Indiana Jones: The Temple of Doom

Cast: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw and Jonathon Ke Quan.

Director: Steven Spielberg

Release Date: 1984

Running Time: 1hr 58 minutes

Genre: Action/Adventure

Rating: PG

Format: DVD

Synopsis:

Indiana Jones finds himself in India, this time to help a desperate village find a mystical stone. Jones agrees and stumbles across a secrete cult plotting a terrible plan, in the depths of an ancient palace. 

Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom! Director Steven Spielberg states that this is actually a prequel to "Raiders of the Lost Ark" being set a year before he goes searching for the Ark of the Covenant. Set in 1935, Indiana Jones is on his next quest this time he teams up with nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), and twelve year old pick pocket Short-Round (Ke Quan), after their plane suddenly crashes they find themselves in an a small Indian village, where the village people believe that evil spirits have taken their children away, after a sacred special stone was taken. Indie, Willie and Short-Round also find themselves in a booby-trapped tomb, where Thugeee is trying to rise again, once more, believing that with the power of the stones, they can rule the world!

Personally, I found this to be the most adventurous out of the series. I really love that it has a darker tone compared to the other three. We see a very different side to Indiana Jones, we learn that he brought Short-Round into his life after he caught him trying to pick his pocket. (don't worry folks, no spoilers)  both his parents were killed in the Japanese bombings. Indie really takes him under his wing and it really shows on screen. The chemistry between the two of them is great! Willie Scott is a very interesting character, naturally she teams up with Indiana Jones after the club she was singing at is attacked and boards the plane with him, in the hope that it will take them both to Deli! This is where everything changes and they find themselves in India.

The chemistry between Harrison Ford and Kate Capshaw starts off pretty rocky, for the best part of the film, he finds her to be a pain in the ass! Is Willie his love interest? Essentially? Their relationship through out this movie is so up and down, you just don't know. Indie always get the girl though doesn't he? Harrison Ford as ever delivers a fantastic performance, this is the only film, where you don't really see the Professor side to him, he is all out archaeologist in this movie. He's  so enthusiastic, he really cares about the people in the village and wants to find out what happened to the stones. His character is very adventurous, you just want to follow him along for the ride! Harrison Ford makes a very convincing archaeologist I must say! Johnathan Qu Kuan is excellent as Short-Round, completely fearless his character adds a lot of humour to the film.

The storyline is really good, I love all of the little elements that screenwriters Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz added to the plot. It's darker, but it's far more adventurous, I love that you don't know what you're going to see lurking around the corner, are they going to make it out? Will Indiana Jones's trusty hat get left behind? It all just adds to the tone of the film perfectly. I love the mystery surrounding Mula Ram's character played brilliantly by Amrish Puri. Indiana Jones is notoriously famous for hating snakes, Willie Scott is notorious for hating bugs and the outdoors!

It's hard to believe this was movie was produced 33 years ago, even a DVD copy still looks incredible! Steven Spielberg has a way with his movies in making them look terrific, Indiana Jones is a series that never appears dated. Beautifully shot in Sri Lanka, although the storyline is set in India, they were unable to film there at the time. None the less it still looks very convincing and works well with the production design. The palace looks fantastically genuine and accurate. The opening scene set in Macau, China is magnificent, it makes you wonder what he was doing there in the first place? I always feel like there are missing parts of these films that we never get to see. At the end of the day though, that's what makes the movie so enjoyable. There's a real sense of mystery and wonderment.

Can I just say how genuinely terrifying the score is by John Williams, it's not a score you would normally expect from the fantastic composer however it works fantastically. If it were not for his score, certain scenes would not had the same effect. It's frightening, exciting and uplifting, a good score should always be able to tell a story! Although all of the Indiana Jones movies are excellent, this is my favourite and one I'd definitely recommend to people. Despite being a prequel, you could easily view this after watching "Raiders of the Lost Ark", let's face it, most of us have been doing it in that order all this time! Oozing with excitement, a must watch!

5/5 stars

Contact: djtamaramarie@yahoo.co.uk