King Solomon's Mines
King Solomon's Mines
PG-13 | 22 November 1985 (USA)
King Solomon's Mines Trailers

Ever in search of adventure, explorer Allan Quatermain agrees to join the beautiful Jesse Huston on a mission to locate her archaeologist father, who has been abducted for his knowledge of the legendary mines of King Solomon. As the kidnappers, led by sinister German military officer Bockner, journey into the wilds of Africa, Allan and Jesse track the party and must contend with fierce natives and dangerous creatures, among other perils.

Reviews
Interesteg What makes it different from others?
Steineded How sad is this?
Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.
Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
BA_Harrison Based on H. Rider Haggard's novel, King Solomon's stars Richard Chamberlain as adventurer Allan Quatermain, who is enlisted by blonde babe Jesse Huston (Sharon Stone) to help find her father, who has gone missing while searching for the fables mines of King Solomon. Herbert Lom plays Nazi Colonel Bockner, who, with the help of wicked Turk Dogati (John Rhys Davis, sending up his own role in Raiders of the Lost Ark), also hopes to locate the legendary treasure.When I first saw this film (back in the '80s at my local Cannon flea-pit), I thought it was abominable, a shoddy Indiana Jones clone thrown together in a hurry to make a quick buck. I now realise my mistake: instead of being a cheap rip-off, it is in fact a sly send-up that mercilessly mocks the conventions of the genre, which explains the ridiculously hokey script, the incredibly far-fetched action scenes, the cruddy effects, and the camp performances from a cast who are obviously in on the joke. When viewed as such, one's enjoyment of the film is greatly enhanced.Director J.Lee Thompson certainly keeps the bonkers action moving along at a decent lick, with a silly sequence aboard a speeding (NOT!) train, a ridiculous scene that has hero Quatermain hanging onto the wing of a biplane piloted by a petrified Jesse, a tribe that lives upside-down in the jungle, a hilarious moment involving a cannibal tribe's massive cooking pot, and a really unconvincing giant spider attack. The film also boasts a surprisingly decent score from Jerry Goldsmith, who effectively mimics John Williams' famous Raiders theme, and benefits throughout from the appealing sight of the pre-fame Stone in tight shorts (that get shorter and shorter as the movie progresses).
daneldorado When Richard Chamberlin signed on to portray adventurer Allan Quatermain in this (1985) version of H. R. Haggard's novel "King Solomon's Mines," he probably gave no thought to how his co-star, the young Sharon Stone, would look on screen.Bad move, Richard. But it's a great boon for us viewers. The then 27-year-old Stone wears short shorts almost all throughout the movie, and after about two reels it's a strong bet that the audience was fixated on Sharon's gorgeous legs, never mind Chamberlin and his quest for African gold.The picture did well enough that the following year, 1986, a sequel was mounted, "Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold," again starring Richard Chamberlin and Sharon Stone. This time, however, Sharon wore long pants all the way through, and judging by the warm reception of Sharon's legs in the original film, there was absolutely NO reason to hide those perfect pins in the sequel. Maybe Chamberlin, the nominal star of the picture, objected to being upstaged... again?Dan Navarro daneldorado93@yahoo.com
ma-cortes This new agreeable version from H. Rider Haggard adventure follows again Allan Quatermain played by a likable Richard Chamberlain . However , the original novel took place in the 1880s or earlier, but this film moves Quatermain's adventures to the era of World War I, in an unusual case of a semi-update . This is the adventure of a lifetime starred by a fortune hunter called Allan Quatermain (one of the members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) who teams up with a resourceful woman (Sharon Stone , according to her memoirs Kathleen Turner turned down the role of Jesse) to help her find her missing father lost in the wilds of 1900s Africa while being pursued by hostile tribes , a rival German explorer (Herbert Lom) and a slaver Arab named Dogati (John Rhys-Davies who along with Richard Chamberlain starred TV-series "Shogun") . Allan is leading a safari in search of legendary diamond mines and to save the damsel's father . They are pursued by German soldiers and must confront natives , animals and several dangers and risks until they find the King Salomon's mines . The brave hunter and the elegant lady become fast friends, confronting magic rites and cannibals in search of legendary diamonds mines . While a native (Ken Gampu) is reclaiming his rights over throne of an African tribe next to King Salomon's mines .This amusing spoof picture displays exciting action , thrills , humor with tongue-in-cheek , extraordinary adventures and outlandish cliffhanger situations abound . Richard Chamberlain as Quatermain is passable , though Stewart Granger in the classic of the 50s -by Compton Bennett, Andrew Marton and with Debora Kerr- is incredibly missed . Heat and ills affected the crew and main actors but Sharon Stone surprised for her resistance . Polished and colorful production design by Luciano Spadoni , though in low-budget and excessive transparency . The natives are played by a real ethnic people from Zimbabwe . Evocative as well as glowing cinematography by the Mexican Alex Phillips, being shot on location in Harare, Zimbabwe . Special mention to rousing and thrilling musical score by the great Jerry Goldsmith . The motion picture was middlingly directed by J. Lee Thompson , though filmmaker Tobe Hooper was attached to direct early in production . This film arrive in theaters in 1985, the year of the 100th anniversary of the first appearance of Allan Quatermain in the novel King Solomon's Mines in 1885. The sequel, Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987), adapted the novel Allan Quatermain (1887), it was an impressive accomplishment that Quatermain had two films arrive in theaters for his centenary celebrations .Other versions of this known story are directed by Robert Stevenson, a 1937 version in which the supreme role was performed by the singer Paul Robeson who proved his singing faculties. The best and classic version resulted to be directed by Compton Bennett, Andrew Marton with Stewart Granger and Debora Kerr . Kurt Neumann directed a rendition titled ¨Watusi¨ with George Montgomery and David Farrar . And TV adaptation directed by Steven Boyum with Patrick Swayze and Alison Doody, among others . Furthermore , ¨King Salomon's mines¨ was filmed concurrently with its sequel, "Allan Quatermain and the City of Gold" starred by same duo along with James Earl Jones and Henry Silva directed by Gary Nelson .
mvalkenbur I downloaded "The People of the Mist" to my Kindle by accident (another story by H. Rider Haggard) and loved it. I then learned that he also wrote King Solomon's Mines and that in actuality the Alan Quatermain character was the inspiration for Indiana Jones. The idiotic movie, as I remember it, couldn't possibly be any more loosely based on the novel. I haven't watched the movie in maybe 20 years, and I almost want to watch it now to see how far off from the novel it was. It was a farce and I'm sure that's not how Haggard intended it. I could go on and on about the characters that were missing and the story being not even remotely similar. I don't recall Sir Henry, Good, Ignosi, Gagool, King Twala, the whole thing about the battle to restore Ignosi as king, them getting trapped in the mine when gagool shut the stone wall, etc, etc. This is kind of annoying that you have to submit a 10 line review and that it takes 2-3 days to be posted. Not that what I'm posting here is interesting or anybody will ever care what I have to say. I just finished reading the book and wanted to say how absolutely dreadful and completely unrelated to the book the movie was. Is this 10 lines yet?