Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Encyclopedia : I : IN : IND : Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 action/adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. First released on May 23, 1984, it is a prequel to the hugely successful action movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. This film is the second released, though the twenty-third chronologically, in a series of film and TV productions about the adventures of the heroic fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones.
Like the first, it starred Harrison Ford as Jones, was directed by Steven Spielberg and based on an original story by George Lucas. Many members of the original crew returned, including cinematographer Douglas Slocombe, editor Michael Kahn and composer John Williams. The film is darker in tone than its predecessor (a fact which Lucas attributes to the messy divorce he was going through during the film's production), and has been criticized by some for being overly violent and scary. Others have criticized it for its alleged racism, claiming the film depicts Indian culture negatively. When making the next film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Spielberg was reported to have apologized for what he felt was the lesser quality of Temple of Doom when compared to Raiders. However, the film was always intended to be a horror movie as well as a remake of elements of Gunga Din (1939).
Production
Besides Ford, the actors included Kate Capshaw (Spielberg's second wife, whom he first met while casting this film), Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Roy Chiao as Lao Che, and a cameo by Dan Aykroyd. Indiana Jones artist Drew Struzan created the film's distinctive artwork. Most of the filming was done on location in Sri Lanka and at Borehamwood Studios in Hertfordshire, England.
Reaction
Some fairly gruesome scenes in Temple of Doom, as well as, but to a lesser extent, other PG-rated films of the time such as Gremlins caused a significant public outcry. Spielberg spoke to the MPAA about creating a new rating that would cover the middle ground between a clear PG and a clear R that his films often found themselves on. This led to the creation of a new rating category: PG-13. (See: History of the MPAA film rating sytem)
Despite the film's success, a number of fans see it as the weakest in the trilogy, and Spielberg also said it was his least favorite of the trilogy. However, supporters of Temple of Doom argue that it is the most original and creative of the three, and indeed George Lucas has stated that he wanted the second film to be be wholly different from Raiders.
Temple of Doom made $179,870,271 ($30 million less than Raiders) when it was released theatrically in the United States in 1984. When adjusted to 2006 ticket prices, this comes to a domestic total of $342,610,040.
Banned
The movie was also banned in India at the time after the film was accused of having a "racist portrayal of Indians and overt imperialistic tendencies". [link]
Awards
The film won an Academy Award for Visual Effects. Indeed, both Lucas and Spielberg have stated that Temple of Doom was focused on effects to a higher degree than either Raiders of the Lost Ark or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Synopsis
The film is set in 1935 — a year before Raiders of the Lost Ark. The film opens with Indiana Jones in a Shanghai nightclub attempting to trade the remains of Nurhaci for a large diamond (possibly "The Peacock´s Eye") with a gangster named Lao Che. When the deal goes bad, Indy and the club's singer Willie escape the pursuing criminals in a car driven by a 7 year old boy named Short Round, an ally of Indy. They board a cargo plane not knowing that it is owned by Lao Che.
As Indy, Willie, and Short Round nap during the flight, the pilots dump the fuel and parachute out of the plane. Indy and the others use an emergency raft to safely descend from the plane's altitude, eventually arriving near a village in India. The people there enlist his help in retrieving a sacred stone, the Sankara stone or the Siva linga, and the community's children from the forces of an evil palace nearby.
Initially the palace seems normal enough; they act insulted by his questions about the village's claims. Indy is later attacked in his room by an assassin, which leads him to find a secret door in Willie's room. Beneath the palace is a vast underground chamber where the village rock and two more are held by Thuggees. An evil cult (who worship the goddess Kali with human sacrifice) uses the village's children to dig for the remaining rocks within the mines of the palace in the hope that with all of them they can rule the world. The cult is led by the villainous cult leader Mola Ram (Amrish Puri).
Indy, Willie, and Short Round are captured by the Thuggee and separated: Indy sides with the Thuggee after being forced to drink the "blood of Kali Ma", Willie is kept as a human sacrifice, and Short Round is put in the mines alongside the village children. Short Round escapes and helps Indy return to his normal self, which allows him to save Willie, take the Sankara stones, and free the children. In the fight to escape the palace, Indy and company make it outside, but trapped on a rope bridge with the Thuggee on both sides. Taking a desperate gamble with a warning in Chinese to his friends to brace themselves, Indy cuts the bridge in half leaving Mola Ram and a few of his minions on the heroes' side. Eventually, Mola Ram fights for the stones, but Indy invokes the magic of the stone and causes Mola Ram and all but one of the stones to fall into the river. Just at that moment, colonial troops appears to subdue the Thugs.
