King David (1985)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Bruce Beresford

Writers:

Andrew Birkin (writer)
James Costigan (story)

Release Date:

29 March 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War | Adventure

Plot:

This is a movie about the life of Israel's king David. |

Plot Keywords:

King David | Ancient Israel | Epic | 10th Century B.c. | Religion

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Richard Gere	...	David
Edward Woodward	...	Saul
Alice Krige	...	Bathsheba
Denis Quilley	...	Samuel
Niall Buggy	...	Nathan
Cherie Lunghi	...	Michal
Hurd Hatfield	...	Ahimelech
Jack Klaff	...	Jonathan
John Castle	...	Abner
Tim Woodward	...	Joab
David de Keyser	...	Ahitophel
Ian Sears	...	Young David
Simon Dutton	...	Eliab
Jean-Marc Barr	...	Absalom
Arthur Whybrow	...	Jesse

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Campo Imperatore, L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy

Company:

Barclays Mercantile Industrial Finance

Trivia:

Rachel Weisz was offered a large part in this film when she was only 14, but her parents would not allow her to do it.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Shown in the confrontation with Goliath, David using a sling strikes Goliath on the bridge of the nose and the rock glances off. According to the Bible, David struck Goliath on his forehead and the stone sank into his forehead and Goliath fell on his face to the ground. (1 Sam. 17:49)

Quotes:

[first lines]
Saul's guard: The king cannot speak with you now. He is engaged in the affairs of state.
Samuel: Since when have the affairs of state taken precedence over the affairs of God?
[shoves his way past and enters Saul's throne room]
Saul: ...Samuel. We welcome you. With God's blessing, our victory is complete.
Samuel: Is THIS how you show Him your gratitude... by robbing the Amalekites of their women and cattle? By holding their king in chains?
Saul: We were discussing a possible treaty. The king is to be ransomed...
Samuel: A *treaty?* *Ransom?* Saul, for this you have betrayed your own soul in the sight of God. His instructions were plain enough: "... Spare nothing from the sword."
[beheads the Amalekite king]
Samuel: ... When our tribes clamored for a king, to make us like other nations, I answered them: "We are not like other nations. The Lord of Hosts is both our God and our King." The people said, "We want a king we can see. We want a king of our own flesh and blood."
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ken Adam: Designing Bond (2000) (V)

Move Over, Plan 9!

For many years now this movie has remained my personal choice for Worst Movie Ever Made. Oh sure, others have come along to try to knock it off its pedestal, but KING DAVID remains, in that respect anyway, King of the Hill, A-Number One, Top Of The Heap. It's amazing to see so much money and talent poured into a fascinating, large-scale story of murder and betrayal and gods and scheming women and intrigue, only to result in a dreary stink-bomb of a flick that should forever stand as a cautionary lesson to those who would make a Sunday School story out of material that is, in the original, decidedly adult. The end result here is a movie that is embarrassingly awful even on fast-forward.