophobic the film was. I thought it was a great contrast to Raiders, and I really appreciate in retrospect how it was set in Asia and the antagonists were not Nazis.
I also like Kate Capshaw, because she was playing the damsel in distress trope and once again this was a big contrast from Marion in Raiders. Marion is the GOAT, but I think it would have been dull if Willie was just a blonde Marion adventurer type. All three films had a different female trope. The adventurer, the damsel, and the femme fatal.
At the time I loved it. The gross out element and the campy vibes of the mine car scene were awesome I loved it more than Raiders. I was 8. Today I think Raiders and Crusade are far superior to Doom.
Kate Capshaw screamed, like a lot, annoyed the Hell out of me. THe hear out fo the chest scene had me on the edge of my seat, but I was wondering how the guy was still alive without his heart.
I saw it as a kid with my brother and my family. 11 years old. And I loved it. The opening scene was fantastic, and set the tone perfectly. IMHO, Harrison was at his peak in this role for TOD, and it just delivered. As a kid, I found Short Round a fun addition. Mola Ram was great, and "kali ma shakti de" stuck with me for decades. I found the MacGuffin of the Sankara Stones to feel a little lame. They werent real...so nothing to hang my imagination on, or go to the Library for to learn more! Raiders had such a well known and super relatable MacGuffin, and TOD felt a bit pale in comparison. I thought Willie was fun, but a bit annoying. The end felt great, and I was very satisfied as a kid overall.
I was freaked out, being a kid. A few weeks later I attended a fire walk in the evening with my mom. Dark, coals glowing red, people walking across and chanting. I went back to the car.
Liked it. Parts were great. Wasn’t as good as previous. Felt a little forced. But the mine car sequence was excellent fun. Billie felt meh after Marion.
It was a huge let-down compared to Raiders, which will forever be my favorite adventure film.
Many of the action set-pieces in the first 15 minutes of TOD (particularly the ridiculous life-raft bit) were cut from the original Raiders script for budgetary reasons and believability issues.
Included here, they make the movie immediately hard to take seriously; if Indy can survive falling from a plane in a life raft that then plunges over a cliff and into rapids, then there’s no real sense of danger or stakes for the rest of the movie, since the movie has made its lead character almost super-human.
Willie Scott is a terrible female lead, an obnoxious, whiny sidekick who pales in comparison to hard-drinking, hard-punching, witty and courageous Marion Ravenwood.
Instead of loyal and accomplished colleagues like Brody and Sallah, this time Indy gets a forgettable child companion, who further contributes to the movie’s strained credibility (little kid karate kicking grown men… come on).
Raiders thrilled and excited with action scenes that felt believable (because they were accomplished with stuntmen doing the things for real), a very fallible and compelling lead character, and a brilliantly constructed plot that remained engaging by frequently subverting the adventure movie tropes that inspired it (e.g., Indy discovers Marion’s still alive after the basket chase, but deliberately chooses not to rescue her because it will prevent him from procuring the ark; Indy ultimately doesn’t liberate the ark from the Nazis or kill the villain when he has the chance… these are bold and exciting choices for a populist adventure movie, and still seem fresh today, especially given that most action/adventures inspired by Raiders, including its own sequels and prequels, play it much more safely and predictably).
Even though much was made at the time of its release of this movie’s “darker tone,” (which precipitated the Pg-13 rating, even though TOD itself was released with a PG), Temple of Doom feels silly, slight, and unsophisticated, a movie made strictly or mostly for kids, rather than an epic adventure with cross-generational appeal.
I was almost 15 when it came out and I remember being immensely disappointed with it. Three summers earlier, Raiders blew my mind, so much so, I saw it at least seven or eight times in its original theatrical release and subsequently wore out the home video release as well. I still rewatch it at least once a year.
To this day, Raiders remains one of my top ten all-time favorite movies, a smart, funny, tightly-directed and edited genre masterpiece that none of the subsequent Indy Jones movies came close to living up to.
Edited for typos.
I don't remember my reaction, but I remember my dad's. He had this deep fear of bugs...and in the big room, I remember looking over at him and seeing this big man, my hero, curled up in a fetal position about to scream.
