Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: The Illustrated Screenplay

by Willard Huyck (Screenwriter), Gloria Katz (Screenwriter)

Maroon cover, collector's edition.

Genres: Media Tie In

122 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 1984

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know, I know, I hear you saying this is the poorest Indiana Jones film, but I disagree, and here is why:

1. The Opening Sequence -- From the Busby Berkeley Club Obi Wan dance sequence to Lao Che's menacing, "Goodbye, Dr. Jones," it is the finest set piece in all of Indiana Jones films. It gives us Indy at his best as an early James Bond. We see that he's a grave robbing cad. He steals Lao Che's girl and kills one of his boys. He loses Wu Han. Beats the poison trap. Escapes a rain of bullets. Joins Short Round for a race through Shanghai and winds up jumping from the frying pan into the fire. It kicks ass.

2. Genuine character development -- Huyck and Katz actually give us some Indiana Jones character development. All he cares about at the beginning is "fortune and glory," and we see him grow into the character who might actually care about the "International Treaty for the Protection of Antiquities" in Raiders of the Lost Ark. He comes to care about more than himself and Shorty, and there is even a hint that he cares about Willy Scott.

3. Willy Scott and Short Round -- If anything was missing in Raiders of the Lost Ark it was a true damsel in distress and an energetic kiddie sidekick. Indy got them in Temple of Doom, and they are perfect. Willy's hot and more concerned about her nails, voice, and diamonds than anything else, and Shorty just wants to be Indy. Maybe they don't work for you, but they sure work for me. I always had a crush on Willy, the one with whom I think Indiana Jones had the most interesting relationship, and I wanted to be Short Round kicking ass and saving Indy. Hell, I still do on both counts. And as screenplays go, this one is a cracker, even if it didn't always turn out that way on the screen.

4. Chilled Monkey Brains -- Nuff said.

5. Villains -- C'mon. You know you love Mola Ram in spite of yourself, and Lao Che is right up there with Belloq as best villain in the series.

6. You say ... -- The mine cars are silly, you say? I say they are rollicking good fun. The fight in the jewel quarry is dumb, you say? I say it's a necessity of the homage, and the voodoo doll makes it fun. The chamber of insects is unoriginal and lame, you say? I say it is the perfect way to generate some screwball comedy between the leads. The pumping heart being torn out of a chest is too gruesome, you say? I say it's creepy cool. The portrayal of Indians is racist, you say? I say ... okay, you're right about that, but no more or less so than the racism in the other movies (except, perhaps, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Hmmm. Interesting.)

I probably have done nothing to convince you that Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom rocks, but that's okay. It does for me. No matter what anyone else thinks.

[Trent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indiana Jones Temple of doom is a great book about an archeologist named Indy. He goes to a temple to find the Sankara stones to help a small Indian village recover from an attack from a group of people from a Palace of Pankara. The stones give power to the palace and will make them rule all. Indy then goes to look for the stones and has to battale a whole army of Thuggee guards and assasins that guard the Sankara stones and kill inocent people.

I would recommend this book to anyboy who likes adventure and mystery. Its a great book and It is one of my favorites out of all the books I have read.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good sequel

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good story that kept my interest from start to finish.

[Connor Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it is not the best of the Indy films, the script is incredibly fun, albeit very problematic. The best part of this book is all the storyboards and on set photos.

[Brooke🤍 Chansler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting to see the differences between this and how the final movie turned out