"We're gonna get killed chasing after your damn fortune and glory!"
In honor of the 34th anniversary of its release, today I'm gonna be talking about George Lucas's 1984 film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. This is my favorite Indiana Jones movie, and I remember watching it a lot when I was little (even though it supremely creeped me out). There are some definite issues with this film, but it's a fun one to watch- lots of adventure, exotic sets, and classic quips from Dr. Jones.
So the film begins in a nightclub, where Indiana Jones encounters one of his enemies, Lao Che. There's a bunch of chaos in the club, people get shot, and Indiana escapes with his little friend Short Round, and nightclub singer Willie. However, the trio "escape" on one of Lao Che's planes, which is abandoned by the pilots and left to crash into some mountains. Indiana and his buds escape by floating down on a blow-up raft, on which they float down a river (miraculously unscathed) and are found by an Indian man. The man takes Indiana, Short Round, and Willie to his village, which has been ravaged by famine. The man explains that the sacred stone of the village has been stolen, along with the village's children, by the Maharaja that lives in Pankot palace. Indiana agrees to travel to the palace and get the stone and children back, accompanied by a very unenthused Willie and eager lil Short Round. While at Pankot palace, Indy discovers that those inside worship the evil goddess Kali, providing human sacrifices while using children as slaves to find more sacred stones in an underground mine. The rest of the film devolves into a lot of fight scenes, snappy dialogue, and Willie (played by Kate Capshaw) whining.
It's a good film. The plot is pretty good, and the good guy wins in the end (spoiler). However, some of the plot points are extremely unlikely- like the fact that Indy and the gang were able to fall several stories from a plane and sustain nary a scratch- but I guess that can be left up to the viewer's willing suspension of disbelief. At least it's not as unlikely a notion as Indy surviving a nuclear blast by hiding in a fridge...
Shade aside, the plot has not only a lot of the action that people want out of an Indiana Jones movie, but it also appeals to the emotions of the audience in the exploitation of children by the bad guys. And the fact that Indy wants to save the children makes him more sympathetic, instead of merely an attractive, somewhat misogynistic, treasure hunting womanizer, a trope that Indy could easily fall into. Dr. Jones's willingness to save a starving village and reunited the children with their parents makes him a more developed character and makes the audience root for him even more than they would if he was just a dude hunting treasure and getting into sword fights.
Willie, on the other hand, is a barely redeemable character on a good day with the right lighting. Rumor has it that director George Lucas only cast Kate Capshaw in Temple of Doom because he was having a fling with her at the time of filming (they later got married, actually). Apparently, Capshaw watching The African Queen in preparation for her role, which I find hard to believe, because Katherine Hepburn's character in that film is capable and spunky, whereas Willie solely comes off as whiny and not capable of much of anything. It's impossible to tell whether this is owed more to the script itself or to Capshaw's acting ability, but honestly, the only likeable things about Willie are that she's pretty and that she does a killer rendition of "Anything Goes" in Mandarin during the film's opening credits. (Side note: I wasn't familiar with the song or musical Anything Goes when I was little and watched this film, so it was interesting to rewatch Temple of Doom and realize what Willie was actually singing).
Unfortunately, I'm not sure if there's any character development for any character in Temple of Doom, but I don't think it matters so much. The film is well-paced, really intense in some parts, and features stunning fight choreography. In fact, the fight choreography was so precise and challenging that Harrison Ford injured himself on-set while doing a somersault during the bedroom fight scene. The filming crew had to set up a hospital bed so that Ford could rest between takes. However, the pain became so bad that Ford had to stay in the hospital for five weeks, while a stunt double stood in for him wherever possible.
The design of this film is also really cool. Apparently, Lucas didn't have permission to actually film Temple of Doom in India, as the government thought the script was offensive to Indian culture, so most of the film was shot in Sri Lanka and London. Impressive is the fact that paintings and small models stood in for parts of the palace and village during filming. According to Lucas biographer Marcus Hearn, "skillful lighting helped disguise the fact that about 80 percent of the film was shot with sound stages". Still more impressive is that even today, it's hard to find flaws in the set, effects, and stunts.
Unfortunately, the bugs used in the film were all real, which is completely disgusting to me. I admire the fact that the actors and crew put themselves through that horror in real life to bring it to audiences. Apparently, members of the filming crew would go home and find bugs in their hair, their shoes, and their clothing. Super gross, but cool.
Overall, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is an action-packed film that is masterfully shot and choreographed, if not well-acted by some members of the cast. It's a great film for watching with other people, because it's not overly-intellectual but it is thrilling and well-made.
