The cult of Thuggees seek to plunder, Sankara stones and all their wonder, an archaeologist will resist, using whips and guns and fist, in a treasure of a film packed with adventure.

There are puzzles to be solved and riddles broken, the dialogue's a joy, beautifully spoken, action packed from start to end, returns a massive dividend, engaging all the way and thought provoking.

On its own it is a fun yarn, but compared to the brilliant Raiders of the Lost Ark it is a disappointment. The story is rather overblown and not as well thought out, Kate Capshaw's shrill and annoying heroine is one of the least engaging characters in the series and the character of Short Round didn't do much for me either. However, the sets and cinematography once again are fabulous, as is the score. The script has some nice touches, the direction is good and the pacing is brisk. There is also some terrific action especially the wild roller-coaster ride through the Indian Mine, and Harrison Ford is still very engaging as Indy. On the whole, disappointing but it is still pretty decent. 7/10 Bethany Cox

For his second go around as two fisted archaeologist Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford was in China and had to beat a hasty retreat out of there with the lovely Kate Capshaw and his young sidekick Jonathan LeQuan as Short Round. Capshaw proves to be utterly useless in a crisis, but Indy has good reason to be glad he bought the little guy along.

The plane he scrammed out of China on crashes in a remote part of India and Ford and his companions find themselves in a desolate and unhappy village. Two blue rocks said to have mystical power were stolen from the village idol saluting the Hindu god Shiva and someone like an eastern Pied Piper has taken all the children away. Rumor has it that the maharajah's palace has become an abode of evil. Specifically the Thugee strangulation cult which you will all remember from the RKO classic Gunga Din has revived.

When Jones finally discovers what's going on and who's behind it, the last hour of the film is literally non-stop action. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is one of those wonderful films that has no message, doesn't pretend to have a message, but is just made for entertainment purposes only.

It also has it share of comedy, usually from Kate Capshaw. The scene in the maharajah's palace where all those exotic delicacies are brought out and positively nauseating the audience and Kate Capshaw is hilarious. Her reactions are worth the price of renting or buying the DVD alone.

The Indiana Jones eighties trilogy is currently being run on a lot of stations because of the release of the new Indiana Jones film. The Temple of Doom is certainly something not to be missed by fans of the fighting archaeologist.