King David (1985)

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

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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)

As others have said, this film is the worst in its class

The only defense anyone can claim for this project is that it was the first contemporary Biblical film using US actors and contriving to appeal to the broadest possible range (to sell tickets to). That is the only reason I can see for the awful hacks made to the authentic story that has since been done at least once with a far superior script and production in the mid 90s. It was produced with lessor known actors and the focus was instead on authenticity and I have no doubt in the end that far more people have paid to see the latter film in the theater or through video sales. I don't recall if it is called "King David" in the main title or simply "David" with a secondary title more specifically indicating the Biblical story.

I bought this film some time in the late 80s, when it was the only video I could find related to any Biblical story, other than "The Ten Commandments" and "Jesus of Nazareth" both of which are truly excellent films. Now that I have the newer version of David, I can't see any reason to take up any more shelf space, even though I already wasted my money on it and time watching it. That is how bad it is. I would feel guilty in playing it now that at least one far superior version in available the fate of this video will be that it is the sole video I have ever thrown in the garbage after determining it a liability with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.