Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Special Edition) | 
| Director: Stany De Silva
Actors: Kate Capshaw, Roy Chiao, Lorraine Doyle, Harrison Ford, Chua Kah Joo
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.99
Buy Used: $3.55
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Rating:  153 reviews
Sales Rank: 8160
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 118 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 132834
UPC: 097361328348
EAN: 0097361328348
ASIN: B0014Z4ON4
Theatrical Release Date: 1984
Release Date: May 13, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
It's hard to imagine that a film with worldwide box office receipts topping $300 million worldwide could be labeled a disappointment, but some moviegoers considered Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the second installment in Steven Spielberg and George Lucas' 1980s adventure trilogy, to be just that. That doesn't mean it's a bad effort; any collaboration between these two cinema giants (Spielberg directed, while Lucas provided the story and was executive producer) is bound to have more than its share of terrific moments, and Temple of Doom is no exception. But in exchanging the very real threat of Nazi Germany for the cartoonish Thuggee cult, it loses some of the heft of its predecessor (Raiders of the Lost Ark); on the other hand, it's also the darkest and most disturbing of the three films, what with multiple scenes of children enslaved, a heart pulled out of a man's chest, and the immolation of a sacrificial victim, which makes it less fun than either Raiders or The Last Crusade, notwithstanding a couple of riotous chase scenes and impressively grand sets. Many fans were also less than thrilled with the new love interest, a spoiled, querulous nightclub singer portrayed by Kate Capshaw, but a cute kid sidekick ("Short Round," played by Ke Huy Quan) and, of course, the ever-reliable Harrison Ford as the cynical-but-swashbuckling hero more than make up for that character's shortcomings. A six-minute introduction by Lucas and Spielberg is the prime special feature, with both men candidly addressing the film's good and bad points (Lucas points out that the second Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back, was also the darkest of the original three; as for Spielberg, the fact that the leading lady would soon become his wife was the best part of the whole trip). Also good are "The Creepy Crawlies," a mini-doc about the thousands of snakes, bugs, rats and other scary critters that populate the trilogy, and "Travels with Indy," a look at some of the films' cool locations. Storyboards and a photo gallery are included as well. --Sam Graham
Description
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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| Customer Reviews: Read 148 more reviews...
Indy in India... June 21, 2009
D. S. Thurlow (Alaska)
"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", the second of the Indiana Jones series, is a prequel to the first and third movies. It opens in a nightclub in 1935 China, where Indy attempts to swap precious artifacts with a Chinese gangster. The swap goes badly, dissolving into a chaotic scramble around the nightclub and a car chase in the streets. Its principal purpose is to reintroduce action hero archeologist Profesor Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and to introduce his co-stars, beautiful nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) and Indy's young side-kick Short Round (Ke Huy Quan). The sequence ends with Indy and his companions escaping by plane, unaware they are about to be involuntarily dumped in India.
Having survived their hair-raising arrival in India, Indy and his friends find refuge in a small village, where the locals have been robbed of a set of magical stones and of their children. Indy takes on the mission of recovering the stones, accompanied by Short Round and a reluctant Willie. Their mission takes them to a grand palace and a close and nearly fatal encounter with the ancient and murderous Thugee Cult.
"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" is filled with the thrilling escape sequences, nasty villains, creepy crawlies, booby-trapped rooms and sometimes humorous heroism that audiences came to expect from the series. Unfortunately, it may be the least loved of the original trilogy. The clear-cut struggle with the Nazis is swapped for a dark and rather muddled plot featuring a mysterious cult, enslaved children, and magic stones. For most of the movie, the whiny Willie Scott displays an alarming lack of the fortitude expected of Indy heroines. The ending, back in the small Indian village, is a little flat since we already know Indy and Willie have no future together.
"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" is highly recommended to fans of the Indiana Jones series. Despite some shortcomings, it is a worthy and entertaining companion to "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Last Crusade."
 Easily the Best June 7, 2009
A. Ramsland
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is one of those movies that didn't do so well critically when it first came out, though was appreciated more and more over the years. Sort of like Scarface. I found this one to be the most interesting because it dealt with a place that many do not know about. I feel that the other two use Nazi cliches and not that this one doesn't have Voodoo Indian cliches, but we've seen Nazi's so much in movies that its a bore. Also, this one is funny with the short round character and the girl. The action scenes are better than the first and a persons heart being pulled out is much cooler than someone's face melting. This one doesn't change setting every two seconds which makes it more interesting. Anyway, I enjoyed this movie the most out of the three, I hope you enjoy it as well.
