Indiana Jones and the Temple o' Doom

Zapranoth · June 15, 2008, 02:04:16 AM

Finally watched this one tonight (for the first time) -- my wife said I had to see it.

Her memory of it was pretty sketchy, and so she had forgotten the totality of what a suck-ass movie it is.
I felt about this movie the way I felt about Star Trek.. what was it, Nemesis? The one that had them baja-ing in the captain's dune buggy early in the movie? Gah, that was awful. I watched it and said out loud (before shutting it off), "I reject this from the Star Trek canon."

Well, I reject the Temple o' Doom from the Indiana Jones canon.

Screaming annoying dark-at-the-roots blonde b*tch, I was so rooting that someone would beam her in the face and disable her ability to scream incessantly. Badly written and fairly aimless script, uninspiring story, lack of chemistry among the characters, lots of gratuitously disgusting stuff that lacked humor to it (gore is cool by me, but it has to have some humor or punch to it). Could have put a video of Count Roogan at the end of that movie, grinning out from the screen, saying, "I've just sucked out two hours of your life."

Bleh, bleh, bleh, bleh, bleh.

Ash · June 15, 2008, 04:45:50 AM

You're too harsh Zap.
This movie kicked ass!

Granted, I was 10 years old when I saw it back in 1984 so my perspective on it is very different from yours.

I rate this the 2nd best Indiana flick that I've seen.
(haven't seen "Crystal Skull" yet)

Cult Movie Mania · June 15, 2008, 04:54:12 AM

Without question the worst movie ever made - bar none. Ol' Ed Wood's got nothing on this turkey.

I was one of those who had the misfortune of experiencing this during its dismal original release in 1984. I recall coaxing a group of friends to see - and they were ready to kill me after the credits rolled for stealing two hours of their life. Kate Capshaw...'short round'...a really dumb opening sequence...brain-dead Indy stunts...I don't know what fanboy Spielberg/Lucas was trying to fool in '84, but I saw right through this one. And please note neither filmmaker has done as well since their previous works in the '70s and very early '80s, IMO.

The toughest thing was the sheer betrayal of this film in comparison to the brilliant original. I truly felt abused and violated. I'm starting to wonder if the mishap on Twilight Zone - The Movie (1983) had an ill effect on Spielberg's career as it did Landis's. He's never been the same filmmaker since his 1982 film E.T., which IMO was his last good movie.

Mr_Vindictive · June 15, 2008, 07:19:21 AM

See, I had this exact same discussion with a few people over the weekend. I love the Indiana Jones films but I really do not like Temple Of Doom. Raiders was absolutely perfect and then Spielberg follows up with this. I dislike Shortround as a character, Willie is annoying as hell, and the film just doesn't really work. There are some memorable lines and scenes but overall, I dislike it.

Everyone that I have talked to thinks I'm absolutely crazy for having this opinion. I'm glad I'm not the only one. Out of all of the films, Crystal Skull included, Temple Of Doom ranks as the lowest of the films in my opinion.

Newt · June 15, 2008, 08:15:37 AM

Thank you! I thought I was the only one who didn't care for ToD. Yay!
My kids (10 and 13 - cannot speak for the 18 y.o.) think it is fun. 'Nuff said.

Jack · June 15, 2008, 08:25:45 AM

I thought it was a fun movie. Oh, it had a pile of problems, ranging from the annoying kid to a lot of silly jump scares that reminded me of a ride at Disneyland, overblown CGI, etc. But I thought the chemistry between Harrison Ford and Kate Capshaw was great and overall it was a fun ride.

Patient7 · June 15, 2008, 08:37:58 AM

I disagree, I liked this movie and Short Round is hilarious, Willie's a real b!@#$ though.

Shadow · June 15, 2008, 08:43:04 AM

I can't say that I hate this movie, but I do feel it is the weakest of the four. In structure it differs from the others and I feel Spielberg and Lucas went over the top with the action sequences, making them darn near ludicrous in spots.

Mr. DS · June 15, 2008, 09:00:55 AM

Quote from: Ash on June 15, 2008, 04:45:50 AM
You're too harsh Zap.
This movie kicked ass!

Granted, I was 10 years old when I saw it back in 1984 so my perspective on it is very different from yours.

I rate this the 2nd best Indiana flick that I've seen.
(haven't seen "Crystal Skull" yet)

With all due respect I'm awfully shocked as well to the negative reaction some people are having to this film. Granted I can see where certain elements (chattering Oriental kid, screaming blonde who can't act, etc) can get annoying. Still the film had some awesome moments.

Dennis · June 15, 2008, 09:40:49 AM

I would rate this one #3 out of the bunch, haven't seen Crystal Skull yet, so this one could be #4. It's not a bad film, has a lot of good moments, it's just one of the longest 2 hour movies I've sat through.
I can't really put my finger on why though, I have this one in a boxed set, if I have some free time today I think I'll watch it again and see if it's as long as I remember, and try to figure out why.

indianasmith · June 15, 2008, 10:26:02 AM

I don't think it is that bad, but I do agree it is far and away the weakest of the four.

However, I must disagree with the idea that Spielberg hasn't made a good movie since E.T. I mean, what about AMISTAD?? SAVING PRIVATE RYAN?? or even JURASSIC PARK? All of those are excellent films - of course, on different levels. I still can't watch the end of PRIVATE RYAN without tearing up.

Zapranoth · June 15, 2008, 10:29:49 AM

I'm equally shocked by the positive reactions of some to this, er, film.

But for the matter of it being a matter of taste, I think the, er, film is completely indefensible.

No chemistry between lead and screaming supporting, er, actress. None. Tone of the film is completely off -- no pulpy fun, four-color comic feel to it -- it's dark, with arbitrarily gross stuff thrown in to try to make us believe that the movie means business. Only one applaudable moment (the moment the elephant tosses Willie into the water). Action scenes uninspiring, even for their day.

Granted, it's not a bad movie in the sense of what we really call BAD movies here. But compared to the other films in the series, pardon my bluntness and Pulp Fiction reference, "ain't no F***ing ballpark!"

And Ash, with all due respect -- to a ten year old, the Care Bears movie, episodes of CHiPS, Boobaa, and Lazytown "kick ass," too.

darthchicken · June 15, 2008, 12:03:23 PM

Yeah, I really enjoyed this movie, but I think that it's the worst Indiana Jones movie.. okay, it's tied with Crystal Skull, but I do enjoy watching it from time to time.

Fearless Freep · June 15, 2008, 12:03:41 PM

TOD wasn't up to the first movie but it wasn't really that bad, at least in comparison to most of the stuff I watch.

Fearless Freep · June 15, 2008, 12:19:45 PM

Quote from: Film Ranch on June 15, 2008, 04:54:12 AM
Without question the worst movie ever made - bar none. Ol' Ed Wood's got nothing on this turkey.

You don't watch enough movies then. ToD may be the low point of the Indy series but it's stilly really darn good compared to a lot out there.

But I'm still trying to figure our Alien Dead, from last week, which was pretty non-sensical even by Fred Olen Ray standards