The second of the George Lucas/Steven Spielberg Indiana Jones epics is set a year or so before the events in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1984). After a brief brouhaha involving a precious vial and a wild ride down a raging Himalyan river, Indy (Harrison Ford) gets down to the problem at hand: retrieving a precious gem and several kidnapped young boys on behalf of a remote East Indian village. His companions this time around include a dimbulbed, easily frightened nightclub chanteuse (Kate Capshaw), and a feisty 12-year-old kid named Short Round (Quan Ke Huy). Throughout, the plot takes second place to the thrills, which include a harrowing rollercoaster ride in an abandoned mineshaft and Indy's rescue of the heroine from a ritual sacrifice. There are also a couple of cute references to Raiders of the Lost Ark, notably a funny variation of Indy's shooting of the Sherpa warrior.

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Though Temple of Doom lacks Sallah, Marcus Brody, and the Nazis, it is an improvement over Raiders in more than a few ways. To start, Ford is even better as Indy for his character is tested more. Douglas Slocombe's photography is more effective, and John Williams' music score is even more diverse and genius. Temple of Doom is also more creative, emotionally effective, and imaginative. However, it lacks the spectacle of the first film and is far more controversial and violent.This is the movie that created the PG-13 rating.

Dennis Muren's stunning Oscar-winning visual effects match Richard Edlund's effects in Raiders, yet they are not as awe-inspiring or important to the story. Elliot Scott's production design is terrific, and the cult sequences are very intense. The stunts top the ones in Raiders and are really good. The most memorable sequences have to be the mine car chase, the creature feature dinner, the Shanghai nightclub opening, the duel at the cult platform, and the rope bridge finale, incredible. Though Temple of Doom isn't as good as Raiders or Last Crusade it is highly recommended and is one of the best adventure films ever made.

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:

This is a great film...what's wrong with you people?Oct 13, 2008
By Grigory's Girl "Grigory's Girl"
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one on earth that thinks this is a good movie. I've always liked it a lot, and I'm not really sure why so many diss this film. It's a hell of a lot darker than the first one, in fact REALLY dark. The scenes in the "temple of doom" are very intense, especially for their time (the controversy this film engineered made the MPAA invent the PG-13 rating). But the film has even more stunts than the first film (and a lot of them are awesome). I especially like the mining car chase (even though it's a little hard to believe at times, even in escapist cinema like this one). The "dinner" scene could give current reality TV shows (where people eat disgusting things) a run for its money. It's a very memorable film, although it's may be too intense for very young children.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a very good film. Ford is excellent as usual, Kate Capshaw (the future Mrs. Spielberg) is kooky and kind of endearing, and Short Round is a decent kid sidekick (at least you don't want Indy to throw under the tracks or anything like that). Spielberg's direction is excellent as usual, and I haven't heard people complaining about this one like they have about the latest entry. This is a film that should be revisited.

12 of 16 found the following review helpful:

New Temple of Doom Special Collector's Edition due out May 13th, 2008!Mar 08, 2008
By Sanpete
The details of new DVD editions of the three classic classic Indiana Jones movies with all-new special features have been announced. They'll be available separately for the first time on DVD, or as a set. They were previously only available on DVD as a set.

The new releases will coincide with the new movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which comes out on May 22nd. They'll have new special features designed to introduce new Indy fans to the old movies, and to introduce old fans to the new movie.

The Indiana Jones movies are George Lucas's recreation/update of the serialized adventures of the 1930s and '40s. The original three movies were made in the '80s and set in the '30s. They feature Harrison Ford as a mild-mannered archeology professor who moonlights as an adventurous seeker of priceless antiquities. This takes him to exotic locations across the world, and gets him in some very tight spots of the kind that only a movie hero could get into, or out of. He invariably finds himself opposed by dangerous men with evil plans for the powerful objects only he has the skills to recover. There are elaborate set pieces with creepy critters, ancient traps, fights with weapons from bare hands to airplanes and tanks, and sometimes supernatural forces. Along the way Jones manages to have some romance too. Humor is a big part of the fun.

This is the second in the series but is set one year earlier than the first Indy movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, in 1935. After barely surviving an attempt to acquire an antiquity in China, Indy finds himself in India with a woman friend and male sidekick (a trio as in all three films). They're enlisted to recover a village's sacred Sankara stone and kidnapped children, both held by an evil man with designs to find and unite all five Sankara stones to rule the world. This project involves ritual human sacrifice and an underground mine, each of which provide close calls for the heroes.

This film, while incorporating light humor as before, is somewhat darker in overall tone than Raiders (reportedly by design, as Lucas and Speilberg were each in a dark mood after romance/marriage failures). Not especially violent by current standards (PG, though it played a part in leading to the creation of the PG-13 rating), I think most kids and parents will be fine with it. It's still all for fun.

The creepy crawlies featured in this installment are lots and lots of exotic insects.

