Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) First Time Watching! Full Movie Reaction!!

Fun fact: The actor who plays Indiana Jones is the same as the guy who plays Han Solo in Star Wars!

Michael G. Munz

I didn't hate this movie but I do agree with most that it wasn't the best of the original three. It was worthy of seeing anyway. It was another exciting adventure. I do love Raiders and the Last Crusade more, but I wouldn't say this an unwatchable movie by any means. He Huy Quan is terrific as Short Round. Seeing him give Harrison Ford a big hug during his promoting of the new Indiana Jones this summer was so nice to see! I would say having Sean Connery in the Last Crusade just adds to the enjoyment though! I look forward to your reaction of that one! I can't wait!

Scott Kerr

Please don’t wait long to do Last Crusade, you will love it and feel better after seeing this movie.

I agree Nick. The Last Crusade is many people's favorite.

Armchair Wizard

Really? TOD is peak Indy for me

Ken Veader

The Last Crusade honestly is the best one; I’m really excited for you guys to see it.

Nick of Time

As someone else noted earlier, George Lucas came up with the idea for Indiana Jones and then developed it with Spielberg. The story goes they were chilling on a beach and Spielberg was thinking about what his next project should be, considering maybe doing a James Bond movie, but Lucas was like no man, I got something better in mind. He pitched him Indiana Jones, an archeologist and professor who travels the world, getting into adventures after ancient artifacts, and doing it in the style of the old adventure serials they watched as kids. Spielberg loved the idea and the rest is history.

Nick of Time

So when I was a kid, we had the vhs tapes of Raiders and Crusade, but my parents never bought this one, only letting me tape the censored version off tv. It wasn’t until I was myself an adult and bought the DVD collection did I finally see the full uncut version of Temple of Doom and I was like ho-Lee-shit I can see why parents had issues with this one!

Nick of Time

I will try to keep that in mind as I'm running the hell away. 😂

Marcus Cato

The randomness I liked. Stumbling upon a situation, it's not unlike being in a D&D game. This movie was actually my favorite when I was younger due to the dark temple and the priest as a villain. But as I've grown I came to just get really annoyed by Willie Scott, she annoyed me to almost no end. I wish we could have had Marian in this one. But the rest of the movie I think is great. To be honest the main thing I like in this film more than Raiders is that I feel like Indi really made a difference here where as in the previous film he really didn't have a great affect in the outcome of the film. But that's a conversation for another time I guess. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is my favorite of the orignal 3 now-a-days.

DM DC

Gator snouts are rounded shape and a crocodile snout is narrow and more v shaped FYI. 😜

Jason Mangen

I think you definitely had to grow up with this film but I think it's more about the era in which it was made. It's surreal to me people saying that the movie is dark and that it hurts the movie. I never once thought of this movie as dark in a way that I mean. The people are evil. It's evil. It's called evil for a reason. But in the end Indy saves an entire village of children and they're all running back to their parents arms. It almost has me in tears every time. I don't get the "dark" comments as a negative when these days half of what's out there doesn't even have a happy ending and when you say something you get like "It's not realistic to have happy endings" well I want one okay? :) Movies are supposed to be hopeful. Super heroes were originally created at a time when life was very difficult and they gave people hope. Romancing the Stone has the same kind of vibe with its action. I thought it was the same too. Michael Douglas and what's her name with Danny DeVito. They have great chemistry together and it's also great to see them in War of the Roses which came out later and is a completely different kind of movie but they are always great together.

Alex

Okay, fair enough—I think the acting choice was intentionally just “over the top” much like an equally unrealistic kung-fu-fighting, escape-car driving 12 year old, but sometimes it just doesn’t click for viewers. I can forgive Willie a lot given that wet shirt scene at the end…😁

Warren H

It's my least favourite of the four, but that's not to say I dislike it. Like most people, the dark tone and mostly solo location hinders it. My ranking is 3,1,4,2

Odd Thomas

This was my least favorite as a kid - not because of Willie, but because of one action story cliche that always annoyed me. I'll phrase it the way I would have as a kid: "I hate it when the main good guy has his mind controlled and he fights the other good guys and then they need to make him snap out of it." I think every Saturday morning cartoon I watched as a kid did this at least once and it drove me crazy. I like this a lot more now than I did then, mostly for the set design. Looking forward to Last Crusade which has always been my favorite.

