Attempting to ride the wave of success created by Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), the good folks at the Cannon Group brought you King Solomon's Mine (1985), an action adventure featuring Richard Chamberlain as the renowned adventurer Allan Quartermain. Based on Henry Rider Haggard's novel published a century earlier in 1885, the character had been featured in films before, with Stewart Granger among those playing Allan Quartermain, who was supposedly one of the main inspirations for the character Indiana Jones.
According to legend, somewhere in Africa, a great treasure in diamonds is to be found in King Solomon's mine. Professor Jediah Huston (Bernard Archard), has been abducted by Colonel Bockner (Herbert Lom), the leader of a group of German troops seeking the treasure. John Rhys-Davis, who was also in Raiders of the Lost Ark, appears here as Dogati, a Turk aiding the Germans. Still mainly working in television, a pre-Basict Instinct Sharon Stone, plays Jesse, who has hired Quartermain to find her lost father.
In the 1980's, the Cannon Group was mostly known for action films, particularly those by Chuck Norris, and Charles Bronson's Death Wish sequels. Cannon's production of King Solomon's Mine features mostly non-stop action, as Quartermain and Jesse, get into and out of a string of tight situations, that includes an extended sequence on a train, a madcap encounter in the air, a rather silly incident in a giant cooking pot, and swinging over a pool of crocodiles. The abundance of action, makes the film seem longer than it is. At the time, Richard Chamberlain was pretty hot, coming from the success of the Thorn Birds. Minus the whip, and with a heavy beard, Chamberlain bears a resemblance to a certain Dr. Jones. His portrayal of Quartermain is kind of aloof, and a little stiff at times. Humor and comedy are apparently not Chamberlain's strong suit. Although mostly smooth and competent in dealing with whatever arises, he often seems a bit detached from the reality of the situation. Quartermain and Jesse get along well enough, but there doesn't seem to be much real chemistry between them, which is unfortunate as Jesse is quite likeable, handles herself well, and is only slightly prone to hysterics.
In this light cartoonish affair, a lack of depth does not matter very much. Lom and Rhys-Davis take their characters over the edge, with plenty of bluster, and dramatic rants. The journey begins to go off to fantasyland when Quartermain encounters a tree dwelling tribe, that hang upside down from branches and vines. Yet another tribe guards the pathway to the mine, where an excitable high priestess takes a dislike to Jesse. Upon reaching the fabled mines, the movie takes a nosedive into silliness. The sets are a little disappointing, and the special effects are rather weak, even for 1985. After a few mildly tense moments, the film ends rather predictably.
Filmed in Zimbabwe, and directed by veteran action specialist J. Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone, Cape Fear), the film generally has very good production values. Some of the action and fighting sequences are quite nicely done. With hardly a sign of anything computer generated, most of the stunts are real, and a large number of extras were employed for some scenes. This kind of filmmaking has already become a part of the past. The special effects, and rear screen projection scenes, mostly appear dated.
This release is widescreen, with English subtitles. A commentary track with stars Chamberlain and Stone would have been nice, but perhaps this is a film they would both prefer to forget. An above average effort for Golan-Globus Productions, and The Cannon Group, King Solomon's Mines is a pretty enjoyable adventure, until the fantasy finish in the mines. With some decent action and interesting cinematography in Africa, the film apparently did well enough to justify a sequel, Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987), with Chamberlain and Stone reprising their roles. |
H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines is one of those stories where it often feels that only the title and the odd character name have been filmed. If there were a prize for the least faithful version, Cannon's 1985 romp would win hands down. Richard Chamberlain's Great White Hunter Allan Quatermain may be a reluctant guide on a quest for the fabled mines, but this time his only companion is Sharon Stone, eager to save her archaeologist father from Herbert Lom's dastardly and cartoonish Wagner-loving German officer (the plot has been updated to pre-WW1 Africa). No prizes for guessing that this is inspired more by Indiana Jones than H. Rider Haggard (it even co-stars John Rhys-Davies as another Arab, this time on the bad guys' side), with the stunts increasingly outrageous and the tone firmly tongue in cheek.
Shot almost back-to-back with the dire Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold and originally brandishing the how-are-they-ever-going-to-fit-that-on-the-marquees title Allan Quatermain and King Solomon's Mines and the Lost Caves of Death, it's a film almost as overloaded as it's rejected title: for the first half or so it's surprisingly entertaining, but eventually the relentless energy starts to wear you down as you realise that the film's used up most of its best stunts and jokes and is running out of clichés to rehash and lampoon. Certainly there's nothing in the second half to match a comic marketplace chase or a very silly train rescue that sees Quatermain work his way through variations of Indy's truck chase before skiing along the rails as he holds on by his bullwhip... In many ways, DVD is an almost ideal way to see it: a little too much to sit through in one go, a self-created intermission certainly helps.
Chamberlain makes an amiable if overly reliant on dynamite Quatermain, though Stone is an irritatingly screeching heroine and Lom too much of an over the top caricature to provide much threat. J. Lee Thompson keeps it moving, Jerry Goldsmith contributes an enjoyably heroic score and there's enough of a sense of fun to paper over the weak spots. |
"non-stop action, from the Cannon Group . . ."
"Gift"