Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom received two Academy Award nominations.
At the 57th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Original Score and Best Visual Effects. John Williams received the music nomination, while Richard Edlund, David K. Smith, and other effects artists were recognized for the film’s visual-effects work. It won the Visual Effects award.
The nominations reflected the film’s technical achievements, including miniature work, optical effects, mechanical effects, and large-scale set pieces. Its intense content also made it notable beyond awards history: the controversy surrounding its violence and frightening imagery helped motivate the creation of the PG-13 rating in 1984.
The two nominations are often confused with the larger awards record of Raiders of the Lost Ark, which received eight Academy Award nominations. Temple of Doom had a smaller nomination total, but it still became the first Indiana Jones film to win an Oscar for visual effects.