Brandon

This is my fave of the whole series. It's so dark and 'scary'. It receieved criticisms of othering brown people, which I agree with (especially as an Asian). But apparently there was a deleted scene lampshading that Hindus who tend to promote vegetarianism. Which then clues the audience to be wary of the people and what they eat at that notorious meal. Regardless, and regardless of Short Round as a character, seeing Key Huy Quan play the role (as well as Data in The Goonies) was cool AF as a kid. I saw myself in those characters.

JayWantsACat

I say fake because she played Willie so exaggerated that it felt like acting, not natural at all.

Vwlss Nvwls

Maybe why we've never seen the Mission: Impossible movie series here, ha ha.

Mike LL

The opening credit sequence: A 2020's couple looking at a musical dance number sequence right out of a Hollywood 1930's musical: "I wonder what this is?" 🤣🤣🤣

Mike LL

Fake? 🙂Actually (and of course I prefer Marion) I find it funny how so many of the female reactors get annoyed with Willie for not being tough…and then scream and hide their faces while watching a horror movie. If, when sitting on a couch and watching a 2 dimensional screen, they come unglued—I’m guessing they’d be exactly like Willie if faced with any kind of actual threat. Having watched my girlfriend SHRIEK and jump up on top of a coffee table when a mouse ran through the room…the same girl who ALSO hates that Willie isn’t a girl-boss…mind you, if I saw someone’s heart get ripped out of their chest I could probably hit a pretty high note myself. 😁

Warren H

When I worked in printing, one of the brands of paper we often used was Kalima. Every time I would see the skids of it in the press room I would talk like the priest in this movie... "Kali ma. KALI MA!" I also remember they had a Temple of Doom arcade game, and you would always hear it saying Kali Ma, and Welcome. I still think of that every time I hear someone say "welcome". XD

Vwlss Nvwls

I enjoy all the Indiana films, but I was disappointed by the alien ending in the 4th, and this one annoyed me because of Kate Capshaw and how annoying and fake she was. I don't know if it is how she was portrayed or written, but Willie ruins what could have been a really creepy and interesting movie for me.

Vwlss Nvwls

It's not as juicy as the "Indiana Jones saved Hitler" hypothesis from Raiders of the Lost Ark. They partially brought this up in a Big Bang Theory episode, but it was around for a very long time. All Indiana Jones accomplished in that movie was saving Marion in Nepal. If Indy said fuck it and stayed home, the Nazi creep with the coat hanger would have tortured Marion, gotten the head piece instead of a scar from one side of it, Nazis would have dug in the right place, and the plane Indy blew up would have flown the Ark straight to Hitler. He would have opened it, got melted by whatever those spirits were. Goodbye WWII. Indiana Jones fucked the whole world over.

Tostito Buddy

Yep the Paramount curse. It’s funny though since they sure don’t mind the 87,000 “Airplane” reactions on YouTube.

I wondered if anyone else was ever going to catch the goof with the water.

The mine cart chase always bothered me in this movie, even when I was a little kid. They pass over this massive chasm with lava at the bottom that could swallow a lake. You could dump five hundred of those vats of water and not fill it. I think the same company that made the inflatable raft that lets you jump out of a plane and survive must have invented smart water that can follow mine cart tracks without falling.

Tostito Buddy

It is controversial to say but I always think people should start with Temple of Doom for a lot of the reasons you mentioned in your wrap up. But also the films just get better and better in the original trilogy if you watch in chronological order. You know that relationship with Willie is never going to last. And then Marion is a significant upgrade and also you see that Indy is kind of a player which also makes the romance in Raiders a better match because with Marion he has met his match. Yeah you don’t get the gun callback but whatever. Other than that it is always better to start with ToD, the Raiders and Last Crusade. I also like to imagine Short Round is just in school in the states during Raiders and TLC.

Jason Dolan

Temple of Doom is so much better with Sam hating on Willie

Tostito Buddy

I had the same thought while watching this reaction. Romancing the stone is a fun adventure movie

Mr. Chumpus

I met Pat Roach! He had a gym in Birmingham, England and I was visiting family there in 1996. I got to stand toe to toe with the German Mechanic who’d filled the screen when I saw Raiders in theaters (my first non-animated “grown up” film). It was a brief meeting but he was a nice guy. To live out my fantasy completely, I thought about punching him, but knew that a huge propeller probably wouldn’t appear and save me, so decided against it. 😁 God I love these movies—Temple is the weakest of the three for me but regardless, a key aspect of growing up in the 80s. A funny detail is that having actors come back and play different roles is an homage to the New Republic serial adventures these movies were based on. Those old films were lowest of the low budget, and frequently a character would get killed, the actor would get dressed in a different costume and come back as someone else. Pat Roach isn’t the only one—in the first movie, the guy with the eyepatch and monkey is the same guy who gets the gun whipped out of his hand in the jungle at the beginning. It was a joke for them to just add an eyepatch (the world’s cheapest costume), and then it was extra funny to Lucas and Spielberg that it actually worked, hardly anyone ever recognizes the guy.