Rating: A
In honor of the 34th anniversary of its release, today I'm gonna be talking about George Lucas's 1984 film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. This is my favorite Indiana Jones movie, and I remember watching it a lot when I was little (even though it supremely creeped me out). There are some definite issues with this film, but it's a fun one to watch- lots of adventure, exotic sets, and classic quips from Dr. Jones.
So the film begins in a nightclub, where Indiana Jones encounters one of his enemies, Lao Che. There's a bunch of chaos in the club, people get shot, and Indiana escapes with his little friend Short Round, and nightclub singer Willie. However, the trio "escape" on one of Lao Che's planes, which is abandoned by the pilots and left to crash into some mountains. Indiana and his buds escape by floating down on a blow-up raft, on which they float down a river (miraculously unscathed) and are found by an Indian man. The man takes Indiana, Short Round, and Willie to his village, which has been ravaged by famine. The man explains that the sacred stone of the village has been stolen, along with the village's children, by the Maharaja that lives in Pankot palace. Indiana agrees to travel to the palace and get the stone and children back, accompanied by a very unenthused Willie and eager lil Short Round. While at Pankot palace, Indy discovers that those inside worship the evil goddess Kali, providing human sacrifices while using children as slaves to find more sacred stones in an underground mine. The rest of the film devolves into a lot of fight scenes, snappy dialogue, and Willie (played by Kate Capshaw) whining.
It's a good film. The plot is pretty good, and the good guy wins in the end (spoiler). However, some of the plot points are extremely unlikely- like the fact that Indy and the gang were able to fall several stories from a plane and sustain nary a scratch- but I guess that can be left up to the viewer's willing suspension of disbelief. At least it's not as unlikely a notion as Indy surviving a nuclear blast by hiding in a fridge...
Shade aside, the plot has not only a lot of the action that people want out of an Indiana Jones movie, but it also appeals to the emotions of the audience in the exploitation of children by the bad guys. And the fact that Indy wants to save the children makes him more sympathetic, instead of merely an attractive, somewhat misogynistic, treasure hunting womanizer, a trope that Indy could easily fall into. Dr. Jones's willingness to save a starving village and reunited the children with their parents makes him a more developed character and makes the audience root for him even more than they would if he was just a dude hunting treasure and getting into sword fights.
Willie, on the other hand, is a barely redeemable character on a good day with the right lighting. Rumor has it that director George Lucas only cast Kate Capshaw in Temple of Doom because he was having a fling with her at the time of filming (they later got married, actually). Apparently, Capshaw watching The African Queen in preparation for her role, which I find hard to believe, because Katherine Hepburn's character in that film is capable and spunky, whereas Willie solely comes off as whiny and not capable of much of anything. It's impossible to tell whether this is owed more to the script itself or to Capshaw's acting ability, but honestly, the only likeable things about Willie are that she's pretty and that she does a killer rendition of "Anything Goes" in Mandarin during the film's opening credits. (Side note: I wasn't familiar with the song or musical Anything Goes when I was little and watched this film, so it was interesting to rewatch Temple of Doom and realize what Willie was actually singing).
Unfortunately, I'm not sure if there's any character development for any character in Temple of Doom, but I don't think it matters so much. The film is well-paced, really intense in some parts, and features stunning fight choreography. In fact, the fight choreography was so precise and challenging that Harrison Ford injured himself on-set while doing a somersault during the bedroom fight scene. The filming crew had to set up a hospital bed so that Ford could rest between takes. However, the pain became so bad that Ford had to stay in the hospital for five weeks, while a stunt double stood in for him wherever possible.
The design of this film is also really cool. Apparently, Lucas didn't have permission to actually film Temple of Doom in India, as the government thought the script was offensive to Indian culture, so most of the film was shot in Sri Lanka and London. Impressive is the fact that paintings and small models stood in for parts of the palace and village during filming. According to Lucas biographer Marcus Hearn, "skillful lighting helped disguise the fact that about 80 percent of the film was shot with sound stages". Still more impressive is that even today, it's hard to find flaws in the set, effects, and stunts.
Unfortunately, the bugs used in the film were all real, which is completely disgusting to me. I admire the fact that the actors and crew put themselves through that horror in real life to bring it to audiences. Apparently, members of the filming crew would go home and find bugs in their hair, their shoes, and their clothing. Super gross, but cool.
Overall, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is an action-packed film that is masterfully shot and choreographed, if not well-acted by some members of the cast. It's a great film for watching with other people, because it's not overly-intellectual but it is thrilling and well-made.
Rating: A
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