Indy coming to Blu-Ray this fall
- Thread starter jcoffman99
- Start date
For me the problem with Temple Of Doom was Kate Capshaw. She broke that movie for me.....Now this is just my opinion so no need for a word joust.
Probe Droid
Master Member
I think Temple sucks and here’s why. Mostly the writing. The script is lousy, and the characters are cardboard and ridiculous. Indy is a guy who pretty much kills people wherever he goes, and to have a kid with blocks of wood tied to his feet as a sidekick is preposterous. Whereas Marion is a strong, well-developed character, Willy is a cookie cutter dumb blonde damsel in distress. And that’s nothing against Capshaw, she made the best of it, there’s just no role there. Same with the bad guy. Bolloq, Toht, etc., were guys you loved to boo and hiss at, but the Mola Ram character is a one-note snooze. The film is half goofy, half dark and can’t make up its mind what it wants to be.
One man’s opinion.
Solo4114
Master Member
I think it's not so much that it's half goofy and half dark as much as it is the extremes to which it is each of those things. Raiders has its goofy moments and its dark moments. But it strikes a better balance by never going too far in one direction or the other. Temple veers between freakin' DARK (heart-ripping scene, child slavery), and over-the-top goofy (Willie, Short Round). I think in different films, either could be just fine. You could have a more light-hearted film where those characters would be fine. Or you could have a much darker film where the violence and brutality of the film is perfectly acceptable. But to mix the two together...it's just jarring and too extreme.
Plus, everyone loves to hate Nazis. Hating obscure Hindu cults from the 19th century? Not as compelling.
Plus, everyone loves to hate Nazis. Hating obscure Hindu cults from the 19th century? Not as compelling.
Ah, thanks for the responses, all very valid points, and I totally agree, Raiders is superior in every way. Still, I throughly enjoy Temple of Doom, honestly my love for it is probably more nostalga based than anything. Although, I can't stand Willie, and I'll never understand Indy's interest in her.
Solo4114
Master Member
That actually highlights something important, I think. I saw TOD before Raiders, too, and I've never really MINDED TOD as a result. It's not my favorite -- I far prefer Raiders -- but in spite of its flaws, I still can enjoy it. Some of that's probably nostalgia, but I also sort of "get the joke." It's a riff on the old Republic jungle adventure serials or the pulp adventure novels of the 1930s. As much as the opening of Raiders (and much of the rest of Raiders) is similar to that, Temple is through-and-through a pulp adventure down to all the stereotypes, scenes for the sake of shock, etc.
Raiders does that, but puts a modern spin on it. Temple, I think, goes more "retro" and takes the stuff it's doing somewhat seriously, in a weird way. To modern audiences, that's kinda jarring (and I think I recall reading that the Thugee cult stuff irritated audiences in India for just that reason).
Plus, coming off of Raiders...man...how do you top that? Certainly not with Temple. On it's own, it's entertaining, but it's not the masterpiece that Raiders is.
PHArchivist
Master Member
If I took away the answer "E.) All of the above" then who is most responsible for making Raiders great?
Was it:
A.) George
B.) Steve
C.) Lawrence
D.) Harrison
Was it:
A.) George
B.) Steve
C.) Lawrence
D.) Harrison
I'd say B. Steven was smart enough to hire Lawerence and Harrison. He ran the show.
Spielberg, all the way. Of course everyone contributed in making it great, but I feel that Steven was the real driving force behind it.
Probe Droid
Master Member
Agreed. When they were writing the thing it was very dark and then everyone panicked so they tried to lighten it up with extreme sillines and the two clash horribly. Should have gone one way or the other. Some light moments in a dark film/dark moments in a light film can be fine, but nothing to that extreme. Even the guys who made it don't like it now.
Indys brother
Active Member
I'm wondering if any collectibles will be included with the box set. My gut tells me if anything, a set may be offered in a scaled down ark replica. At least, that's what I would do if I was runnin' thangs.
That would be cool, ya know, as long as it didn't melt my face off when I opened it...
Lutso
Sr Member
Too Much Garlic
Master Member
SWEEEEEET. Can't wait.
Timmythekid
Sr Member
Yup, all reports (it's been screened a couple of times theatrically in 2011 at special events) are that this looks fabulous. Unlike the SW set, this is from a brand new, reportedly 4k scan of the films which was just completed last year (so different transfer from the HDTV rips). No screwing around to fix anything, no re-timing, nothing - just a glorious film transfer. Can't. Wait. :love
robn1
Master Member
Funny you mention that, the HDTV version I have has the original cliff shot, but no snake reflection.
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