King Solomon's Mines

Name: King Solomon's Mines
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Released: November 22, 1985
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 29
Cast: Fidelis Cheza, Herbert Lom, John Rhys-Davies, June Buthelezi, Ken Gampu

1985

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Generally unfavorable reviews based on 5 Critic Reviews

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Mixed or average reviews based on 4 Ratings

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5.5

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King Solomon's Mines

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Movie Details & Credits

Cannon Group | Release Date: November 22, 1985 | PG-13

Starring: Fidelis Cheza, Herbert Lom, John Rhys-Davies, June Buthelezi, Ken Gampu, Mick Lesley, Richard Chamberlain, Sam Williams, Shaike Ophir, Sharon Stone

Summary: 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

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 100 min

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Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr

On the one hand, the action stuff is surprisingly imaginative and well filmed; on the other, the characters are the usual bunch of self-parodic dodoes that the post-Spielberg action cinema has accustomed us to, so it's impossible to believe in the situations anyway. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Cannon’s remake of King Solomon’s Mines treads heavily in the footsteps of that other great modern hero, Indiana Jones – too heavily. Where Jones was deft and graceful in moving from crisis to crisis, King Solomon’s Mines is often clumsy with logic, making the action hopelessly cartoonish. Once painted into the corner, scenes don’t resolve so much as end before they spill into the next cliff-hanger. Read full review

Walter Goodman

And that's the problem. Despite strenuous efforts by Herbert Lom and John Rhys-Davies as a pair of comical villains who can't decide whether they are supposed to be funny or menacing, the story is lost in the effects. As Mr. Chamberlain remarks at one threatening moment, ''Boy, looks like they've thought of everything.'' Read full review

Rick Kogan

Not a remake of the Stewart Granger-Deborah Kerr epic, this film has been made, so obviously and calculatedly, to capitalize on the success of ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' and ''Romancing the Stone,'' seeking their crafty harmony of action, romance and humor. The result is action so ludicrous that it falls consistently between thrilling and amusing and never comes in sufficient amounts of either. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

It's stone cold dead on the slab. Read full review

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User Reviews

Kai82

Apr 10, 2022

A decent adventure movie. Not a masterpiece but definitely a bit better than the critics rating. I would rather recommend the sequel which improved a lot. The movie is based on the book(s) of Sir Henry Rider Haggard and the protagonist Allan Quartermain is a legendary character but he isA decent adventure movie. Not a masterpiece but definitely a bit better than the critics rating. I would rather recommend the sequel which improved a lot. The movie is based on the book(s) of Sir Henry Rider Haggard and the protagonist Allan Quartermain is a legendary character but he is more forgotten than Sherlock Holmes so its possible you never heard of him. Maybe with the exception of “The League of Extraordinary Gentleman” were I recommend the comic as the movie adaptation is weaker. He is an explorer, adventurer and hunter with remarkable abilities. Think of a mixture of British gentleman in colonial Africa and Indiana Jones. He has become as native as a British can become as he has the trust of many Africans, knows their traditions and honors their culture. The adventure starts when he is visited by the American woman Jesse Huston. She wants him to help find her father who lead an expedition to find the legendary mines of King Solomon. His expedition got lost and there is no hope in finding him except she does something herself. It does not help that the region where they are is into the German sphere of Africa. This is the start of the adventure. The story is a bit to much stereotypical to be honest and to say it mildly. Maybe this is the reason why critics panned it so hard. You can see many things coming from miles away. It is however entertaining enough to watch. I think the actors saved the movie. With Richard Chamberlain as Allan Quartermaine and Sharon Stone as Jesse Huston we have a good team in the lead roles. For the smaller roles we have John Rhys Davies, Herbert Lom, Ken Gampu and Shaike Ophir which I all enjoy. A good cast of actors and I repeat those save the movie from a lower rating. For the visuals, costumes and set I say all are fitting and give the right atmosphere. Overall this is a decent but not great movie. Worth watching but no remembering which is the reason no other reviewed this movie here on Metacritic (except critics). I liked the sequel “Allan Quartermaine and the Lost City of Gold” much better and see it as an improvement in all areas. Remark: This has no entry here on Metacritic.… Expand

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