Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Continuity mistake: When Indy tries to grab the antidote vial from the table, in the closeup just as the vial falls off the table the camera follows the vial as it lands in the empty area to the left of Lao Che's chair where Kao Kan's chair should be, but it's not, and the rug's edge with wood floor beside Lao Che's chair though it shouldn't be. Then Indy hits Kao Kan who is again seated closely to Lao Che's left, as he should be, and when Kao Kan falls backward we see the rug edge is nowhere near Lao Che's chair, also as it should be. (00:08:20)

Super Grover

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Suggested correction: Actually it appears the vial falls to the left of Kao Ken's chair, not Lao Che's. It appears after Indy pierces the other guy with the shishkebab, Kao Ken, off camera, takes the vial and puts on his left side. Indy jumps on the table and after missing the vial he slides further and then elbows Kao Ken who is on the right side now. The vial is still on the left side of Kao Ken's chair when it's kicked onto the wooden floor.

lionhead

You're very much mistaken. Lao Che is wearing an embroidered dinner jacket and has a pinky ring on his left pinky, and Kao Kan's left hand is bandaged in gauze. After Indy skewers Chen, in the closeup of Indy's hand just as it knocks the vial off the table, it's Lao Che's hand (note the pinky ring, etc) that we see on the table next to Nurhachi's urn, the stack of money, and the vial. That is not Kao Kan's hand/arm, remember his left hand is bandaged. And as this closeup continues to pan down it follows the vial as it lands on the floor in the empty space where Kao Kan's chair should be, but it isn't.

Super Grover

Yep, you're right I see it. There are 2 shots of Indy trying to grab the vial off the table and the second one is followed through with the vial falling off it and that one is wrong. Alright.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: After Willie spits in Indy's face it cuts to Short Round running through the mine, and just as Shorty turns his head toward the camera behind him, we can catch a glimpse of something blue which does not belong in this dark dreary environment, at the right side of the screen. There is a tall spotlight and two crew members, one is wearing a solid blue shirt and a cap, and the other a blue/white striped shirt with white pants. (01:21:25)

Super Grover

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Suggested correction: This takes place in milliseconds and there's no way to see it unless you pause the image or play it in slo-mo. It should be under trivia.

Sacha

Right now I have it playing on Netflix, and there is no slow motion. The striped blue shirt is noticeable as it plays without any slo-mo. If something catches my eye onscreen, it is fair game to go back and rewatch what was noticed in the first place. And in order for me to confirm what I find, I do pause, and may take screenshots. By the way, I've seen this movie countless times over the years, and it was just a matter of catching that glimpse of the color blue because it popped out against the dreary surroundings. I'll leave it up to Jon whether to move it to trivia or not.

Super Grover

Fair enough :).

Sacha

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Short Round rams the car into the back of the rickshaw, in the next shot facing the rickshaw driver we can see that he loses his right shoe (viewer's left) just as he's lifted into the air, but his shoe returns in following shots. (00:12:05)

Super Grover

More mistakes in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom trivia picture

Trivia: After the fight in the nightclub, when Indy and Willie make their escape, the name of the club is visible as they drive away - Club Obi Wan - a reference to Star Wars, also by George Lucas.

Trivia: Just like Indiana was named after George Lucas' dog, Willie was named after Steven Spielberg's dog and Short Round was named after screenwriters Bill Hyuck and Gloria Hatz's dog.

Trivia: When Indiana Jones is confronted with the two swordsmen and goes to draw his gun to repeat his easy kill from the first Indy movie, listen to the music. It's the same music that was played in Raiders of the Lost Ark in the marketplace shortly before he pulled his gun on the big twirling swordsman.

Lynette Carrington

More trivia for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Short Round: I keep telling you, you listen to me more, you live longer!

Willie: There are two dead people down here!
Indy: There's gonna be two dead people in here!

More quotes from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Question: Why did Spielberg make Temple of Doom a prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark? I read somewhere that he didn't want to make the Nazis the villains again, but that wouldn't be a problem since the Nazis never went to India or China.

MikeH

Answer: This is conjecture, but it seems the general function of setting Temple of Doom before Raiders of the Lost Ark is that it helps set audience expectations that the two movies are self-contained episodes. For instance, Karen Allen has said she wasn't disappointed about not being asked to return because she'd already been told that the next installment was being set in the past before her character is reunited with Indy. Conversely, since we're already aware Raiders makes no mention of the events of Temple of Doom, we know we shouldn't necessarily expect any further installments to continue directly from prior movies' storylines regardless if they are set forward in time.

TonyPH

Chosen answer: It was actually George Lucas who wrote the story, made it a prequel, and has stated it was because he didn't want the Nazis to be the villains again. The idea most likely seems if it wasn't a prequel, the Nazis could still be after Jones, even in China or India. But alas, there is really no other insight as to Lucas' prequel decision.

Bishop73

Question: Does anyone have a translation as to what the Mullaram says during the human sacrifice scenes? He chants something like 'Cully-ma, Cully-ma, Cully-ma sha-ti-day.' Also, what does the human sacrifice say? It sounds like 'Oh num-shi-vye.'

Answer: He says "kali ma, shakti day". This is hindi and means (literally) "black mother, give me power/strength". "Ohm nama Shivaya" means "I bow to Shiva." Both are Hindi.

Question: When the man was hanged on the fan, what exactly happened? It seems like he was cut by the fan, but then there's no blood or anything. How exactly did he die? And why did the fan suddenly stop when he hit it?

MikeH

Chosen answer: His neck was snapped by the whip getting caught in the fan. There isn't always blood with a hanging. Since the fan wasn't designed to hold a man's weight, the motor in it would have stopped or given out.

Captain Defenestrator

More questions & answers from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

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