like each religious film, it has its force, seduction, clichés and solid pillars in great actors. different is the manner to present the lead character. Solomon by Ben Cross is the vulnerable leader. human at all, wise but not real profound, powerful but victim of pleasure, ambitious but a good Jew . the presence of Max von Sydow as the old David, Bathsheba in Anouk Aime 's performance, Vivica Fox in the key role of Queen of Sheba are the pieces who transforms the film in a splendid example of use of Bible 's lines. a film about life more than an eulogy to a great figure of Israel. that is the virtue of a film who propose a Biblical hero in convincing colors. so, a good film. not out of its genre. but interesting for the use of its rules.

King Solomon led a grand life, thus rating this epic movie entitled,Solomon - the ninth in a series of TV movies dramatizing famous stories from the Bible.It stars Ben Cross in the title role together with Anouk Aimée, Vivica A. Fox, Max von Sydow and Maria Grazia Cucinotta.It is told in two parts.Director Roger Young chronicles the king's rise from the weakling mama's boy of Bathsheba to a ruler known for his wisdom, international alliances, construction of the Jewish temple, and oh yes, those thousand wives with concubines included. The first part spends the first hour tracing the rivalry of Solomon with half-brother Adonijah, before and after the death of their father King David. It then makes a 10-year leap to dramatize his famous method of divining the true mother of a contested infant. In the second part, the filmmakers embrace the legend that Solomon and the Queen of Sheba had a romantic as well as political alliance, suggesting that they were the star-crossed loves of each other's life and introducing some soft-focus nudity. With the queen's departure, Solomon descends into materialism and idolatry. The performances are strong and the script, penned by Bradley Winter, artfully weaves in background information to give the viewer helpful historical context.Also,it makes the viewer realize the spiritual failures of King Solomon with his sins of idolatry,pride,arrogance and being a womanizer.Unfortunately,it fails to bring to a point that he happens to be the wisest man who lived on earth.And that what makes this adaptation lacking.It instead focused on Solomon's sins rather than his wisdom.

Although at times the story does drag, this television movie about the man who took the Kingdom of Israel to the apogee of its power only to have it fall apart after its demise, the film does stick pretty close to biblical scripture as is dramatically possible. After all we do have to make the story interesting and their are a lot of blank spaces left in the Bible. All the better for a little dramatic license.This is quite a bit different from the film Solomon and Sheba in which Yul Brynner took over from Tyrone Power. That film stopped with the defeat of brother Adonijah and his attempt to topple Solomon. This goes on right until the death of Solomon and the aftermath.Ben Cross is a most human Solomon, granted by God the wisdom he sought to rule his kingdom, but still subject to human frailties. Cross as Solomon has a most healthy sexual appetite. In fact people including his greatest love, the Queen of Sheba played by Vivica Fox make him a present of some dancing girls, that is before she gives in to him. Like later rulers, Solomon makes political marriages and in those days if you could afford more than one wife men enjoyed polygamy. When he allowed foreign wives to worship their own Deities, that got everyone including the self described jealous God Jehovah upset. After husband David's death, Bathsheba as played by Anouk Aimee exercises a great deal of influence behind the throne. She's a clever woman, the way Aimee plays her, she's not all that different from Sian Phillips as Claudia in I Claudius.Another guy too clever by a half is Joab who moved to get Adonijah the throne. Joab was the commander of Israel's army under David and a man who took a lot on his own. Earlier in scripture he slew Absalom another of David's sons against the express order of his king. Played by television's Hercule Poirot David Suchet, Joab emerges as a reckless sort who gets dispatched probably for the good of Solomon's reign.It is said in the Bible that Solomon's wives numbered in four figures and while that may have been good foreign policy, it didn't say much for the stability of home life and the example the king should set. After a while his own subjects are saying he's thinking with his groin, especially after the Queen Of Sheba leaves with their son, but Solomon increases the tax burden to set up an Israel to the south. We call it Ethiopia today.Cross, Fox, and the rest of the cast do yeoman like service to the story of Solomon a complex figure that even religious scholars debate the merits of today.

I fist saw a rather abrupt cut of Roger Young's "Solomon" in a bible collection. Still it was so good I was determined to see the full version. Boy was i glad I did! Ben Cross does an absolutely amazing job as the title character, much like in "Jesus" and "Jacob" The film makers aren't afraid to present these legendary people as people! They have loves and fears and aren't so perfect and aloof. Cross is young and a bit arrogant at first, but very loyal to his father David, played beautifully by the great Max von Sydow, and his mother Bathsheba. The early part of the movie has him dealing with his scheming half-brother Adonijah and the general Joab, played by David Suchet. overcoming both he asks God for wisdom to rule his people wisely. Like any of us would be God is impressed and Solomon makes great judgments, never allowing his priests or prophets to rule him.The legend of his wisdom grows till it reaches the beautiful Queen of Sheba, played with nice understatement by Viveca A. Fox. She journey to Isreal to see the truth of this legend. Here Solomon finds true love at last, but under pressure and unable to convince Sheba to stay in Israel he is left alone and despite still ruling wisely begins to anger the people by allowing freedom of worship. Hmmm. like the U.S.? Upon his death the kingdom is divided again and Israel will never again be a world power as it was under him.I thought he acting, sets and photography were all first rate. I really like this move, yes it's long, but it's well worth your time, even if biblical epics aren't your usual speed. Well recommended.