Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Special Edition)
List Price:
Our Price: $9.35
You Save: $10.64 (53%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.00 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Chua Kah Joo, Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Lorraine Doyle, Roy ChiaoBrand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
Cinematographer: Paul Beeson
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 118 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-05-13
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Special Edition)
Movie Review: Revisionist historians and malcontent fan-boys have given this awesome sequel an unwarranted bad name!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is truly a film that defines the overused and utterly cliche'd term 'roller coaster ride' when referring to pop cinema. This is the second best Indy film out of the four. I am writing this review to shed some light and to give the great film its due.
We'll start the review by noting that this Spielberg's least favorite Indiana Jones film. Is it relevant to the viewer? No, so save that as an argument against the film. Spielberg wasn't comfortable with the dark nature of the material, and he was that way from jump street. I'm sure he regretted jumping onboard with the script. See Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for evidence. The third Indy movie is so desperately trying to recapture the vibe of Raiders that it becomes one of its downfalls. Plus, Last Crusade does the opposite of what critics claimed Temple of Doom did, it went way too lite and cute. Last Crusade brings back characters we've already met in Raiders and does nothing new or interesting with them. Brody went from the fatherly professor to the bumbling comic relief. Sure, it's justified, but its not necessary to any of the plot's proceedings. Spielberg also tried to give the third Indy depth, but forgot that this type of character needs none, and any is never enough when you have big chases and special effects to contend with. Plus, Indy part three had the weakest villain of the four. But with all that said, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, like Kingdom of the Krystal Skull are both four star films, with great love for the serial genre, but suffer from the fact that they are parts three in four in a long running and ultimately tired series. Okay, enough of that.
A lot of harsh criticisms has fallen upon Cate Capshaw's performance as Willie Scott, the Indy girl of this particular installment. All b.s., empty femm-nazi diatribes from people who aren't in on the style of this type of adventure film. Oh, they'll go on and on about how Marion Ravenwood(great name!) from Raiders was more of a independent, equal of Indy's and Willie is the typical screaming damsel in distress. They're half right. They're right about Willie's character mold, but the bottom line in these films is that the female always gets captured and needs to be informed or saved by Indy. Marion was tough, but she still had to get captured for saving in the long run....so, who cares? Marion came along right after the film Alien had introduced film audiences to a similar character. People were jonsing for this type of heroine. More power to them. But, in the tradition of not copying one's self the sequel(which is really a prequel is if you look at the time line) goes for a more traditional Faye Wraye type of female lead. The thing people leave out when describing the Capshaw performance is how perfect her comic timing is. Yes, she's a screaming brat of a lounge singer but it's all played for laughs and Capshaw hits the comic notes just perfectly. Yes, she sceams too much, but almost all these types of films have too much screaming from their female characters, they still do. Capshaw is really funny in this film. She has three shining moments in the story; the dining scene in the palace, the spike trap with Indy and Shortround, and the seduction scene right before Indy is attacked by the Thuggee in his room. Well directed, perfectly acted, really funny and well timed, and truly reminiscent of the old serials of the 30's and 40's. There's a Howard Hawk's level of timing and exchange in these scenes that is awesome to behold.
This one isn't as prominent, I think, but I have heard jibes against the character of Shortround. Apparently, he's really annoying, and the fact that a kid was included into a serial-inspired, adventure series most commonly marketed and for children was a big insult to bed-wetting, basement dwelling fan boys. Sure, I hate when kids are introduced for the 'cute' factor, but this particular kid was restrained and he is actually likeable. He's used as a foil to the Willie character and they become the comic duo act of the film. This type of comedy is necessary or the film would've gone as dark or darker then the original concept had intended. Plus, the comedy is in the vein of Laurel and Hardy, broad and goofy, and in the tradition of many other film's this series is emulating. Also, this film doesn't have the benefit of having Indy as a professor or his interactions of an old flame, so having Shortround gives Indy his humanity and makes him less of an invincible action movie cypher. The same people who object to Shortround seem to have no problems with the overly sentimental addition of Indy's strained father and son relationship in the third installment.
Now onto the darkness...OOOHHHH, the darkness. Personally, I am always up for some shades of black in my traditional action adventures fims. So was the audiences of 1985, this film was a huge hit, equal to the box office of the original. The film's subject involves a cult with mystical powers give to them by some rocks, that enslave children in underground caverns and mines. Yeah, its pretty bleak stuff way before we get to the heart-ripping scene, which is in essence no less dark or graphic then the nazi's melting at the end of Raiders. The tone of the film shifts from the goofy tropes of the serial world to the Abbott and Costello stylings of comedy. The silly nature of the whole Indy series warrants such shifts and they come naturally when they wouldn't in a film such as Lethal Weapon or Die Hard(just see the horrible Lethal Weapon 4 for proof). The villains of this film are truly straight out of any old or new horror film. They last and you can't wait to see Indy triumph.
