Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone. He agrees, and stumbles upon a secret cult plotting a terrible plan in the catacombs of an ancient palace.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Willard Huyck (screenplay), Gloria Katz (screenplay),

Stars:

Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Jonathan Ke Quan

Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harrison Ford	...	Indiana Jones
Kate Capshaw	...	Willie Scott
Jonathan Ke Quan	...	Short Round (as Ke Huy Quan)
Amrish Puri	...	Mola Ram
Roshan Seth	...	Chattar Lal (as Rushan Seth)
Philip Stone	...	Captain Blumburtt
Roy Chiao	...	Lao Che
David Yip	...	Wu Han
Ric Young	...	Kao Kan
Chua Kah Joo	...	Chen
Rex Ngui	...	Maitre d'
Philip Tan	...	Chief Henchman (as Philip Tann)
Dan Aykroyd	...	Weber
Akio Mitamura	...	Chinese Pilot
Michael Yama	...	Chinese Co-Pilot

Storyline

Set in 1935, a professor, archaeologist, and legendary hero by the name of Indiana Jones is back in action in his newest adventure. But this time he teams up with a night club singer named Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott and a twelve-year-old boy named Short Round. They end up in an Indian small distressed village, where the people believe that evil spirits have taken all their children away after a sacred precious stone was stolen! They also discovered the great mysterious terror surrounding a booby-trapped temple known as the Temple of Doom! Thuggee is beginning to attempt to rise once more, believing that with the power of all five Sankara stones they can rule the world! Now, it's all up to Indiana to put an end to the Thuggee campaign, rescue the lost children, win the girl and conquer the Temple of Doom.

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Plot Keywords:

village | children | palace | temple | indiana jones | 

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Taglines:

The man in the hat is back...

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Genres:

Action | Adventure

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

indianajones.com [us] MySpace.com

Country:

USA

Language:

English Sinhalese

Release Date:

23 May 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Indiana Jones 2

Filming Locations:

University of the Pacific, Stockton, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$179,870,271 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Lucasfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The huge mineshaft was a circular construction around the largest soundstage. To make it look different, they just altered the lighting every time the carts completed a loop.

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Goofs

The alligators' movements are sped up to impossible speeds.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Wu Han: [to Indy] Be careful.

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Crazy Credits

The Paramount mountain dissolves into a mountain on a gong. Kate Capshaw's hands obscure the words 'starring in', after which her entire body obscures the "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" title.

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Connections

Referenced in The Facts of Life: A Slice of Life (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Anything Goes"
(1934)
Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter
Performed by Kate Capshaw (uncredited)

User Reviews

An entertaining experience, but unable to match the sheer brilliance of the original.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the second of the Indy films from director Steven Spielberg, though chronologically it is actually the first. This prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark tries to out-do its predecessor for breakneck spills and gross-out moments, but the sparkle isn't quite there. It's an entertaining film for sure, but not as good as the original, partially because the plotting this time round is a little awkward and partially because Kate Capshaw as the main female character is an almighty irritation.

The film opens in a Shanghai restaurant, where Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) causes a riot in pursuit of a diamond. Fleeing the scene with American singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) and teenaged pick-pocket Short Round (Ke Huy Quan), he escapes to the airport. However, Indy and his companions unwittingly board an airplane owned by one of Indy's enemies, from which they have to make an audacious mid-air escape when the real pilots bail out mid-flight! Soon, the intrepid trio find themselves in India, where they come across a village in the grip of starvation. The village children have been kidnapped by local cultists to work in a mine, digging for the sacred Sankara Stones, and Indy is persuaded by the distraught villagers to rescue their youngsters. His quest takes him to the opulent Pankot Palace and, beneath it and beyond a maze of tunnels, the Temple of Doom.

Ford is great as Jones, bringing genuine charisma to a role that he was born to play (can you imagine how things would have turned out if Tom Selleck had got the part, as originally planned?) There are some great moments along the way too, including the intentionally subversive opening sequence in Shanghai, a particularly funny and exciting runaway mine-train sequence, and an unforgettable banquet at Pankot Palace in which the food served up is enough to churn any stomach. But Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom still can't live up to the standard set by Raiders of the Lost Ark. As mentioned, Capshaw is a real pain on the senses as the always-squealing heroine, and the plot seems to over-stretch in an effort to link to the next development or set piece. The hunt-for-the-missing-children plot device allows Spielberg to dip into the kind of cloying sentimentality that occasionally mars his films too. This is certainly an entertaining and professionally assembled film, but in no way a rival or an equal to the excellence of its predecessor.