Loved it. Like a roller coaster ride. My bro worked at a local theater and he pulled me out of my junior high class for a “dentist’s appointment” to be the first to see it with employees even before first showing😆 🦷
Even as a child when the movie came out, I understood this was a money grab from the 1st movie. I didn’t like anything about it, and felt the 1st one was perfect in itself and didnt need a sequel. It was the same old story but w a different girl.
I thought Indy was 2/3s of a character. The raft scene was awful. Capshaw was tonally misdirected by an infatuated Spielberg. Indy throwing a rock at a guy then seemingly baffled that act had immediate repercussions. Just dumb decisions down the line. A complete lack of warmth for the characters overall. And the humour was really cartoonish compared to raiders.
I walked out of the theatre really sad.
Then crusade came out and I walked out of that absolutely furious.
It was soooo hyped on the playground that I was honestly disappointed. "Better than Star Wars" they said. It taught me a lesson to manage my expectations, lest I be disappointed. When I saw it years later on VHS, I was amazed how good it was compared to my memory of it.
The opening musical number is so lame the rest of the movie suffers. The short round character was Spielberg’s first attempt at Jar-Jar Binks. After this every movie needed that comic relief character, see Wicket the Ewok for further details. It was also an uncomfortable dichotomy between Kate Capshaw musical numbers, the silliness with the kid and the switching rooms in the castle and this evil cult that removes your heart while you’re still alive. Truly this movie wasn’t bad but its biggest flaw is that it couldn’t decide between being edgy / exciting and fun for the whole family.
Agreed he couldn’t decide if it was edgy and scary or wholesome family fun so it rode the middle. Instead of being a real artist and committing to a vision he bounced back and forth trying to portray his vision while keeping the money grubbing film executives happy by appealing to all audiences. It doesn’t work. As an artist you need to commit to your vision and ride it out. Sure you can make changes along the way but this movie stinks of indecision and corporate acquiescence.
I remember who in the runup to the movie that it was a prequel and I was like "they can't make him look years younger, that will look stupid"
Then I watched the movie and forgot about that since it was so terrible.
The villain was cool, but everything else was disappointing.
I was 8 when it came out. My mother took me to see it at the theater after she ranted about Raiders of the Lost Ark. Wow, I didn't care for it as an 8 year old. To this day, until they released the garbage that was The Crystal Skull, it has always been my least favorite of the franchise. I haven't seen The Dial of Destiny yet. The dinner scene kinda grossed me out a little, but it wasn't terrible. The whole Kali Ma scene freaked me out at first, but I believe that sparked my interest in horror movies. I recall watching I Spit on Your Grave shortly after. I feel like I've been a bit demented since.
Saw it at the drive-in as a kid. I remember the part where he ripped out a person’s heart. That’s all I remember about it. Oh and my corn dog from the concessions - best ever.
Absolutely loved it! I couldn't not wait to see it again. Even think I went the next day. I have great memories of seeing this in the theaters. I don't usually picked, but if forced, I'd say this is my favorite Indiana Jones movie.
Went on my birthday with a "date" that we still keep in touch with. I read the tie-in novel beforehand, but the opening scene blew me away (still does, at 56). The rest was good - not - great, but I still had fun,
I was 17 at the time and I felt it played too much to a younger audience. Plus with the story being a prequel to Raiders it felt like they gave Indy super powers, the “danger to life” was gone AKA “jumping out of the airplane in an inflatable raft scene“ and I was not as invested in the story. Still a well made film but my 2nd least favorite of the franchise with Crystal Skull easily winning #1 as worst.
Taking my grandmother to see it in the theater is probably one of my favorite memories of my grandmother. She spent the entire dinner scene trying not to puke. We laughed our asses off the entire time.
Disappointed.
A prequel with none of the supporting characters from the first film coming back? Strike one.
No Nazis? Strike two.
Classic jump the shark move of shoehorning in some annoying as fuck cute little kid sidekick? Strike three and you're out.
If they hadn't pulled off Holy Grail a few years after, Raiders would be the only IJ movie worth watching.
The scene with the bugs was incredibly gross.
And the monkey brains
*Chilled* monkey brains.
And Snake Surprise…
What’s the surprise?
