#10: The Plane Crash I know this scene is ridiculous, but it is one of the more fun contenders for impossible scenes in 'Indiana Jones' films. The scene in question involves a couple of pilots who work for Lao Che, who ditch Indy, Shorty, and Willie in mid-flight to crash. With no parachutes left and no one knowing how to fly, the trio must improvise, hoping an inflatable raft will save their lives. The three characters then bail out with said raft, plummet onto a snow-covered mountain, and the raft goes from "parachute" to "toboggan." After that, it's over a waterfall and riding a flow of whitewater rapids that eventually bring them to India, where they become the "heroes fallen from the sky." Remembering that this is back when practical effects were the only real way to go, there's a particular "cheese" to this scene that I can't help but appreciate. This scene competes directly with the waterfall scene in 'Crystal Skull,' if the contest were the "most impossible stunt because you'd die twice from it." It's fascinating to think about this scene in another context, though. We have always been able to go along with some of these films' supernatural elements, but an impossible stunt has us saying, "Oh yeah, right." It's a pretty good way to tell the viewer that, considering some of the darker things to come, one will have to suspend disbelief. #09: Indy Gets Brainwashed Granted, this is weird, but I will explain, and it will get deep. I'm not gonna mention any names here, but I know someone (who surprisingly wasn't me) who, when watching this as a kid, was pretty traumatized by the whole idea of losing someone to the "forces of evil," as it were. Nightmares ensued, and I can still remember, to this day, this person confiding in me with those nightmares. So, bizarrely, this led to one of my first memorable bonding experiences with someone. We were able to talk out the things that scared us both. Although somehow (and I'll never really get this) I was okay with 'Temple of Doom,' I was terrified of a LOT of other things growing up. I wasn't like my peers, and I couldn't endure horror movies. But enduring this has always given me a sense of pride. It felt good to be the "strong" one for once. Today, I find an added symbolism to this scene. Indy's brainwashed here to do bad things, and I see a parallel between that and mental health problems that also "take things over." Shorty burns him with a torch to snap him out of his trance while saying, "I love you!" I've never thought of it until recently, but this poignant scene reminds us that when we lose control in some way, shape or form, we can rely on our loved ones to help. Perhaps that's deeper than necessary, but it does help me appreciate the film more than before. #08: The Poker Game It is SO unfortunate that this scene happens to run parallel to one of Willie's many irritating freak-outs as the trio attempts to camp in the jungles of India. But there's a lot to this scene that I think gets completely overlooked because the viewer is supposed to be laughing at Willie bumping into all of the jungle critters and screaming her face off. That part of the scene has no business on this list. In the meantime, Indy and Shorty are playing some hands of Poker (I think), and it's a scenes that both gives us what we need to know about Short Round and develops Indy's character ever so slightly. Shorty accuses Indy of cheating, and Indy plays along with it until he discovers Shorty is actually cheating. The pair exchange a sort of almost father/son moment with each other as Shorty, realizing he's busted, smiles and laughs with him about it. But there's something I picked up here that I didn't quite pick up on before. Willie may be the "Indy Girl" in this, but Indy's actual love and care go towards Shorty here. This is evident throughout the film, and it's a good way to show the audience that Indy cares a great deal about the safety and well-being of children, which lends itself to the film later (Moment #6). This realization is so refreshing in a way. It all adds to the "hero" element of Indiana Jones. #07: "Hold Onto Your Potatoes!" I can credit Short Round's intro for helping me get through this otherwise scary movie. As mentioned earlier, for whatever reason, 'Temple of Doom' never really got to me, and I'm pretty confident that it was because I was able to follow this kid through it, along with Indy. His introduction strangely always makes me wanna cheer. Indy and Willie make a daring escape from "Club Obi-Wan," falling through some awnings and into the back seat