Chris Stuckmann reviews Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, starring Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Roshan Seth. Directed by Steven Spielberg.
I've read that Ke Huy Quan wasn't even going to be in it. HIs brother was the one who was called to audition while Ke was just tagging along. The casting folks chose him instead. Wonder if his brother ever forgave him?
For such a dark and violent movie, the end scene with the children running into the village was beautiful and heartwarming. A great payoff to everything they've set up with that little village in my opinion.
I love Temple of Doom but the sacrifice scene traumatised me as a kid so much to the point where Mola Ram is still a recurring character in my nightmares.
It's not really true anymore but back in the 90's if you asked someone about this it was the common opinion that people hated this one. Honestly, there was a time where if you said you liked this people would roll their eyes and accuse you of being a contrarian edgy dickhead lol
This was actually the first Indiana Jones movie I ever watched, I was like seven years old at my cousin's house, and for some reason this one's always had a soft spot in my heart. Because that guy got his heart ripped out.
First Indy I saw as well until one day as a child, we had HBO, and Raiders was on. Imo, I still loved Temple of Doom just a bit more. The insane booby traps to get to the ceremony, the bugs, the violence. And watching it on the big screen. I went to see it as an 8 year old w my father , along with Ghostbusters until Gremlins came out. The beginning w the plain running out of gas. They jump out with the inflatable raft, and that dam bridge scene was just movie adrenaline! Still holds up today very well imo. And I loved it.
The magic of this film is we are like Short Round (I was around his age) when we watch it and he is the hero of the film. It’s basically any young fan’s fantasy - to fight alongside and save Indy. Also all the darkness of the film helps this: in many of these films children have no agency and are victims. Short Round overcomes all of this terrible darkness as a child. It’s empowering for a kid. I was never disturbed because you see him triumph. His triumph is our triumph.
Considering that Ridley Scott's brother Tony Scott directed Michael's videos I can see how that could of almost been a thing. Tony directed Top Gun and Days of Thunder. He was all about adrenaline ...and sweaty mens
The fact that its a prequel also creates a couple problems. The first, in Raiders Indiana says he doesn't believe in religious superstitions, yet for some reason he makes no reference to the fact he witnessed supernatural religious people do things like rip someones heart out and have the person and heart burn separately. The other is that Indiana tries doing the same thing he did in raiders with a gun vs. sword, although that has yet to happen to him. I like a lot of George's ideas (and Yes, I like Crystal Skull), but making Temple of Doom didn't make sense.
I always heard that he was SO annoying, and then when I saw the movie for the first time today I decided I absolutely love him, he's so friggin' precious.
Shoutout to Amrish Puri's Mola Ram who is the main reason why people even remember Mola Ram's name. When you think about it, he is very generic, take-over-the-world villain, but his performance and partly his look make him so memorable.
@@PrinceFloof I believe it's a scale: 1. "Cut" - Quite low body fat, fairly visible muscle definition. I I V 2. "Ripped" - Very low body fat, extremely clear muscle definition. I I V 3. "Shredded" - Unhealthily low body fat, SCARY muscle definition, to the point of having muscle striations EVERYWHERE and looking like you've been flayed alive.
@@goprojoe8943 Yea being 30-40 is super old huh? I'm 33 and everyone keep telling me i look like 20. Harrison looked good enough not to be called old. By your logic 25-27 years old people are old too huh? :D
Temple of Doom, Back to the Future 3, Die Hard 3, I feel like the "change ups" in these older sequels/trilogies always stood out to me, and I love them all for these differences (even if they aren't my favorites). They weren't just retreads and that's what I like so much about them. Nowadays every sequel is just a retread with more killing and bigger explosions.
Maybe a bit late but totally agree I’ve just literally watched this with my kids lol and it proves that quality we don’t get so often now there 7 ,10 ,12 and they absolutely loved it just shows how good these movie makers and actors are brilliant movie pure class
Was always my favorite when I was younger, but around my early-mid 20s I changed my mind. BUT it’s SOOO close, such a masterpiece! 😎 Please don’t Kali-mah my heart out with your bare hand 😰
I just finished watching all the movies for the first time, and I am SHOCKED at how ToD isn't considered the best one by FAR and one of the best films of all time. I enjoyed the shit out of absolutely every single second of this LOL.
I'm not trying to be rude, but I just got done watching this movie for the first time and I hated it. I loved the first one and third one, the first one being one of the best movies I've ever seen, but the Temple of Doom is definitely another story, at least for me. The character of Willy almost single handedly ruined this movie for me. I mean can we at least admit that she was a horrible addition to this movie?
