Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies.

In my quest to post a trailer every day for a week, in order to make up for some slow updates as of late, I’m going to take a slight detour today and post an old trailer instead of a new one.  You see, today is my 30th birthday, and among many other things that means that it’s been 30 years since I was first exposed to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  My mother was watching the film when it caused her to go into labor with me, so I’ve got a pretty strong personal connection to the film.  I thought it’d be fun to take a look back at how that 1984 film was marketed in the theater, so take a peak at this vintage trailer and read on for my thoughts:

I’m sure if I were an Indiana Jones fan back in the 80’s, this would have completely sold me on the film.  It hits all of the highlights of the movie, without showing any of the “icky” bits that garnered so much criticism (pulling people’s hearts out through their chests, eating bugs, snakes and monkey brains, and a room full of insects).  It gives some good views of the film’s impressive sets:

We get many of the iconic action moments from the film, from bridge finale:

To the spike booby trap room:

And even part of one of my all time favorite film moments:

John Williams’ classic music is in full force, and its hard to find a better tagline than “If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones!”  There’s some romance (from a kiss I swear isn’t actually in the film):

Plus there’s one of the best comedy beats, which makes reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark:

And there’s always that trademark Indiana Jones smile:

Classic trailers are definitely different than current ones.  There’s much less of an air of mystery, as this trailer shows many of the film’s big moments, with the exception of the mine cart chase and the raft sledding, probably because they were still working on the effects.  There’s also an attitude of fun and excitement that you don’t find in movie trailers these days.

I’m sure there were people who enjoyed this trailer back in 1984 and then were shocked by how dark the film turned out to be, but from someone who loves the film passionately I would have been very pleased with this trailer.  It’s pretty close to the sort of trailer I would make for it now, if I wanted to show it off to people.  The only thing missing for me is that I would highlight the hero’s journey aspect of the film, and work in the rescuing of the slave children.  In all, it’s fun to look back at these classic trailers and imagine the films coming out today.

What do you think?  Would this trailer have made you want to see this Indiana Jones sequel (technically a prequel)?  Should the trailer have been darker to match the film’s tone, or shown different scenes?  Where does the film’s tagline rate among the all-time greats?  Do you like seeing vintage trailers, and is that something I should post more of?  Let me know in the comments!