Temple of Doom: The Best Indy Flick

[Grit]

Temple of Doom was no doubt a good film but as far as I can remember, it's a long time since I last saw it, I thought it was the worst of the original trilogy, although not by much. I didn't mind Shortround either. Slightly annoying maybe, but easily tolerable enough not to let it affect the rest of the film. Saying that, I was probably one of the few who actually liked The Crystal Skull. Just for the fridge scene alone, it's worth a mention!

Although I rate Raiders of the Lost Arc the highest, I'm thinking of swapping it for The Last Crusade which is currently my second highest rated but is the film I like the most. Sean Connery just adds so much to the formula.

Gets you thinking though, imagine what the series would have been like if CBS had allowed Tom Selleck to actually play the role of Jones. I wonder how popular the series would have been, the character design alone would have probably still carried it to at least some fame.

[cagedwisdom]

I enjoyed Crystal Skull. It was retarded, overdone and even more retarded but hey, it was Indy.

[MmzHrrdb]

I enjoyed Crystal Skull. It was retarded, overdone and even more retarded but hey, it was Indy.

You have your own reasons for liking Temple of Doom, and though I STRONGLY disagree with your belief that Raiders is the least of the original three, your tastes are your own and I have no interest in convincing you of your "wrongness." There is no right or wrong when it comes to enjoying a movie, really. However, I completely and thoroughly dispute your "hey, it was Indy" rationale for enjoying Crystal Skull. Was it really Indy? Or was it just a character named Indy that kind of acted like Indiana Jones? I mean, there was a Marion character in Crystal Skull, but was she really the Marion from Raiders? No, not at all. If anything, Indy and Marion from Crystal Skull were perfunctory caricatures of their former selves.

There are plenty of sequels that bring back characters from superior movies, yet fail to capture the essence of what made the characters special. Raiders, in my opinion, captured the essence Indiana Jones better than any other movie after it. Temple of Doom relied on action, Last Crusade relied on comedy, Crystal Skull relied on CGI, but Raiders was propelled by the character Indiana Jones first and foremost. I don't think the sequels are really Indiana Jones movies, at least by the standard set by Raiders.

It is my theory that people who liked Return of the Jedi the most out of the original Star Wars trilogy are more inclined to be apolgetic toward Phantom Menace, and I also believe that people who don't favor Raiders are more likely to be apologetic toward Crystal Skull. I HATED Crystal Skull and I totally favor Raiders, just as I HATE Return of the Jedi and HATE Phantom Menace. Why do I think this is the case? Because people who love Raiders most really care about the characters, while people who like the other two movies most are focused more on humor and action. This is also true, I believe, for people who like Return of Jedi, because Jedi is much more like Phantom Menace than it is like the A New Hope or Empire Strikes Back. The characters in Jedi are secondary to the action and slapstick.

[cagedwisdom]

You have your own reasons for liking Temple of Doom, and though I STRONGLY disagree with your belief that Raiders is the least of the original three, your tastes are your own and I have no interest in convincing you of your "wrongness." There is no right or wrong when it comes to enjoying a movie, really. However, I completely and thoroughly dispute your "hey, it was Indy" rationale for enjoying Crystal Skull. Was it really Indy? Or was it just a character named Indy that kind of acted like Indiana Jones? I mean, there was a Marion character in Crystal Skull, but was she really the Marion from Raiders? No, not at all. If anything, Indy and Marion from Crystal Skull were perfunctory caricatures of their former selves.

Huh, this is pretty insightful and I must admit I hadn't really considered it that way at all. I can agree with you completely though, and I can see this as the reason I liked the Indy reboot less than, to name a few unrelated examples where this is done better, Die Hard 4.0 (yes, I liked Die Hard 4, so sue me), Rocky Balboa, Rambo, etc. I didn't say I liked Crystal Skull, I merely enjoyed it. I rated it 56, which is just over what I define as utterly average. Not bad, not good, just watchable and entertaining enough to be worth it. What I meant was that it's the kind of film I can forgive for its flaws because of the fact that it is an Indiana Jones film. Simply the novelty of seeing it all again adds enough to the entertainment value of the film for it to be worth sitting through.

Oh, and I should also mention that your thoughts on the original trilogy also hold true with me, the only difference being that it was the action and sense of adventure (with a bit of comedy thrown in) that made me like Indiana Jones films in the first place, not the character (don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the character, he just wasn't what prompted me to enjoy the films originally). As you say, the second and third films rely more on action, which for me is what makes them better. I guess that's where we differ.

[MmzHrrdb]

Temple of Doom is by far the best of the sequels. Whilst everyone is pretty much agreed that Raiders is not only the best of the series, but also one of the greatest movies ever made, Temple of Doom seems to have gone down in reputation since its 84 opening (when I was blown away by it).

You can clearly see that Spielberg is firing on all cylinders making Temple of Doom, inventive set pieces, cutting-edge FX work, a non-stop pace, intriguing camera placement and angles. In comparison Last Crusade is a flat pancake of a movie, a lazy and uninspired beat for beat remake of Raiders. Indiana Jones is still one of the greatest movie heroes of all time in Doom, by Crusade he has become a stooge for Sean Connery's lame schtick.

I think the reason Last Crusade feels so lame is that Spielberg had just directed two passion projects, The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun, neither of which met with much critical acclaim, and he needed a hit after the box office bomb of Sun. He has stated that he only did the third one "to honor his handshake commitment to George", and was less interested in making an Indiana Jones film than he was working with Sean Connery.

[Quicky]

Temple of Doom is my favorite for the following reasons in particular:

- It's incredibly claustrophobic and creepy, with nearly the entire film spent within a cave amidst human sacrifices and a buttload of insects. I have a fear of insects, and those parts still freak me out today.
- The mine-cart escape is, while cliched (although I think it has become a cliche because of its use in this film), is incredibly awesome.
- Nostalgia. It's the only Indy film I watched as a kid, and coincidentally the only Indy film of which I played a point-and-click Lucasarts adventure PC game as a kid. Yes, I'm a sucker for nostalgia, so sue me.
- Tightrope bridge scene is awesome.
- There's none of the lengthy setup/flying around the world of the other two films. First film setups the series, third film setups Connery's character. Second film, as I recall it, is all focused on the action.

I agree with Rufflesack for pretty much these reasons plus Short Round which I also find incredibly funny .

[Filligan]

Last Crusade.

/thread.

[Melvin Smif]

Short Round is one of the only bearable kid side-kicks in history, he's hilarious.

I...pfft..but...uh...Wha?

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-Raiders
-Last Crusade
-Kingdom
-Temple

[KGB]

'The Temple of Doom' is racist, unlogical, uncohesive and plain retarded. For some reason everybody speak english in marginal jungle areas of Asia, and Kate Capshaw made me want cut my ears off. Shortround was very annoying as well.

And still, although all the faults, 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' is still fun. It's the best of the saga for sure (haven't seen the last one) but it's definitely not that bad.

[cagedwisdom]

I...pfft..but...uh...Wha?

He made me laugh, and I honestly didn't find him annoying at the time. When I watch it again, I might, if only because people have been incessantly whining about how annoying he is. I don't know if he made me laugh because he was retarded, but what does it matter, I laughed.