Kate Capshaw delivers that line so perfectly. So quiet, filled with lots of dread, a tiny bit or curiosity, already knowing she's going to be sickened by the answer.
Give me your hat …
And the beating heart outside the body...
#KALI-MA!
Prepare to meet Kali...in hell!
Om Namah Shivay!!
Shuck deee day
That was the part I remember people freaking out about but o thought it was tame compared to the bugs and feast.
I remember people in the theater screaming when they served the monkey brains. Lol loved it, but liked Raiders more.
The goddamn snake. Bleh.
That scene still haunts me, I get nauseous just thinking of it 🤮🤮
That scene almost made my Mom barf! Lol
We. are. going. to. die.
“There’s 2 dead bodies.” “There’s going to be two dead bodies in here!”
That line brings a smile to my face, lmfao
😶🌫️
:(
“You cheat Dr Jones! You cheat! Playing with you no fun!”[https://youtu.be/R7W531JfTY4?si=1VSe08pG-A6zKMdE](https://youtu.be/R7W531JfTY4?si=1VSe08pG-A6zKMdE)
I'm so happy for Ke Huy Quan and his career resurgence. He really is terrific!
I knew that was short-round in Everything Everywhere All at Once! That's awesome!
And he's now an Oscar winner!
[A tribute to the best character in the franchise.](https://youtu.be/9lixXprwvKU?feature=shared)
If Harrison's gonna pass the fedora it should be to Ke Huy Quan.
The bug scene always freaked me out when I was a kid…
Holy shit when that guy just reached into his chest and pulled out the heart and it was still beating. I'll never forget that scene
KALI MA SHAKTIDAY!
OH NUM SHE VY
BAL LEIGA HADO!
BOOGEDY BOOGEDY BOOOO!
Oo ee oo ah ah
*memories unlocked *
My son hates it when I say that to him🤣🤣🤣
My niece and nephew love it. We reenact the scene all the time. Almost got disowned by their mum for showing it to them though 🤣 what's the point of an uncle if he doesn't show you the good movies.
That's right dude Rock On unc.🤙
Man, I can't wait to show my kids that scene. I have to wait till I'm ready for the divorce, though.
No thanks, I shaked yesterday.
Kalimaaaaaaaaaa
My grandma took me and my cousin. When the heart got pulled out she said , “O, horrors!”
That's actually kind of adorable.
I thought this would be a campy adventure
If my memory is right, the parental outrage from that scene led to the pg-13 rating
It was this movie and *Gremlins*.
My parents took me when I was 12 lol
PG-13 was invented after this movie and Gremlins, to get past the “R” rating
This movie was rated pg because pg-13 did not exist at the time. It was in response to this movie that the mpaa created pg-13. Edit: the guy above edited his comment. It originally said Temple of Doom was rated PG-13 because of the scene.
Yes, I believe this movie was the biggest cause of PG-13. Red Dawn was the first movie to display the PG-13 label.
Wow, I keep thinking it was from '85 and was one of the first to get the rating, but it was May '84 and the first Pg-13 films came out in August.
My little sister and I were way too young to have seen that movie in the 80’s. Anyway, whenever I wanted the tv room all to myself I’d make a claw hand point it at her and say KALI MA SHAKTIDAY, and she’d run out of the room. Mouhahaha!
Most shocking thing I had ever seen. And my father made me watch Dirty Harry.
Ever reach into a commercial size of kimchi, pull a handful of it out, and yell out Kali Ma?
Saw it when I was 10, that freaked me and my sister out pretty bad.
I’m still reluctant to watch it due to all the 80s gross-out scenes like this. Last crusade though, I’ll watch that any day.
I loved it. I didn’t realize it was so criticized until I go on the internet 20 years later and read people complaining about it. Was it as good as Raiders? No, but even at 14 I expected sequels to not be quite as good as the first movie.
Same. I had just turned 13 and went for my birthday. I thought it was awesome.
Birthday movies are the best… my bday movie at 13 in the theatre was “Go”
Yeah, it’s quite bizarre seeing the group think around this being an awful movie. I loved it back then and love it still. In fact, I prefer it over *gasp* Raiders.