If you don't want the whole set and don't want to wait until May, you could get a used copy of the old Temple of Doom DVD (people sell them out of the sets). The difference is in the extra features. The bonuses from the old set are on their own disc, so what you get when you buy just the old Temple of Doom DVD is pretty bare. The new release, on the other hand, has the following, all new:

-- "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: An Introduction" by director Steven Spielberg and creator/producer George Lucas

-- "Creepy Crawlies," in which Spielberg, Lucas and co-producer Frank Marshall reminisce about snakes, bugs and rats

-- "Locations," on where the films were set and where they were actually shot

-- storyboard sequence: "The Mine Cart Chase"

-- DVD galleries of illustrations, props, production stills and portraits, FX/Industrial Light and Magic stuff, and promotion/marketing materials

-- "Lego Indiana Jones," a demo and trailer for a game based on the trilogy

If you like a few extras, you'll probably prefer this new DVD, though maybe not enough to upgrade from the old one, or to wait until May. I like audio commentaries, myself, and since they're easy to produce and tend to bring out points not covered in other features, I subtract one star for a special edition without any, but I look forward to the rest. If you don't care about commentaries, this may be a five-star DVD for you.

There have been rumors of deleted scenes, but none are included.

Some will want to wait for a high-def release, which makes sense if you have the equipment or plan to get it. Many speculate that a Blu-ray release will come out for Christmas, but that's sheer guesswork.

There's also some speculation that an even better edition with all four movies will soon supersede this new DVD. The four movies may get bundled, but I doubt that there will be a better edition of this movie soon, if ever, on standard DVD. Keep in mind that the previous set came out over four years ago, and if not for the new movie, it would probably still be the only release in the over ten years of the DVD era. The next upgrade may be high-def only, and may not happen for a while.

If you do want the whole trilogy (highly recommended), the new release is here, the old set is here. If you want to pick up one of the others from the new set, the new edition of Raiders of the Lost Ark is here, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade here.

5 of 6 found the following review helpful:

Indiana Jones and the Temple of DoomJan 24, 2003
By Kristy M. Ross "Kristy"
The most underrated film of the franchise, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM is actually superior in terms of action than LAST CRUSADE. Technically a prequel, the film is much darker in tone than it's predecessor, but nonetheless is an exciting entry in the Indiana Jones Trilogy. Night club action, mine car chases and the thrilling climax on a perilous rope bridge, the set-pieces are some of the most memorable in the trilogy. Set before RAIDERS, Harrison Ford is great in one of his best movie roles, Indiana Jones, obtainer of rare antiquities. And this time, it's Shankara stones for the looting, and while the story isn't as original as it's predecessor, it provides some great comic book-style action. Although directed by Spielberg, George Lucas is the creator of Indiana Jones, and this is one of Spielberg's most impersonal films. However there are some nice homages to JAWS and the "Just shoot 'em" gag from RAIDERS. The opening Busby Berkley inspired number "Anything Goes" sums up the pace for the whole film, where the characters go from one action set-piece to the next, with little space for a breather. The female lead Kate Kapshaw (Willie Scott) is not as spunky as Marion Ravenwood, but she's handles being a love interest for Indy and comic relief rather well. There is a notable lack of meaty villians, with Mola Ram not reaching the excellent "Bad guy" heights of Belloq, but hey, he's still nasty enough. Determined not to make Indy a cardboard character, this one explores Indy's dark side and audience limitations. However despite the change in tone for TOD, there are many laughs to be had and some clever in-jokes, the best of which is the nightclub where Willie sings: Club Obi Wan. Genius. Addmitedly, in some scenes taste goes out the window in favour of revolting animal delacacies and human sacrafice. After all, this was the film that started the PG:13 rating for films that were too violent for a simple PG. But what most critics fail to realise is that it's comic book violence, making it not as bad. John William's tonal score is darker than his previous efforts like E.T, but it's still one of his best. And minor carping aside, they don't make action films like this anymore, where the characters aren't crowded out by a barrage of CGI (THE MUMMY). To put it simply, the action, mine car chases, one-liners and monkey brains all combine to make a really fun action film. And while it dosn't reach the excellent heights of RAIDERS, it's still one amazing adventure.

5 of 6 found the following review helpful:

Indiana's Darkest AdventureMar 07, 2002
By Barry "Barrybgb"
This 1984 sequel to the 1981 classic "Raiders Of The Lost Ark", is a real important film to me. I saw it 11 times in the theaters and I was mesmerized. I hadn't seen anything like it before. It's one of those films that brings back great memories from your youth. Spielberg, Lucas, and Ford all return for this chapter. It takes place 10 years later, and Indy is joined by a nightclub singer, Willie Scott(Kate Capshaw), and a young sidekick named Short Round(Ke Huy - Quan from "The Goonies"), on a mission to find and rescue young children who have been kidnapped from a small village by some sort of cult. Indy and his gang infiltrate this incredible palace, only to discover the horror that lurks below the place. This film definitley has the Saturday morning serial cliffhanger thing going here. More so than the first and third installments. This movie is a little darker and more violent than "Raiders". Some fans didn't think that was such a good thing. Their loss. This movie is a rollercoaster ride from beginning to end. It's a movie that never stops being entertaining. There are a number of classic scenes in here, like - The mine cart chase, the airplane scene, the water out the side of the mountain, the rope bridge. You know it's a good movie when you can think of a number of good scenes like that. Once again, Spielberg has a nice eye for details. Ford is the most charismatic hero of the century. No one comes close. Capshaw and Quan are on hand mostly for comedic support. Just lay back, get some popcorn, and get ready to have your spines tingled when Indy's theme song starts....

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