MovieChat Forums > Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Discussion > Massive Inexplicable Plot Hole At The Be...

Massive Inexplicable Plot Hole At The Beginning Which Has Always Annoyed Me

posted a year ago by FootOfDavros (8172)
11 replies | jump to latest

This has got to be one of the worst plot holes in movie history and has no possibile explanation which would make any sense:-

At the beginning, we see Willie singing "Anything Goes" in Club Obi Wan. Then she retreats backwards into this decorative prop smoking red dragon's head (I think) which had been set up on some stairs. What happens next defies belief...

We see some massive sound stage, with dozens of silver clad tap dancers, clearly not in the same place at all, before Willie seems to descend down what appears to be some wheelchair access slope perhaps (?) - but only it's coming from nowhere! This entire dance routine is quite clearly not happening in the club we've just seen Indy in. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Huge plot hole.

[–] ak47wong (576) a year ago

Whatever you might think of the dance number, it’s not a “plot hole” for the simple reason that it has nothing to do with the plot. (What’s with people on this site calling everything a “plot hole”?)

Spielberg included the dance sequence as a tribute to the Busby Berkeley production numbers of the 1930s (the same period that the movie is set in… coincidence?).

From the Wikipedia article on Busby: “Berkeley's numbers were known for starting in the realm of the stage, but quickly exceeding this space by moving into a time and place that could only be cinematic, to return to shots of an applauding audience and the fall of a curtain” – which is precisely what happens here (apart from the curtain).

Just as actors singing in a musical doesn’t “make sense”, neither does this production number. But Spielberg knew what he was doing.

[–] FootOfDavros (8172) a year ago

Oh sure, I get that the actual real world reason was to pay homage to the big dance routines of classic cinema. Although I didn't know it was as specific as to a particular director, thanks.

As to the plot hole aspect, I think you have been mistaken by the assumption that the term "plot hole" simple covers straight up gaps in storylines. But if you look up the definition, you'll see that it also covers inconsistencies.

Therefore, whilst the real world explanation of playing tribute to fantastical cinematic dance routines of the past may be okay in a pure fantasy dream world of a production, it doesn't really work for Indiana Jones. There is no logical reason as how to Willie could travel from the world of the nightclub to wherever that dance routine was taking place and back.

We can see it has happened with our own eyes, yet nothing plot-wise explains how it could possible be thus leaving us with an inconsistency "plot hole".

[–] ak47wong (576) a year ago

I'd seen this movie dozens of times and never even noticed that it was an "inconsistency" or "plot hole" or whatever you want to call it until I saw it mentioned in some article a few years ago. In a movie where pretty much nothing makes sense, it really doesn't bother me in the slightest, especially not when compared with the terrible acting, hokey dialogue, second-rate effects and jarring violence.

[–] FootOfDavros (8172) a year ago

Well, that's true - Dance number aside, I was just discussing on another thread some of the daftness around the opening. Why bring the antidote for the poison? Or at least why a real antidote? Why destroy a plane just to kill them when they were asleep, etc...

Definitely the weakest of the OT.

[–] paulsdhart (277) a year ago

Had never noticed either
Anyway I found this
https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/28864-the-awesome-but-misleading-intro-to-anything-goes-temple-of-doom/

That dance number.... Halfway thorough it, it cuts to this giant big hall. It can't be part of the seedy night club! It's surreal!

What is that? Willie's imagination or dream? But why would they show us that?
It's clearly happening in her mind. That's why the film is rewinding when the dancing girls do the splits.
Willie is a self-important dreamer, and she has an ego, to go with it. She wants more out of life, than to be the moll of a Chinese mafia boss. She wants to hit the big time, but she knows she'll never make it. That's why she overcompensates, with fantasies.
...
it's Willie's imagination, like her dreams/desires/aspirations of what she really wants to be doing. The script / novelization makes it clear.
...
One of my favorite details is how Wille actually stands in front of the movie title

[–] moviechatterer (15643) 10 months ago

you'll see that it also covers inconsistencies.

well that could mean anything couldnt it ?
I hope this definition was the real deal official word of god definition , where did you find it ?

That would include continuity errors , or "that model of car only came out the year after the movie is set" , or breaking the 4th wall , or a character not wearing black at a funeral as is convention , or characters breaking into song.

None of those things would be considered a plot hole even by most people , let alone the correct definition

[–] Egosomnia (861) 10 months ago

You're quite right, Moviechatterer. But good luck trying to convince modern audiences. The only reason the term "Plot Hole" has come to mean anything other than an actual hole in the plot, ie, A Missing Piece In The Story, is that modern audiences are mostly composed of the young, whose knowledge of grammar is non-existent. Also, for many of them, it's easier to type "plot hole" than it is to type "inconsistency", because they would have to look up the spelling of "inconsistency"...

[–] xergan (1067) 7 months ago

In movies, going through fog is often associated like traveling into a dream world, there is no indication, that anyone in the club is seeing the stage scene, it is more likely that in the real world she just went in (dreams of doing the dance scene, which extends like in Inception) and basically just runs out with the red scarf out.

[–] TandyMan (11097) a year ago

It's a baffling move by the filmmakers for sure. In all 5 of these flicks, nothing like that has happened before. We straight leave the "real world" of the film and go into fantasy mode for an entire huge sequence which makes everything that follows suspect.

[–] Martoto (5036) 10 months ago

How does it affect the plot exactly?

[–] strntz (12254) 7 months ago

Huge plot hole.

I really think we need to go down to the field for Millsey's call on this one.