The darkest and scarriest in the series, but still fun, nonetheless April 22, 2009
Jennifer A. Everhart
Here comes Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark. This is where Indy (Harrison Ford), his sidekick Short Round (Jonathan Ke Quan, credited as Ke Huy Quan) and nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) arrive at an Indian village attacked by Thugge troops that stole their Shainkara Stone and the children.
The trio finds their hideout in Pankot Palace. There they encounter the leader and main antagonist Mola Ram (Amrish Puri), which is where things heat up. This entry was dark and gritty unlike the rest. It was George Lucas' idea. He knew that in the Star Wars series, The Empire Strikes Back was the darkest of the original trilogy (and also the best in the franchise), and wanted the Indiana Jones classic trilogy to have the same feel. The really scary parts are the child slavery depiction, ripping out the heart, volcanic sacrifices, and the blood of Kali potion forced into Indy's mouth. The most disgusting part was the Pancot cuisine, consisting of snake surprise (with eels inside the skin), bettles, eyeball soup, and chilled monkey brain. Gross! On the other hand, the cast and crew were great. It has all the action. The underground sequense looks so real. This, along with Gremlins, helped spawn the PG-13 rating used in the more lighthearted and successful sequels. This can be handeled by kids when a parent is supervising them. This may be the darkhorse of the franchise, but still a worthy entry to the series.
Revisionist historians and malcontent fan-boys have given this awesome sequel an unwarranted bad name! April 17, 2009
David J. Brown
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is truly a film that defines the overused and utterly cliche'd term 'roller coaster ride' when referring to pop cinema. This is the second best Indy film out of the four. I am writing this review to shed some light and to give the great film its due.
We'll start the review by noting that this Spielberg's least favorite Indiana Jones film. Is it relevant to the viewer? No, so save that as an argument against the film. Spielberg wasn't comfortable with the dark nature of the material, and he was that way from jump street. I'm sure he regretted jumping onboard with the script. See Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for evidence. The third Indy movie is so desperately trying to recapture the vibe of Raiders that it becomes one of its downfalls. Plus, Last Crusade does the opposite of what critics claimed Temple of Doom did, it went way too lite and cute. Last Crusade brings back characters we've already met in Raiders and does nothing new or interesting with them. Brody went from the fatherly professor to the bumbling comic relief. Sure, it's justified, but its not necessary to any of the plot's proceedings. Spielberg also tried to give the third Indy depth, but forgot that this type of character needs none, and any is never enough when you have big chases and special effects to contend with. Plus, Indy part three had the weakest villain of the four. But with all that said, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, like Kingdom of the Krystal Skull are both four star films, with great love for the serial genre, but suffer from the fact that they are parts three in four in a long running and ultimately tired series. Okay, enough of that.
A lot of harsh criticisms has fallen upon Cate Capshaw's performance as Willie Scott, the Indy girl of this particular installment. All b.s., empty femm-nazi diatribes from people who aren't in on the style of this type of adventure film. Oh, they'll go on and on about how Marion Ravenwood(great name!) from Raiders was more of a independent, equal of Indy's and Willie is the typical screaming damsel in distress. They're half right. They're right about Willie's character mold, but the bottom line in these films is that the female always gets captured and needs to be informed or saved by Indy. Marion was tough, but she still had to get captured for saving in the long run....so, who cares? Marion came along right after the film Alien had introduced film audiences to a similar character. People were jonsing for this type of heroine. More power to them. But, in the tradition of not copying one's self the sequel(which is really a prequel is if you look at the time line) goes for a more traditional Faye Wraye type of female lead. The thing people leave out when describing the Capshaw performance is how perfect her comic timing is. Yes, she's a screaming brat of a lounge singer but it's all played for laughs and Capshaw hits the comic notes just perfectly. Yes, she sceams too much, but almost all these types of films have too much screaming from their female characters, they still do. Capshaw is really funny in this film. She has three shining moments in the story; the dining scene in the palace, the spike trap with Indy and Shortround, and the seduction scene right before Indy is attacked by the Thuggee in his room. Well directed, perfectly acted, really funny and well timed, and truly reminiscent of the old serials of the 30's and 40's. There's a Howard Hawk's level of timing and exchange in these scenes that is awesome to behold.
