Revisiting Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Dave H]

I think we can all agree that the first film is one of the greatest films ever made.

It really is and if I were forced to just pick one top favorite movie of mine, it would indeed be Raiders. I saw it about 12 times between 1981-1983 (I was 9 when it came out.). I was a huge Star Wars fan at the time as you can probably imagine (tell me one boy who wasn't during that time) but after I saw Raiders for the second time, I preferred it over the Star Wars films and that was saying A LOT. Raiders just captured a sense of adventure and grittiness I had never experienced before that struck me in a way where I could not wait to see the movie each time it was re-released at the dollar show with a typically multi run print of terrible quality but looking back, it gave the movie some character in a way. I remember one time the film stopped for several minutes before they got it running again. I just had an incredible amount of excitement each time that movie started waiting in my seat.

I also saw the IMAX ann released in 2012 and saw a 2K DCP viewing of it last year at a local small historic theater that plays a lot of classic movies each year. It was fun seeing it on the big screen again.

I know there is some controversy over the Blu-ray with its color and I don't pretend to know how close it is to the original (Torsten Kaiser - film restoration expert says it's very close), but I do think either way the disc looks outstanding, very film-like and projects really well on my JVC front projection set-up and Stewart ST100 scope screen at 124".

 

[Tino]

I had the best Raiders experience.

I saw it two weeks before it opened as a sneak preview. All I knew was that it was advertised as a new Hero coming from the people who brought you Star Wars and Jaws. I thought it had something to do with Noah's Ark

Man was I blown away. The first ten minutes had more exciting action than most films had in theirs entire run time. When Indy shot the Swordsman I couldn't hear for 5 minutes due to all the laughing. And so on.

To this day the best blind sneak ive ever seen.

 

[Nick*Z]

Okay, I don't know how we got off on this tangent but I would simply like to interject a note of levity into the whole 'racism' issue which, for me is a non-starter in the movies and always has been. Movies are very much a product of their time; Sixteen Candles, in particular a reflection of America's uncertainty over the 'invasion' of Chinese industry and exports. Does anyone here realize how utterly prolific, some might say, insidiously so, the Chinese have been at buying up American cultural landmarks and industries: General Electric, Legendary Entertainment, AMC, One Chase Manhattan Plaza, Visa, Morgan Stanley, etc. et al.

During times of uncertainty, American entertainment has always reflected a popularized contempt for such unsettling circumstances and, hitting below the belt, more often than not, attacks the nationality responsible for the broader and more far-reaching socio/political issues and ramifications at hand. Fear of AIDS - lets make gays in the movies amused buffoons: Meshach Taylor's Hollywood Montrose in Mannequin immediately comes to mind. Such global statements have been going on ever since Chaplin took on Hitler in The Great Dictator; Germany as a nation having to grapple with the pall of National Socialism; always a favorite bit of exploitation in countless war-themed movies; rarely treating Germanic heritage as anything better than an entire nation slavishly devoted to cooking undesirables in ovens. Yes, the holocaust happened. But it wasn't supported by all Germans, nor were all German's Nazis, or the failed plot to murder Hitler, begun by his own intelligencia would never have gotten off the ground. It's a little unsettling to whitewash any nation, nationality, race or creed for the foibles of some who ascribe to the more detrimental influences of what is then perceived as the cultural norm. But let us be fair in assessing that Hollywood movies haven't the time nor the interest to discern the particulars from the general scheme of telling a good story. And since when do - or should - movies offer us only the politically correct friendly Coles Notes version of life?

Another case in point: the issue of slavery. It may interest those who continue at Disney Inc. to boycott Song of the South, as example, from a Blu-ray home video release that at the peak of black slavery in the South, only 6 percent of Southern whites actually owned slaves. If you include the white people in the North, this means that only 1.4 percent of white Americans in totem owned black slaves at the HEIGHT of slavery. And by the way, an estimated 3,000 blacks owned a total of 20,000 black slaves in the year 1860. Another fact that generally gets swept under the rug when viewing movies like Gone With The Wind, Band of Angels, Raintree County, The Red Badge of Courage etc. et al; Hollywood's mythologized view of the Southern states as uniformly owning at least one slave per household and frequently, as in the case of such monumentally appealing melodramas as Roots or North and South, presenting a wholly inaccurate view. Okay, slavery, whatever the percentage, was a truly horrendous chapter in American history and no attempt herein is made to suggest it was okay simply because the statistics show 'less of it' was going on. NONE OF IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GOING ON - PERIOD!

