Underplayed Gems

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom poster
Directed by
Steven Spielberg
Genre
action film, adventure film, treasure hunt film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 56m
Rated
PG
Rating
7.3 of 10 from 10,191 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

In 1935, archaeologist Indiana Jones travels to British India. He agrees to help villagers recover a stolen mystical stone and free their children from a Thuggee cult that practices black magic and human sacrifice.

fast-paceddarkexcitingintensehumorousadventurousold-fashionedpulpy

What happens

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a script by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, based on a story by George Lucas. It is the second installment in the Indiana Jones film series and a prequel to Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. The film stars Harrison Ford, who reprises his role as the titular character. Kate Capshaw, Amrish Puri, Roshan Seth, Philip Stone and Ke Huy Quan, in his film debut, star in supporting roles. Set in 1935, in the film, after arriving in British India, Indiana Jones is asked by desperate villagers to find a mystical stone and rescue their children from a Thuggee cult to all appearances practicing child slavery, black magic and ritual human sacrifice in honor of the goddess Kali, portrayed within the movie as a demon. Not wishing to feature the Nazis as the villains again, executive producer and story writer George Lucas decided to regard this film as a prequel. Three plot devices were rejected before Lucas wrote a film treatment that resembled the final storyline. As Lawrence Kasdan, Lucas's collaborator on Raiders of the Lost Ark, turned down the offer to write the script, Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, who had previously worked with Lucas on American Graffiti (1973), were hired as his replacements. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was released by Paramount Pictures on May 23, 1984, to financial success, grossing $333.1 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 1984. Initial critical reviews were mixed, with criticism aimed at its strong violence, darker story elements, and Capshaw’s performance as well as controversy over its portrayal of India. Critical opinion has improved since 1984, citing the film's intensity and imagination. In response to some of the more violent sequences in the film, and with similar complaints about the Spielberg-produced Gremlins (which released two weeks later), Spielberg suggested that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) alter its rating system, which it did within two months of the film's release, creating a new PG-13 rating. Temple of Doom was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score and won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. A third film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, followed in 1989. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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