This one isn't as prominent, I think, but I have heard jibes against the character of Shortround. Apparently, he's really annoying, and the fact that a kid was included into a serial-inspired, adventure series most commonly marketed and for children was a big insult to bed-wetting, basement dwelling fan boys. Sure, I hate when kids are introduced for the 'cute' factor, but this particular kid was restrained and he is actually likeable. He's used as a foil to the Willie character and they become the comic duo act of the film. This type of comedy is necessary or the film would've gone as dark or darker then the original concept had intended. Plus, the comedy is in the vein of Laurel and Hardy, broad and goofy, and in the tradition of many other film's this series is emulating. Also, this film doesn't have the benefit of having Indy as a professor or his interactions of an old flame, so having Shortround gives Indy his humanity and makes him less of an invincible action movie cypher. The same people who object to Shortround seem to have no problems with the overly sentimental addition of Indy's strained father and son relationship in the third installment.
Now onto the darkness...OOOHHHH, the darkness. Personally, I am always up for some shades of black in my traditional action adventures fims. So was the audiences of 1985, this film was a huge hit, equal to the box office of the original. The film's subject involves a cult with mystical powers give to them by some rocks, that enslave children in underground caverns and mines. Yeah, its pretty bleak stuff way before we get to the heart-ripping scene, which is in essence no less dark or graphic then the nazi's melting at the end of Raiders. The tone of the film shifts from the goofy tropes of the serial world to the Abbott and Costello stylings of comedy. The silly nature of the whole Indy series warrants such shifts and they come naturally when they wouldn't in a film such as Lethal Weapon or Die Hard(just see the horrible Lethal Weapon 4 for proof). The villains of this film are truly straight out of any old or new horror film. They last and you can't wait to see Indy triumph.
The sets in this film are the best of the entire series! The cult's underground mine lair is truly amazing to behold. The design and lighting in all of these scenes are all perfectly executed, original and belong to the wonderful camera work of Douglas Slocombe(DP on the first three Indy films). The action scenes are like nothing seen at the time. They've been eclipsed by modern technology but they are still awesome in execution with a little perspective on the mind when watching. Though, this film has less action then all the Indy films. We start off with a bang in Shanghai with a lounge gun fight, directly followed up by a logic defying escape from a crashing plane using a rubber raft. Awesome and exciting stuff. The film doesn't slow down after that but it takes an extended break from the action. We get to see locations, booby-traps, meet the villains, and gaze into the sets. Once that's over we get the awesome mine-cart chase and a fist fight along a delapidated bridge above gator-invested waters. Great stuff. Some of the best action spectacles in the series next to the jeep chase in Raiders, the tank chase in Last Crusade, and the Amazon sword/jeep chase/killer ants attacking/machine gun blasting/monkey jumping scene from Krytal Skull.
Also, and this may just be my personal prediliction, the film is just WEIRD. The concepts are weird and way out there. A lot of P.C. police deputies will complain about how the Indians are portrayed and how silly the dining scene it, but who takes these films that seriously? It's called Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom for crying out loud!!!! This is not a realistic culture and travel guide. It's an excuse to add flavor and spectacle onto the preordained action sequences that all defy logic and plausability(Krystal Skull gets flack for the refrigerator scene, but no one has any problems with any mentioned action scenes in the previous three films).
Basically, all four Indy films are the same in structure and tone. The first two are darker, and the last two are liter, but only Temple of Doom breaks the Raiders structure. They had the right idea, and as much as I enjoyed Last Crusade and Krystal Skull, I would've appreciated a constantly chaging structure and tone. Once all the whiney parent police cried foul at this film(whining on the level of the loathed Willie Scott) Spielberg chickened out and stuck to the tried-and-true formula of Raiders, but further lightened up the proceedings. I love this series and don't dislike any of the films in it. Its truly one of the view films series that contains few flaws and stays true to its origins more so then most film series.
Then there was all the unwarranted blasts against Krystal Skull.....Ah, maybe next time.
Changed My Mind About This Stylish Film February 24, 2009
Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA)
For a long time, this was the only one of the Indiana Jones films I did not like. Because it came as part of the package that introduced it to DVD over five years ago, I had to buy it if I wanted the other two, so I gave it a another look. Wow, all of sudden I liked it.
For the first time, the woman (Kate Capshaw) and the young boy (Ke Huy Quan) weren't as annoying as I had remembered them. The kid really had rubbed me the wrong way, but this time only Kate was annoying....and she was fine once she calmed down and got rid of the hysterics.
The action in this film is mostly at the beginning and at the end. It is so Rambo-ish (bad guys never hit the target but good guys always do) it is ludicrous. It also has dumb dialog in a number of spots, paying homage to voodooism, spells and other nonsense.
Yet, despite these criticisms, it's entertaining start-to-finish and has some fantastic visuals. The photography in here is beautiful: the best of the Indiana Jones adventures. I particularly liked the opening dance number which reminded me of a Busby Berkeley extravaganza.
This whole film looks spectacular on DVD and I'm interested to see what it will look like on Blu-Ray.
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