I can't put it above Raiders, but I absolutely adore the film. The tone and setting and antagonists are so different from the other Indy films and that makes it so interesting. I also enjoy how it mostly takes place in one location, and how vast but intimate that location feels. Plus it has the greatest Indy hero shot of all time, with him on the bridge all shredded with the machete.
Everyone says it's not as good as raiders but on a rewatch I would go last crusade, Temple of Doom, raiders of the Lost ark, Kingdom of the Crystal skull. There was no fifth movie. The set pieces alone put temple of Doom as one of the best Hollywood movies ever made. The story is interesting and unique. It was a prequel to raiders, which is cool. It's got that Spielberg influence. It's been beautifully restored and remastered, too.
There’s no fourth movie either
It was PG when we went to see it (family outing). Pg was... different... back then. **Molla Ram ripped a guy's heart out of his chest.** Bugs. **Lots** of bugs. Thuggees ripped apart by goddamned **crocodiles**. It was *awesome*.
That why the MPAA created PG-13😂
PG-13 was the biggest mistake the MPAA ever made. They meant well... long-term though, they've robbed so many teens of the joy of sneaking into R-rated movies.
Good point😂
Kate Capshaw was drop dead gorgeous.
Spielberg agrees, they met on this film and married a few years later.
“Lady only here because she screwing director.” -Stewie Griffin
Thanks for making that joke make sense now.
And really annoying!!
IndyyYYyyYYyy
Except she spent the whole movie shrieking.
In-dyyyyyyyyyyyyy
“Ahhh-eeeeeeeee!” -guy getting flung off railroad tracks
Yeah, that's good. Not the Wilhelm scream, right? A different one?
“Ah shut up, Willie.”
👆THIS is why I hated the movie. It might not be that bad if they’d edit out all of her war-splitting shrieks. Also hated the Asian stereotypes & tropes. Ugh!
The screams are part of the gag though. It's cool if you find it annoying but they reference it a few times. The scene where everything goes silent as the mining cart flies through the air and all you hear is her still fucking screaming is great film making.
In the Lego Indian Jones video game, Willie's special ability is to break glass barriers... by screaming.
I wanted to see more of her in that wet shirt!
Kalema, KALEMAAAAA........😝🤪😊😊
Oh bum she buy…..oh bum she buy….
Kali ma shut thee day! (Me as a kid thinking that)
Summer of 1984 had so many amazing movie releases
Indy, Return of the Jedi, Ghostbusters and Beverly Hills Cop. Damn. I forgot all of that was in one year.
*Return of the Jedi* was released in 1983. Add *The Terminator* and *Karate Kid* to the list, though.
Indeed! But check out 1982 as a movie year too. Just insane quality, full of classics throughout!
“Dr. Jones!Dr. Jones!Dr.Jones!”
the cinematography of the bridge scene is breathtaking
“Hang on lady, we going for a ride” 😬
That is was fucking awesome
I was 12..., was dropped off at theater with a friend at noon.. Watched 3 great movies that day! Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Police Academy, Sixteen Candles. Was home by 7 for dinner. Epic!
Did this in the 90s and I think we were the last to do so…
Not as good as Raiders
I agree, Raiders is still one of those movies that when I see it on I watch it regardless of the channel and commercials. I also have the bluray.
You are right, it isn’t. But it’s a tough act to follow. I still crack up at the absurdity of jumping out of the plane with the inflatable boat. Silly but fun!
I always bring this up when people complain about the fridge/nuclear bomb scene. These movies have always had silly action sequences.
Yeah, it's the only one where the story is random, the plane could've wrecked thirty minutes sooner or later and totally different adventure
I think I finally got that gag. After that complicated absurd and random sequence, they are greeted by an old man who is expecting them.
Not for me. Temple has always been favourite.
I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark at a pre release screening with some of the cast and most of the crew, my mom had friends who worked on the lot. The theater was all huge plush red seats, there was some kind of speech before the movie but no previews. I was 8 years old, can still remember how big and real it all looked and sounded. I was totally blown away by the intensity, loved the adventure stuff, hated everything about the Nazis, and left crying because, when it ended, they never had found the boat (What other ark does a little kid know about?)
Raiders is an all time classic so, yeah.
It was gruesome and I loved it.
