King Solomon's Mines

Wow!!! This movie was incredible!!! I heard about it awhile back and had

made many Allan Quatermane jokes about it before I finally saw it. I was expecting a terrible low budget novelty flick but what I got was breathtaking!!! King Solomon's Mines is one of the most relentlessly action packed campy films I've ever seen...and I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in all my life. From the opening sequence to the last frame I was rolling on the floor laughing like a madman at Allan Quatermane's crazy exploits!! Richard Chamberlain is great as a two-fisted treasure hunter\romantic icon with an adventurous twinkle in his eye. Sharon Stone is the next Kate Capshaw!!! J. Lee Thompson is a brilliant Director!!! Why may you ask? See this film, it never slows down...when I finished it I sat speechless for a moment of reflection and realized that the movie I just watched was in real-time!!! All that high energy fun took place over an hour and a half. This is a cinematic gem and it better have a 2-disc special edition DVD because I'll be first in line to buy it. So if you want the fastest, funniest, entertainingnest darn movie around King Solomon's Mines is the ticket!!!

This movie will forever be dogged by the shadow of elder brother Raiders of The Lost Ark, when in actual fact the movie far more resembles that movies little brother, Temple of Doom. Now O.K., this is typical Cannon material. A blatant attempt to imitate more succesful efforts, and if sometimes in this movie anyway, things dont come off as intended the movie will LOOK bad. However, when all is said and done this is one of the better Cannon movies. Richard Chamberlain is simply wonderful as an Adam West-Alike Quatermain. Oblivious to the world around him. Sharon Stone too does well, with what silly dialogue she is given, and the rest of the cast [ John Rhys Davies etc ] take things seriously, which helps the film. The one thing that does let the movie down is the direction. Which is a carbon copy of the Indiana Jones movies. Maybe Cannon encouraged this, but J. Lee Thompson is in all honesty an uninspired director,. Maybe a younger director would have spurned the chance to out Spielberg Steven, and we might have had a better movie. Jerry Goldsmith's Theme is also badly under-rated but adds to the excitement, and enjoyment. When watching this movie dont take too seriously and sit back and enjoy a campy, Batmanesque movie.

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.

I have seen this movie and I think it is a great spoof. I think we need a little clean humor in this industry of movie making. The lines are great and why not have a little fun with it? Sharin Stone may have been starting out but hey, you have to start somewhere and why not do it with a little fun. I think making the movie must have been hilarious. Granted Indiana Jones has some classic lines and Harrison Ford pulls it off most excellently, there are still some great jokes in the movie. Give the producers a break. They probably had to start out somewhere as well. Take the movie for the comedy and silly acting for what it is: entertainment, because, after all the is what it is all about.

Please refrain to take this movie seriously. I repeat: please refrain to take this movie seriously. Any person who is unable to watch a movie without taking it seriously is advised to go watch something else. This one here was meant to be ridiculous. And if it was not, then it is a fine piece of unintentional comedy.