@@-hasamastersdegreeinwumbol8565 Man what are you talking about? She just a side character who happened to join Indy by no fault of her own. Plus it's always nice to have a pretty lady with big boobs in movies. :). Kidding aside Indy was the main character and it showed all throughout. She played the damsel in distress but what did you expect? The movie took place in the 1930s where there's hardly that much 'girl-power' around. Plus there were so many fantastic sequences/scenes in the movie: the mine cart chase; that guy having his heart pulled out; eating beetles/monkey brains at dinner; walking through the dark tunnels with insects on the ground; the part where the cult leader is pulled apart by alligators/crocs; the ending where the trio is returning to the village and then the theme comes up and you see the swarm of kids running; etc. Kids were saved/returned to families! I also liked the scene where the guard's clothing was caught in the stone crusher and was about to be crushed but Indy tried to help him. He died anyway but you can see the type of person Indy was... I mean he was just fighting this guy to the death seconds earlier! Plus the movie had a gritty feeling to it as if it really took place in the real world. Everything was dark and dirty... Edit: Uh I replied to your comment before watching Chris's review and most of the scenes/sequences I described are in this video lol. Shows how memorable they are.
@@HDGuy001 everything was over the top and cartoony. My mom even came out during that goofy cart chase and said that it looks like a Disney land ride. And me not liking Willy had nothing to do with "girl power," I didn't like her because she was so god damn annoying. Literally almost every scene she was in she was screaming her head off. And then, when Indiana was getting beat up, she even tries to stop Short Round from rushing to his rescue, saying, "he can handle himself." Yeah, bitch, he can, but a little help wouldn't hurt. And then, she said some cheesy line like, "ok, help him," and then she lets Short Round, a tiny little kid, run out there to help Indy while she herself just hides behind a wall. She was so entitled. I kept wanting Indy to leave her to die several times throughout the movie. I definitely didn't want Indy to fawn over her like she was all that, no matter how pretty she was, because everything else about her would make a sane man run screaming in the opposite direction. If Willy wasn't in this movie from beginning to end, I might have enjoyed watching it.
Spielberg picked the location near to where David Lean's Bridge Over the River Kwai was shot. He and Lucas idolize Lean. Indy's gun in TLC is a prop from Lawerence of Arabia.
Watched it on Netflix last night and thought it was interesting how in the village the subtitles just used [speaking foreign language] instead of how they used [speaking chinese] in shanghai and [speaking hindi] in the temple!
Bug pit/spiked room is the best sequence in the whole series. Perfectly sustained suspense and humor. The false sense of relief before it starts up again and the music picks back up. Perfections.
21:06 Lemme correct that. The stones/shivanlings are actually well established in Hindu culture. Obviously they don't glow or anything, they're more like how the Christian cross is in the west.
Yep props to them for doing their research. the part that was inaccurate was treating Kali like a demon. They should have chosen an actual demon from Hindu folk lore or just made something up
The darkest of the series. Yet the entire theme revolves around saving the children. Arguably the best pacing and a great soundtrack. Plus short round.
@@lorenzoamato953 It's not safe or sanitized, what are you on about. 😂 all of the deaths are violent, there are very intense scenes, kids get beat up and injured, and it takes lots of risks. It's way more out there than all of the "safe and sanitized" movies out there.
I thought the same thing imagining an R rated JP. I know James Cameron was a possibility as the director back then, and you know how unhinged that would have been
Imagine if this movie came before Raiders of the lost ark. Raiders would then be considered one of the greatest movie sequels of all time that improves on the original.
Clay Crews it’s called LEGO Indiana Jones, i played those games before I even watched the Indiana Jones movies. The Indiana Jones movies weren’t my childhood but the LEGO games were
and uncharted 4 is basically the not terrible version of Indiana jones 4, focuses more on the main character's life and giving them more of a backstory.
@Aravind Jonathan Ke Quan is still in the movie business and he's an actual stunt coordinator, so there'd be no need to recast as he could handle the action with ease.
Delighted to see you say this. I feel the exact same way and I've said that a few times to my Dad. Still go see a new film with Ford no bother, but wish there were more than 3 Indy films where he's younger.
Thats what the tv series The Adventures of *Young* Indiana Jones was for. At least the actor they got studied the movies and tried to emulate Ford's physical style to make his own performance true to the character instead of trying to "reimage" characters to their own interpretation these days.
Temple of Doom has always been my favorite. Spielberg was never more excited with a camera than he is here. It's a balls to the wall blast, it's dark, it's campy... it's wonderful.
