Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny premieres this week, on June 30, marking the fifth and final movie starring Harrison Ford as the iconic titular character. While Star Wars is my first love, like many Star Wars fans I also have a real love for the Indiana Jones franchise. Since there’s no new Star Wars series airing currently, and since Dial of Destiny releases in just a few days, I thought I’d do a brief series about why I love the Indiana Jones movies too. We continue our series by looking at the second film, Temple of Doom, released in 1984.
For better or for worse, Temple of Doom made it clear that the Indiana Jones franchise was all about its main character. The other supporting cast, settings, and adventures might change, but Indy is the constant in all of it.
The sequel to the groundbreaking Raiders of the Lost Ark was actually a prequel, didn’t feature any of the returning supporting cast from the previous film, is set in an entirely different country, and faces off against an entirely different enemy (Indy takes a break from fighting Nazis for this one). Temple of Doom seems to be the most controversial of the franchise, considering it has the widest range of reception: there are some who were greatly disappointed by it and others who greatly loved it, and everywhere in-between.
While I wouldn’t put Temple of Doom on the level of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, I still think it’s a great Indiana Jones movie that has been often underrated by fans.
BEST GAG:
Indiana Jones shouting “Nice try, Lao Che!” right before closing the door to the plane that reveals to the audience that he is, in fact, aboard Lao Che’s plane.
It’s a much different – and much darker – movie than the first one, before the third one returns to more of the familiar (a similar tactic to the one George Lucas used on the original Star Wars trilogy). The movie starts off with a song and dance number (“Anything Goes”), setting the tone that this is a far different movie. It’s a lot more outlandish, less of the realism of Raiders, but this opening sequence belies the depths the movie descends to. It’s filled with voodoo and child slavery, and there’s even a scene of a man’s heart getting ripped out of his chest while he’s still alive. This was the movie that caused the Motion Picture Association of America to change its rating system by adding a PG-13 rating as an in-between of PG and R, since it was far darker than you’d be used to for PG. Director Steven Spielberg has stated that it’s his least favorite of the original three Indiana Jones movies, particularly for this reason. George Lucas had recently gone through a divorce, and he attributed that to affecting his mood for the film.
But while the movie is undeniably dark – and perhaps too dark, at times – it’s still a fun ride, still incredibly entertaining, and still packed with plenty of the love and humor and heart that made audiences fall in love with Raiders. The new cast is hit or miss, with Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) being a favorite of mine from the film and Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) being a little overboard on the complaining and helplessness (being a far cry from Marion). And then there’s the villainous Mola Ram (Amrish Puri), the leader of a Thuggee cult who feels like he’s plucked straight out of a horror film.
BEST MOMENT:
The mine car chase leading onto the climactic finish on the bridge
The movie plunges our hero to the darkest moments and the brink of death, and things look incredibly bleak. But this all serves to set up the heroism that emerges out of the darkness, as Indy snaps out of the ‘spell’ and takes on the Thuggee priests, fighting alongside Short Round to free the enslaved kids. It leads to some truly thrilling action sequences, including the mine car chase and the fight on the bridge. The darkness doesn’t win, because people like Indiana Jones and Short Round (and even Willie) stand up against it, being taken to the brink of defeat but emerging victorious.
In that, it’s a perfectly fitting Indiana Jones movie. It’s exciting, fun, and leaves you feeling good about it, like you’ve just gone on an thrilling – and terrifying – adventure with an old friend.
BEST QUOTE:
“Fortune and glory, kid.” – Indiana Jones
Fun Facts: Star Wars connections in Temple of Doom:
- Harrison Ford obviously portrayed not just Indiana Jones in the five movies, but also portrayed Han Solo in five Star Wars films as well.
- Two of the most influential figures behind the entire Star Wars franchise also stand as two of the most influential behind the Indiana Jones franchise: creative and executive George Lucas, and composer John Williams.
- Current Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has worked on every Indiana Jones film, and on Temple of Doom she was a producer, having previously also produced Spielberg’s movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
- Kennedy had a cameo in the movie as one of the background dancers in the opening musical number. Much harder to spot is a very small cameo by George Lucas too, taking place a bit later at the airport in Shanghai.
- Like they did with Raiders, the team at ILM won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Temple of Doom. Many people on the team also worked on the original Star Wars trilogy. The same could be said for Ben Burtt and his sound team, which worked on Temple as well as Star Wars. They received an Academy Award nomination for their work on this film.
- As a fun easter egg, the club where the opening scene takes place at is named “Club Obi-Wan”, which is an obvious homage to Obi-Wan Kenobi.
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