King Solomon's Mines 1950 vs 1985 vs 2004

My least favourite King Solomon's Mines is 1985. It might be entertaining if you are ten years old. If you enjoy explosions and gun fights where the hero has titanium plot armour then it is a movie you will enjoy.  I thought it was cartoonish and silly. And in this version the bad guys are the Germans and the Turks, how cliche. The Africans are the stereotypical primitive cannibals. The only thing I liked about King Solomon's Mines 1985 is Sharon Stone.

Number two goes to King Solomon's Mines 1950. It is way more mature than the 1985 version. There are lots of wild animals and African savannah if that tickles your fancy. And of course there are primitive African cannibals. In this version a wife goes in search of a missing husband and not a father. There is the map and the diamonds etc. It is not a bad movie though I did fall asleep somewhere in the middle. The whole scorpion and snake behind the bushes got a bit tiresome.


My favourite King Solomon's Mines is the 2004 version with Patrick Swayze. It looks better due to the improved technology. The story is way more developed and it is way less racist. There are no cannibal Africans in this version. Although the climax was a bit silly with the villain not shooting Alan but dropping the gun to fist fight. In this version the bad guys are the Russians and not the Germans. King Solomon's Mines 2004 free to watch on Youtube.



Moral of the story

I guess the moral of the story is don't be greedy especially for wealth you haven't worked for.

Final thoughts

I haven't read the King Solomon's Mines book but it does seem way more interesting than the movie versions. Apparently the book by H. Rider Haggard was based on the life of Frederick Selous.  King Solomon's Mines is a story about adventure and the pitfalls of greed. A similar movie that I really enjoyed was The Man who would be king. Like King Solomon's Mines it was also based on a book, that was written by Rudyard Kipling. 

Buy my book

I wrote a book that is similar to King Solomon's Mines. It also has a white hunter travelling through Africa encountering primitive African tribes. My book is called The Prophet Chaminuka. Link below.

https://www.amazon.com/Prophet-Chaminuka-Shona-Chronicles/dp/B0CRPLNNCJ



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