Hahaha, your intro about your first experience watching this movie makes a lot of sense now that you’ve told your story as an ExJW. I was also raised in that cult, and my parents loved Raiders and Crusade but we were never allowed to watch temple of doom. I had a really similar experience watching a forbidden movie for the first time and being so relieved I wasn’t struck by lightning either.
Yeah now when I watch that scene in Dumber and Dumber when Jim Carrey rips the foreign chefs heart out of his chest I will always know that it was a callback to Temple of Doom.
I always crushed on Harrison Ford, and I think this movie's why! I could always relate with April O'Neil from the first 1990 live-action TMNT movie, when she first meets the turtles and can't believe her eyes, when she said, "Why don't I ever dream of Harrison Ford?" Hell's yeah!!
I love Temple of Doom because Indy has a character arc. He goes from an asshole whose personal mantra is "fortune and glory" to a humanist who has seen firsthand the horrors a personal mantra like "fortune and glory" can cause. And it all culminates in what is possibly the best exchange in the entire series: "Let's get out of here." "Right. All of us."
@Giuseppe Shmo man I feel like each movie in the trilogy is awesome in its own way Raiders is the best and most Important Temple is dark and the most action packed Crusade is the most Emotional and heartwarming Crystal Skull Well its bad
"Let's get out of here." "Right. All of us." Gave me chills when I was 11 years old and still does today. And its because of his arc, from a-hole to alright. it wouldn't have mattered as much if you had been expecting it because he had been a decent person in the beginning. Additionally, John Williams Parade of the Slave Children piece is my favorite work of his ever and it pairs awesomely with that scene,
I watched all of the films when I was a kid... say 8ish. Temple was (and still is) my favorite and here's why: Despite the blood and gore, the storyline is easily understood by a child. When I was 8, I didn't understand the Ark, what it was. There was so much boring dialogue, and the steps they had to take to even find the Ark was way over my head and I just didn't get it. But Temple was super easy to understand right from the beginning. There are bad people who stole a magical rock and children and are mean to them and they did a mind trick on Indy. Pretty straight forward plot. Short Round really is the hero because he figures out how to bring Indy back, so for a child watching, the protagonist is a child. What's not to like? Also as child, I loved the rock belt scene because although the huge guy was just fighting Indy, Indy tries to save him from being crushed and that always resonated with me as a kid. Like sure, they were just fist fighting but our hero doesn't want the bad guy to get crushed by a rock grinder and I always thought that was nice. And my two cents on Willie: she's annoying because she screams all the time, but at least she saves the hero. Unlike the Princess Bride, another favorite of mine at that age, Buttercup literally doesn't do anything to save Wesley from the ROUS. If anything, her worrying about it eating her dress and hitting it with the stick rolls it onto Wesley causing him to get bit. So I guess as an 8 year old girl, also grossed out by bugs, I was happy that the girl was needed to overcome her fears so she could save the guy. Instead of the trope of a girl always needing to be rescued by the 'big strong man.'
I agree that Temple is much more direct and accessible to a kid than Raiders. It's just a fun, nonstop action ride. Your tastes usually get adjusted as you grow older but I still think this movie is pretty much adventure in its purest form.
I agree about most things you said, but most of all about Willie. To me, she came off as a person who was playing the role assigned to her as a woman by the culture of the time, played it well and identified with it, but who had grit when it came down to the crunch.
I also loved this movie more than the other ones. Was also the first one I saw as a 8 year old boy. It was more an adventure, with remote epic locations than the other films
Heu, thanks for explaining to me why I liked this movie more than others :) Action! Advemtire! Little bit of horror thrown in for good measure (honestly I don't even think I was really touched by gore.... it was probably too far away concept for my kid's brain). And there was this small kid doing all the cool kungfu stuff, he was smart as hell and funny!
I'm so glad you love Temple of Doom. Honestly, over the years I've been a sheep and followed the whole Raiders and Last Crusade being the only worthwhile Indiana Jones movies idea but the more I think about it the more I feel like I've had just more and more fun watching Temple of Doom than the other two. Not saying it doesn't have its flaws but it being so different than the other two is what makes it stand out. The whole sequence in the beginning in Shanghai is such a throwback to classic pulp fiction from Willie's musical number, to the negotiations with Lao Che to Short Round driving the car through the city streets. Is it the best of the film series? Probably not but it's one hell of a ride.
@Harmeet Singh it should definitely have Indiana Jones silhouette/logo/font or drawing of the bridge to make it clear that it's a movie line and not about the actual deity.
"I dont know what that means. It means that maybe Im dumb." "Let me talk about Harrisons body" - Chris, this is by far the hardest youve made me laugh all these years. Brilliant review, even better comedy!
