It’s 1935 – and globe-trotting archaeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) narrowly escapes local Shanghai gangster Lao Che (Roy Chiao) from his nightclub (named Obi-Wan in homage to the Jedi legend), only to charter a flight with nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw, future Mrs. Steven Spielberg) and sidekick Short Round (Ke-Huy Quan) belonging to Che, whose pilots dump the fuel and parachute out, leaving Jones and co. to perish.
Escaping via an inflatable raft, they end up in India, where they discover a village of starving locals and are ordered by the head of the village to head to Pankot to investigate the disappearance of a sacred stone from the village, as well as their children. Meeting a Maharaja’s emissary Chatta Lai (Roshan Seth) at the Palace, they are invited to dine, but soon the Palace reveals darker secrets…
Blockbuster adventure from the mid 1980s (although very controversial upon release which led to the creation of a brand new rating in the USA – the PG-13 due to some horrifying sequences in an underground temple, most infamously a heart-ripping scene which was cut for UK release originally, though now available in current versions)
Whilst not as adorable as RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (which still remains the best of the INDIANA JONES films – with a fifth imminent with Harrison Ford returning), TEMPLE OF DOOM has more than enough to keep the attention.