Sorry Mike, I'm a traditionalist and Raiders is my favorite. But I will admit to very quickly nicknaming the Mummy "Indiana Jones and the City of the Dead." Though I still like Harrison Ford more than Brendan Frasier.

Because 1999's The Mummy has Rachel Weisz as a delightful character and has great chemistry with Brenden Fraser.

Favorite Indiana Jones movie has to be Raiders. But I’d be remiss is I didn’t bring up The Adventure of Tintin. That’s got to be my favorite adventure movie of all time!

Late watcher for this video and I love you so much for this reference 💜 I'd argue that the best Indiana Jones movie is still either Raiders or Last Crusade, but the best pulp horror/adventure movie is The Mummy 1999, hands down. It's got it all! Great ensemble cast, self-aware dialogue that isn't annoying, getting to fall in love with Rachel Weisz through Brendan Fraser's eyes and vice versa, Oded Fehr being so handsome the director changed his mind on covering his character's face with tattoos, John Hannah's fantastic acting and hilarious mix of Scottish and English upper class accent, great horror, great adventure, great everything! :D

For sure. Especially when you compare it to actual English food. Boiled cabbage stuffed in a boiled sheep stomach would fit in perfectly with the rest of the dishes in the gross food scene.

@@CitanulsPumpkin gross as it sounds on paper I had haggis multiple times when I visited Scotland and it was actually delicious! In a similar vein, the beetles in the ToD scene really don't match with the other dishes, as insects properly prepared aren't actually gross at all!

the aragorn approach

baby's first troll slaughter

Yeah, if Mike wants to risk dealing with the copyright bots some more, I'd love to see this sort of breakdown of other films - good and bad. Also for films that aesthetically are vastly different from D&D (either for D&D/D&D adjacent games or for systems that would more naturally work with them)

This is an excellent point! I think there’s a broader argument that the way this movie deviates from the structure of the first film goes a long way toward establishing Indy as a very versatile hero who you can tell a lot of different stories about.

While this is true, and can add a lot of authenticity to your game (so long as your players sign off on it), the casual, pointless racism portrayed in Temple of Doom is not something to be used as a model.

Yep, def only the third worst indie movie. Last two were unwatchable.

@@raymondharnack4160 That's too bad to hear, is this from seeing 5?

@@kendrajade6688 yes, first few minutes with de-aged Indy were pretty sweet but after that’s it’s just awful. I’ll let you judge for yourself tho. Just my personal opinion,

Temple of Doom is the worst of the three Indiana Jones films by far. But it's still a good film.

@Karajorma wrong, but you're entitled to your opinion 😄

Ahh that’s not the only thing the subtitles got wrong but it’s something I didn’t catch - thank you!!

I agree!!! My mouth dropped when I came across this video. LoL.....Temple of Doom was my favorite!!!

I mean, sure, if you discount the existence of Crystal Skull, then yes, Temple of Doom can’t hold a candle to Raiders and Last Crusade.

Was it? Felt just like the other movies to me.

I enjoyed both, but the new one is absolutely atrocious

@@armorclasshero2103 Glad I'm not the only one. It felt like an Indy movie to me, and the inclusion of aliens didn't break the immersion to me because a: he's already had the literal power of God come down on the nazis before, why not aliens now? and b: it felt like a progression of time; the 50s onward were a good time for budding science fiction and space operas. And if people are REALLY that mad about the fridge thing...I'd like to introduce you to ANY Indiana Jones stunts :P

@@armorclasshero2103nah dog, the cgi action gave it the star wars prequel effect, except minus the superpower payoffs, the pacing is rushed, and a lot of the lore included just feels like fan service. Also you are right in the sense that film is still incredibly derivative and pulls the entirety of its lesson from previous indi films

Agreed! This was so fun!

The Haunting is still my all-time favorite horror movie!

