King Solomon's Mines
All actors and roles (10)
All team (30)
Short description
King Solomon's Mines is a 1985 American action-adventure comedy directed by J. Lee Thompson. The story follows the explorer Allan Quatermain, who is hired by the American Jesse Huston to help find her father, an archaeologist who has gone missing while searching for the legendary diamond mines of King Solomon. Quatermain learns that the professor has been abducted because of what he knows about the treasure, and he and Jesse set out across Africa to rescue him. They are pursued by a sinister German officer, Colonel Bockner, and his associate Dogati, who want the map to the mines for themselves. The film is based on the novel by H. Rider Haggard.
Richard Chamberlain plays Quatermain and Sharon Stone plays Jesse Huston. Herbert Lom appears as Colonel Bockner, John Rhys-Davies as Dogati, and Ken Gampu as Umbopo. The screenplay was written by Gene Quintano and James R. Silke, and the film was produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus for the Cannon Group. It was Thompson's seventeenth film as director, following The Evil That Men Do and preceding Firewalker. Made for a budget of 13 million dollars, it took about 15 million dollars worldwide.
On IMDb the film's critics' rating stands at 3.7 out of 10 from 13 reviews, while on TMDB the audience rating is 5.4 out of 10 from 493 votes. The two scores are fairly close, with viewers rating it somewhat higher than critics did.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Henry Rider Haggard and was released on the centenary of the book's first publication.
- While working on the film, filming of a sequel titled “Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold” (1986) was also underway. The sequel was released in American theaters 14 months later, in January 1987.
- At an early stage of the project’s development, Tobe Hooper was slated to direct the film.
- In Henry Rider Haggard's novel, the action takes place no later than the 1880s. In the film, it has been moved to the years of World War I.
- Rumors circulated that the film was cursed due to the various difficulties that plagued the film crew. To dispel these troubling rumors, director J. Lee Thompson invited an African Nyanga shaman to the set.
- Actress Kathleen Turner declined the role of Jessie that was offered to her.
- German troops primarily used Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk. I rifles, and the British weaponry shown in the film was only developed in the late 1930s and was never used by German forces.
- Virtually all the characters in the film mispronounce the surname of the main character, Quatermain, as Quartermain.
- Shortly before the fire, Dogati shoots Quatermain and Umbopo with Quatermain's own rifle. At that moment, the strap on Umbopo's leopard skin cloak is seen to be torn. In the next frame, it is whole again.
- The cauldron changes shape when it begins to roll, and returns to its original form when it stops.
- The pants Jesse wears in the mine are much shorter than in previous scenes.
- Before Quatermain and Jesse destroy the plane, helicopter blades from the filming crew can be seen at the top of the screen.
- In the quicksand scene, it is clearly visible that the floating bodies are mannequins.
- The final explosion is superimposed onto the actors, although it occurred behind them.
- When Quatermain jumps out of the mine shaft at the end of the film, it is noticeable that it is a dark-haired stuntman.
- In the scene where Quatermain slides on his stomach after the train, it is visible that the railroad ties were not real.
- The pistol first used by the righteous man in the store fires more shots in a single burst than it has cartridges.
- Water continues to splash out of the large cauldron with even gentle rocking, despite the fact that a large amount of it had already splashed out during the heroes' previous escape attempt.
- The long machine gun with a heavy barrel, which one of the villains uses against the natives, fires for a very long time, despite having a very small ammunition supply.
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