of a car (a 1934 Duesenberg Auburn convertible) driven by a young kid. When Indy tells him to "drive!" Shorty hits us with one of my favourite lines from the movie, "Okie dokie, Dr. Jones! Hold onto your potatoes!" Then, with great enthusiasm, Shorty becomes the wheelman for Indy and Willie during an otherwise intense car chase, and he's having a blast doing it. To top it all off, there's a hilarious bit that still gets to me to this day when Shorty tries to get a rickshaw to move out of his way. In failing to do so, Shorty says, "Okay, you asked for it!" and drives into the rickshaw, lifting the perplexed driver into the air. Watching this as a kid, I saw a hero in Short Round almost as much as I saw a hero in Indiana Jones. And this hero was much closer to my age, and we see later that he can hold his own in a fight. He's one character I wish would return to Indy's world, but there's still time! #06: Indiana Jones to the Rescue After Indy, Shorty, and Willie stumble on the Thuggee ceremony (Moment #1), they experience nightmarish events, ultimately surviving them all. But they're far from done. At one point, Willie says, "Let's get the hell out of here." Although they can save themselves, Indy responds the way he should with, "Right. All of us!" And with that, Indy goes back to rescue the enslaved children. As I mentioned in the 'Raiders' moments, each of these films has special music, which helps make each one unique. For my money, the best time to hear this music is from this particular scene, as it offers a heroic tone of determination, shedding light on all the darkness. You get this image of Indy emerging from the dust in silhouette style, giving the viewer goosebumps. It's one of Indy's more heroic moments, whatever your thoughts on the film may be. Spoiler alert: Indy (with the others' help) does save the day, and it's incredibly satisfying to see a literal swarm of formerly enslaved people running through the palace and trashing it as they go. Many of them are headed back home to their families to be reunited, giving this otherwise dark film the happy ending it needs. This moment also marks the beginning of the film's last half-hour, which is essentially action scenes all the way through. You should "hold onto your potatoes" when you reach this point. #05: The Rock Crusher As we get closer to the end of this movie, it involves a long and drawn-out climax that's stitched together with many different scenes. Say what you will about the quality of 'Temple of Doom,' but its final sequences are a lot of fun to watch. And what 'Indy' movie would be complete without him having to best someone potentially tougher than him? Indy again ends up going one-on-one with a big guy, fighting on a conveyor belt. "Chief" gets some assistance from the brainwashed Maharajah by using an Indy-shaped Voodoo Doll they just happened to have handy. But Indy soon receives some help from Shorty and, surprisingly, Willie, who starts hucking rocks at the big brute as a distraction and even hands Indy a weapon. Just when it looks like Indy is losing because of the damn doll, Shorty manages to get to it just in time. Indy springs up starts kicking ass and eventually makes the lug drop a big rock onto his head. The guy's garbs get caught, and he is sent back into the rock crusher. Indy even tries to save the man from this terrible fate, again showing the "hero within." It all boils down to a great fight and the gruesome death of someone we all felt deserved it. And guess who played him? The same guy as last time! That's right, Pat Roach (again, not the guy from 'Trailer Park Boys') comes back here for round two! #04: The Suspension Bridge I've already mentioned that the last half hour of this is straight-up action, but it all leads to this intense climax involving Indy, Shorty, and Willie being surrounded by the Thuggee, who are being led by Mola Ram, who has come for the final fight. Surrounded and desperate, Indy says something in Chinese to Shorty. We see Shorty nod and start wrapping his hands into the rope bridge. When Willie asks what's going on, Shorty says, "Hang on, lady, we're going for a ride!" and at that point, we know Indy's gonna cut the bridge ropes, sending a bunch of these guys plummeting into a crocodile-filled lake (although apparently, they used alligators). Meanwhile, the three leads, along with Mola Ram and a few leftover henchmen, hold on tight and "Tarzan" themselves to the side of the cliff, using the bridge as a ladder to climb up and get back to safety. It gets intense here, especially when Mola Ram