What to Watch Tonight: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is on FilmFour tonight at 9pm.
Harrison Ford returns for the second film in Steven Spielberg's action adventure franchise and this time he's off to India in search of a mystical stone that's been stolen from a village by a sinister cult. The film opens in Shanghai. Indy is at a nightclub delivering an artefact to a gangster who has slipped poison into our hero's martini. After a world-class game of kick-the-antidote, Indy escapes the nightclub with actor Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), who has helped him. Indy's sidekick, Short Round (Ke Huy Quan), drives them to an airport where a plane awaits. But the plane belongs to the gangster. The pilots bail, leaving our three heroes in what looks like a certain death situation. But Indiana Jones tweaks the nose of certain death situations. After some impressive snow-boating, if you'll pardon the pun, they come to a village with no children and a missing sacred stone, which is one of four that protect the village. They agree to help the villagers and borrow some elephants to get to the Maharajah's palace.
Cue monkey brains and snakes in snake for lunch, a sinisterly friendly prime minister, a spaced-out Maharajah-boy, a fiery pit, weird chanting and a massive bald bloke with an interesting party trick. But where have all the children gone? What's the stone being used for? And what do you do if you're stuck above a high ravine on a rickety rope and wood bridge, there are baddies on both sides moving towards you and you're holding a machete? Well, you can guess what Indy does. The Temple of Doom is set in 1935, a year before Raiders of the Lost Ark, and is therefore a prequel to the first film.