Yesterday's Hits: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, Steven Spielberg)

re: Yesterday's Hits: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, Steven Spielberg)

Peter Smith — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:55:22 GMT

I always hated Temple of Doom, but John and I just watched it here in the office the other day, and I loved it. I think it comes from taking Raiders less seriously than I used to - I still love Raiders, but I no longer feel like Temple of Doom is sullying Raiders' greatness by being way more goofy and over-the-top. And I like Short Round too. Plus the opening sequence is a total classic. Overall, it's an odd duck, but I'll definitely take it and its distinct character over Last Crusade, a shameless rehash of Raiders where all the jokes are cornier and all the characters are dumber.

re: Yesterday's Hits: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, Steven Spielberg)

ciNe-taRiuM — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:47:48 GMT

I wouldn't call Thugee killers entirely innocent, but yes their victims are...

re: Yesterday's Hits: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, Steven Spielberg)

littlebill1138 — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:15:52 GMT

"So the graphic depictions of melting faces and guy getting turned into a spray of gore by a propeller in Raiders"

Well I won't speak for the melting face, but the propeller scene (I just watched Raiders the other day) is one of those scenes that is okay because you don't actually SEE him getting chopped to bits. A bunch of blood spraying on the swastika is, apparently, not as bad.

Remember, they're Nazis -- they could be punished. It's the innocents that get the gore in Doom.

re: Yesterday's Hits: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, Steven Spielberg)

danrimage — Wed, 21 May 2008 11:06:45 GMT

'Spielberg, coming off blockbusters like Raiders and E.T., was becoming ill at ease with being Hollywood’s resident family entertainer'

So the graphic depictions of melting faces and guy getting turned into a spray of gore by a propellor in Raiders,( not to mention all the severed and chewed body parts and Quint vomiting blood as he's bitten in half in Jaws) counts as cute family entertainment does it?

re: Yesterday's Hits: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, Steven Spielberg)

Paul Clark — Tue, 20 May 2008 23:30:57 GMT

Well, yeah. But I didn't figure that out until I got older and started paying attention to dates.

But I think the bigger point here has to do with the different natures of the two quests. RAIDERS has much more to do with "fortune and glory," while this one begins that way and then turns into something else entirely.

re: Yesterday's Hits: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, Steven Spielberg)

Tall round — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:24:44 GMT

<I>When I was younger, I always found it odd that Indiana Jones would take time to hunt for a bunch of stones after he’d already discover the Ark of the Covenant.</I>

But Temple of Doom is actually set before Raiders.