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Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | 
| Actors: Dan Aykroyd, Kate Capshaw, Roy Chiao, Ruby De Miel, Stany De Silva
Studio: Paramount
Category: Video
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $0.01
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Rating:  149 reviews
Sales Rank: 10827
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 118 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 6300214435
UPC: 097360164336
EAN: 9786300214439
ASIN: 6300214435
Theatrical Release Date: May 23, 1984
Release Date: October 26, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Average used video with original case * * We carefully inspected this * Great customer service * Satisfaction Guaranteed!
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Amazon.com
The Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) adventure after Raiders of the Lost Ark is more violent than its predecessor, but also looser, more imaginative, and finally more satisfying. Still organized like a series of connected cliffhangers, the story (set 10 years before Raiders) involves Indy's attempted rescue of stolen children from a pagan cult. Director Steven Spielberg draws upon sundry cinematic influences, particularly Gunga Din, for an air of classic adventure, though one can also find traces of John Wayne movies in Jones's relationship with a woman (Kate Capshaw) who's come along for the bumpy ride. The film's opening bit, in which the antidote to a poison Jones has swallowed keeps bouncing around a nightclub just out of his reach, is a blast. --Tom Keogh
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
The Mat in the Hat is Back... October 28, 2008
Justice0309 (Joplin, MO USA)
Three years after he successfully thwarted the Nazis attempt to harness the power of the Ark of the Covenant; Indiana Jones is back for even more adventure with "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". Joining star Harrison Ford and director Steven Spielberg we have a new lead actress, as Kate Capshaw ("Black Rain") becomes the newest Indy girl, and young actor Jonathan Ke Quan as Indy's latest associate, the pint-sized Short Round; along with two new writers, Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, that had previously worked with producer and co-creator George Lucas on his teen classic "American Graffiti". With all of the pieces in place, it was time for the adventure to continue, as "The Man in the Hat" was back once more on the silver screen.
"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" finds our hero (Harrison Ford) narrowly escaping a Shanghai nightclub, and traveling deep into the heart of India where he suddenly finds himself neck-deep in an evil plot to enslave the children of a small village. After discovering the source of the enslavement to be that of the sadistic Thuggee cult; Indy will do whatever it takes to save the innocent children from becoming permanent slaves in a labor camp, with the assistance of his diminutive sidekick Short Round and his newest bit of eye-candy, a lounge singer named Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw).
With the first film, the burgeoning Indiana Jones franchise established itself as a light-hearted, family friendly, action-packed, thrill ride full of adventure and wonder; however, with this next film "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", the series took on a decidedly darker and more sinister tone. I personally enjoyed this darker take on the character and his adventures, and thought the film, even though it was more mature than its predecessor, was still full of fun and adventure that the whole family could enjoy; just with a few parts that the little ones may need to look away from or have explained to them due to the maturity level being raised. Apparently, many fans of the series and moviegoers in general, felt differently than I about the direction this particular installment took. Many felt that the series was better served by a lighter storyline with more comedy and action, and not so much drama and even a little horror thrown into the mix. With that being said, most still enjoyed this newest adventure of archaeologist Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr., and even with the darker storyline gave this movie enough box office treasure to ensure another adventure would grace the silver screen yet again. So, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on the whole "tone of the movie" issue.
Harrison Ford fresh off his final turn as Han Solo in "Star Wars - Episode 6: Return of the Jedi", gave audiences yet another terrific performance as Indiana Jones, his second most iconic character in his long-lasting career. Having already played the role once before, Harrison definitely seemed more confident as the adventurous tomb raider; and the darker storyline allowed for a new, more dangerous side of our hero to be showcased, albeit briefly. I'm sure this new aspect of the character was fun for Harrison to play, and as a fan of the series, I appreciated that the writers took a chance on having Indy be a little darker in this film than he is in any of the others. Alongside Harrison Ford, we have actress Kate Capshaw as Indy's newest love interest, Willie Scott. Out of the entire film, if there was one thing I feel the need to complain about it would have to be Kate Capshaw's character. Now, I wasn't the biggest fan of Karen Allen's character of Marion Ravenwood in the first film, but after about the first 5 to 10 times Willie whines to Indy about this and that, I found myself wishing Marion would show up and deliver that same punch to Willie that she landed on Indy after they first met in the beginning of "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Some may think I'm being a bit too harsh, it's not that I disliked Kate's portrayal for the entire duration of the film, and I don't believe the whining aspect of the character to be completely her fault, I just thought that for the lead female character in the story she seemed far too annoying to root for or care anything about. This in turn made me wonder aside from her physical attractiveness, what could Indy possibly see in her that would allow him to ignore her lesser qualities like incessant whining or extreme materialism?
