Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom (1984)
Review Date: March 24th, 2023
Popcorn Office’s 1st Birthday is coming up! But on March 25th, 2022. I did my very 1st Movie Review! It was The Wizard of Oz (1939). To celebrate the 1-Year Anniversary of Popcorn Office, a YouTube Channel’s underway. So in today’s review, here is Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom (1984).
Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom (1984) is the 2nd Installment of the Indiana Jones Movies, & the prequel to Indiana Jones & the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). It was 1 of the 2 PG-Rated movies that started the PG-13 Rating. (The other being Gremlins (1984)) Both of those movies had disturbing content for a PG-Rating. So the MPAA decided to create a movie rating between PG & R. So PG-13 began. Also, the 1st movie to earn a PG-13 Rating is called Red Dawn (1984). All of those events took place in the Summer of 1984. You can watch the video about the PG-13 Rating News Video Article from 1984:
Despite the PG-13 discussion, in my opinion. I like all movies. But sometimes, there’s a movie that I would watch, & thought that was okay/alright/decent. However, the movies I don’t like are movie ripoffs, & certain versions of famous movies. For an example, Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal on Hannibal Lecter is the best.
I’m also not into Anime. But there’s some Anime that I like. But I’m also willing to watch an Anime movie out there. Finally, I’m also not into documentaries as well. However, I don’t hate/love both Anime & Documentaries. But my favorite Documentary of all time is Super Size Me (2004). But I think documentaries are important for the human knowledge. 🧠
So let’s get down to the review for today!
CAST:
Harrison Ford - Indiana Jones
Kate Capshaw - Willie Scott
Ke Huy Quan - Short Round 🏆
Amrish Puri - Mola Ram
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING MOVIE INCLUDES VIOLENT MATERIAL FOR A PG-MOVIE, INCLUDING A MAN’S STILL-BEATING HEART RIPPED FROM HIS CHEST THAT WILL BE MENTIONED IN THE REVIEW. ALSO, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!!
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In 1935, 1 year before the events of Indiana Jones & the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Indiana Jones survives an attempted murder by Lao Che, a crime boss & businessman in Shanghai who has hired him to retrieve the remains of Emperor Nurhaci. With his young orphaned Chinese sidekick Short Round, & the nightclub singer Willie Scott in tow, Indy escapes Shanghai on a cargo aircraft, unaware that the plane’s owned by Lao Che himself.
While the trio are asleep, the pilots dump the fuel, & they escape using a parachute, leaving the plane to crash over the Himalayas. Then, the trio narrowly manage to survive by jumping out of the plane on an inflatable raft. However, the actor who played Short around (Ke Huy Quan) won an Oscar for the very 1st time in the 2023 Oscars for Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022).
They ride down the mountain slopes, & fall into a raging river, eventually arriving at the village of Mayapore in northern India. The villagers plead for their aid in retrieving the sacred stone that’s stolen from their shrine, along with their missing children, by evil forces in the nearby Pankot Palace. Indy agrees to do so, hypothesizing that the stone’s 1/5 Sankara stones given by the gods to help humanity fight evil.
The trio receive a warm welcome at Pankot Palace, & are allowed to stay for 1 night as guests, attending a luxurious, but bizarre banquet hosted by the young Maharajah. The officials rebuff Indy's theory that the Thuggee cult’s responsible for their problems. Later that night, Indy’s attacked by an assassin. After Indy kills him, he discovers a series of tunnels hidden behind a statue, & sets out to explore them, overcoming a series of booby traps.
The trio reach an underground sector where the Thuggees worship Kali with human sacrifice. Then, they discover that the Thuggees now possess 3/5 Sankara stones, & have enslaved the children to search for the other 2/5 Sankara stones, hidden in the palace catacombs. As Indy tries to retrieve the stones, he, Willie, & Shorty are captured.
Thuggee high priest, Mola Ram forces Indy to drink a potion that puts him into a trance-like state in which he mindlessly serves the cult. Willie is prepared for sacrifice, while Shorty is put to work in the mines with the other children. Shorty escapes & returns to the temple, where he 1st frees Indy, & later, the Maharajah from the effects of the potion, by burning them with a torch. Indy saves Willie, & retrieves the stones. After freeing the children, Indy battles a hulking overseer, who dies when he’s pulled into a rock crusher.
The trio escape from the temple in a railroad cart through the mines, pursued by Thuggees, & barely escape Mola Ram's attempt to flood them out. They are again ambushed by Mola Ram, & his henchmen on a rope bridge above a crocodile-infested river. Indy cuts the bridge, causing several of the henchmen to fall for prey to the crocodiles, & leaving the survivors to hang on for their lives.
As Mola Ram & Indy struggle, Indy invokes the name of Shiva, causing the stones to glow red-hot, & burn through Indy's satchel. 2/5 stones fall out. Mola Ram tries to catch the 3rd. But burns his hand, & falls from the bridge, & into the river, where he, too, is devoured by the crocodiles.
Indy catches the stone safely, & climbs up just as a company of British Indian Army riflemen, sent by the Maharajah, arrive & open fire against the Thuggees to drive them away. Shortly after, the surviving Thuggees are soon cornered & arrested by more soldiers. Indy, Willie, & Shorty return the stone to Mayapore and reunite the missing children with the villagers.
TO BE CONTINUED!
(IN RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK)
Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom (1984) is my favorite Indiana Jones movie of all time. But the film has graphic violence for a PG film. However, the next movie review will contain some creatures that you can’t feed them at night, or else they’ll change!