Synopsis:

If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones! Join Indy, his young sidekick Short Round, and famous American vocalist Willie Scott, on a quest for fortune and glory. Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom is our hero’s darkest adventure. After finding the remains of an ancient Chinese Emperor, Indy travels from China to India. There he risks his life, and soul, to recover a holy relic from the deadly cult of Kali worshipers. The Willie Scott edition is a fanedit with a stronger female lead (removing excessive screaming and whining) and fewer distractions that pull the viewer out of the story (removing badly-dated special effects). Care was taken to cut as little as possible to achieve these goals. Where possible, excessive screams were silenced without cutting frames.

Intentions:

Temple of Doom was the first Indiana Jones I saw in the cinema, and it's always kept a special place. Years later I understood the flaws and excessive darkness compared to Raiders and Last Crusade. I hoped that someone would find a way to improve it. Fast forward to the present, and here then is my attempt to make this a better Indiana Jones movie. Making Willie Scott less annoying and minimizing the most grating dated special effects is all that's needed. Where possible, excessive screams were silenced without cutting frames.

Change List:

- Retained full Cole Porter song. I tried cutting the glittering dream sequence, but didn't like the opening's pacing with that gone. - Cut Willie's unfunny line about Nurhachi being a "real small guy". - Reduced Willie's screaming as they fall through the canopies outside the Obi-Wan Club. - Cut Short Round's line "This is fun". It felt wrong while they're being chased and shot at. - Willie does not lose Indy's gun during the car chase, nor complains about a cracked nail. - Removed the pilot's snickering as he leaves the plane. - Reduced Willie's screaming as they get ready to jump out of the airplane. - Faded Willie's scream after they jump out of the plane. - Cut 3 brief poorly-done green-screen shots as the raft goes down the mountain. -? The raft falls into the river from a short cliff. One gravity-defying leap is enough. - ?Smoother transition onto the shaman. - Reduced Willie's whining when they mount the elephants. - Short Round calls his elephant "best friend" once, not twice. - Willie does not scream at the jungle nightlife, letting us focus on Indy and Short Round's poker game. This scene helps establish the strength of their bond, making Indy's momentary betrayal and subsequent redemption in the temple all the more heart-wrenching. -? Cut comments about the flying foxes. They are not vampire bats. - The dinner scene is reduced. No eyeball soup, and fewer shocked responses from Willie and Short Round. The monkey brains are retained because they're too iconic to remove (viewers would miss them). - Small trim to Indy getting strangled in his room. -? Small trim to Willie offering herself to Indy. - No distracting dead bodies pop out in the secret passage. Perhaps use it for a Goonies edit, not here. - Cut Willie pushing on the statue's breasts. There was no point, she already had a door open. - Trimmed Willie's panic over the bugs. No more whining over her nails. -? Cut the obviously fake cave between the trap-room and the temple. - Cut the brief shot of Mola Ram's hand entering the Thuggee victim chest. What a lousy "special" effect! Now the heart-ripping scene plays the same as UK censors required it. -? Reduced the weakest effect shots in and of the lava pit. -? Slight trim to Indy being forced to drink Kali's blood. - Reduced some of Willie's screaming as she's lowered into the pit. Again remove the least successful effects shots in and of the lava pit. Including fireball licking toward Willie. - Cut lackey getting konked on the head with sledgehammer ala Looney Tunes. -? Cut worst stop-motion shots from mine-car chase. Cut worst fake-lava too. -? Trimmed bad guys falling to the crocodiles, to remove worst special effects. - Lots of audio transitions were reworked to keep the flow of the beat of John Williams' wonderful score. (The sacrifice scene in the temple was frustrating because the tempo kept accelerating, making it harder to hide cuts!). -? Added FE logos at start and end. -? Updated the English subtitles (not hard-coded).

Other Sources:

Special Thanks:

Thanks to The Scribbling Man for his clear, thorough and enthusiastic review, Plissken1138 for helping make the cover better, InfoDroid for the old but informative thread on his version, everyone who shared thoughts for improvement, and all the outstanding editors for setting the bar so high.