Yeah Racists tend to like racist stuff

@@VARMOT123 If you knew me you would know that’s not the case. You are a self assuming individual with that statement without having any knowledge of me. You think I’m a racist because I liked a movie as a kid in 1984? It’s quite hurtful to be honest. You need to take a look at yourself and how you think before judging others. What you think to be true isn’t necessarily always true. I myself have been guilty of such a thing and I’ve had to rethink my own thoughts at times and realize I was wrong. People are always in a rush to make a judgement and that’s the problem in todays world. I was a 14 year old kid when this came out. Racism was the farthest thing from my mind, nor did it make me think this portrayal of Indian culture was truthful. It was a Indian Hindu cult doing these things. Not Indian people. I don’t have an issue if you think the movie has racial overtones. I understand why people see it from that point of view, and I can understand Hindus having issue with it, but don’t be hasty to accuse someone you never met, or anyone else for that matter unless you know them.

It’s such a shame, because I LOVE the first and third Indiana Jones movies

According to the behind the scenes content, she didn’t know how to scream for camera and had to be taught. They cast her because she did a great job with the entitlement but also with being able to give Indiana Jones sass - but a lot of the latter seems to have been watered-down or misdirected during filming.

Got another one: Road to El Dorado is what happens when you leave the bard and the rogue alone together for too long 🤣

The Conan films's are all DND adventures.

Oh for sure, I imagine that the reason Last Crusade is my favorite has quite a lot to do with the fact that it’s the first Indiana Jones movie I saw, and I watched it with my own father ☺️

It’s something I did with Van Helsing, but definitely something I’ll do versions of in the future: kzfaq.info/sun/PLF5zBOWphfZD3MtGCnNi9bJ_zjtMnYUHG

@@SupergeekMike I loved the van helsing video as well! But something about the formatting for this one really resonated, it felt very digestible dissecting the story beat by beat and showing how to extract the good and leave behind the bigotry or poorly handled parts. Can’t wait to see what you make next! 🤗

@@SupergeekMike I hadn’t seen the Batman or clue videos yet! Thanks for the playlist, they look right up my alley

I mean, yeah. But in 1984, we didn’t know ANYTHING about most of the sociopolitical issues of today. We thought we’d have flying cars in thirty years, for Christ’s sake!

​@@bensdreamatorium8315Today's sociopolitical issues definitely existed in the 80s. Colonialism, racism, and sexism were bad 40 years ago and still are today. They weren't mainstream, but it doesn't mean it was okay. I'm not saying Indiana Jones or the people involved in Temple of Doom are terrible people that need to be canceled, but like Mike points out with the Maharaja's quote: it's okay to accept things were not okay and move on.

I certainly think the story has a lot of potential (I mean, that’s the premise of the video lol), a lot of it just comes down to poor execution, and some ill-considered ideas about how the Indian culture is depicted and some of the messaging.

@@SupergeekMike totally agree. That's why I love the story. Just wasn't executed in the best possible way

@@jlhitz35 But moving on isn’t as easy to do if those issues are still present, is it?

It turns out there isn’t one - I thought his name was “Lai” (rhymes with “lie” because he’s lying), turns out it’s “Lal” and I just misread the subtitles 🤦‍♂️

Right, that’s why I said it makes no sense. Because it’s very strange that he believes in magic and sees it in this film, and yet throughout Raiders he vehemently denies all superstition until the very end. Also, I didn’t mean Indy’s love life, I meant the experience for the creators and the audience. Although, yes, if ToD were a sequel it would be a downgrade for him as well.

@SupergeekMike great points, sorry I misunderstood, also funny that it fails for almost the same reasons as a sequel and a prequel to Raiders

I’ve done it once or twice but it’s definitely something I’ll do more in the future ☺️ kzfaq.info/sun/PLF5zBOWphfZD3MtGCnNi9bJ_zjtMnYUHG

Better? Ark. My favorite? Crusade.

Ohh you are missing out, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade are legitimately great. (And there are clearly folks who still enjoy Temple of Doom more than Crystal Skull, though I suspect nostalgia plays a large part for some of them, but probably not all of them)

Interesting. I've never heard anyone call ToD the best in 30+ years. Maybe it's a generation thing?

@@Heritage367 My dad was born in 1970. Exactly the timeframe to get into those movies. Temple of Doom is his favorite, though he likes all of the first 3. Myself, The Last Crusade is my favorite, though Temple of Doom is objectively the better film.

