Steven Spielberg Doesn't Like Temple of Doom

Screen Rant

Temple of Doom is Spielberg's Least Favorite Indiana Jones Film

By Michael Kennedy

Published Aug 3, 2017

Steven Spielberg reveals that his least favorite Indiana Jones film is Temple of Doom, meaning he likes Kingdom of the Crystal Skull more.

Legendary director Steven Spielberg needs no introduction. He's perhaps the most consistently successful filmmaker in history, directing classics ranging all the way from emotional human dramas like Schindler's List to special effects spectacles like Jurassic Park, those two even in the same year. Of all the iconic characters and franchises that Spielberg has helped create though, perhaps none are more entrenched within pop culture than Indiana Jones.

While it's a bit of a toss-up as to whether Indy or Han Solo is the role more closely identified with Hollywood legend Harrison Ford, so great is he at playing Spielberg's tomb-raiding, bad guy-punching, part-time college professor that there are still plans to continue the franchise with a fifth installment. That's despite the fact that Ford is now 75 years-old. Thanks to movie magic though, one presumes he can continue to kick on-screen butt for years to come.

When asked to name the worst film in the Indiana Jones franchise to date, chances are most people would reply with 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Spielberg's extremely divisive fourth Indy effort that saw Karen Allen return to the series as long-lost love interest Marian Ravenwood and introduced Shia LaBeouf as the couple's now-grown son. However, documentarian Susan Lacy tells the New York Daily News that Spielberg in fact disagrees with that common opinion, and instead cites 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as his least favorite entry.

A woman looks shocked at seeing monkey brains from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Lacy learned this while conducting over 30 hours of interviews with Spielberg for HBO's upcoming documentary on the legendary director, simply entitled Spielberg. Airing October 7, the documentary takes a look at Spielberg's entire directing career, both the highs and the lows. In addition to Spielberg himself, Lacy also sat down for interviews with a large number of the cast and crew members that have had the opportunity to collaborate with the Oscar-winner over the years.

While Lacy didn't elaborate on Spielberg's reasons for liking Temple of Doom the least, it actually makes sense looking back. For one, neither kid sidekick Short Round or love interest Willie Scott has ever appeared again within the franchise, nor has their absence even been addressed. Additionally, the story of Temple of Doom essentially exists in a vacuum, in the sense that it could be removed from the series completely and nothing about the later entries would have to change. That definitely points to it not being a favorite work of Spielberg's.