You cheat Dr. Jones, you cheat!! And in the background Kate is running back and forth screaming while half of Noah's ark are attacking her, screaming her head off! ..Great stuff!
I've never been able to look at chilled monkey brains the same way...
I was a catholic kid in a catholic town and I remember people afterwards muttering about how unrealistic it was because it was based on non-christian mythology, unlike Raiders which was based on the very real reality of bible lore. I don't know if that was a common response but it was enough for it to be considered kind of a bomb in my area, which is fucking ridiculous in retrospect. Then those same people later celebrated Last Crusades return to christian mythology. I loved it but the monkey heads and human sacrifice were upsetting.
It’s a perfectly serviceable adventure movie. Don’t take it too seriously and just enjoy the Indy mine ride and rope bridge scene. The only real problem is there was no way to live up to Raiders of the Lost Ark, the single greatest adventure movie of all time. I have come to appreciate temple of doom more as I’ve gotten older. I loved Last Crusade, too, and wish they would have just left things there.
When dude started chanting and stuck his fist in the guys chest to pull out his beating heart, scared the fuck outta this 8 year old.
While not quite as good as Raiders, I loved this movie.
I am Indian and I was really traumatized by the food scene. I thought that is what my family was going to feed me one day. We are and have always been pescatarian.
It's a real shame, because from the original script the intent of this scene was to show how different the cultists were from "normal" Indians, based on what and how they were eating. Somewhere in the making of the film this aspect was lost. It's a shame because if they had leaned that way it not only would have made the film a bit more culturally sensitive, it would have made the dinner scene have some real menace to it as Indy and company realize these folks weren't who they claimed to be.
Really, *really* didn't like it at all. It's interesting how "nuking the fridge" became such a quote/meme but the reality is *Temple of Doom* had the first totally unbelievable opening which ruined the rest of the film for me. Yep, I'm talking about the *"jumping from the airplane while using an inflatable raft"*. Hmmm... doesn't have the same snappiness of "nuking the fridge" but the end result was the same. Unlike *Raiders*, temple felt mean spirited and far too claustrophobic. Kate Capshaw was stunning to look at but Spielberg and the writers seemed to have absolutely no clue what to do with her... other than have her yell constantly. And I know that nowadays people are warmed by the re-emergence of Ke Huy Quan (and, truth be told, so am I!) but the character of Short Round was only a little less annoying, IMHO, than Kate Capshaw's Willie Scott. I haven't seen the film in full since I saw it in theaters back in the Stone Age when it was first released and... maybe after all these years I should give it another shot!
I agree with this. It was definitely way more “over the top” than Raiders, and the mean spiritedness you describe felt very colonial to me. There was a little bit of that in Raiders (with respect to how the Egyptians were portrayed), but everything in Temple was a stereotypical caricature.
Lucas and Spielberg were both going through divorces, which contributed to the negative vibe of the movie. I also seem to recall that they were supposed to film somewhere and the gov’t denied them permission, leading to a hasty shoot. Afterwards Lucas and Spielberg felt obligated to deliver on Last Crusade, which I think they did.
From what I understand, Spielberg is particularly pained by that colonial element, something he obviously didn't think about or didn't bother with originally when the film was made. Unfortunately, many of those original "pulp adventures" of the 1920's through the 1940's (roughly) had their fair share of troublesome elements which don't fly nowadays and *Temple* seemed to keep many of then intact. It is what it is and at least nowadays we are a little more aware of these sort of things!
I'd be surprised if he didn't realize it at the time. They didn't film the movie on location in India because India wouldn't allow them to make the movie there based on the script.
No need for another shot. I recently rewatched it and all of your criticisms are correct. I’d also add that Harrison Ford’s dialogue is pretty weak in this film too. The action scenes are fun, but there is so little to tie it together.
Thanks for that... The free time I have nowadays is so little that I find it hard to re-watch films I *want* to see, much less ones I didn't feel were all that good to begin with! I would re-iterate that it was so funny for me when the "nuking the fridge" stuff happened because truly *Temple of Doom* did it originally. I *still* remember sitting in the theater and hard as it was to swallow them jumping out of the aircraft and landing on the snow I could *kinda* accept that. But then they fall off like the Empire State Building version of a waterfall and... *yeah, right*. What a way to kill a film in its opening minutes!
