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Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – 1984 Spielberg
- Certainly darker than the original (and Last Crusade) but it doesn’t let up on the spectacular set pieces
- Even more than the 1981 masterpiece this is influenced by India and Gunga Din
- The opening in medias res is spectacular with the Busby Berkeley “Anything Goes” and this is set in the 30’s—earlier than Raiders and last crusade which is WWII featuring Nazis
- The opening, like Raiders, has a graphic match of Paramount pictures mountain
- Pure entertainment- rock-rolling narrative
- Tip of the cap to Lucas with the club named “Obi Wan”
- Odd to see Dan Aykroyd in it for 20 seconds
- Basically invented PG13
- The first 20 minutes are absolutely wild
- I loved Capshaw’s howling and performance- I can see why it was divisive but you have to respect the genre she’s playing in here—it’s goofy—same with the eating sequence and many of the lighter booby traps
- The Thugee ceremony is a dazzling set piece. Absolutely gorgeous
- Reoccurring shot of the victim (once a nameless character and once Capshaw) shooting behind their head as the haunting Amrish Puri “Mola Ram” approaches with his head set
- It’s a dark film in some areas but incredibly light and ludicrous in others and I think that was a hard combination for a lot of critics—also, in that vein, the relationship here with Ford and Capshaw and their characters made the relationship in Raiders with Karen Allen look like Bogart and Bergman
- Set pieces galore- most hit- I love the bridge sequence finale
- Highly Recommend- top 10 of the year quality film
Drake2020-07-03T10:31:02+00:00
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[…] Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – Spielberg […]
I finally caught this one and am surprised by its reputation, though it has improved over time. It may not be as great as Raiders of the Lost Ark which is no insult but I think the quality is closer than the critic reviews would indicate and this after just one viewing from me. The opening 15-20 min are thrilling and had me constantly thinking to myself “how hard was it to film this?” I loved the character Short Round, he is infinitely better than the Shia LaBeouf character from the 4th Film which I saw in theatres before I saw Temple and Last Crusade. The film has some amazing compositions including one where Short Round is Temple is in background and Jones in foreground holding a candle, the only source of light. The use of color, in particular red and orange is masterful and might be Spielberg’s best in this regards (though this is not one of Spielberg’s greatest strengths). This is a wild ride and while there are occasion misses overall its absolutely thrilling start to finish
I could be wrong but its kind of controversial reputation seems to almost entirely come from the political content. Both the portrayal of Indian culture (monkey brains, etc) is obviously inaccurate and the “white savior” trope being at play. When it comes to the actual filmmaking or narrative I haven’t really seen much criticism, thankfully this site is generally a safe space from that type of criticism. I actually easily prefer this to Last Crusade (which seems to be a super hot take), I was actually shocked to find out just how prominent of a take Crusade > Raiders is too… I see it all the time
@Matthew – that makes sense because the film making is very impressive, especially that first 15-20 min which has stunning visuals, humor, suspense, amazing set pieces. I am excited for The Last Crusade, technically I did see it once but I was like 11 or 12 years old and remember pretty much nothing so its basically like I have not seen it. The reviews for the new Indiana Jones seems to be mixed but I plan on seeing it none the less.