Director:
Jonathan Frakes
Starring:
Noah Wyle ………. Flynn Carsen
Gabrielle Anwar ………. Emily Davenport
Bob Newhart ………. Judson
Jane Curtin ………. Charlene
Olympia Dukakis ………. Margie Carsen
Robert Foxworth ………. Uncle Jerry
Erick Avari ………. General Samir
Hakeem Kae-Kazim ………. Jomo
Zahn McClarnon ………. Tommy Yellow Hawk
Lisa Brenner ………. Debra
The Movie
Made-for-TV movies are interesting pieces of cinema to watch. Some can be surprisingly good, while others can be just plain awful. Then, there are some made-for-TV movies that can be so awesomely bad that they end up being good. Most of the time you won’t know which way a movie like this will go until the very end.
The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines is actually a sequel to The Librarian: Quest for the Spear. Both movies aired on TNT. This movie is still about a librarian named Flynn Carson (Noah Wyle). He’s more of an archaeologist/adventurer than a librarian, though. His adventures this time lead him on a quest to find King Solomon’s Mines. It’s supposed to have a bunch of gold and other riches inside of it. Along the way, he gets help from a woman named Emily Davenport (Gabrielle Anwar).
If you haven’t seen the first movie, which is likely since it was only on TNT, you’ll probably be a little lost at the beginning. You’ll notice that the main characters have some relation to each other, but you are not sure how they are related. Like most sequels, there is no time devoted to backstory of the characters here. This works better in wide-theatrical releases, since more people usually see the first film, or have at least heard of it. Even if a movie is watched by a record number of people on TV, like this one, it’s still only cable TV. And cable only reaches so many people.
Once you get into the movie, you’ll notice that nothing is serious. Flynn Carson is not serious. He’s basically a spoof of Indiana Jones. Noah Wyle does a pretty decent job of portraying this character. He’s no Harrison Ford, but he doesn’t have to be. Bob Newhart is his usual quirky self. One negative in the acting department is the lead female. Gabrielle Anwar looks tough and fits the role, but the chemistry with Noah Wyle is just not what it should be.
The premise behind this movie is a little far-fetched. Of course, any movie that follows people looking for hidden treasure could be called a fantasy. The plot follows a standard formula. There are twists, but nothing that you will be shocked by. In fact, you can pretty much predict what will happen.
The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines is a fun “popcorn” movie. It shouldn’t be on the “big screen” by any means, though. It’s good enough for TV, but it doesn’t quite fall into the “awesomely bad” category to make it a must-see movie for that reason. If you loved the first movie in the series, you’ll enjoy this one as well. If you have never heard of this series before now, then you won’t be missing much. These movies were released directly to TV for a reason.
The Video:
The video is given in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen color. Pretty standard quality here. No real problems for it being a “direct-to-DVD/made-for-TV” movie. It’s interesting that they went with the widescreen format instead of the fullscreen format, since it aired on TV first. They wanted to go with the “big” movie feel, I suppose.
The Audio:
The audio included is available in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound. There are subtitles available in Spanish. No problems here either.
The Extras:
“In the Den with The Librarian’s Special Effects Artist” Featurette–
This is the only feature and it’s about the special effects used in the movie; there are a lot of scenes with fantasy elements in them. It’s interesting to find out how everything was put together, especially for a movie with a miniscle budget.
Fans of Noah Wyle, Bob Newhart, or The Librarian: Quest for the Spear will enjoy this and may even want to buy it. For everyone else, I can’t really recommend even a rental. It’s not the worst made-for-TV movie, so it’s worth checking out if you are looking for a movie that doesn’t take itself seriously.
