King Solomon's Mines (1985)

Fortune hunter Allan Quatermain teams up with a resourceful woman to help her find her missing father lost in the wilds of 1900s Africa while being pursued by hostile tribes and a rival German explorer.

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

H. Rider Haggard (novel), Gene Quintano (screenplay),

Stars:

Richard Chamberlain, Sharon Stone, Herbert Lom

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Chamberlain	...	Allan Quatermain
Sharon Stone	...	Jesse Huston
Herbert Lom	...	Colonel Bockner
John Rhys-Davies	...	Dogati
Ken Gampu	...	Umbopo
June Buthelezi	...	Gagoola
Sam Williams	...	Scragga
Shaike Ophir	...	Kassam (as Shai K. Ophir)
Mick Lesley	...	Dorfman
Vincent Van der Byl	...	Shack (as Vincent Van Der Byl)
Bob Greer	...	Hamid
Oliver Tengende	...	Bushiri
Neville Thomas	...	German Pilot
Bishop McThuzen	...	Dari (as Bishop Mcthuzen)
Isiah Murert	...	Rug Carrier

Storyline

Allan Quatermain is a fortune hunter who is convinced by Jesse Huston to help her find her father, who's been lost somewhere in the African jungle during his last exploration.

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Plot Keywords:

tribe | german | africa | jungle | lion | 

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Taglines:

The Adventure of a Lifetime

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 November 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Las minas del rey Salomón

Filming Locations:

Harare, Zimbabwe

Box Office

Budget:

$12,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$238,227 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cannon Group, Golan-Globus Productions, Cannon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (as Dolby Stereo)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There were rumours that the six month shoot was cursed, so the director J. Lee Thompson had called for a witch-doctor, a N'anga, to lift the curse.

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Goofs

Virtually all the other characters mispronounce "Quatermain" as "Quartermain".

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Quotes

Dogati: No more Wagner.

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Connections

Referenced in The Mummy (1999)

User Reviews

Okay sue me! I actually liked it.

Review summary: Mostly obvious knock-off of INDIANA JONES, but functions more as an entertaining parody.

I've heard many bad reviews on this film. They all say "Indiana Jones rip-off" or "Worst movie ever". But to me, this is actually entertaining, and it's silly fun indeed. The film is usually called a rip-off because they see some elements they also saw in the Indy flicks. Truth be told, this has more in kin with the Lucas/Spielberg classic than H. Rider Haggard's classic adventure novel. But seeing the film, it actually has a lot of fun with itself. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously, and I agreed to the bargain. Richard Chamberlain is not that heroic as Indy, but he throws in a lot of jokes to make viewers crack a smile. Sharon Stone shouts, complains, whines in the entire journey, but what would you expect on a big-screen debut. Herbert Lom, as I see it, is being more of funny than sinister intentionally. Same goes for John Rhys-Davies, but he looks more villainous. But it wasn't all parody and humor. "King Solomon's Mines" is also action-packed. Perhaps one of the real downer in the action department are the special effects (terrible process shots!) and stunts (the most obvious stunt doubles ever!!). Still, we have crocodiles, tribesmen, Nazis and exploding caves of lava.

Perhaps it's my love for old-fashioned adventure that made me like this silly, mostly campy adventure, but I couldn't deny the guilty pleasure I had with it. Overall, this is actually functions as an enjoyable tongue-in-cheek adventure flick, but make sure you leave any pretense of common sense at the door. It's stupid fun.

Rating: *** out of 5.