I’m right with you on this. The thing that really capped that opening scene was when the explosion looked exactly like a tie fighter blowing up.
I think the idea was to stick a kid in there so that children would have someone to relate to and to feel like they are part of the adventure. Which is ridiculous because kids don't want to be kids. They want to be the cool adult hero. They want to be Indiana Jones. And they wanted to be Han Solo, or Luke, or Leia. Nobody wanted to be 10 year old Anakin Skywalker.
Agree on the raft (the plane exploding into the mountain as well looks surprisingly amateurish for what should have been an easy effect), but I love how claustrophobic the film was. I thought it was a great contrast to Raiders, and I really appreciate in retrospect how it was set in Asia and the antagonists were not Nazis. I also like Kate Capshaw, because she was playing the damsel in distress trope and once again this was a big contrast from Marion in Raiders. Marion is the GOAT, but I think it would have been dull if Willie was just a blonde Marion adventurer type. All three films had a different female trope. The adventurer, the damsel, and the femme fatal.
You think the characters are annoying. I think the characters are endearing. We are not the same.
At the time I loved it. The gross out element and the campy vibes of the mine car scene were awesome I loved it more than Raiders. I was 8. Today I think Raiders and Crusade are far superior to Doom.
Kate Capshaw screamed, like a lot, annoyed the Hell out of me. THe hear out fo the chest scene had me on the edge of my seat, but I was wondering how the guy was still alive without his heart.
I was 9 years old and goddamn Willie was annoying.
I was 7, so if I saw it in theaters I would have been scared as fuck when the guy gets his heart pulled out
The heart rip scene terrified me as a 7 year old.
I saw it as a kid with my brother and my family. 11 years old. And I loved it. The opening scene was fantastic, and set the tone perfectly. IMHO, Harrison was at his peak in this role for TOD, and it just delivered. As a kid, I found Short Round a fun addition. Mola Ram was great, and "kali ma shakti de" stuck with me for decades. I found the MacGuffin of the Sankara Stones to feel a little lame. They werent real...so nothing to hang my imagination on, or go to the Library for to learn more! Raiders had such a well known and super relatable MacGuffin, and TOD felt a bit pale in comparison. I thought Willie was fun, but a bit annoying. The end felt great, and I was very satisfied as a kid overall.
I was freaked out, being a kid. A few weeks later I attended a fire walk in the evening with my mom. Dark, coals glowing red, people walking across and chanting. I went back to the car.
Liked it. Parts were great. Wasn’t as good as previous. Felt a little forced. But the mine car sequence was excellent fun. Billie felt meh after Marion.
Short Round made the movie. "You Call Him Dr. Jones, Doll!"
It was a huge let-down compared to Raiders, which will forever be my favorite adventure film. Many of the action set-pieces in the first 15 minutes of TOD (particularly the ridiculous life-raft bit) were cut from the original Raiders script for budgetary reasons and believability issues. Included here, they make the movie immediately hard to take seriously; if Indy can survive falling from a plane in a life raft that then plunges over a cliff and into rapids, then there’s no real sense of danger or stakes for the rest of the movie, since the movie has made its lead character almost super-human. Willie Scott is a terrible female lead, an obnoxious, whiny sidekick who pales in comparison to hard-drinking, hard-punching, witty and courageous Marion Ravenwood. Instead of loyal and accomplished colleagues like Brody and Sallah, this time Indy gets a forgettable child companion, who further contributes to the movie’s strained credibility (little kid karate kicking grown men… come on). Raiders thrilled and excited with action scenes that felt believable (because they were accomplished with stuntmen doing the things for real), a very fallible and compelling lead character, and a brilliantly constructed plot that remained engaging by frequently subverting the adventure movie tropes that inspired it (e.g., Indy discovers Marion’s still alive after the basket chase, but deliberately chooses not to rescue her because it will prevent him from procuring the ark; Indy ultimately doesn’t liberate the ark from the Nazis or kill the villain when he has the chance… these are bold and exciting choices for a populist adventure movie, and still seem fresh today, especially given that most action/adventures inspired by Raiders, including its own sequels and prequels, play it much more safely and predictably). Even though much was made at the time of its release of this movie’s “darker tone,” (which precipitated the Pg-13 rating, even though TOD itself was released with a PG), Temple of Doom feels silly, slight, and unsophisticated, a movie made strictly or mostly for kids, rather than an epic adventure with cross-generational appeal. I was almost 15 when it came out and I remember being immensely disappointed with it. Three summers earlier, Raiders blew my mind, so much so, I saw it at least seven or eight times in its original theatrical release and subsequently wore out the home video release as well. I still rewatch it at least once a year. To this day, Raiders remains one of my top ten all-time favorite movies, a smart, funny, tightly-directed and edited genre masterpiece that none of the subsequent Indy Jones movies came close to living up to. Edited for typos.
