King Solomon's Mines (1985)

Simply A Masterpiece

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I gave this 1 star only because I can't give "minus" stars. There's absolutely NOTHING redeeming about this movie. It's not even a travesty of H. Rider Haggard's novel because it has absolutely nothing to do with it beyond the name. If there was still an H. Rider Haggard estate around in 1985, it should have sued.

Allan Quatermain (Richard Chamberlain), renowned adventurer, agrees to take a young woman (Sharon Stone) across Africa in search of her father. The search changes from the girl's father to a search for the legendary King Solomon's Mine. Along the way, they encounter wild animals, hostile natives, a ruthless Turkish fortune hunter, and an even more ruthless German fortune hunter. Given its inherent limitations, King Solomon's Mines almost works perfectly. Yeah, it's got the low budget you would expect from an 80s era Cannon/Golan-Globus Production. Special effects, while fun in a cheesy sort of way, really highlight the budget limitations. The plot feels little more than a shameless rip of Indiana Jones, but is still enjoyable enough. Most of the acting is at least acceptable. Sharon Stone's constant whining didn't bother me as much as some other reviews I've read. Overall, King Solomon's Mines is pretty good for what it is. Notice I said the movie worked "almost" perfectly. My main complaint and the reason I cannot rate it any higher is Richard Chamberlain's Quatermain. Whether it was Chamberlain or the way the character was written, he comes off as a phony. I'm not buying him as a rugged adventurer. He's too well quaffed and too well dressed to be taken seriously. He's too obviously an actor trying to play a rugged adventurer. And that hat - the leopard band looks ridiculous. A better character or better actor might have made King Solomon's Mines a better experience. My favorite part of the film has to be scene-stealing Herbert Lom. His Colonel Bockner is so over-the-top, it's often laugh-out-loud funny. The instances where he is on screen with John Rhys-Davis are a real treat, with each trying to outdo the other. Really good stuff.

Okay, so somebody at Cannon decided it would be a good idea to make an Indiana Jones rip-off, utilising a 19th century boy's own adventure novel that hadn't been adapted for the screen for around forty years. Perhaps perceiving the ineptitude of the ensuing production, they did away with attempts at seriousness in favour of out-and-out comedy.This is a terribly, terribly poor film.I find comedy highly subjective, and as I have an unusual sense of humour I tend to dislike the genre (apart from rare treats like PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES). This is no exception. The jokes are lame, the overacting whiffs of embarrassment, the supporting characters are racist stereotypes. One of the "highlights" sees Quatermain and his love interest inside a huge cooking pot which they manage to tip over and roll down a hill. It's that kind of film.The backdrops are okay, but the special effects seem particularly dated for the age (case in point: the silly blue-screen effects used to convince us that Chamberlain is hanging over a pool of crocodiles). Chamberlain himself seems mildly embarrassed - and so he should, as his acting career never recovered from this double debacle (a sequel was shot at the same time). Sharon Stone, playing a dumb blonde sidekick, is the worst I've ever seen (equally as bad as Erica Eleniak in UNDER SIEGE). John Rhys-Davies seems to be reprising his role from the Indiana Jones films, while the only performance I enjoyed was Herbert Lom as a comic-book German colonel.Experienced action director J. Lee Thompson manages to give this film a decent pace and sense of momentum, but the woefully unfunny script scuppers it from the outset.

Released in mid-1985,KING SOLOMON'S MINES was an attempt of producers Yoram Globus and Menaham Golan's angle eventually to cash in on the success of the Indiana Jones films of the early-1980's. It was also the producers attempt to remake the classic 1950 film of the same title which starred Stewart Granger. But with limited and negative results.Was this the remake of Stewart Granger's 1950 adventure classic with carbon copy hints taken from Steven Spielburg's RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK? It might have been,but anyway its only one of those "B" action-adventure that were all over the place during the entire decade of the 1980's well into the 1990's. The remake of KING SOLOMON'S MINES was a movie upon its theatrical release in 1985,was clobbered by the film critics,but despite to the audiences liking it,it was well-received at the box office despite making it one of the worst films of that year. However,it is not necessary to duplicate the 1950 version,but as far as the action scenes along with high adventure and fantasy it was a good effort by director J. Lee Thompson who had earlier two fantastic films that were successful in their own right....one was the Oscar nominated 1961 adventure film "The Guns Of Navarone",and the 1969 adventure-fantasy western "McKenna's Gold"(both films starred Gregory Peck),does astounding work with some of the intense action scenes.The casting of Richard Chamberlain(WTF???)in the lead role was challenging,but he does do justice to Stewart Granger's film and gives a great performance as a thrilling and daring action-adventure hero in this remake. Who said that Richard Chamberlain was NO Harrison Ford??? Yes,that Richard Chamberlain of "Dr. Kildaire","The Towering Inferno",and "The Winds of War" was in dire straits here when he signed up for the lead role as the two-fisted action hero. Sharon Stone,before Basic Instinct and other role is casted as the damsel in distress who basically ends up being rescued by Chamberlain from the clutches of a rogue of villains.The only saving grace here is film composer Jerry Goldsmith's rousing score which is the only thing that kept this from falling apart. Enjoyable fare. Avoid the sequel ALLAN QUARTERMAINE AND THE CITY OF GOLD which is no where never as better as the first.