Raiders of Raiders

Those looking to cash in on the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark could look to many of the works that influenced Steven Spielberg's film. And that's what Golan-Globus did for 1985's King Solomon's Mines. Bearing very little resemblance to H Rider Haggard's novel, the film is almost a beat for beat remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark with cheaper sets and costumes. It does have a surprisingly nice score by Jerry Goldsmith and its stars, Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone, have a campy charm.

The filmmakers decided to jump right to the Cairo scene from Raiders and we catch up with Allan Quatermain (Chamberlain) and the beautiful Jesse Huston (Stone), a character invented for the film, as they arrive at a north African city.

We won't learn who the characters are or their relationship to each other for some time, the film seemingly content to let the audience read them as Indy and Marion. The fight choreography almost replicates the Cairo scene with Jessie getting kidnapped and carried off in a rug instead of a wicker basket. Later, the film will have versions of other famous Raiders set pieces, including the truck chase (moved to a train) and a grounded airplane fight.

Jesse and this film's version of Allan are always improbably clean. Jesse's hair and clothes always look like she just stepped out of Bloomingdale's. Considering how I remarked on Stone's unrealistic hair in the opening of Gloria last week, I wonder if she had a regular clause in her contract, something like, "My hair shall always be crimped if I say it's crimped."

Chamberlain has a certain sparkle in his eye that makes him fun to watch. Still, this is no match for the 1950 adaptation and certainly doesn't approach the greatness of the book.

King Solomon's Mines (1985) is available on YouTube for free with ads.