Warren H

I like this one a lot more than the first one. It had way more action in it. I didn't like the first one when I was a kid. I didn't like it until I got older. My order would be 3, 2, and then 1. The 4th one doesn't count coz it's not a real Indy film. I don't remember much about it, I did enjoy it.. but after a certain decade or something movies just became blah. I'm excited about the 5th one. I haven't seen this in a long time and that scene with Willie in the woods I didn't stop laughing the entire time. But you gotta give Willie some credit. I'm pretty sure almost everyone watching would be having a heart attack if they found themselves in that chamber with all the bugs. I think I know the reason why most people think The Last Crusade is the best one.. Not going to say anything, but it is truly I think the best one. I love Raiders don't get me wrong. I love all 3 of them a whole heck of a lot. It's not like the first one is like way below this one or the third. They're all the same. It's just if you force me to rate them, it's 3,2,1. Also, this actually was also my favorite arcade game back in the 80s. They had a super awesome "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" arcade game where you had to go do everything they did in the film (all the good parts) It was one of those things because back then video games had like 8-bit chippy music but this game had voices like Indy saying "We walk from here" and Mola Ram saying "Soon Kali Ma will rule the world." Which is probably where Daniel heard it from.. coz it says it a lot. Really great game but you have to play the arcade version. None of the console ones did it justice. Back then they couldn't match the arcades.. but you can play it on MAME. Also this has the best soundtrack of the entire series. I don't know what the theme is called that it plays throughout .. If it's the temple of doom theme or the village theme or what. There's 3 main themes-- the main Indiana Jones theme, the mine cart chase theme, and then the one I'm talking about that you first hear when they arrive at the village. Can't wait for The Last Crusade on the channel :) Oh BTW: The Thuggee cult was actually a real cult in India, although they took massive creative liberties Hollywood-style: https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/thuggee

Alex

This is my favorite Indy Movie ;) Love the Dinner Scene:) Maybe you would like it more when you grew up with this Film, I'm a Kid from the 80's and always liked the fun in this Film ... You Really have To Watch "Romancing The Stone" from 1984 with Michael Douglas, Danny de Vito and Kathleen Turner !!! CLASSIC Adventure Film

Florian Meier

Fun fact the actor who plays the henchman who gets smushed is the same actor who played the German who gets chopped by the plane propeller. He is also in The Last Crusade if you can find him!

Jason Dolan

Third appearance of Pat Roach as the Big Thugee that Indie fights. He played the Big Sherpa in Marions Bar and the Nazi Mechanic that fights Indie at the plane and gets turned into ketchup in Raiders.

Night King01

Ohhhhhh Thank you Sam, totally understandable. Boo Paramount! Lol

Mr. Chumpus

correction 22 films. and steven said your a terrific human being at the audition. He was one of Indias most famous actors and after this movie he always kept his head shaved lol

Night King01

No way!! I'd have to agree with Spielberg! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Paramount almost took down our channel with copyright issues lol so we're always scared when we see the Paramount logo! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

is it really that dark though. For kids maybe but the movie is probably the goofiest out of all of them. There is so many just goofy and slapstick moments.

Night King01

Aww, I didn't know that about George Lucas, but we did learn that about Kate Capshaw! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Whats crazy is that the guy that was playing Mola Ram was doing 20 movies at the same time while shooting this. Stephen Spielberg walked up to him and told him you are not human.

Night King01

OK, I'm curious. Why does Daniel sound disappointed whenever the Paramount logo comes up on every movie? Did I miss something?

Mr. Chumpus

So this is the one! This is the movie that finally created the PG-13 rating in 1984. Spielberg himself suggested it to the ratings board. Also, Temple of Doom is rather dark compared to the others because George Lucas was going through a divorce at the time. I think people mentioned it in the comments, but Indiana Jones was created by George Lucas. It was his idea and he co-wrote all the movies. Ironically, Spielberg ended up marrying the lead actress Kate Capshaw. There was time for love, Dr. Jones!

Ellie Miller

Prequel time!

Jason Dolan