Watch Onibaba (1964), a Japanese film made on an Indian story that travelled from India to Japan, centuries ago. Mola Ram is also a stereotyped version of a character in similar folklore. Amrish Puri was a genius actor, very well read too.
I just rewatched the trilogy and I have to admit that this is my favorite of the three. It’s absolutely insane, and I actually really respect the courage Spielberg had to make this as dark as it is. It also really solidified Indi as one of the first real mainstream anti-hero’s. It’s freakin awesome.
I honestly think this is healthy way to experience more mature subjects. One can understand that there are boundaries from one's parents, but one can still experience "more adult" themes in a sneaky, fun way.
My siblings and I grew up in the 80's and 90's. For years after the release of this movie, when play fighting my brother's and I would exclaim, "Cover the heart Indie!" as we dug our fingers into the other's chest. If we managed to maintain the attack we'd chant, "Kali Ma, Kali Ma." It used to hurt like hell and was always considered a somewhat dirty tactic, but it was also always worthy of a good laugh....... and even though we're now in our 30's and 40's, it still occasionally gets used.
Who would take their kids to a movie called Temple of Doom and think it wasn’t going to be violent? Temple of Doom was by far my favorite Indy movie. They touched on the lore outside of normal film making and it had black magic and was sooo good
Growing up I wasn't aware that anyone disliked Temple of Doom. I thought of the Indiana Jones trilogy as more or less perfect. I kind of miss watching a movie as a kid and having no outside sources, besides friends and family, influence my opinion. Funny enough, Raiders was my least favourite. I still loved it, but I enjoyed rewatching Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade a lot more. I watched ToD and TLC enough that I could piece together every scene from memory. Not as much for Raiders. It doesn't stick in my mind as well. The Last Crusade was my favourite. I also liked Shortround. Never got the hate for that character.
Objectively, Raiders is the best film in the series... but Temple of Doom is my favorite. IMO its the most intense, has the best visuals, has the best score, and the best ending in the series. Nothing beats all of the children returning home with that John Williams score.
How can you not mention the "Slave Children's Crusade" (aka "Parade of the Slave Children") theme, Chris? It made the scene at 17:41 even more badass that it could've honestly been Indy's 2nd leitmotif. As for Willie, I think the spike trap sequence justified her character for me b/c she made it ten times more entertaining. BTW, Siskel & Ebert surprisingly considered this as the best Indiana Jones sequel.
@@Dreadjaws I agree with that, it used to be my favorite John Williams track ever, but now I am thinking more Desert Chase from Raiders, but Slave Children's Crusade is still so epic
When I was a kid I was inspired to learn more about Indian culture because of this film. Then again I was a smart enough kid to understand there was some stereotyping going on for the sake of drama.
Temple of Doom is also my favorite. Also funny as hell. Especially how it unapologetically lampoons classic cinema's hyperbolic stereotypes. This film takes you on a journey to a magical place crazier than Oz.
Rewatching this review after watching your story about being raised as a JW puts a whole new perspective on Temple being 'The Bad One' and you're first time watching it. Love the work and how you've used your past to propel you forward.
Amrish Puri will be missed as this film’s iconic villain. “Drop the stones Dr. Jones, they will be found.......YOU WON’T, Hahahahaha........2 min later (Indiana Jones cuts the bridge) 😂 EPIC!
I've seen Temple of Doom so many times, I can visually picture Amrish delivering that threat (with maniacal laughter) during the rope bridge scene. He gave us a fantastic villain as Mola Ram.
You know Chris I agree with you about how Spielberg has clever ways of delivering exposition and I remember in your Once Upon A Time In Hollywood review when you mentioned "hidden exposition" and I think Temple of Doom has an example of this: - Like 5 minutes into the movie, right after the credits stop rolling it is established that Indiana Jones speak Cantonese (only on special occasions), this makes total sense he would speak Cantonese in this setting because everyone around him, Cantonese is their first language - Then maybe 30 minutes or so in Short Round and Indiana Jones are playing a game of cards and they speak to each other in Cantonese, again we the audience don't make much of this because Short Rounds first language is definitely Cantonese not English so it makes sense that they would speak to each other in Short Rounds first language. - Then a whole bunch of crazy shit happens and then around the 1 hour 45 minute mark, well over AN HOUR later, we the audience have completely forgotten about Indy speaking Cantonese, Indy is cornered on a rope bridge and he has to cut it, he also has to warn Willie and Short Round to hold on or they will fall into the river with crocodiles but he can't just shout out "Hold onto the rope I'm going to cut the bridge" because that would tip off the Thuggees, he has to say in in Cantonese. It's also clever foreshadowing, I guess the incident on the rope bridge would constitute a "special occasion" to speak in Cantonese.
