cbspt005@abnjh.UUCP (Eric Carter) (05/17/84)
The final bookings are in, and Paramount's "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", which opens Wednesday, May 23 in the U.S. and Canada, will set a new record for 70MM prints in circulation, with a total of 243. This number far surpasses the 164 released for Lucasfilm-20th Fox' "Return of the Jedi" in 1983 and MGM/UA's record 169 wide-gauge prints for "Brainstorm" last fall. Paramount will distribute 1,685 prints of "Indiana Jones", up from the 1,400 projected by the company earlier.
spaf@gatech.UUCP (Gene Spafford) (05/24/84)
Well, I know you've all been waiting for Uncle Spaf's review, so wait
no longer. If you're looking for excitement and spectacular effects,
go see "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" in 70mm. However, if you
find it difficult to cease being logical and analytical, or if you
prefer character development to action, skip this and go see "Romancing
the Stone" again.
15 of us went to see the movie today at Atlanta's Columbia theater --
70 mm, 6 track Dolby, and the biggest movie screen in Atlanta. The
general consensus was that it was worth our $4 apiece, and most of us
will probably go see it again soon. However, we also decided that the
movie could have been stronger, plot-wise.
The movie is very intense, from start to finish, with one hair-raising
prediciment and escape following another. The sets and effects are
spectacular, and the sense of the movie is one of unrestrained good
times. On that level, it is great fun.
However, this time around the plot is even more far-fetched than
before. A number of times during the movie I almost lost my thread of
concentration by saying "Whoops, now that is almost *too* silly."
Character development is non-existant. I believe Kate Capshaw has some
talent, but her role doesn't allow any of it to show. She's pretty
when called for, and whiney the rest of the time. Her character really
had nothing to add to the adventure except someone on whom most of the
jokes were told. (Heavens! We can't let Indiana appear foolish!).
The little kid (Ground Round? something like that) was just too cute
to be believed. I'm not sure why they have the kid in there -- it
can't be for kids in the audience, or else some of the really graphic
gross stuff in the middle wouldn't be there.
Yes, the talk about the rating problem is true. I wouldn't want an
impressionable child to view the movie. It is a bit more than many
other PG's of my experience. It wasn't bad enough for an R, certainly,
but it had its moments which caused us all to flinch. I would strongly
recommend that parents preview this before taking their children.
All in all, I liked the movie a lot. It entertained me, and I walked
off feeling that I had my money's worth. It was only after an hour or
two that I began to realize how many holes there were in the whole
thing. That still hasn't taken away the feeling of enjoyment. I think
if they had made it a little less cartoonish, and if they had combined
the character of the kid and the woman into a single character, it
might have been a stronger movie. But hey, who am I to argue with
undoubted megabuck success?
Summation: see it. Don't bother thinking about it. Leave the kids at
home. It ain't art, but it is entertainment.
--
Off the Wall of Gene Spafford
The Clouds Project, School of ICS, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332
CSNet: Spaf @ GATech ARPA: Spaf%GATech @ CSNet-Relay
uucp: ...!{akgua,allegra,ihnp4,masscomp,ut-ngp}!gatech!spaf
...!{rlgvax,sb1,uf-cgrl,unmvax,ut-sally}!gatech!spafgrw@fortune.UUCP (Glenn Wichman) (05/29/84)
[]
Well, here is my review of IJ&TD:
Radiers of the Lost Ark was an adventure film with a few
really stomach-turning scenes (esp. at the end). In IJ&TD,
the balance has shifted even further away from plot and towards
stomach-turning scenes. The problem is this: by about 1/4 way
through the movie, the stomach-turning scenes failed to turn my
stomach, it was just plain overkill. After a while, people
eating live snakes is just passe'. Who cares?
Also, we traded in our somewhat interesting heroine of
RotLA for a ditzy blonde chanteuse who mostly just screams and
looks sick, except when she's trying to seduce our hero. This
was not a film written by someone who likes women. It is incredibly
sexist, which is surprising coming from such new-age Marin County
progressive liberal types as Lucas & friends. The girl is there
so that Indy can have someone to boss around, and save from certain
doom, etc. He seems to despise her.
The interesting character, and the films saving grace, is
Short Round. He gets some respect. Short Round is Indy's 9-year
old chinese assistant, and seems to have been derived from the
ubiquitous precocious-kid-in-Japanese-monster-films.
Anything else in the movie is either stupid, sick, or way
too unbelievable. Go see "Romancing the Stone" again, instead.
-Glenn