King Solomon's Mines (2004)

Beautiful, moving film.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Not that I was expecting it to be, but sometimes I do get a feeling that although you think you are going to enjoy it that there is a chance you'll be let down. I was pleasantly surprised. Of course it's not perfect, I do think it is too long with a few scenes that drag in pace and some of the supporting cast sport accents and quite badly done ones too. However, it does look great with beautiful scenery and skilled camera work. The soundtrack does give a sense of adventure, without feeling plodding, over-bearing or generic, while the script even with the odd stilted line is witty and the story has the right amounts of suspense and thrills with well choreographed and edited action sequences. Patrick Swayze I was dubious about as this was not the sort of role I associated him with, but he does do credibly. The female lead Alison Doody is beautiful and quite sassy and John Standing and Roy Marsden give solid supporting turns, thankfully not being plagued by the accents issue. So all in all, not bad, could've been better but I can think of worse ways to waste my time. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox

The movie is very lengthy and unfortunately pretty different from the Novel. If you want to see the movie then don't read the novel first as it will shock you. However, cinematography was OK and if you are a person who loves adventure genres which explores Africa then go for it. Acting performances are adequate, however, many important events that were present in the novel are omitted. In the novel, Sir Henry Curtis was in search of his missing brother rather than a lady in search of her father. Gagool was cunning and was killed in the cave whereas here she was shown to be a good person who preferred to stay with the new king.

I like Patrick Swayze, I've liked him since his early days when he was on top of Hollywood with the incredible Ghost, RoadHouse, Dirty Dancing, and Point Break. He really was a star and proved he could act too with his incredible role (which should have been Academy Award Nominated) in To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything. His career then slid into oblivion and he hasn't had a comeback yet sadly but he's still around and I was more than anxious to check out King Solomon's mines and see him in action. There is nothing awful about this film, it's well done, well acted, the setting for the film is breathtaking (filmed on location in South Africa.) The film is filled with cultural information whether partly fictional or not it's well worth seeing for those interesting tribes and people. Swayze's Allan Quatermain is emotional, brooding, sad, tough, a real fighter and honest and the perfect good guy.I was just struck with how old Swayze looks in this film, worn and tired. I realize the man is well into his fifties but he's still Johnny Castle to me. King Solomon's Mines tries to be less action and more drama and adventure and it scores in that vein but there is so little action that the 3 plus hour movie drags so heavily. It might not have felt so long had I seen it on Television in different parts as a mini series but watching it all on DVD, it seemed to go on forever...walking, walking, more walking, searching, and so on and so forth. The whole story relied entirely on the characters and as good as they were they couldn't support the whole film without some different story lines. Leading lady Alison Doody does a good job playing the rather proper Miss Maitland while still being an adventurer of sorts. She seemed a lot tougher back in her Indiana Jones days but then the character was very different. Roy Marsden, Sidede Onyulo, Ian Roberts, all did a great job as supporting cast. They all had a very different characters and they all added to the story in their own ways. Hakeem Kae-Kazim as the evil king Twala was excellent but not nearly as well used as a great bad guy should be. His scenes were brief and I think he really could have been used in a much bigger way. One of the great characters in the film is the spooky witch of the tribe Gagool played by first timer Lesedi Mogoathle. Her role is disturbing and although she's not an evil character in the film but rather someone who really does look out for her tribe. Her make up and character is very cool!! I don't know if they simply signed on some of the local people to be in the film but they do a great job. Anyone looking for a rebirth of Indiana Jones in this film won't find it. It's a completely different genre and it's not entirely lacking action. There are some gun fights and some fist fights and an elaborate battle to the death in the end, but it's just sparse.The film has a very classic feel to it, it's a very family friendly, modest, clean film. I was struck by a very nostalgic feeling while watching the romance between Elizabeth Maitland and Allan Quatermain because director Steve Boyum really gave it that old Humphrey Bogart saves the girl kinda feel to it...a classic love story. Overall probably a good family film but most adults on their own will want more action out of it. It could have been much better done with a much director as Steve Boyum tends to strike out frequently. Come back SWAYZE!! 6/10

The problem with the 1985 version of this movie is simple; Indiana Jones was so closely modeled after Alan Quartermain (or at least is an Alan Quartermain TYPE of character), that the '85 director made the mistake of plundering the IJ movies for dialog and story far too deeply. What you got as a finished product was a jumbled mess of the name Alan Quartermain, in an uneven hodge podge of a cheaply imitated IJ saga (with a touch of Austin Powers-esquire cheese here and there). It was labeled by many critics to have been a "great parody," or "unintentional comedy." Unintentional is the word. This movie was never intended to be humorous; witty, yes, but not humorous. Unfortunately, it's witless rather than witty.With this new M4TV mini-series, you get much more story, character development of your lead, solid portrayals, and a fine, even, entertaining blend. This story is a bit long; much longer than its predecessors, but deservedly so as this version carries a real storyline and not just action and Eye Candy. While it features both action and Eye Candy, it also corrects the mistake made in the 1985 version by forgetting IJ all together and going back to the source materials for AQ, making for a fine, well - thought - out plot, and some nice complementing sub-plots. Now this attempt is not the all out action-extravaganza that is Indiana Jones. Nor is it a poor attempt to be so. This vehicle is plot and character driven and is a beautiful rendition of the AQ/KSM saga. Filmed on location in South Africa, the audience is granted beautiful (if desolate) vistas, SA aboriginal cultures, and some nice wildlife footage to blend smoothly with the performances and storyline here.Steve Boyum totally surprised me with this one, as I have never been one to subscribe to his vision. In fact, I have disliked most of his work as a director, until this attempt. I hope this is more a new vein of talent and less the fluke that it seems to be. This version rates a 9.8/10 on the "TV" scale from...the Fiend :.