But movies are not truth - folks. Nor do they aspire to such loftier pursuits. They are a fiction - like a good book or an interpretation of mankind shown to us in famous paintings from days of yore. You may argue that the picture is imperfect. In point of fact - it is. What can I tell you. We are human beings - imperfect creatures aspiring to creating a more perfect and lasting world. Our success rate has not been great...or even good on this score. But it remains the record of history. Movies like history, or rather the appearance of it to polish the surface sheen of a good epic, a bad comedy, or any old genre and story idea springing forth from all points in between. Do the movies sin against truth in their aspiration to entertain us. Absolutely, no question about it. Should they be chastised for doing so? Hmmm. I don't really think so. Movies illustrate where both our heads and hearts are at. They appeal to a certain generation at a certain time with a certain amount of truth invested in them. This has the deliberate effect of appearing as truth itself for some. It's not. It never should be. Because a good yarn, however flawed in its approach to truth, is far more edifying than the truth itself, so long as you take it with a grain of salt - in some cases, a whole box full. Don't be swayed. But be amused and entertained. Because all movies aspire to impress the audience on some level.

Personally, I prefer the days when everything and anything could be said in public because it reveals the truer attitudes people feel, rather than suppressing them behind a veil of faux political correctness. Simply because you prevent someone from using a slur in public is not the same as curing that person of the urge or even the misguided intellect to think the impure thought behind it. Should racism be tolerated? No. That's not the point. Should it be exposed? Absolutely. Long Duck Dong in Sixteen Candles is far more revealing about the late John Hughes' exposing an opinion heartily and widely felt by a lot of Americans about Asians in general, circa the 1980s than it is about Hughes' own racist slant which, as the writer/director of that movie, is likely nonexistent as an individual.

Sixteen Candles is a coming of age romantic comedy, one of the best in fact. The characterization of this Asian exchange student aside rather pales to the absolutely idiotic stereotypes of the binge-drinking preppy class of American teenager. I was a teen in the 80s and can honestly profess to never having attended such a wild, toilet paper infused orgy of hot sex with simple-minded prom queens. Were such weird and hedonistic activities still taking place in America then - as now. Absolutely, no question about it. But Sixteen Candles makes it appear as though all American teenagers were sex-obsessed, horny, drunken smack-tards eager to wreck their bodies and their parents' homes for the sake of a wild night on the town. Again, it's the movies. They deal in universals - not specifics. Had we looked into the windows of the homes to the left or right of the one being depicted in Sixteen Candles would we have found as many head cases and aspiring Betty Ford Center inductees lurking about? Hmmmm.

 

[TravisR]

Movies are very much a product of their time; Sixteen Candles, in particular a reflection of America's uncertainty over the 'invasion' of Chinese industry and exports.

Either Sixteen Candles is alot more deep than I'm giving it credit for or you're giving it more credit than it deserves. I don't think they were tapping into American paranoia of the Chinese, it was just acceptable to goof on accents at that time.

Personally, I prefer the days when everything and anything could be said in public because it reveals the truer attitudes people feel, rather than suppressing them behind a veil of faux political correctness.

It's true that people expose their real thoughts but that does nothing to make the situation better. Lots of people speak their mind with anonymity on social media and the only thing that does is get them cheered on by other animals that are racist or sexist or homophobic or whatever topic they're scared of. I'm not saying that people should be pariahs if they've ever used a slur but as a society, we should aspire to change some things and act better rather than just say "Oh well".

 

[Nick*Z]

Sorry Travis, but wholeheartedly have to disagree. Everyone's entitled to an opinion. Yours may differ from mine or the next person's. But if there are homophobic/sexist/racist pigs in my midst I'd rather want to know who they are so as to steer clear of them, instead of possibly considering some of them as friends simply because I don't really know what they are all about! Part of the problem with living in a 'free society' is that you have to be willing to hear things that offend you. That doesn't mean you must tolerate ignorance. But personally, I want to know it when I see it. To quote Evelyn Beatrice Hall, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it!"

