In 1935, Indiana Jones arrives in India, still part of the British Empire, and is asked to find a mystical stone. He then stumbles upon a secret cult committing enslavement and human sacrifices in the catacombs of an ancient palace.
Indiana Jones teams up with a nightclub singer named Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott and a twelve-year-old Chinese boy named Short Round. They end up in a small distressed village in India, where the people believe that evil spirits have taken all their children away after a sacred precious stone was stolen. They also discover 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. 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.Written by
Anthony Pereyra <hypersonic91@yahoo.com>
Lawrence Kasdan (Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)'s screenwriter) was asked to write the script. "I didn't want to be associated with Temple of Doom", he reflected. "I just thought it was horrible. It's so mean. There's nothing pleasant about it. I think Temple of Doom represents a chaotic period in both their (Lucas and Spielberg) lives, and the movie is very ugly, and mean-spirited." See more »
Goofs
In the establishing shot of the village without children, the top of Indy's hat disappears under the matte painting after he walks down the hill, left of frame, turns, then turns back (at 0:20:25). See more »
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. See more »
Alternate Versions
To avoid a '15' certificate in the UK (with the sacrificial ceremony said to be bordering on '18', according to a letter sent by the BBFC to UIP in 1984), the BBFC cut 1 minute 6 secs from the film and later said that it was one of the strongest PG ratings they had ever issued. Among the cuts made were a heart ripped from a sacrificial victim and his lowering into the blazing pit, edits to a whipping scene and the fight between Indiana and the overseer, and the removal of a shot of a man's head hitting the side of a cliff. The line "Leave him alone, you bastards" was changed to "Leave him alone" and sounds of screams and violence were also considerably reduced. This PG rated print was the only version available in the UK for many years until October 2012, when the cuts were fully waived for the 12 rated Blu-Ray release. See more »
Temple of Doom may not be as good as Raiders, but it doesn't deserve all this negative flak. The story is a little darker but that doesn't take anything away from the film. It makes the situation that much more dire. John Williams' score infuses the sacrifice sequence with a sense of building dread. The chanting, the heavy drums all building into a wild climax of heart burning and lava filled mayhem. The mine car chase is wild fun and Indy's bridge manuver is one hell of a climax. Still don't know why everyone's so down on this movie.
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Temple of Doom may not be as good as Raiders, but it doesn't deserve all this negative flak. The story is a little darker but that doesn't take anything away from the film. It makes the situation that much more dire. John Williams' score infuses the sacrifice sequence with a sense of building dread. The chanting, the heavy drums all building into a wild climax of heart burning and lava filled mayhem. The mine car chase is wild fun and Indy's bridge manuver is one hell of a climax. Still don't know why everyone's so down on this movie.