The Forgotten '80s Indiana Jones Rip-Off That Featured An Actor From The Franchise

Steven Spielberg's 1981 adventure film "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was a retro film by design. Set in 1936, "Raiders" is about a brave male adventurer, Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones (Harrison Ford), who seeks to retrieve the legendary Ark of the Covenant (described in the Bible) before the then-active Nazis can seize it as their own. Spielberg was making a slicker, modern version of the 1930s adventure serials he remembered seeing in theaters as a boy, and "Raiders" includes car chases, fistfights, lairs of snakes, mystical spelunking, and a climax where a Nazi army is evaporated by the wrath of God. It's a good flick. Everyone remembers it. There was even a "Young Indiana Jones" prequel TV series and four theatrical sequels, the last of which, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," was released in 2023.

However, "Raiders" also spawned a mini-trend in cinema that is less well-remembered. Indiana Jones knockoffs were plentiful in the wake of the movie's success, with many, many filmmakers trying to cash in on the popularity of "Raiders" with adventure movies of their own. Throughout the rest of the 1980s, brave, hat-wearing, open-shirted dudes, often paired with comely female sidekicks, could be seen plundering tombs and trotting the globe throughout theaters across the U.S. Few of the Indiana Jones knockoffs really gained any kind of cultural traction, though, and most of them are forgotten today.

Among the more blatant "Raiders" rip-offs were "Invaders of the Lost Gold" (1982) with Stuart Whitman, "The Hunters of the Golden Cobra" (1982) with David Warbeck, "Gold Raiders" (1982) with Robert Ginty,  "The Ark of the Sun God" (1983) (also with Warbeck), and "Treasure of the Four Crowns" (1983) with Tony Anthony. Perhaps the most notable one was J. Lee Thompson's 1985 film "King Solomon's Mines" with Richard Chamberlain. A film adaptation of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel of the same name, "Mines" was the slickest of these movies (despite being a B-production by the Cannon Group) and even co-starred John Rhys-Davies, who played Indiana Jones' friend Sallah in "Raiders."

To give credit where it is due, Haggard's book "King Solomon's Mines" was deeply influential and set the standard for the adventure stories that came after it. The cinematic adventure serials of the 1930s — the ones that "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is loosely based on — all took their images and plot points from Haggard. So, really, the 1985 film adaptation of "King Solomon's Mines" was a mere revisitation of the works that inspired Spielberg. Indeed, "King Solomon's Mines" had already been adapted to film multiple times before "Raiders" came out, including in 1919, 1937, 1950, and 1979. 

But Thompson's 1985 adaptation of "Mines," in its look and tone, was clearly aping Spielberg. Indeed, the film alters Haggard's story significantly to better match that of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." The fact that Rhys-Davies appears in "Mines" is similarly a dead giveaway. In "Raiders," Rhys-Davies, a British actor, portrays an Egyptian character, whereas in "Mines," he plays a Turkish one. In a turn of events, Rhys-Davies' character in "Mines," Dogati, is also a rival of Allan Quatermain, the role played by Chamberlain. (Yes, as in the same literary character that Sean Connery played in the notorious comic book movie flop "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.") Everyone was ripping off Spielberg at every turn with "Mines," as everyone involved in making it was well-aware.

Sharon Stone was the big discovery, co-starring in "Mines" as Jesse Huston, the woman who hires Quatermain to find her missing father. Stone understands the assignment and her performance in "Mines" is pitch-perfect, as she plays things slightly over-the-top to match the movie's broad, adventurous, pulpy tone. It's one of her earliest roles, but she was already a movie star. Chamberlain, meanwhile, is clearly having a blast. The film isn't great, but it's still passably fun (like many Cannon movies).

The Cannon Group — the beloved and stalwart B-movie studio — had big plans for its version of Allan Quatermain. In fact, "King's Solomon's Mines" was shot at the same time as its sequel, "Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold," also starring Chamberlain and Stone and based on Haggard's 1887 novel "Allan Quatermain." Both films were also written by the same screenwriters — Gene Quintano and Lee Reynolds — but Gary Nelson replaced Thompson as the director on "Lost City of Gold." The sequel's tone is even more whimsical than that of "Mines," and it boasts a more impressive cast. Henry Silva and James Earl Jones appear, while Elvira herself, Cassandra Peterson, plays a scheming queen named Sorais. 

Although shot at the same time as "Mines," "Lost City of Gold" didn't hit theaters until January 1987. More than that, Cannon had every intention of keeping its Allan Quatermain films going and even planned to adapt Haggard's 1921 crossover novel "She and Allan," a team-up book featuring Allan and the titular character of Haggard's 1887 book "She: A History of Adventure." The sequel was abandoned, however, when Cannon began to run into massive financial problems. 

It certainly didn't help matters that "King Solomon's Mines" only made about $15 million at the box office, while "Lost City of Gold" petered out at $3.6 million. Clearly, the bloom was off the rose for Allan Quatermain movies, and the "Raiders" knock-off train had formally come to an end. Spielberg made his own sequel, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" in 1989, and that kind of put a cap on the trend. All further Indiana Jones-like adventures were thereafter recognized as the derivatives they were.