'''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom''' is an
Academy Award winning
1984 action/adventure film directed by
Steven Spielberg. First released on
May 23,
1984, it is a
prequel to the hugely successful
adventure movie ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark''. Although this film is the second in the
Indiana Jones series, it is the twenty-third in the chronology of film and TV productions about the adventures of the heroic fictional archaeologist.
Like ''Raiders'', it starred
Harrison Ford as Jones, and was 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. New additions to the main cast included actress
Kate Capshaw, who played the role of
Wilhelmina 'Willie' Scott (Jones' second female lead following
Karen Allen as
Marion Ravenwood, in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''), and
Jonathan Ke Quan as Jones' 11 year old sidekick
Short Round.
Featuring themes of
child slavery, and
destructive cult rituals, the film is darker in tone than its predecessor. The original story was intended to be a horror movie as well as a remake with elements of ''
Gunga Din'' (1939). The original title was "Indiana Jones and the Temple of ''Death''."
Plot
Set in 1935, a year before ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', the film opens with Indiana Jones in a
Shanghai nightclub named Club
Obi-Wan, attempting to trade the remains of
Nurhaci for a large diamond with a gangster named
Lao Che. When the deal goes bad and Indy's friend Wu Han is killed in the ensuing violence, Indy and the club's singer, Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott, escape the pursuing criminals in a car driven by a young 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 inflatable emergency raft to descend safely from the plane.
After a dangerous ride down the
Himalayan mountains and a raging river, the trio eventually come to a desolate village in
India. The poor villagers there enlist their help in retrieving a sacred stone, the Sankara Stone or
Siva lingam stone, as well as the community's kidnapped children, from the evil forces of nearby Pankot Palace.
Initially, Pankot Palace seems normal enough; the royal tenants are insulted by his questions about the villagers' claims. Later that night, however, Indy is attacked in his room by a would-be assassin, which leads him to find a secret door. He, Willie, and Short Round make their way through the secret passage and discover a vast underground temple beneath the palace, where the village rock and two more are held by the
Thuggee. An evil cult who worship the goddess
Kali with human
sacrifice, the Thuggee have enslaved the village's children to dig for two remaining Sankara stones that are lost within the mines of the palace. Their villainous leader
Mola Ram hopes to use the power of the five united Sankara stones to rule the world.
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", a mind-control potion which puts the drinker into the "black sleep of Kali." Willie is kept as a human sacrifice, and Short Round is put in the mines alongside the village children as a slave laborer. However, Short Round breaks his bonds and escapes back into the temple, where Willie is being lowered into a lava pit. He helps Indy return to his normal self by using a torch to wake him from his trance. Although Mola Ram escapes through a
trap door, Indy and Short Round manage to save Willie, take the three Sankara Stones, and free the village children. In the fight to escape the palace, the three jump into a mine car and are closely pursued by two Thuggee-filled cars. Indy knocks the first car off the tracks with a board, but the second catches up to them. In the struggle, Short Round nearly falls into lava and a Thuggee jumps onto the back of their car. Willie delivers an unexpected punch that knocks the Thuggee back onto the track, and the other car crashes into his body and derails.
Meanwhile, Mola Ram and others break the supports of a giant water reservoir, pouring the contents down the tunnels in an attempt to drown the three heroes. After Indy stops their mine car, they avoid the rushing water by running outside - only to find themselves stuck at the top of a sheer canyon. They try to cross a rope bridge but are trapped with the Thuggee on both sides. Taking a desperate gamble, Indy utters a warning in
Chinese to his friends to brace themselves. He then uses his sword to cut the bridge in half, sending many of the Thuggee plummeting into the
crocodile-infested river below.
Mola Ram and a few of his minions manage to cling to the heroes' side. He fights with Indy for the stones, but Indy invokes their magic and causes him and all but one of the stones to fall into the river, where the nefarious priest is ripped apart and devoured by
crocodiles. At that moment, British troops appear to subdue the remaining Thuggee. The heroes triumphantly return to the village with their sacred stone and their children.
Production
Steven Spielberg and
George Lucas aimed to make the sequel to ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark'' much darker, due to their personal moods following their break-up and divorce respectively. Lucas made the film a
prequel as he didn't want the Nazis to be the villains once more, and had ideas regarding the
Monkey King and a haunted castle, but wound up creating the Sankara Stones.
[1] He hired
Willard Huyck and
Gloria Katz to write the script as he knew of their interest in
Indian culture.
[2] The major scenes that were dropped from ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' were included in this film: an escape using a giant rolling gong as a shield, a fall out of a plane in a raft, and a mine cart chase.
Shooting began in
Sri Lanka, with
Kandy used for the village set.
hurt his back riding elephants, so stuntman
Vic Armstrong spent five weeks as a stand-in for various shots.
Production was primarily based at
Elstree Studios, occupying eight out of nine soundstages as well as using the last one as a workshop. A second unit spent six days shooting elements of the
Shanghai car chase in
Macau and producer
Frank Marshall directed another second unit in
Florida, using alligators to double as marsh crocodiles.
Additional shooting of the
Mammoth Mountain and
Tuolumne River were also done for elements of the raft scene. Ford again suffered back pains during the Elstree shoot and was admitted to a hospital in
Los Angeles. Nonetheless, Spielberg completed the film five days short of the eighty-five day schedule and within the $28 million budget.
Reaction
''Temple of Doom'' made $179,870,271 ($30 million less than ''Raiders'') when it was released theatrically in the United States in 1984, making it the third biggest hit of 1984 (next to ''
Ghostbusters'' and ''
Beverly Hills Cop'').
[3] The movie received mixed reviews from critics. Those who spoke positively of it include
Roger Ebert, who believed the film was "... one of the greatest Bruised Forearm Movies ever made."
[4]
Some fairly gruesome scenes in ''Temple of Doom'', as well as, 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.
[5] (''See:
History of the MPAA film rating system'')
The film's depiction of Indians caused some controversy in
India, and brought it to the attention of the country's censors who placed a temporary ban on it.
[6]
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''.
Cast
Alternate promotional poster of ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom''.
Stunt actor
Pat Roach — who appeared in two roles as large, muscular henchmen who fights Indy in ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark'' — also appeared thrice in this film: first as the man banging the gong in Club Obi Wan, then 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''.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album is currently out of print and is no longer available. Due to the short nature of the soundtrack (approximately 40 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 2007, 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"
Video games
Main articles: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (arcade game)
DVD release
DVD cover of ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom''.
The film was released on VHS several times in the 1980s and 90s and then on DVD in October 2003. It was packaged with the previous and later films in the series; however, the
Region 2 version of the film was heavily censored. Noticeably, the main scene that was cut for the UK release was a close up of the removal of an unfortunate victims heart at the ceremony which was too graphic for a PG rating. The music tends to jump in-between scenes that were trimmed. Also Mola Ram's line "''Soon, Kali Ma will rule the world..."'' has been cut during the scene where Indy is forced to drink the blood of Kali.
References
1. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
2. The Cinema of George Lucas, Marcus Hearn, , , Harry N. Abrams Inc., , ISBN 0-8109-4968-7
3. 1984 Yearly Box Office Results
4. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (review) Ebert, Roger
5. PG-13 remade Hollywood ratings system Breznican, Anthony
6. Banned Films Around the World: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Gogoi, Pallavi
External links
★
''Temple of Doom'' at IndianaJones.com
★
★
★
★
''Temple of Doom'' at The Indiana Jones Wiki
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