The action sequences are tremendously good, that I’ll agree with :)

Indeed, this was just something I misread in the Disney+ subtitles (or the subtitles had a typo) and I never caught the mistake until I uploaded it.

Depending on how these streams go, some more movie streams could be fun!

Unfortunately, without that context making it to the final film, that's ultimately not the message being presented. Additionally, that's just one scene - that doesn't change the fact that they put a white guy in brownface, or even just the low-grade racism we've gotten used to where Chattar Lal is presented as "civilized" because he's more familiar with Western culture, and is able to use this position to discredit the superstitions of the "natives." This form of racism and classism is so strong, it's literally still part of Indian culture, but it's still a form of racism. Also, even if it weren't racist, that wouldn't make me like it - that scene is just stomach-churningly gross, as are so many scenes in this film.

@@SupergeekMikeYou make a fair point, and I completely understand where you are coming from. I just remember being 14 years old watching this in the theater and not even remotely thinking this is how Indian people live their lives. It was a cult, and a cult does not represent an entire culture. It’s quite the opposite. However, there are people who will watch a fictitious movie and believe everything about another culture as real which is unfortunate. I don’t think that’s what they were trying to accomplish here, but maybe I’m being naive, and want to think better of people. As far as being westernized. The real Sadam Hussein always preferred suits over the traditional Muslim clothing. So I’m not sure I understand you point on that. Maybe I missed something you said. Maybe it’s the age gap between us. The world has changed a great deal in my lifetime. Some of it for the better, and some of it for the worse. I appreciate you taking the time to read my comment. I think it’s great we can comment without hurling insults at each other which happens to often here on you tube. This is what great debate is all about. On another note, I was a huge D&D fan and player for years and you are right on the money. I never thought about it, but Temple of Doom is a great concept for a campaign. Your efforts are noticed and you did a great job.

@@SupergeekMike actually something just occurred to me. I would also like to ask if you see the Germans being portrayed in the Indy films the same way. Clearly all Germans did not agree with Hitler and his Nazis regime but Germans are always being portrayed as evil in these films. Is that okay? I’m not sure what I think. I would like to know what you think about that. You can see racism everywhere if you want to see it. I know they aren’t eating bugs and monkey brains, but they are being portrayed in the same evil manner. The Thuggee did terrible things, and we all know what the Naxis did.

Jessica, your previous comment was fine, you accepted that we might not agree and that different people take different conclusions away from art. But this second comment has a lot more going on, and I’m gonna take a second to unpack them. If we were to determine that the depiction of Germans in this film is unfair or prejudiced - and we’ll get to that question in a minute - that wouldn’t be seeing racism in the film. There is no commonly-accepted definition of “race” that separates German people from Caucasians, and a film that exclusively features Caucasian lead actors and was predominantly made by Caucasians cannot be racist toward white people. So, seeing any similarity between the representation of Nazis and the Thuggee would not fall under the category of “seeing racism everywhere.” Next, let’s look at the Thuggee themselves and establish a baseline. Because the Thuggee in the film share very little in common with the Thuggee of history. (Assuming they were real, there’s debate over that subject but we have to assume they’re real at least for this conversation, or we’ll be here all day.) The real thuggee were more like a mafia, although some were religious and worshipped Kali. They strangled people, something we see in the film, but they did not murder women, something we see them plan to do in the film. Also, you know, they didn’t rip peoples’ hearts out and drop them into lava, nor force people to drink blood to brainwash them. And obviously they didn’t possess mystical powers. Additionally, voodoo is a practice that has nothing to do with India or the Thuggee, yet it is lumped in with them for the film. So it seems clear that the Thuggee in the film were an invention for the story, with no basis in reality. Now, let’s compare that with the way the Germans are depicted. In the first film, the only Germans we see are Nazi soldiers. At no point do any of them behave ahistorically for how Nazi soldiers would have acted in this situation, except for the fact that they speak English for the benefit of the audience, and Toht has a cool coat hanger. Their mission is also directly tied with one horrible man, Hitler, laying their actions at his feet. And of course, the primary antagonist is not a Nazi, but a French archaeologist who works with them for his own ends. We’ll come back to that in a minute. The third film again gives us two major villains who aren’t German Nazis - Donovan, who is an American aristocrat (and a Nazi) but who also has his own goals that he’s using the Nazis to accomplish. The other is Ilsa, a German archaeologist. Both of them are surprise villains - meaning, the film happily shows both of them as allies until later in the film. And this means the movie is being very clear that people from Germany aren’t assumed by Indy to be evil/Nazis. But yes, the film gives Nazi soldiers the same treatment as in the first film, but here we DO see German society. We see wealthy Germans on a blimp, and the film offers no value judgement on them one way or another. And besides that, we see a book burning - something we know happened during the Nazi occupation - and we also get something very useful for our purposes. We see that Ilsa is visibly upset at the book burning. So, the film explicitly shows us that not everyone in Germany is in harmony with the Nazi movement. However, the film also doesn’t let Ilsa off the hook. When she says she doesn’t believe in the book burnings, Indiana says, “You stood up to be counted with the enemy of everything that the Grail stands for. Who gives a damn what you think?” When we combine that with the other lead villains in 1 and 3, the French archaeologist and the American aristocrat, we see that the commentary around the Nazi is actually a statement condemning those who would work with Nazis despite the group’s heinous beliefs and actions, while trying to distance themselves from them. It’s condemning those who will pay lip service to denouncing fascists, yet will still do nothing to stop them. Ilsa and Belloc and Donovan are not Nazis, but they are the sort of people that Martin Niemöller denounced and warned about in his “First they came…” poem. And that’s to say nothing of the fact that Spielberg is a Jewish director, and he turned the Nazis into henchmen and bad guys who could be punched into submission, which I would imagine is immensely cathartic. Compare that to a film with no meaningful research into Indian culture painting them with a pretty broad, destructive brush. So, no, I don’t believe the Nazis are depicted the same way as the Thuggee, there are a few pretty key differences.

