King Solomon’s Mines (1985)
King Solomon’s Mines is a 1985 action adventure film, adapting the 1885 novel by H. Rider Haggard. It stars Richard Chamberlain, Sharon Stone, Herbert Lom and John Rhys-Davies. It was produced by Cannon Films. It was adapted by Gene Quintano and James R. Silke and directed by J. Lee Thompson. This version of the story was a light, comedic take, deliberately referring to, and parodying, the Indiana Jones film series. It was filmed outside Harare in Zimbabwe. King Solomon’s Mines was followed by a sequel (filmed back-to-back), Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986).
Plot:
Jesse Huston hires Allan Quatermain to find her father Professor Jediah Huston, believed lost on an expedition to find the fabled King Solomon’s Mines. Quartermain and his companion, the mysterious Umbopo, penetrate unknown country, following a map. Professor Huston has actually been captured by a German military expedition on the same quest, led by Colonel Bockner and Turkish slave-trader and adventurer Dogati, a long-standing adversary of Quatermain.
Quatermain’s group rescues Huston, who implores Quatermain to stop Bockner and Dogati from finding the mines. The group enter the tribal lands of the Kukuana, who capture them. The tribe is under the control of priestess Gagoola, who has Quatermain hung upside down over crocodiles. After defeating Gagoola’s warriors, Umbopo reveals himself as an exiled tribal chief and the rightful ruler of the Kukuanas. As the tribesmen submit to him, Bockner and Dogati attack the village.