King Solomon's Mines (1985)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

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

Release Date:

22 November 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Action

Tagline:

The Adventure of a Lifetime

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Africa | Tribe | Jungle | Eaten Alive | Legend

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

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
Mick Lesley	...	Dorfman
Vincent Van der Byl	...	Shack
Bob Greer	...	Hamid
Oliver Tengende	...	Bushiri
Neville Thomas	...	German Pilot
Bishop McThuzen	...	Dari
Isiah Murert	...	Rug Carrier

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-14 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Zimbabwe

Company:

Cannon Group

Trivia:

Filmed concurrently with its sequel, "Allan Quatermain and the City of Gold".

Goofs:

Continuity: Just before Dogati fires at Quatermain and Umbopo using Quatermain's own shotgun, the strap on Umbopo's leopardskin is clearly broken. In the next shot it is repaired.

Quotes:

Dogati: No more Wagner.

Movie Connections:

References Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Good effort at replicating Raiders !

This movie is not as bad as "Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold". It has some content of sheer excitement and adventure in it. But for most people who had already watched "Raiders of the Lost Ark" have definitely harbored discriminatory feelings and complements for this action film.

As far as action, adventure and fantasy is concerned, it was a good raw effort by J. Lee Thompson who had earlier two great feathers to his cap namely, "The Guns of Navarone" and "MecKenna's Gold". However, the next sequel of this series i.e., "The Lost City of Gold" is indeed a hopeless effort to bewitch the audience who are used to viewing better films.

Nevertheless, KSM is an interesting and reasonably well directed piece of motion picture.