Poster © Paramount Pictures. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAction & Adventure
RatedNot Rated
Runtime1 hr 58 mins
ReleasedMay 23, 1984
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorSteven Spielberg
StarringHarrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Amrish Puri
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| Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's Details | |
| Genre | Action & Adventure |
| Rated | Not Rated |
| Released | 04/23/1984 (Thousand Oaks); 05/23/1984 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 58 mins |
| Budget | $28M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's Interests | |
| General | Fedoras, bullwhips, inflatable rafts, Shanghai nightclubs, palace banquets, Sankara stones, a lot of bugs. |
| Music | John Williams, plus Willie opening the show singing Anything Goes in Mandarin. |
| Movies | Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). The first adventure, even though this one happens before it. |
| Television | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Indy before the fedora fit. |
| Heroes | Short Round. Drives the getaway car, keeps score, takes zero nonsense. |
| Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's Crew | |
| Director | Steven Spielberg |
| Writers | Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz, George Lucas (story) |
| Producers | Robert Watts |
| Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
| Music | John Williams |
| Edited By | Michael Kahn |
| Production | Lucasfilm Ltd. |
| Distributed By | Paramount Pictures |
Willie Scott screams through most of Temple of Doom like she’s in a volume contest with the mine cart brakes, and she wins. It’s the darkest, loudest Indy, and the most uneven. The movie’s version of India is a cartoon stitched together from old adventure serials, and it has aged badly. The banquet alone will put you off soup for years. What saves it is Short Round. Ke Huy Quan steals every frame, driving a car with blocks strapped to his feet and bossing grown men around like a tiny general. Harrison Ford is at his most physical, the rope bridge still makes your palms sweat, and the opening nightclub scramble is a blast. Then there’s the mine cart chase, legit one of the best action scenes ever filmed. It made $333.1 million worldwide on a reported $28 million budget. A 6.6 because the set pieces are elite and almost everything between them is a mess. $137 says you lean sideways on the couch during the mine cart chase like it helps.
What works: The mine cart chase, the rope bridge, the nightclub opening and Ke Huy Quan’s Short Round, who carries every scene he’s in.
What doesn’t: Willie’s nonstop screaming wears thin fast, and the movie’s portrayal of India leans on dated, cartoonish stereotypes.
Who it’s for: Indy fans who rank set pieces over story, and anyone who likes their adventure movies a little creepier.
Indy falls under Mola Ram’s spell until Short Round snaps him out of it with a torch. They free the enslaved children, escape by mine cart and cut the rope bridge, and Mola Ram falls to the river below while the sacred stone goes back to the village.
It is 1935, and a deal at a Shanghai nightclub goes very wrong for Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford). He escapes with nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) and his young sidekick Short Round (Ke Huy Quan), only to find out the pilots of their plane have other plans. One inflatable raft later, the trio lands in a struggling village in India. The villagers say their sacred stone has been stolen and their children taken, and they beg Indy to go to Pankot Palace and bring both back. Steven Spielberg directs. One hundred seventeen minutes, and maybe skip dessert.
Anyone who packs an inflatable raft for a plane ride. Bug haters, look away.
| Harrison Ford | Indiana Jones |
| Ke Huy Quan | Short Round |
| Kate Capshaw | Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott |
| Amrish Puri | Mola Ram |
| Roshan Seth | Chattar Lal |
| Philip Stone | Captain Philip Blumburtt |