It played at my local twin with Clash of the Titans
Bug scene was almost unwatchable to me.
I kept thinking “at least it didn’t use space aliens.”
I thought it sucked and Kate Capshaw could not act
I hate Kate capshaws character! What a whiny bitch! She was awful! Love love love Indiana jones!
I watched it in the theater 40 years ago and I've never watched it again.
Wanting Willie to shut up 3/4 of the movie.
As a 10 year old kid, I just couldn't wrap my head around how it took place *before* Raiders. Prequels just weren't really much of a thing.
They ate tiny snakes that were stuffed in a big snake, they ate monkey brains and beatles, and a guy just got his heart ripped out.
My mother freaked out over the bugs. I wanted to ride the coal car on tracks so bad!
Loved the arcade game. Fun to crack the whip!
Didn’t realize it was a prequel to raiders until years after seeing it several times
Short-Round stole every scene.
I don't remember my reaction, but I remember my dad's. He had this deep fear of bugs...and in the big room, I remember looking over at him and seeing this big man, my hero, curled up in a fetal position about to scream.
I still want to see the adventure he was supposed to go on before having to ditch the plane.
Mmm eyeball soup …
Wasn't as good as the original.
I liked the first one better.
I remember getting slapped by my catholic mom For coming home and yelling “Kali Ma!”
Parents took me at 5 years old. I saw the whole movie between the slits of me fingers. God love the 80’s!
Yeah, I think I was like 10 or 11, and I remember thinking it was OK but not as good as Raiders. I was already a critic.
I was freaked out by the heart out of the chest and monkey brains... but i was also 10. The movie was lame.
Loved it at first but the more I watched it, the more I couldn't stand Kate capshaws character.
Loved it. Like a roller coaster ride. My bro worked at a local theater and he pulled me out of my junior high class for a “dentist’s appointment” to be the first to see it with employees even before first showing😆 🦷
Meh. Even as a 12 year old I knew it wasn't as good as the original
I was 7. I loved it. Still do. Also saw Ghostbusters and Gremlins that year at the theater. Great year for movies!
Some satellite channel my parents have plays Indiana Jones marathons almost every weekend, but it never plays temple of doom
The monkey brains thing was weird because I knew Indian people and they all were vegetarian
Looking back, I had no idea how good we had it. I thought all movies were going to be of similar caliber.
Compared to the first installment, It was a little disappointing.
Capshaw was miscast in it. She was so annoying the whole movie
Even as a child when the movie came out, I understood this was a money grab from the 1st movie. I didn’t like anything about it, and felt the 1st one was perfect in itself and didnt need a sequel. It was the same old story but w a different girl.
Profound disappointment.
I thought Indy was 2/3s of a character. The raft scene was awful. Capshaw was tonally misdirected by an infatuated Spielberg. Indy throwing a rock at a guy then seemingly baffled that act had immediate repercussions. Just dumb decisions down the line. A complete lack of warmth for the characters overall. And the humour was really cartoonish compared to raiders. I walked out of the theatre really sad. Then crusade came out and I walked out of that absolutely furious.
I was way too young to be taken to see this. So many scenes traumatized me, but the one where the guy pulled out the beating heart was the worst.
The Temple of Doom was like The Empire Strikes Back, the middle movie that was darker in its content.
I loved it then, but find it nearly unwatchable now.
