Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - PG
Common Sense Note
Parents should know this installment in the Indiana Jones trilogy is the reason the PG-13 rating was created. So many children had nightmares after seeing it. A man's beating heart is torn right out of his chest and children are worked near to death in the mines. The movie is also a creepfest, with lots of gross-out activities, none more nauseating than the eating of live snakes.
Families who watch this film may want to talk about stereotypes in movies. What stereotypes do you see here? How can a stereotype be fun -- and how can it be offensive? Where do you draw the line?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Randy White
Deep in the creepy jungle, Indiana Jones and his sidekicks unearth a ghastly cult that enslaves children and practices human sacrifice. Despite superior chase sequences and dazzling stunts, this loud and frenzied sequel is mostly an exercise in excess.
This sequel to the magnificent Raiders Of The Lost Ark (it's actually a prequel, set a year before Raiders) is loud, creepy, violent and, at times, incoherent. In short, it's an overblown affair. Pushing the action sequences into overdrive and then slowing down for long lulls, Spielberg and cast seem lost at sea. Whereas the pacing and tone of that first movie felt spot-on, Temple of Doon never really finds its rhythm.
What the movie does have are some of the best stunts of the series, climaxing in the scene where Indie, his sidekicks, and a whole gang of cultists fall from an extremely high suspension bridge. It also has outstanding chases, the best being a hair-raising rail cart pursuit through subterranean caverns.
The movie begins promisingly enough with a fine musical number and a funny game of one-upmanship between Indie and a Chinese Mafia type. However, intrigue quickly disintegrates into a free-for-all that sets the tone for the rest of the movie: endless pandemonium and two sidekicks who seem inserted for their ability to irritate. Willie and Short Round never stop shouting and shrieking. Even Harrison Ford, so effortlessly heroic in Raiders, just seems mean in this film.
Children will probably like Short Round and the movie's silly elephants, but parents should note that Temple of Doom is the movie for which the PG-13 rating was invented, after so many children went to this movie and had the living daylights scared out of them.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentMild sexual banter between Jones and Willie. |
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ViolenceHand-to-hand combat and gunfights. Indiana Jones is severely scourged. |
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LanguageMild, including "bastards." |
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Social BehaviorIn general, Asian people don't come off looking well. |
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CommercialismThis is the second in the Indiana Jones saga. |
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