Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

The American action-adventure film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) was directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, based on a story by George Lucas. In 1935, Indiana Jones, an American archeologist, narrowly escapes a murder attempt from Shanghai crime boss Lao Che, who had hired him to retrieve the remains of Nurhaci. Accompanied by young orphan Short Round and nightclub singer Willie Scott, Indy flees the city without knowing that Che’s plane is their mode of transportation. The plane’s pilots abandon ship after dumping the fuel, but the trio manages to escape using an inflatable raft before crash landing. They journey down the Himalayan slopes and end up in the Indian village of Mayapore, where the villagers ask for Indy’s help in retrieving a sacred lingam stone stolen along with their children by malevolent forces from Pankot Palace.

After agreeing to the request, Indy speculates that the stone is one of the five Sankara stones bestowed by Hindu deities to aid in the battle against evil. Upon arrival at the palace, they are kindly received and invited to attend a lavish feast hosted by the youthful maharaja. In the midst of their stay, Indy fends off an attacker and uncovers a network of underground tunnels beneath the palace. Accompanied by Willie and Short Round, he ventures into these tunnels and eventually stumbles upon a grand temple being used for a sinister purpose – human sacrifice by Thuggee followers. The cultists possess three Sankara stones and have abducted children from Mayapore to locate the remaining ones. In an attempt to recover the stones, Indy, Willie, and Short Round are captured.