Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Potential Kermode 6/23/2021 3:57:53 PM 8.4

**The best film in the series** _Raiders_ was great but suffered patches of slowness where the momentum was damaged - I know people who actually fast forward Raiders when Indy and Sallah discover the Well of Souls and begin watching the film again at the plane fight sequence. _Temple of Doom_, however, is a non stop rollercoaster ride - a thrilling, violent and funny adventure. Spielberg's best action film, in my opinion. Violence, horror, sentimentality, thrills, comedy - _Temple_ has it all! _And more_!!! John Williams provides a superb Indian infused score performed beautifully by the ever reliable _London Symphony Orchestra_ probably my favourite musical score of the series too. Indy takes a severe beating in this adventure, famously losing his shirt sleeve in the process - whereas in the toned down Raiders rehash, _Last Crusade_, he merely gets a bit of dust on his hat. A great whirlwind of energy this film is. Love it! - Potential Kermode

John Chard 5/16/2024 3:22:20 PM 8.4

Spielberg on devilishly OTT form! Prior to the long mooted and eventual release of part 4, Temple Of Doom was often thought of as the weakest part of the series, yet it actually appears to me to be maturing nicely with age. With honest appraisal I see the only crime that Temple Of Doom can be charged with is is not being as good as Raiders Of The Lost Ark. But since few films can match that movie's classic status I find it churlish to do the second film down for it. Temple Of Doom is a frenetic roller-coaster ride, full of enough crash bang wallop fit to grace any action adventure in the history of cinema. The set pieces are pure outrageous fun; life raft escape from a crashing plane, mine cart thrill ride & a bridge sequence that is pure boys own brilliance. And while the film finds Spielberg cramming the action with a darkly sinister streak (hence the PG13 rating), we find that the fun still far outweighs any horror that junior viewers might get from certain scenes. The film also finds Ford giving his best performance as Indiana Jones since the plot calls for a more humane Jones. In fine physical shape, his witty interplay with Short Round is coupled with a textured feel of friendship that plays real well up on the screen. Kate Capshaw was always going to struggle to get close to Karen Allen's wonderful turn as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders, for where Marion was feisty and tough, Capshaw's Willie Scott is more scare-d-cat and reliant on Indy's guile to save her from peril, but she does OK and looks gorgeous into the bargain. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was a massive hit at the box-office and firmly bought Spielberg the time to then go out and make two dramas in Empire of the Sun (1987) & The Color Purple (1985). He would then return with the third Indiana film to finish what was then a marvellous trilogy; of which Temple Of Doom is the prime piece of meat in the delightful (original) trilogy sandwich. 8.5/10

CinemaSerf 6/8/2023 9:55:19 AM 8.4

Sadly, this chose to go down the route of child stardom - which you either love or hate. Though "Short Round" (Ke Huy Quan) wasn't as irritating as many; he was still pretty persistently annoying and for my money helps make this quite a bit weaker. Aside from the elephant, this also lacks the depth of casting that the first of the films had - Kate Capshaw is almost slapstick as "Wille Scott" and the story isn't so hot, either, as our intrepid explorer has to try and track down some ancient stones that - along with their stolen children - are crucial to the agrarian lives of many peaceful citizens. The roller-coaster finish is still the stuff of Hollywood legend, though - and the films is a classy, well put together tale of clashes of culture with a healthy dose of mysticism, colonialism and Ford certainly has charisma to spare. Good fun, just not quite "Raiders".