starts dropping his own people to thwart Indy. But we also get another great scene of Indy's hidden knowledge here (like knowing to close his eyes if he ever saw the Ark get opened), seemingly harnessing the powers of the Shankara stones to his advantage. It's pretty damn cool, and the intensity of the scene builds, even after Indy cuts the bridge robe. It's classic edge-of-your-seat material, to be sure. #03: The Maharajah's Banquet Even without seeing this film, many know about the infamous banquet scene, where we see an array of supposed delicacies served to the three guests who don't quite have the stomach for it, although the idea of the food doesn't seem to phase Indy much. Throughout the meal, they get served a variety of odd things that would make the typical North American vomit in terror. Pankot Palace hosts the Guardian of Tradition Dinner, consisting of nasty things like Coiled Wrigglies ("Snake Surprise"; aka a big-ass sake stuffed with eels), Crispy Coleoptera (fresh beetles, still in their shell), Soup of the Head (The eyeball soup in the accompanying picture), and for dessert, Primate Parfait ("Chilled Monkey Brains"). But as nasty as it all sounds, it was all made of some pretty tasty stuff, such as Jello for the Monkey Brains. The scene has gone down in cinematic history as probably one of the best "gross-out" scenes ever executed. I always enjoyed this scene, showing people this movie and seeing their reactions to it. It makes me think of things like Halloween parties where you played that game involving having to touch "eyeballs," but they were grapes or thick spaghetti "hair." I've always appreciated gross-out stuff as long as it's innocent fun, which this is, and might have added to the fun side of things when I was a kid. #02: The Minecart Chase In another section of the film's action-packed final half-hour, Indy, Shorty, and Willie attempt to escape from the temple and the Thuggee army via a mine cart. The whole thing becomes a relatively ridiculous and deadly rollercoaster ride as the trio constantly fights off other carts full of Thuggee thugs. It's silly when you look at it, but why spoil this for yourself? This scene is improbable, but it manages to keep you on the edge of your seat. It might remind one of 'Donkey Kong Country,' which supposedly took its mine cart levels from this premise. And the mine cart tracks do not look much different here than in the game - suspended high, often above a pool of lava, and going at breakneck speeds on rickety tracks. One could think of it as 'Fast & Furious' Mine Cart Edition for as silly and improbable, yet fun and awesome the scene is. This sequence adds some much-needed exhilaration after things like the Thuggee Ceremony and witnessing Indy get himself brainwashed, turning evil for a second. Much like with the raft scene, while it is hard to unsee some of the models and dummies used for the scene, it's still some edge-of-your-seat fun that, as far as I know, hasn't been attempted to be duplicated in much else. It stands strong as an original bit of material, and is easily one of the ore enjoyable bits of the movie. #01: The Thuggee Ceremony  If there is one thing everyone knows about 'Temple of Doom,' it's that some unfortunate soul eventually gets his heart ripped out. This scene represents a lot for me on a personal level, but it's also cinematically historical and significantly impacted further films more than most of the series' moments. Regarding its influence, this scene is up there with the opening scene of 'Raiders.' Indy, Shorty and Willie find a secret tunnel that leads them to the "Temple of Doom," where the first thing they witness is a Thuggee ceremony. The ceremony involves some poor guy in a cage and Mola Ram taking his beating heart out of his chest, Kano style. The man survives this process and gets lowered into a swirling fire pit while Mola Ram chants, and we see the rapidly beating heart catch on fire as he laughs maniacally. It's straight-up horrific. But get this - this is rated PG. At the time, 'Temple,' along with 'Gremlins,' contained scenes with a scary intensity for the kids, leading to the eventual PG-13 rating. But if you want a solid example of what you could get away with back in the day with PG, this is a great place to turn. Nowadays, something like this would be a solid PG-13 with parents strongly cautioned. On that note, however, I have Spielberg to thank for allowing me to take some of my first actual footsteps into the horror genre with this.
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