@@SupergeekMike well thought out my friend, and thank you for the insight. I appreciate you taking the time for a well thought out answer for an insignificant stranger who truly wanted to know why you think the way you do about a certain film.👍……………it was a bad ass coat hanger!

At some point or another, I’m sure all of them have been

@@SupergeekMike I, to be clear, didn't think they were in any "main books", just thought I remembered seeing them in a supplement

I actually do think they were in the Deities and Demigods book from the 80s? That book included a BUNCH of real-world mythology in the book, it made some CHOICES lol

Cringe writing and bad CGI is not worse than racism and sexism ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@@SupergeekMike idk I haven’t seen it in a while, so maybe I’m missing that part. Also note, I have not watched the video yet, so if you commented on it in there, I will see that later. I made this post while it was premiering. Anyway, I love you videos! Maybe I’ll go watch temple of doom again.

@@SupergeekMikeUnfortunately, I’m aware that there are a couple million people on this platform who would be more than happy to dispute/condemn you on that matter.

@@bensdreamatorium8315 They're welcome to their opinions. All I can do is make my arguments as clearly as I can, and then I can sleep well at night knowing I've said what I wanted to say.

I find that the year 1984 was FAR too recent for “a product of its time” to be an excuse. People absolutely should have known better.

@@SupergeekMike being born in 1984 I can unfortunately say its nearly 40 years ago now, which is just shy of half a century. Again I'm not condoning the actions and saying they are ok, but it was the way things were unfortunately in the 80s. Plenty of other films of the decade (not to mention the 90s) are equally guilty of these crimes. My issue is you can't judge the quality of a film itself and cast it as "Terrible" movie due to some dated stereotypes .

I mean, I personally judge it as terrible for a BUNCH of reasons, and that’s just one of them.

I get more frustrated by Temple of Doom, but Crystal Skull is definitely also bad 😂

Oh, really? I must have forgotten the scene in Crystal Skull where a white guy in brown face whips a beloved child sidekick. Seems like that would stick in the mind.

I mean, the cultural appropriation of voodoo (and complete misrepresentation of it), that I can see having a content warning.

Maybe, but I don’t get to decide what bothers other people, so I’m just doing my best to properly prepare them for the content in the video/movie

She might be the most "real" character, but that still doesn't help the movie at all.