Joining the more experienced actors, we have newcomer Jonathan Ke Quan ("Goonies"), as Indy's hilarious sidekick, Short Round. His wide-eyed wonderment, along with the semi-father/son connection between he and Indy, made many of the really dramatic moments of the film even more touching, not to mention his wonderful comedic timing made some very tense moments a little less so, but without being out of place or detrimental to the story's integrity. Not to sell the rest of the cast short by not giving them their due attention, most of them did a really good job throughout the film, so they deserve a lot of praise as well; especially the actor who portrayed the leader of the Thuggee cult, now that's one voodoo guy that you wouldn't ever want to cross.
Oddly enough, "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" is actually intended as a prequel to the first film. Many viewers may not be aware of this fact, and I personally find it somewhat surprising to think that even back in 1984, producer George Lucas ("Star Wars" saga) was hard at work making yet another movie series move backwards in time once he had already established such beloved characters' with their initial movie(s). Here I thought this was something he did only recently when he revisited his Star Wars universe to create the first three chapters in his epic six-part space saga. Anyways, I digress.
To sum up, "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" is a much darker film than its predecessor, and to some viewers that can be construed as a problem for the movie. I personally disagree, but to each his own. Despite its darker tone, the movie is still full of action and adventure, and even some good laughs to lighten the mood, and I believe it to still be a movie that the entire family can sit around and enjoy together, along with the first one.
"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" is rated PG for violence and brief language.
 Weakest of the four... but that's just a compliment to the series. October 17, 2008
Colleen J. King (Asheville, NC)
Actually, I give 4 1/2, beause Willie Scott and Short Round are kind of annoying. But the action is great and Harrison is as well. And note, this is a prequel.
This is a great film...what's wrong with you people? October 13, 2008
Grigory's Girl (NYC)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one on earth that thinks this is a good movie. I've always liked it a lot, and I'm not really sure why so many diss this film. It's a hell of a lot darker than the first one, in fact REALLY dark. The scenes in the "temple of doom" are very intense, especially for their time (the controversy this film engineered made the MPAA invent the PG-13 rating). But the film has even more stunts than the first film (and a lot of them are awesome). I especially like the mining car chase (even though it's a little hard to believe at times, even in escapist cinema like this one). The "dinner" scene could give current reality TV shows (where people eat disgusting things) a run for its money. It's a very memorable film, although it's may be too intense for very young children.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a very good film. Ford is excellent as usual, Kate Capshaw (the future Mrs. Spielberg) is kooky and kind of endearing, and Short Round is a decent kid sidekick (at least you don't want Indy to throw under the tracks or anything like that). Spielberg's direction is excellent as usual, and I haven't heard people complaining about this one like they have about the latest entry. This is a film that should be revisited.
A Dark Indy Adventure September 18, 2008
tvtv3 (Sorento, IL United States)
A prequel to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM follows Indiana from China and through India as he attempts to get back to civilization. After being double-crossed by Chinese gangster, Lao Che (Roy Chiao) in a nightclub, Indiana (Harrison Ford), nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), and young sidekick Short Round (Jonathan Ke Quan) find themselves on the run and flying over India. Left to die in a crashing plane, the trio escapes and eventually find themselves in a small Indian village. The crops are dying and the people are weeping in mourning. The village leader tells the visitors that the reason for their trouble is because the ancient cult of Thuggee has been revived. The Thuggees have stolen the village's Shiva lingam, a stone that Indiana comes to believe might be one of the Shankara stones, and have kidnapped all of their children. The village elder claims that the Thuggees are headquartered not far away in Pankot Palace. He believes that Indiana Jones and his friends have been sent from some higher power to help them. The village elders agree to take Indy and his friends to Delhi, but only if they first go to Pankot Palace. Indy agrees, more out of curiosity and the chance for "fortune and glory" than anything else. A disgusting meal, a horrible death, and a mine car chase all follow.
Most viewers find INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF JONES their least favorite Indiana Jones movie. That's not to say that ToD is a bad movie because it's not. ToD is filled with action and memorable scenes, e.g. the nightclub scene, the dinner scene, the sacrifice, the mine car chase, et al. There are all kinds of witty one-liners. I really enjoyed the character development we see in Indy through the movie, especially in his relationship with Short Round. Also, the acting is really well done from star Harrison Ford to Amrish Puri as villain Mola Ram to the small bit parts and cameos such as Dan Akroyd.
With so much good stuff in it one may wonder why ToD is one of the least-liked parts of the Indiana Jones saga. I think the reason for this is because of the shock factor of certain elements of the movie e.g. Mola Ram ripping a man's heart out of his chest while it is still beating or the special dessert of monkey brains at the dinner. These scenes are memorable, but they are completely unnecessary to the film. The dinner scene is just as funny and disgusting without the monkey brains in it. The sacrifice scene is just as horrifying without seeing the beating heart being ripped out of the victim's chest. These scenes and others like them made ToD more violent and scary than it needed to be. Scenes like these in the movie turned away many parents and brought rounds of protest when the film was originally in theatres. In fact it is because of ToD and GREMLINS (two movies that Steven Spielberg was associated with) that the PG-13 rating came to be (both of these movies would have been rated R if it hadn't been for Spielberg's association with them). Parents and other adults complained they were too violent for children, but children were the prime targets for the film.
I like INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM. There were parts of it that frightened me a great deal when I first saw it as a child. However, over the years the film has grown on me. I understand now some of the reasoning for having such a dark episode in the saga. People can become lost in redemption, but they can also find salvation and illumination, something explored in depth in INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE.
A Tomb Raider Becomes A Hero August 30, 2008
RaiderOfTheArk (Canada)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm still surprised by the hate this film receives. Even by Director Spielberg himself. I've always considered Temple Of Doom the second best Indiana Jones film. In fact I've always felt the series always lost a little bit of steam with each film. But even with such an annoying character like Willie Scott (Played by Cate Kapshaw) I've always felt Temple Of Doom did a brilliant job showing Indiana Jones as a character turn from tomb raiding archaeologist, into the great hero we saw in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. I'm also surprised by how many people still don't realize that Temple Of Doom is a prequel. Anyways...
During the first half of the film, Indy talks about "fortune and glory" as his reason for his adventures. As we already know from Raiders, he didn't find the Ark, then risk his life getting it back from the Nazi's for just "fortune and glory". He didn't have to do what he did in Raiders. But he did it because he had the courage, and it was the right thing to do. In Temple Of Doom, Indy seems more rugged towards the other characters. He seems to always be in "If you can't help me, don't talk to me" type of mood. Like a more savvy Humphrey Bogart from *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre* (Which was one of the main inspirations for Raiders)
By the end of the film though, he realizes the greatest thing was not finding the treasure or fortune. But replacing balance and happiness to a small Hindu town. Maybe thats why many people were turned off upon it's initial release; The character they loved in Raiders didn't really show up till mid way.
Another aspect I loved was the father/son type friendship Indy had with Short Round. And during one of the key scenes, Short Round says "I love you". Which in turn brings Indy back to the "good" side (I'm assuming everyone's seen the film) It's this scene where Indy goes the furthest he could possibly go in the dark side. He goes so far that he was willing to kill Short Round. Directly after this scene is when Indy "becomes" a hero for the sake of helping people and doing good. He goes from one side of the spectrum to the complete opposite.
Because I'm assuming most have seen this. I don't really have to say how great the action was. The ending bridge scene always keeps me on the edge of my seat no matter how many times I watch it. It's truly a classic moment.
I really hope people give Temple Of Doom another shot. Indiana Jones is a pulp adventure hero. I've always felt Temple Of Doom portrays this the best. Indy is not a religious character, his sole job is not to search for just well known Hebrew/Christian artifacts like some people tend to believe (Just look at the reaction from some for Indy 4, and the Crystal Skulls) The artifacts, though important, aren't the main aspects of the films. They've always been chosen to fit the story they're trying to tell with the characters. So far it's worked out great for all 4 films.
The DVD by the way looks fantastic. Since Doom mostly takes place in the jungles and caves of India, it's always been a pleasure to view. The remastering they did is nearly perfect. Here's hoping for a Blu-ray release! If you want the amazing special features though. Get the 4 disc box set with the feature length documentaries on disc 4.
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