Review – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) directed by Steven Spielberg
Rewatched on July 11th, 2023
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Everyone has that one movie that scarred and haunted them as a kid. This one's mine. Let's revisit that moment.
When I was about 5 or 6 years old, I was at soccer practice and it started to downpour. With practice cancelled midway, a teammate and I got a ride with another teammate to go to his house since my parents were unable to pick me until later when they would get out of work. As his mom picked us up, they put a movie on in the backseat; this was one of those cars with a DVD player built into the car, what a legendary system. Anyways, the movie in question was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I had heard from my parents that I shouldn’t watch this movie, and so when I mentioned that I’m not sure if I’m allowed to watch this movie, they said “it’s PG, you can watch that right?” For context, as many of you may know, this movie along with Gremlins are the movies responsible for instituting the PG-13 rating because of their graphic violence. Anyways, I had seen PG movies before so I said alright. And guess what scene was on for the ride home? That great moment when Indiana, Willie, and Short Round first stumble into the Thuggee ceremony. And what memorable moment happens during this scene? Mola Ram rips out a man's still-beating heart, and holds it above his head in front of a sea of worshipping chanting haunting rhythms as the prisoner is lowered into a pit of lava, causing that still-beating heart to catch on fire. We arrived to my friend's house just as that moment ended, and let's just say that I was not ready to see something like that as a kid. I was beyond terrified, matched with the other teammate's jar on the floor in absolute horror. Sure, we hung out afterwards and then I was picked up by my parents later, but I just could not stop thinking about what I had seen. You know how when you see something scary, you constantly think about it when you're alone or when it's dark or at night? Yeah, that was my life with this movie for the next few years. It's the reason why to this day, I sleep on my back, because as a kid I was afraid to sleep in the dark not knowing what's behind me. I also had a phobia of hearts for a while (it was years before I could watch Pirate of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest), and I think why to this day I still get a little squeemish during scenes with surgery or human organs.
Oh, and I'm pretty sure that we finished the movie that day before my parents picked up me. Given that we were halfway through, my friend whose house we were at wanted to finish what we had started. And so that day, I also watched a man crushed by a rolling cylinder, many men eaten by alligators, and I also learned about the concept of a voodoo doll. Tough stuff for a 5 year old kid.
It's been about 18 years since that moment, a crazy sentence to even type out. But something I think is just so cathartic and special is to revisit the things that scared you as a kid. This movie tormented me and definitely set me back in terms of the kinds of movies I would've tried to watch as a kid. But the first time watching this movie again after I had grown up a bit was so special. And while this time was not that time, since then I've grown to love this movie, not only for creating such a core (yet brutual) memory within my life, but also just because it's so unbelievably metal.
I'll get it out of the way: this movie is probably quite a bit racist and insensitive towards the indigenous people it depicts. I don't think there's a lot that can be done to excuse it, it's just kind of something this movie has to live with (as does pretty much all the other Indy movies). Also, Willie is just not really a great character. I don't think it's Kate Capshaw's fault, it's just a poorly written character. Beyond
Beyond those few gripes, I think this movie is an absolute thriller. It takes a little bit to get going; after the film's opening chase sequence, it's about 45 minutes of story building until the film kicks back into the action. But once it does, it literally does not stop for the last hour. There are so many brilliant and wildly entertaining set pieces and sequences, that are just brilliant. The ceremony fight scene that kicks everything off. Indy's fight with the guard on the conveyor belt with the rolling crusher. The mine cart chase (probably the most impressive and most well-directed scene in this movie). The Bridge scene. These scenes are just unbelievably, unique in their own way, and absolutely thrilling and iconic.
Ke Huy Quan is just so lovable here. It's so interesting watching this film for the first time after Everything Everywhere All At Once, and it was beyond heartwarming to see the same energy in this film from almost 40 years ago, and how he hasn't changed a bit in the best way. He's such a showstealer in this film.
Also, not only is John Williams score great, but the decision to not have music during the first chunk of the mine cart chase was so wildly smart. So many small moments like that are what make this movie so goddamn good for me.
Overall, I truly think this movie is a blast. Spielberg is an absolute madman for committing to the dark insanity that is this movie, but we're treated with it because of that. Having finally grown past what scared me as a kid, this is a movie I love coming back to and will always cherish for the role it played in my life.
Check out the original review posted on Letterboxd here.
