Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: The Dark Jones Chapter

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom takes the adventure series in a new direction with a drastically new feel. Director Steven Spielberg adds a powerfully dark twist to this chapter in the saga, adding mythology of the occult and dark magic. Although not as boyishly fun as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Temple of Doom has some very solid action sequences and some of the most exotic locations in the Indiana Jones series.

After narrowly escaping the Chinese mafia in a Beijing club, famed archaeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) finds himself on a plane home with two other travelers. One is his sidekick Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) and the other is a girl he rescued during his escape (Kate Capshaw). Once again things go sour for Dr. Jones and the sabotaged plane crashes in the mountains of India. Marooned away from civilization, the three are persuaded to accomplish a mission for a local chief. Apparently a powerful ruler has been kidnapping and enslaving children, and Jones has to try and get them back along with a precious artifact. Yet the adventure is only just beginning, and Indiana Jones will find himself facing his most dangerous challenges yet.

The Temple of Doom is as its name implies a dark movie. The thematic content alone is disturbing. Based on the real-life Thuggee cult of India, Jones finds himself in the clutches of a satanic organization. These men sacrifice humans, tear their hearts out, and fight for world domination under their evil god. This stuff makes the Nazis of Raiders of the Lost Ark look positively tame.

The sets and locations of The Temple of Doom are one of its strongest assets. The Indian landscapes are both grand and foreboding with flights of bats and dangerous animals. The movie-stealers of course are the underground catacombs leading to the Thuggee lair. Some of the most memorable scenes in the Indiana Jones trilogy take place in this booby-trapped environment of decay and death.