Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom gets a bad rap, and for the most part, it’s not that fair.

Okay, sure, the film is certainly the weakest of the original three. It can’t match the humor of The Last Crusade or live up to the epic quality of Raiders, but it’s hardly a film to write off. It features Indy’s best sidekick, the charming and hilarious Short Round (Jonathan Ke Quan,) plenty of thrilling action sequences, and the classic disgusting dinner scene. Come on, frozen monkey brains – what’s not to love?

Still, the film has its weak spots, and the primary one is not the dark subject matter. It’s Kate Capshaw. A smaller dose of screaming would’ve served the tolerance level of audiences better, but aside from that, Capshaw simply did not have the charisma to live up to the level Karen Allen had set for one of Indy’s loves. Perhaps she was too busy wooing Spielberg to focus on giving her best performance, although her filmography over the last 25 years would suggest there’s a bigger issue at stake here.

Temple of Doom has a lot to live up to among the other Indiana Jones films. Perhaps a better and fairer evaluation of the film considers it on its own terms, and even more than two decades after its release, it’s a hugely entertaining movie.

As for the newest special edition DVD, it’s understandable the level of cynicism most consumers hold regarding releases like this. Not five years ago, a DVD set of the trilogy was released, and a fresh release really isn’t necessary. Still, this is pretty common practice for many films, and not just those with a new sequel hitting theaters.

The best special feature on the disc is a ten-minute introduction to the film with Spielberg and Lucas. It’s short, but it’s interesting to hear their perspective all these years later, especially with the release of the new film so close at hand. It’s revealed that Lucas pushed hard for a darker second chapter, in the vein of The Empire Strikes Back. While Temple of Doom absolutely missed the mark in replicating the success of that film, Lucas’s increasing boneheadedness had not reached The Phantom Menace proportions yet, and the film was not entirely ruined. The rest of the special features are less interesting, but still valuable, including one about the gross dinner scene and storyboards for the mine cart chase scene. Also, are photo galleries really necessary on DVDs anymore? Who decides still images from the film make compelling bonus material?

Certainly, the new special features don’t warrant a purchase from anyone who has the last DVD release. But for those without this trilogy on DVD, the Indiana Jones series is pretty much an essential part of any library, and this new set of DVDs will fulfill that need just fine. Of course, you could just wait for the next re-release when The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull comes packaged along with it, but if you’re like a number of Indy fans, you may be pretending that film doesn’t exist.

At least Temple of Doom won’t be considered the worst Indy film anymore.