Customer Reviews

King Solomon's Mines

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This movie was an unexpected pleasure and really fun to watch!
Swayze does a great job as Quartermaine & Alison Doody is wonderful as the female lead. There are never annoying moments of disgusted "They'd never do that", or ridiculous temple-of-doom type comedy lines. The screenplay and plot were terrific, the adventure was compelling, and the entire movie was heartwarming. Villains were even well-wrought. Scenery was breathtaking.
Well done, highly recommended, and perfect for family viewing on a Sunday afternoon or early Saturday evening.

Clearly, King Solomon's Mines is made for television. That's its main weakness. The movie, probably a miniseries, is drawn out to fill nearly 3 hours. It's never boring but it lacks the cleverness and frequent action of a movie like Raiders of the Lost Ark, the gold standard for such adventure yarns. The characters and plot are interesting enough to keep you viewing. Some of the characters like the evil African king and his witch doctor are surprisingly very good, if only minor roles. Patrick Swayze puts in a credible performance as do most of the supporting cast. The cinematography is generally very well done and some of the scenery is eye popping. A little more budget and we might have actually gotten a decent tour of the mine filled with traps, treasure, twists, turns, and wonderous sights. Alas, that's not really the payoff here. It's about the characters on the journey, not the journey itself.

This is a fair action/adventure movie, along the Indiana Jones lines - but Quartermain was there long before Indy. It's got something for just about everyone: fatherhood tested, family loyalty, evil pursuers, magical treasures, and a last-minute romantic interest. Swayze does a fair job in the title role. He seems to be maturing as an actor and does a good job here, but certainly won't be taking any new roles that require male beauty.

This appears to be a TV mini-series, with all the pieces strapped together into one feature film. That seems to explain a lot of the slightly discordant notes. There aren't many special effects here, but that works just fine. The pace and action are more subdued than you'd expect in a regular movie, but the it keeps plugging along at a fair pace. It even steps over the jumps between segments without stumbling, mostly. Swayze's "loyal father" role may not be true to a story written so long ago, but is almost a checkbox item for establishing a 21st century male character as a good guy. The romantic interest seems to pop abruptly out of nowhere, as if the scriptwriters got to the last segment and realized they'd forgotten something. Well, I've seen lots worse.

This is longish, almost three hours, but never seemed to drag. It's a bit tame by theatrical standards, but moves along well and won't offend those who prefer chaste flicks. Maybe you could do better than this one, but you could certainly do worse.

//wiredweird

Let me start off by saying that this is amother winner for Hallmark. I don't feel that this one got enough publicity, though, because it was overshadowed by "La Femme Musketeer" airing a week later.
Anytime you think of Patrick Swayze, you think of either "Ghost" ot "Dirty Dancing", but he does quite a good job in this film as Allan Quartermain. Allison Doody (Elizabeth Matiland) also did a great job, and it doesn't hurt that she's beautiful. My personal favortite is Keketso Semoko (Momma Tuussee). Any scene that she's in, she steals.
Hallmark used some beautiful scenery in this film; Going from the forest to the desert, it all looks wonderful. This is another Hallmark movie that you don't want to miss. It's always hard to follow the original film, but they somehow managed to pull it off.

This movie is a made for tv show, but very well done in my opion.
This movie is kindda like a Indiana Jones movie.
Just about when you think the movie is over it take a left turn,
or you think they are going to die and they just slip away.
I have always been a fan of Patrick Swayzes ever since the "OUTSIDERS".
I have much respect for Patrick he's a man that plays in movies he wants to do, instead of doing movies just for the money.
In my opion thats a true actor.
I rate this DVD a 5 of 5 stars!!

Patrick Swayze does a nice job here as Alan Quartermain. This is a well made adventure movie, with an exellent screenplay by Steve H. Berman. It is the best movie version. GO out and get it, highly reccomended

This movie looked to be a television movie put onto video from the Hallmark Channel. Accordingly, it does not have big special effects or big actors and the script is a little choppy. Yes, it also has breaks where commercials would probably fit in.

However, that being said, this film was a good adventure for those who have not seen the other movie and have not read the book. Additionally, this book is a decent movie for families, with minimal gore. You don't see blood flying when someone gets shot or stabbed by a spear. You don't even see a single vulture when the living characters talk about vultures plucking the eyes out of dying men. It is left to the imagination, the way that movies used to be.

So, yes, this is a TV movie put onto DVD. However, if you're looking for something that you can feel comfortable watching with your 10+ year old, this is a decent purchase.

I read with interest the opinion of some reviewers that this version of King Solomon's Mines varies greatly from the book. It does indeed! However, it is a pretty good remake of the other film attempts to retell the story. The Stewart Granger version of the 1950s was very dramatic, while Richard Chamberlain's later attempt was a purely fun romp. I think that this new version with Patrick Swayze is a fine cross between the two--enough Indiana Jones to induce smiles, and enough drama to keep the characters interesting. It's worth the view.

An entertaining adventure, except for the opening scene with the elephant being shot. As an animal lover I found this scene disturbing. The only minor complaint I have about the movie was with the actress who portrayed Elizabeth. Although a talented actress, I feel that her look was too contemporary for the setting of the movie. Her eyebrows were too thin and her bleached blonde hair too artificial for the time period. In fact in one of the last scenes when she and Patrick Swayze's character were lying on the ground kissing, you can see her obvious very dark grown-out roots. For a Hallmark movie which typically pays extraordinary attention to detail, I'm surprised this obvious point was overlooked. All in all it's a good adventure movie and I recommend it.

I purchased this movie when I bought the Librarian series of three. This movie reveals what a major difference a good producer and good acting can make in a production. I will be watching this over again and again.