Lucas told Kasdan that he wanted a story encapsulating child slavery, religion and human sacrifice. As always with the Indy films, Lucas came up with the story, and that was enough to scare Raiders screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan away. This wasn’t a trilogy where the path was mapped out, and as such, Lucas and Spielberg were starting almost from scratch. The problem? There was no story in place. But then George Lucas’ plan from the start here was a trilogy of films, and he got his wish when Raiders Of The Lost Ark hit box office gold. And outside of the Indiana Jones movies, one further Jurassic Park would be as far as Spielberg the director would go into sequel land. Jaws had seen follow-ups, but Spielberg wasn’t behind the camera for them. So how did it come about? Well, before he agreed to direct Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, Steven Spielberg had never helmed a sequel. I’d argue it makes the likes of The Wolverine, The Lone Ranger and World War Z look tame in comparison. Temple Of Doom remains a PG in the UK, as it was on its original US release. In fact, the story goes that it was Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, along with Gremlins, that led to the creation of the, er, ‘beloved’ PG-13 rating in the US. Say what you like about the film, but it’s uncompromising and unflinching in its approach. This is very much a follow-up made in an era where the focus group wasn’t prevalent, and you can tell. It’s hardly dripping too in what we now come to regard as Indiana Jones DNA.īut there’s nonetheless plenty to enjoy and like, even if it is sometimes from behind the nearest cushion. I’m also not convinced its core narrative is that strong (although next to Crystal Skull? Well, you know). I think it’s a muddy film, and one that gets in a few logic muddles. In fact, it was only five years ago that I saw it again, and was pleasantly surprised that it was more interesting, darker and better than I remembered. Unlike the cycle of The Goonies, Back To The Future, Short Circuit and RoboCop (come on, we all had an underage copy), it wasn’t a film I ever rewatched in my childhood. Thing is, I’ve always been on the same page as him where this particular film is concerned. And the scenes of child torture I confidently expect him to be relating to his counsellor in 20 years time. That said, on a couple of occasions, he pretty much jumped – proverbially, you’ll be pleased to hear – out of his skin. Terror? Different story, but feeling a bit scared, and a bit uncomfortable, isn’t a bad thing for me. It just scared him.įear in family movies isn’t a bad emotion, I’ve always believed (and I wrote about it here). He liked the film, he consequently reported. When the credits finally rolled, as Indy and Willie return the (exclusively male) children to the village from whence they came, he almost breathed out with relief. But the film that’s had him flinching, covering his eyes, and looking more uncomfortable than any I’ve ever shown him, was this one. He’s had an early schooling in Doctor Who, which helped. My son is made of stern stuff, barely flinching at things that would have crept under my skin at his age. Still, he persisted, and over the weekend, we settled down to watch the film. Bluntly, I was terrified, even more so than when the RoboCop-prototype stepped out of Evil Robert Vaughn’s supercomputer come the end of Superman III (we discussed her in this piece, here). But I couldn’t put out of my head how I felt when I first watched Temple Of Doom. I showed him, to his delight, Raiders Of The Lost Ark last year, and he’s been keen to see more of Indy’s adventures. For some time, he’s been asking about Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom.
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