The sets in this film are the best of the entire series! The cult's underground mine lair is truly amazing to behold. The design and lighting in all of these scenes are all perfectly executed, original and belong to the wonderful camera work of Douglas Slocombe(DP on the first three Indy films). The action scenes are like nothing seen at the time. They've been eclipsed by modern technology but they are still awesome in execution with a little perspective on the mind when watching. Though, this film has less action then all the Indy films. We start off with a bang in Shanghai with a lounge gun fight, directly followed up by a logic defying escape from a crashing plane using a rubber raft. Awesome and exciting stuff. The film doesn't slow down after that but it takes an extended break from the action. We get to see locations, booby-traps, meet the villains, and gaze into the sets. Once that's over we get the awesome mine-cart chase and a fist fight along a delapidated bridge above gator-invested waters. Great stuff. Some of the best action spectacles in the series next to the jeep chase in Raiders, the tank chase in Last Crusade, and the Amazon sword/jeep chase/killer ants attacking/machine gun blasting/monkey jumping scene from Krytal Skull.
Also, and this may just be my personal prediliction, the film is just WEIRD. The concepts are weird and way out there. A lot of P.C. police deputies will complain about how the Indians are portrayed and how silly the dining scene it, but who takes these films that seriously? It's called Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom for crying out loud!!!! This is not a realistic culture and travel guide. It's an excuse to add flavor and spectacle onto the preordained action sequences that all defy logic and plausability(Krystal Skull gets flack for the refrigerator scene, but no one has any problems with any mentioned action scenes in the previous three films).
Basically, all four Indy films are the same in structure and tone. The first two are darker, and the last two are liter, but only Temple of Doom breaks the Raiders structure. They had the right idea, and as much as I enjoyed Last Crusade and Krystal Skull, I would've appreciated a constantly chaging structure and tone. Once all the whiney parent police cried foul at this film(whining on the level of the loathed Willie Scott) Spielberg chickened out and stuck to the tried-and-true formula of Raiders, but further lightened up the proceedings. I love this series and don't dislike any of the films in it. Its truly one of the view films series that contains few flaws and stays true to its origins more so then most film series.
Then there was all the unwarranted blasts against Krystal Skull.....Ah, maybe next time.
Summary of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Special Edition)
It?s hard to imagine that a film with worldwide box office receipts topping $300 million worldwide could be labeled a disappointment, but some moviegoers considered Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the second installment in Steven Spielberg and George Lucas? 1980s adventure trilogy, to be just that. That doesn?t mean it?s a bad effort; any collaboration between these two cinema giants (Spielberg directed, while Lucas provided the story and was executive producer) is bound to have more than its share of terrific moments, and Temple of Doom is no exception. But in exchanging the very real threat of Nazi Germany for the cartoonish Thuggee cult, it loses some of the heft of its predecessor (Raiders of the Lost Ark); on the other hand, it?s also the darkest and most disturbing of the three films, what with multiple scenes of children enslaved, a heart pulled out of a man?s chest, and the immolation of a sacrificial victim, which makes it less fun than either Raiders or The Last Crusade, notwithstanding a couple of riotous chase scenes and impressively grand sets. Many fans were also less than thrilled with the new love interest, a spoiled, querulous nightclub singer portrayed by Kate Capshaw, but a cute kid sidekick ("Short Round," played by Ke Huy Quan) and, of course, the ever-reliable Harrison Ford as the cynical-but-swashbuckling hero more than make up for that character?s shortcomings.A six-minute introduction by Lucas and Spielberg is the prime special feature, with both men candidly addressing the film?s good and bad points (Lucas points out that the second Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back, was also the darkest of the original three; as for Spielberg, the fact that the leading lady would soon become his wife was the best part of the whole trip). Also good are "The Creepy Crawlies," a mini-doc about the thousands of snakes, bugs, rats and other scary critters that populate the trilogy, and "Travels with Indy," a look at some of the films? cool locations. Storyboards and a photo gallery are included as well. --Sam Graham
Similar DVD Movies
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Widescreen Edition)DVD
Best price: $24.87
Lethal Weapon 2Warner Bros; Release date: 1997-07-30; Published: 1997-07-01; DVD
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Jaws (Two-Disc 30th Anniversary Edition)MCA; Release date: 2005-06-14; DVD
Best price: $8.09
Price in other shops:
Mission: Impossible II (Widescreen Edition)Release date: 2000-11-07; DVD
Best price: $4.17
Price in other shops:
Romancing the Stone (Special Edition)TCFHE; Release date: 2006-08-29; DVD
Best price: $6.87
Price in other shops:
![Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade [THX Digitally Mastered] Widescreen Image](/images/Indiana-Jones-And-The-Last-Crusade-THX-Digitally-Mastered-Widescreen-B000XAR2EE-X.jpg)
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade [THX Digitally Mastered] WidescreenPublished: 2003; DVD
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops:
National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets (Widescreen)National; Release date: 2008-05-20; Published: 2008-05-01; DVD
Best price: $4.88
Price in other shops:
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Single-Disc Edition)PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2008-10-14; Published: 2008-10-01; DVD
Best price: $7.74
Price in other shops:
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Special Edition)PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2008-05-13; DVD
Best price: $8.40
Price in other shops:
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Special Edition)Paramount; Release date: 2008-05-13; Published: 2008-05-01; DVD
Best price: $9.18
Price in other shops: