Rating: Summary: A fun, family romp. Review: I enjoyed this movie, even though I thought I would hate it. It has all the proper elements a romantic comedy needs-humour, plot characters. But the main reason this is better, is because the characters are different. Instead of your average wonderful hero male, who is good, honest, etc., we have a slightly more sleazy male, wonderfully played by Michael Douglas. I suggest this movie.
Rating: Summary: Best Picture ever Filmed! Review: I first saw this movie on tv when I was about 7 or 8 years old. I've seen it dozens of times since then (the tv cut and the uncut)...it has to be my favorite movie of ALL time. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it was produced in 1984, the year I was born. Every time I watch it, I find something new about it I didn't see the time before. In fact, I JUST finished watching it on cable a few minutes ago! I will most definately buy this movie a.s.a.p! It's a classic!
Rating: Summary: gets better every time Review: I first saw this movie when I was about 10 and the babysitter was flipping through channels. Needless to say, I still love it, and I decided to buy it because there's only so many times you can borrow a movie from the library. Adventure! Danger! Comedy! Romance! What else is there to say?
Rating: Summary: A Really Fun Romantic Movie Review: I have always loved this movie. I loved the fact the Kathleen Turner was a single attractive woman without a significant other and she was a romance author. I am not yet a published author but I always feel like I can relate to her character. The man she meets is so incredibly handsome, Jack. He is so masculine like Jesse the character in the books she writes. They meet in one of the most beautiful places in the world, Cartahenya ??? Anyways it has some silly parts to it but the overall story the romance always gets to me. I would recommend it to someone who likes romantic comedy with adventure thrown in as well as some predictablility. Lisa Nary
Rating: Summary: Dated ,but fun and memorable Review: I saw this film for the first time when I was 10.I loved it and seen it thousands of times! However,as the years went by,I do not enjoy it at the same level I did then,but I have to mention that this is a picture I have respect for.This picture delighted millions of moviegoers. This film had many immitators like MIRACLES and JAKE SPEED(which is the most obvious example).This kind of explains the fact that ROMANCING THE STONE seemed to have started the trend for all those typical 80s adventure movies.The plot is about Joan Wilder(Kathleen Turner), a romance novelist,who goes to Colombia to ransom her sister with a map that leads to a jewel.There,she meets Jack Colton(Michael Douglas),an adventurer and free spirit.He helps her get to her sister and,naturally,they fall fall in love,and run into all sorts of trouble.Danny DeVito is hilarious as Ralph.People who have never seen this film will probably enjoy it.Good perfomances by all three leading actors.Besides,this film is superior to those imitation films that did not remain memorable.This one,although dated,is well known as "the film with the crocodiles and the green stone".Followed by THE JEWEL OF THE NILE.
Rating: Summary: A fair to decent transfer of a fun, exciting film Review: I saw this movie about four times when it first came out and was always struck by the high quality of the film. This transfer could only be rated fair to good, and seems to produce some video noise in areas where there are a lot of straight ines rather than sharp crisp ones. It looks like Fox just rolled it over quickly to DVD with no care, especially since there are no extras beyond a trailer that is clearly fourth or fifth generation and totally washed out. Sad, since this was a big hit when it came out and a lot of people will be looking forward to it. They also list it at a high price, which should mandate some type of extras. Maybe not so oddly, some of the poorest DVD transfers I've seen come from major studios, while one of the best (Blade) is from New Line.
Rating: Summary: Fox cheaps out on DVD conversion Review: I will not argue about the story,the stars and the production. this is a great all around movie. But it deserved a far better DVD transfer then Fox gave it. They chose to cheap out on a very good soundtrack and pass on a DD 5.1 upgrade, leaving the original (VHS) Dolby 2.0. The film transfer is at times grainy and no better than VHS, in fact we compared it to the tape and found it about the same.The film was transferred to a 2.35 wide screen format. The only "extra" was the original trailer. Fox was certainly after the quick buck on this conversion. We give the film 5 stars for its entertainment value, but 0 for it's DVD technical merits. I guess that makes it a 3 overall. Michael Douglas/Robert Zemekis how could you let Fox do this to your film.
Rating: Summary: Is this the bus to Car-ta-hay-na? Review: I'm busy reviewing all my 5-star movies, and this is definitely one of them! In my book, any movie that involves a gem, a jewel or a stone, whether it be stealing one, looking for one or just plain wearing one is a great movie! (Just think of the ones you know!)
Michael Douglas, refreshingly, plays Jack "Trustworthy" Colton, a romantic hero, of sorts (instead of his usual oversexed baddish good guy,) who, for $375 in traveler's checks (as long as they're American Express) agrees to help Kathleen Turner as Joan Wilder, a hopeless romantic romance novelist who is just waiting for her romantic hero to arrive, follow some sort of Columbian treasure map to the El Corazon stone before all the bad guys hurt her sister!
But, really, the best part of this movie, other than "El Corazon," are all the other guys, bad and good, and there's lots and lots of them! Starting with Gloria, Joan's publisher. What a woman--the scene in the bar where Gloria and Joan are drinking 'grasshoppers' of all things, and Gloria is perusing the available men--absolutely funny! And when she tries to persuade Joan from going to Columbia--really, really good! Then, there's Danny DeVito and his cousin Ira--"they're not two people, they are...one...person." Then there's Zolo, "the butcher" who killed Joan's sister Elaine's husband. What a meanie! And he gets what he deserves, don't worry! And lastly, there's Juan, the Bellmaker ("Bellmaker, my as*! You know that fuselage we slept in last night? That was probably one of ol' Juan's lost shipments.") He just loves Joan Wilder and reads all her books, with many copies, hates phones, but sets out to help Joan and Jack in his "lil' mule, Pepe!" What fun!
Probably my only gripe about this movie/DVD (and I owned and watched the VSH version many times before upgrading to DVD) is that there are three scenes in the original movie that had subtitle translations (two scenes where Zolo is talking to his men and a particularly funny line when Zolo is talking to DeVito's character about the French.) Now, if you don't know what these guys are saying because you can't translate the Spanish or the French, then it's really lost here. I find this to be a gross deletion on the DVD! It's like bleeping out a few lines...and who wouldn't consider that defective and flawed. I would even buy a re-release of this DVD if they would just put those subtitles back in!
But that complaint aside, this is definitely a 5-star romantic treasure-seeking funny adventure that you can re-watch a hundred times and really enjoy it!
See also: The sequel "Jewel of the Nile" is not as good, with a nice twist on "the jewel," returning characters of Gloria and DeVito, and Joan is pretty over-the-top ditzy, but it's worth seeing and maybe owning if you absolutely love "Romancing the Stone." It does have a very Middle Eastern flavor, so if the terrorist attacks of 2001 have you a bit uneasy, this may not be a good one to see.
Rating: Summary: Comedy, Romance, and Adventure all in One! Review: I've seen this movie many times since it was first released, and it keeps getting better. Impeccable performances by Kathleen Turner as the uptight, hopelessly romantic novelist, and Michael Douglas as the crude, adventurous con-man who steals her heart (and her treasure map!). As for Danny DeVito---hilarious, delivers his wise-cracks with comic precision. And who could forget that alligator?!? Creatively written, perfectly cast, great scenery and musical score. A must-see!
Rating: Summary: All Time Favorite Movie Review: If I had the misfortune of being forced to watch only one movie for the rest of my life, Romancing The Stone would be it.What the other reviews don't mention is how very funny this movie really is.Granted it is a bit dated, but some of the scenes will make you burst out laughing, especially if you like Danny Devito. The chemistry is great between all the characters, and there really is something for everyone here. This is the movie I pop in when I can't decide what to watch, because I know I'll enjoy it.
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