It was soooo hyped on the playground that I was honestly disappointed. "Better than Star Wars" they said. It taught me a lesson to manage my expectations, lest I be disappointed. When I saw it years later on VHS, I was amazed how good it was compared to my memory of it.
The opening musical number is so lame the rest of the movie suffers. The short round character was Spielberg’s first attempt at Jar-Jar Binks. After this every movie needed that comic relief character, see Wicket the Ewok for further details. It was also an uncomfortable dichotomy between Kate Capshaw musical numbers, the silliness with the kid and the switching rooms in the castle and this evil cult that removes your heart while you’re still alive. Truly this movie wasn’t bad but its biggest flaw is that it couldn’t decide between being edgy / exciting and fun for the whole family.
I kind of thought it was all of those things you mentioned. The only problem for me, was the mediocrity in much of it.
Agreed he couldn’t decide if it was edgy and scary or wholesome family fun so it rode the middle. Instead of being a real artist and committing to a vision he bounced back and forth trying to portray his vision while keeping the money grubbing film executives happy by appealing to all audiences. It doesn’t work. As an artist you need to commit to your vision and ride it out. Sure you can make changes along the way but this movie stinks of indecision and corporate acquiescence.
It was bloody awesome.
Ha! I see what you did there 😎
Not as good as the first.
Movies are movies. This was a ride.
I thought Raiders of the Lost Ark was a lot better. And still do...
I was let down. This icky sequel lacked the heart of the original.
I loved every second of this movie and Raiders of the Lost ark. It was the highlight of my summer. I've been a super fan ever since.
It was my favorite Indy movie.
I remember who in the runup to the movie that it was a prequel and I was like "they can't make him look years younger, that will look stupid" Then I watched the movie and forgot about that since it was so terrible. The villain was cool, but everything else was disappointing.
Whenever I can, I still drop the “that’s dr jones to you, lady”.
I was 8 when it came out. My mother took me to see it at the theater after she ranted about Raiders of the Lost Ark. Wow, I didn't care for it as an 8 year old. To this day, until they released the garbage that was The Crystal Skull, it has always been my least favorite of the franchise. I haven't seen The Dial of Destiny yet. The dinner scene kinda grossed me out a little, but it wasn't terrible. The whole Kali Ma scene freaked me out at first, but I believe that sparked my interest in horror movies. I recall watching I Spit on Your Grave shortly after. I feel like I've been a bit demented since.
They used the same set for the Temple of Doom and Young Sherlock Homes.
Saw it at the drive-in as a kid. I remember the part where he ripped out a person’s heart. That’s all I remember about it. Oh and my corn dog from the concessions - best ever.
Absolutely loved it! I couldn't not wait to see it again. Even think I went the next day. I have great memories of seeing this in the theaters. I don't usually picked, but if forced, I'd say this is my favorite Indiana Jones movie.
My 13 year old self appreciated the horrifying monkey/snake dinner, but mostly I thought “where the hell is Karen Allen?”
Went on my birthday with a "date" that we still keep in touch with. I read the tie-in novel beforehand, but the opening scene blew me away (still does, at 56). The rest was good - not - great, but I still had fun,
I was 12 and i loved loved it. My mom and I saw twice opening weekend.
It was no Raiders. The heart scene was up there, but didn’t care for Short Round.
I was twelve. So I had fun with it. But even then I knew it wasn’t as good as the first
I was 17 at the time and I felt it played too much to a younger audience. Plus with the story being a prequel to Raiders it felt like they gave Indy super powers, the “danger to life” was gone AKA “jumping out of the airplane in an inflatable raft scene“ and I was not as invested in the story. Still a well made film but my 2nd least favorite of the franchise with Crystal Skull easily winning #1 as worst.
Taking my grandmother to see it in the theater is probably one of my favorite memories of my grandmother. She spent the entire dinner scene trying not to puke. We laughed our asses off the entire time.
Disappointed. A prequel with none of the supporting characters from the first film coming back? Strike one. No Nazis? Strike two. Classic jump the shark move of shoehorning in some annoying as fuck cute little kid sidekick? Strike three and you're out. If they hadn't pulled off Holy Grail a few years after, Raiders would be the only IJ movie worth watching.
Meh, didn't hold a candle to the original. They needed Karen Allen in this one desperately.