The heroes triumphantly return to the village with their sacred stone and their children.
Cast
| Actor/Actress | Role(s) |
|---|---|
| Harrison Ford | Indiana Jones |
| Kate Capshaw | Wilhelmina 'Willie' Scott |
| Jonathan Ke Quan | Short Round (as Ke Huy Quan) |
| Amrish Puri | Mola Ram |
| Roshan Seth | Chattar Lal |
| 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 |
| Dr. Akio Mitamura | Chinese Pilot (as Akio Mitamura) |
| Michael Yama | Chinese Co-Pilot |
| D.R. Nanayakkara | Shaman |
| Dharmadasa Kuruppu | Chieftain |
| Stany De Silva | Sajnu |
Soundtrack
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
The album is currently out of print in the United States and is only available as an import. Due to the short nature of the soundtrack (approximately 45 minutes), numerous cues from the film were cut. After the production of the extended Raiders of the Lost Ark soundtrack, there was some hope that the future might hold a more complete release of the Temple of Doom score. As of 2006, this has not come to fruition.
- "Anything Goes"
- "Fast Streets Of Shanghai"
- "Nocturnal Activities"
- "Short Round's Theme"
- "Children In Chains"
- "Slalom On Mt. Humol"
- "The Temple Of Doom"
- "Bug Tunnel And Death Trap"
- "Slave Children's Crusade"
- "The Mine Car Chase"
- "Finale And End Credits"
Trivia
- The Chinese dialogue in the opening scene is in the Shanghainese dialect.
- Even though the film is set in the Himalayas,the locals are speaking Sinhalese.
- Though always called "Willie", Capshaw's character is fully named "Wilhelmina", an apparent Lucasfilm in-joke referring to the infamous Wilhelm scream.
- Stunt actor Pat Roach — who appeared in two roles as large, muscular henchmen who fight Indy in Raiders of the Lost Ark — also appeared twice in this film: first as the assassin in Jones's room and again as the slavemaster in the mines. Besides Ford, he is the only cast member to return for the second film. (He also had a cameo appearance in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.)
- The opening musical sequence was designed by Steven Spielberg to fulfill his desire to direct a Busby Berkeley-style musical number. The song performed is Cole Porter's Anything Goes, translated into Mandarin.
- The nightclub in which the opening sequence takes place is called "Club Obi Wan", undoubtedly a reference to a character in Lucas's other famous film series, Star Wars. The club's name is visible when Indy, Willie, and Shorty escape in an automobile.
- Another reference to Star Wars was a when Indy was being tortured by having a Voo Doo of him being lent over a fire, this parallels how Harrison Ford as Han Solo was being tortured in Cloud City by being bent over an open electrode.
- The sound effects of the mine car scene were recorded from the Disneyland attraction Big Thunder Mountain Railroad's trains going around the track.
- When Indy is about to cross the rope bridge, he is stopped by a sabre-wielding Thuggee. He attempts to draw his gun a la Raiders of the Lost Ark but finds that he has lost his gun. A musical cue from Raiders is played. However, the opening of Temple of Doom establishes that the film occurs one year before the events of Raiders.
- Indiana Jones is named for George Lucas's dog. In this film, all three leads are named after dogs. Willie was the name of Spielberg's dog, and Short Round was the name of the dog belonging to scriptwriters Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck.
- "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Death" was the original title
- The monkey brains were Jell-O and whipped cream.
- Almost the entire movie is parodied in an episode of the short-lived animated series.
- The Peacocks Eye is the title of one of the Young Indiana Jones films
DVD release
The film was released on VHS in the 1990's and then on DVD in October 2003, digitally remastered. It was packaged with the previous and later films in the series. However, the Region 2 version of the film was heavily censored. The BBFC says that this was because they didn't get Spielberg's permission to restore the edited footage, which includes more violence and gore.
References
External links
- [Temple of Doom] at The Indiana Jones Wiki
- [Film Sculptor] Special Effects Sculptor who worked on the film
| The Indiana Jones series | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Films | The Temple of Doom (1984) | Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) | The Last Crusade (1989) | Indiana Jones 4 (2008) | ||
| Television | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992-1996) | ||
| Characters | Indiana Jones | Willie Scott | Marion Ravenwood | Elsa Schneider Marcus Brody | Short Round | Henry Jones, Sr. | ||
| Cast | Harrison Ford | Sean Connery | Corey Carrier | Sean Patrick Flanery | George Hall| Crew
| George Lucas | Steven Spielberg | Frank Marshall | John Williams
| |
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.