I think we get a better version of Willie with Lex in Jurassic Park. Still has many authentic reactions of screaming, panic, freezing - but also they make her a more endearing character earlier in the story, a less frustrating character than Willie when shocking things happen, and even give her a few things to do during the third act. (Even without the hacking finale, she still manages to save Tim in the kitchen scene through resourcefulness.) I definitely think Spielberg learned where the line was with the frustrating experience of watching Willie in Temple of Doom. I wish the character worked better, there’s honestly a lot of potential for a fish out of water story with a socialite/performer getting dragged along on an Indiana Jones adventure, but unfortunately the execution of the concept really misses the mark.

@SupergeekMike ooh, I did not expect you to reply to my comment. Wow. That brightens my morning. Love this video. Funny enough, the Thuggee are half my inspiration for my super spooky blood cult in my Wildemount campaign, along with Los Illuminados from RE4. I respect you for actually criticizing the racism in ToD since most reviews tend to write it off as "standards of the time." As someone who enjoys this movie, that wasn't okay even then, and should be at the forefront instead of one mediocre character. Like you could've traded the gross out food with a potently spicy meat curry, and have the joke be that Willie and Short Round can't find milk to relieve that, and not much would change. So, respect to you for that. Couldn't agree more. I think part of the problem with Willie is that unlike Marion, Henry Sr., and Mutt, she shares the role as Indy's companion with arguably the best character in that role Short Round. Like, Willie could've broken the Black Sleep, but since the connection between Indy and his surrogate son is a lot stronger. Indy and Willie's romance feels like a fling instead of anything meaningful so it's weird when they big romantic moments. And Willie's writing was just generally mean-spirited, what with Lucas and Spielberg having messy divorces at the time. 100% Agree Willie could've been better. That being said, Kate Capshaw's acting saves Willie from being the worst character in my opinion. Her leaning into being the butt of the joke makes Willie more charming. The feast should rightly be criticized for its portrayal of Indian cuisine, Bugs for Lunch gets a chuckle out of me. As for the screaming, with the exception if the Elephant Water-Hole Tantrum, it think she's justified. Flying foxes, rhesus macaques, regular lizards, horned owls, monitor lizards, and Burmese pythons (i cannot confirm that thoses are definitively those animals in the Campfire scene. Those are my best guest, and i dont know if a resource exists to confirm) aren't especially dangerous to adults, India is home to some pretty gnarly fauna. Venomous snakes and small venomous insects (like the centipede in the bug chamber which I'm positive they used a dummy and wig for since you don't want to get bitten by one of those) are staples of nearly all tropical rainforests. Tigers and sloth bears especially are notable maneaters, the Maneater of Champawat having been killed a cool 28 years before ToD. The Bug Chamber has non-dangerous insects like Hissing Cockroaches, and Leaf Bugs. The Centipede actually is quite dangerous in certain species, some bites are equal to bee stings while others while the Giant Centipede have killed at least one child on record. And while I can Google all of those species and learn there's nothing to worry about, Willie would probably need a college degree to learn all that in 1935, so I'm willing to give her a pass. The Thuggee are pretty scary if Mola Ram is anything to go off of. And the minecart would break at any moment since the tunnel they went down was abandoned. I also want to highlight than even though she's not a combatant like how Indy and Short Round are, Willie still helps when things are bad. She gives Indy weapons and rocks in the Crusher fight, and she immediately goes to help Short Round after he falls through the bridge despite her fear. It's not much, but she's trying. Unrelated to Willie Scott, but while I was fact checking for this comment, I learned that the prime minister's name is Chattar Lal, not Lai. And that the super suble wording was "chatter lull" since he presumably poisoned the Maharajah with the Black Sleep. Great video. Looking forward to the next one. If you make any more Movie to D&D videos, my suggestion is Little Shop of Horrors and How to Play a Warlock Pact. That might be retreading some covered ground, but I watched Little Shop recently and Seymour screams Warlock to me, and his story has a tragic ending (at least in the play and the directors cut) Also Audrey 2 has the makings of an awesome boss fight, being a giant plant with bardic backup buds. Mix that with the Pod Plant form VGtR, and that could be cool.