Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) FULL WATCH ALONG REACTION
Added 2023-05-14 17:59:01 +0000 UTCCoby is watching Indiana Jones in chronological order!
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Comments
The Sword vs. Gun scene is definitely the main one. The others are small, such as the bugs in cave being amped up from Raiders and Indy’s fear of snakes being introduced in Raiders, making you know why he was frightened of the snake but nothing else in that jungle scene in Temple. Overall, the tone of Temple is a lot darker than the other films, which, for me is one reason it is an odd place to start. That was meant to be more shocking and different than Raiders, taking you in a different direction. The whole opening with the 1930s musical number, Indy in a Goldfinger inspired James Bond tuxedo, Indy being more ruthless and dangerous holding Willie hostage while making an illegal deal with Chinese gangsters for an historical artifact for a Diamond… this was all supposed to be jarring in contrast to what we saw in Raiders, especially the opening scene in Raiders, where Harrison Ford is only seen from the back until the right moment, when Indiana Jones is supposed to be introduced, in his element in the rough outdoors. I know there is a “Lost” character arc in the films showing Indy go from someone seeking “fortune and glory” to “this belongs in a museum,” and watching the films in this order shows the arc in the correct order. But, it’s still subtle and something you’re not going to get until you’ve seen all 3 anyways. I just watched the Raiders of the Lost Ark reaction and what I thought might happen, happened. There was a whole lot of comparison to Temple, when Temple was not on anyone’s mind when the filmmakers made Raiders or the intended audience saw Raiders. Coby was disappointed that Ke Huy Quan was not in this one. She said she knows that she didn’t experience this one the way everyone else did, because of seeing Temple first, but she still said it was a negative not having him in Raiders. This should not even have been an issue. Ke Huy Quan should not have been in her head. Another scene, when Indy is packing and Brody is warning him to be careful going after the Ark, because it’s “nothing like he’s gone after before.” Indy says, “I don’t believe in magic, a lot of superstitious Hocus Pocus.” Coby notices that this line contradicts what Indy had just witnessed a year before, such as a man being able to rip a person’s heart out without the person dying and chanting ancient incantations or spells to activate mystical rocks, or being completely possessed by drinking blood. Simply put, when the filmmakers made Raiders of the Lost Ark, they were not thinking about Temple of Doom. The directors, the writers, all the way down to the actors. When Harrison Ford is acting in Raiders, he doesn’t know who Willie Scott is or who Short Round is or about any adventure under Pankot Palace. IMO, Release order is always the Safest Bet. It’s All Good though. I get where you’re coming from. Thanks for what you’re doing. ————————- PS: Speaking of which, if you return to James Bond, I hope that you continue through the rest in order, especially through Licence to Kill. There are a lot of people who think these films are “one-offers,” that there is no connection to the films and no continuing story. I think this is wrong, and that there is a continuing Character Arc for James Bond, that spans from Dr. No to Licence to Kill. Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton are all playing the same version of James Bond. There is a connecting story of one man’s life that spans 16 films.
Larry Darrell
2024-07-06 23:40:42 +0000 UTCHaha I think you really only miss the callback to shooting the swordsman. When I was growing up a lot of my friends saw Temple of Doom first because they were too young to see Raiders of the Lost Ark in theaters and we all went to see ToD and they loved it and then later they saw Raiders on Showtime, which pairs better going into The Last Crusade, so despite it being against release order, I personally think this is the better exeprience. What are the other callbacks besides the gun though?
Popcorn Roulette
2024-07-06 21:58:17 +0000 UTCWHO’s idea WAS this? This was not meant to be the introduction to Indiana Jones. All of the things Coby knew from pop culture about Indiana Jones, were best seen in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Great Reaction, but all the callbacks to Raiders were lost on Coby. 2 Films that inspired some of the themes in Temple of Doom, and I highly recommend… Lost Horizon (1937)… directed by Frank Capra, starring Ronald Colman, H.B. Warner and Sam Jaffe. Gunga Din (1939)… directed by George Stevens, starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Sam Jaffe.
Larry Darrell
2024-07-06 20:21:02 +0000 UTC