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

There's a difference between outlawing the ability to say things, and an outpouring of negative reaction to some things being said. I will negatively react to homophobia, racism, etc., but will defend the legality of a persons ability to say it.

But let's get back to the topic at hand lest we get too far off topic (which has likely already happened).

I like ToD but see it's flaws. I am surprised by the lack of love that Last Crusade is getting from some corners though, as I adore that entry.

 

[Tino]

Last Crusade to me was a tired retread of Raiders. Really dull action scenes and a miscast female lead. Connery was great but that's about it for me. Way worse than Crystal Skull imo.

 

[Race Bannon]

It really is and if I were forced to just pick one top favorite movie of mine, it would indeed be Raiders. I saw it about 12 times between 1981-1983 (I was 9 when it came out.). I was a huge Star Wars fan at the time as you can probably imagine (tell me one boy who wasn't during that time) but after I saw Raiders for the second time, I preferred it over the Star Wars films and that was saying A LOT. Raiders just captured a sense of adventure and grittiness I had never experienced before that struck me in a way where I could not wait to see the movie each time it was re-released at the dollar show with a typically multi run print of terrible quality but looking back, it gave the movie some character in a way. I remember one time the film stopped for several minutes before they got it running again. I just had an incredible amount of excitement each time that movie started waiting in my seat.

I also saw the IMAX ann released in 2012 and saw a 2K DCP viewing of it last year at a local small historic theater that plays a lot of classic movies each year. It was fun seeing it on the big screen again.

I know there is some controversy over the Blu-ray with its color and I don't pretend to know how close it is to the original (Torsten Kaiser - film restoration expert says it's very close), but I do think either way the disc looks outstanding, very film-like and projects really well on my JVC front projection set-up and Stewart ST100 scope screen at 124".

I was 12 when Raiders came out, and it completely took over my fanboy focus. It was my top "thing," above all the science fiction franchise stuff (Star Wars, Star Trek), opened my eyes to a larger appreciation of adventure, all things pulpy and period. Indy's iconic look affected my sense of style for the rest of my life -- to this day, I'll invetiably choose something that looks like Indy would wear it or carry it.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Well, I brought up the "racism" in my opening post because it was one of the things that brought me back to the film. It was on a list of films people label as racist...and since I could not really remember what went on in the film I had no idea what was in it that was racist. The main thing I remembered from the picture was the mine shaft roller coaster ride. I remembered that because it was what most irritated me about the film...which I think is saying something because Willie and Short Round are pretty irritating.

Basically, my big issue with it was that, to me, it felt lazy. I mean all they could come up with for a big finale action sequence was to film a roller coaster ride? I thought that was garbage or just a way to tie the whole thing into selling an Indiana Jones roller coaster to theme parks.

My feeling was when they made Temple of Doom they just had not come up with a film...just a bunch of loose ideas and they stuck them all together.

Let's do a big song and dance number opening! OK, we'll do that.

Let's do a big fight on the dance floor. OK, we'll do that but people did not seem to like 1941 very much.

Let's do a plane crash scene. OK, we'll do that.

The trash compacter scene from Star Wars was really good. OK, we'll put that in too.

How about a big funny dinner scene? OK, we can do that.

Do we have a car chase in there yet? No, but we'll put one in and hey, we'll have the kid drive.

How about a spooky voodoo ceremony with a volcano? Well, it's set in India so it can't be voodoo but we can do a cult.

We need a big action sequence though toward the end.

Like a big fight?

It should be bigger than a fight?

A sword fight?

Jones uses a whip...a sword fight does not really work. We gotta involve the girl and the kid too.

We want the film to be like a crazy roller coaster ride.

That's it!

What?

A roller coaster ride! We'll film a roller coaster ride!

How are they going to end up on a roller coaster in the middle of India?

Isn't there a mine shaft roller coaster ride somewhere?

Yeah, we'll set it underground in a mine shaft!

Perfect, let's shoot this thing!

 

[Tino]

And it all worked out great in the end.

 

[Worth]

The first half-hour or so, up until the plane crash, and the roller coaster mine chase, is all material that was in the original Raiders script, but was dropped for time and budgetary reasons.