Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom (1984)
This blockbuster sequel to the mega-successful Raiders of
the Lost Ark was so gory and surprisingly violent, it led to
the creation of the MPAA's PG-13 rating. And if you don't think
that was enough to send every red-blooded kid in America racing to
the cinema to buy a ticket, you've obviously never been a kid.
Yes, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was certainly
bloodier than the first film, but that seemed to be part of the
master plan - bigger, faster, louder - in every way a
higher-octane version of the thrill-packed original. Indy even got
a pair of new partners, along with a new quest for sacred
treasure.
In the elaborately choreographed opening sequence set in a
Shanghai nightclub in 1935, a group of dancers stage a production
of Cole Porter's Anything Goes. In the audience is Indiana
Jones, who's negotiating with Chinese gangster Lao Che for a
priceless diamond.
One thing leads to another, and soon Indy is scrambling for a
vial of antidote to the poison he's just drunk, while lead
dancer/singer Willie Scott grabs for the diamond in a club-wide
riot. Indy grabs Willie and makes his escape to the Shanghai
streets, where pint-sized kid sidekick Short Round picks them
up.
The threesome board the next plane out of Shanghai, which turns
out to be owned by Lao Che himself.
The pilots bail from the sabotaged plane, leaving Indy and
company with no parachutes. So like any good scientist, he
improvises, riding an inflatable raft through air, land and
finally water, coming to a rest in a small East Indian village.
The locals feed Indy, Short Round and the endlessly complaining
Willie, but they humbly ask a favour in return.
The village children have been disappearing, and the villagers
think they're being held in a nearby palace. Indy isn't really one
for pro bono work, but when he learns there's an archaeological
treasure involved - the legendary Sankara stones - he mounts up
for another adventure, one that will take him through
insect-plagued passageways, into a bizarre cult and through a
harrowing mine cart chase before the high-wire finale.
Again packed with wall-to-wall stunts, Indiana Jones and the
Temple of Doom delivered the promised action, and audiences
responded by making it the biggest worldwide hit of the
year.
The film was actually the least successful of the three Indiana
Jones films (it's all relative, of course). In 1989, the hero
returned once more, with Sean Connery as his gruff father, in Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade.
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