Temple of Doom was always my favorite Indy, and Return of the Jedi was always my favorite Star Wars. I could watch these movies on repeat as a kid [along with Conan the Barbarian and Ghostbusters 2].
Yeah, its a pretty obscure fact the only way you can tell is when it shows the year at the beginning for a few seconds, so its understandable that most people miss it. Spielberg and Lucas didn't want all 3 movies to be about Indy fight Nazis, so making it a prequel was their solution.
That is one of the problems with it. The only way you know it's a prequel is by the date at the very beginning, but most people don't remember when the first one took place other than generally "during WWII because Nazis". So most people just assume it takes place after the first one. But in the first scene Indy has a completely different attitude about relics belonging in museums, so it's just confusing to the audience. There's also no real reason for it to be a prequel, it could have been set after WWII.
Yes, dark is amazing. I’m glad he directed The Lost World, because it’s easily by far the darkest of the Jurassic Park series. Velociraptors killing people in the tall grass, Dr. Burke having his blood pour down the waterfall, David Koepp being just an innocent civilian getting killed by the T-Rex and let’s not forget Eddie Card getting ripped in half . . .
*Directed by Steven Spielberg, Story by George Lucas* *Music by John Williams, performance by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer*
Yeah, this movie was scary and really opened my eyes to what evil could be... seeing adults intentionally hurt children is infuriating and crushing. Eyeballs are gross, but abuse of innocents, especially someone you know like Short around, is much much worse to me.
Shorty doesn't really get it that bad, compared to many other movies with young characters. If that is what scares you, man no offense but grow some balls will ya?
I think this is why I liked this movie the most. It wasn't nazis, it was a brutal realistic villainy movies don't talk about these days that actually happens daily. Nazis were a few decades, but child slavery is still going on
@youcometome9 Yeah thats really bad. I was just referencing that globally child slavery is still a thing and its good it was shown. But making it seem like its an india thing is bad
Chris, I love how you highlighted the versatility of John Williams in transitioning from brassy anthems of heroic empowerment to terrifying avant-garde choral chants. He's a far more dynamic composer than many people give him credit for, and he excels with horrific musical material (see Close Encounters, War of the Worlds et al)
I love how violent and how unapologetic temple of doom is. The dark tone is great and the movie has a lot of red in the cinematography which is very bold. It has Indiana Jones as the ultimate badass hero
Interesting how reviews themselves are something to return to. I have always returned to certain Stuckmann reviews. I don’t know why, maybe to freshen up memories or rethink a subject?
Up until TODAY, Temple of Doom was the ONLY Indiana Jones movie that I HAVEN'T seen. I just watched it today, and while it was no Last Crusade, it was still pretty awesome.
I don't like it as much as Raiders and Last Crusade. As a kid, I watched this movie once. I didn't like how dark it was. Watching it for the first time years later I actually started to appreciate it. The last half hour of the film is awesome.
@@WH250398 I liked it more as a kid but now Last Crusade is my favorite. As a kid I liked the cave stuff and wanted to find one. We made tunnels in the sticker bushes but didn't have a roller coaster in there.. 😭
Let me just state that I’m a really big fan of Indians Jones, but ever since I walked in on my dad watching the heart sacrifice scene as a kid, I’ve always steered clear of Temple of Doom. Safe to say after this video I’ll finally get past that childhood trauma and finish the series like I should have so long ago😌
Giuseppe Shmo you’re totally right, I must have missed the song where literally every word is not in English except “anything goes”. Dead giveaway it’s a prequel, thanks!
I agree with this almost 100%. I love this movie, and I think it's just one of those movies that people just don't want to give credit to, simply because it had such a hard act to follow with Raiders. It's just a fun movie, and for all of those idiots that say Revenge of the Sith is awesome because it's "so dark", then they should absolutely LOVE Temple of Doom.
When I think of John Williams soundtracks, I actually think of the Emperor Theme from Return of the Jedi... the chanting still gives me creepy goosebumps. But especially the entire soundtrack from the Throne Room, specifically when Luke is hiding from Vader, refusing to fight him and Vader's threatening to turn Leia (The Dark Side Beckons), the music bubbling underneath and then swelling with his fear and anger, attacking Vader, it's one of the best merging of music and what is going on on the screen in any movie for me.
Yes! RotJ is my favorite star wars movie EVER and I can't agree more with that about the music. I will add, too, the chanting/choir as the emperor plummets to his death is awesome too.
