12 Directors Who Admitted They Ruined Their Own Movies
2. Steven Spielberg Made Temple Of Doom Too Dark
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the sequel to the light-hearted and fun Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. As such, it is surprising that the sequel to the critically and financially successful movie is one with extravagant violence, human sacrifice, child slavery, and a murdering cult straight out of a horror movie. Even Spielberg himself admitted that he wouldn't actually let a ten-year-old child watch some of the unsavoury scenes in the movie.
The first sign of trouble actually appeared even before the shooting began. The Indian government refused to give Spielberg permission to shoot in India because they thought the movie was racist. When filming was completed and the first cut was screened internally, everybody was appaled and asked Spielberg to tone the violence down a notch. Even after cutting some of the more violent parts, the movie is still, in Spielberg's own words, "too dark, too subterranean, and much too horrific."
Spielberg detested the movie so much that he made Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as some kind of apology for the Temple of Doom. He made it a point that the Last Crusade would bring back the fun associated with the first movie rather than the gloom of the second.