5 Reasons Why Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom Is Underrated

The opening scene to Temple of Doom is arguably the best in the series. Don't get me wrong, all films feature memorable openings, even if for the wrong reasons (nuked fridge...sigh), but Lucas' and Spielberg's homage to James Bond is one of the great movie moments.

Steven Spielberg has stated in interviews that he would have loved to have directed a James Bond movie and while this is as close to it as he's gotten, it's pretty damn close. It's all there; the white tux, the snivelling villains, the damsel in distress, the party setting.

What makes this scene so great, however, is that as much fun as Spielberg is having paying tribute to Bond, he never forgets that this is an Indiana Jones picture. As soon as the action starts we know right where we are and who we're there with. Indy's desperate scrambling to find the antidote; the inventive kills (would Bond really skewer a bad guy with a kebab!?); jumping out of the window through the roof of a waiting car - it's all pure Indy.

As an audience we're spoilt: there's a great musical number in 'Anything Goes', Indy giving us his best James Bond impression and an exciting, eclectic escape through the streets to a waiting plane. Also, who doesn't love the 'Club Obi-Wan' nod to Star Wars. To the other opening scenes in the series, we simply say nice try ('Lao Che').