Sunday, May 8, 2016

King Solomon's Mines (2004)

Director: Steve Boyum

Writers: H. Rider Haggard, Steven H. Berman, Adam Armus, Nora Kay Foster

Composers: Mark Kilian, Daniel Licht

Starring: Patrick Swayze, Alison Doody, Roy Marsden, John Standing, Gavin Hood, Sidede Onyulo, Ian Roberts, Nick Boraine, Hakeem Kae-Kazim

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The greatest treasure known to man.  The greatest adventure of all time.

Plot:  Renowned safari hunter Allan Quatermain is lured back into the unknown recesses of the African jungles to find a man who disappeared while searching for the fabled King Solomon's Mines--a destination of legendary riches from which no soul has ever returned alive.



My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

It's ambitious, I'll say that much.  The scenery is fantastic.  It's a shame this wasn't filmed in a widescreen format.  It was made for TV, which explains that, but it was made around the time when some shows and made for TV movies were shot wide.  Anyway, it screams for it.  This adventure flick clocks in at nearly three hours and that makes for a rough watch considering the little bit action happens sparingly.  It's still a decent flick.  The performances are fine.  It's a little weird sometimes seeing Swayze playing Allan Quatermain.  He doesn't exude adventurous manliness like say Connery or Ford but he does well enough that it doesn't hinder the film.  I probably sound petty saying this but if it were widescreen I would have enjoyed it more.  It seems like every twenty years we get a re-telling of this story.  I still haven't seen the Stewart Grainger 50's version which is the one I think I would enjoy most.  The Hallmark DVD has no extras.

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