A mousy romance novelist sets off for Colombia to ransom her kidnapped sister, and soon finds herself in the middle of a dangerous adventure hunting for treasure with a mercenary rogue.
A young and impatient stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless and greedy corporate raider who takes the youth under his wing.
Director:
Oliver Stone
Stars:
Charlie Sheen,
Michael Douglas,
Tamara Tunie
A computer specialist is sued for sexual harassment by a former lover turned boss who initiated the act forcefully, which threatens both his career and his personal life.
Director:
Barry Levinson
Stars:
Michael Douglas,
Demi Moore,
Donald Sutherland
A wealthy Wall Street speculator discovers that his wife has a lover. He investigates him and uses the carrot and stick to make him murder his wife. Planned to detail, it seems like a perfect murder.
Director:
Andrew Davis
Stars:
Michael Douglas,
Gwyneth Paltrow,
Viggo Mortensen
Joan Wilder, a mousy romance novelist, receives a treasure map in the mail from her recently murdered brother-in-law. Meanwhile, her sister Elaine is kidnapped in Colombia and the two criminals responsible demand that she travel to Colombia to exchange the map for her sister. Joan does, and quickly becomes lost in the jungle after being waylayed by Zolo, a vicious and corrupt Colombian cop who will stop at nothing to obtain the map. There, she meets an irreverent soldier-of-fortune named Jack Colton who agrees to bring her back to civilization. Together, they embark upon an adventure that could be straight out of Joan's novels.Written by
Denny Gibbons
She's a girl from the big city. He's a reckless soldier of fortune. For a fabulous treasure, they share an adventure no one could imagine... or survive.
One of two pictures in three years from the 20th Century-Fox studio involving emerald(s) and South America. The other film was Green Ice (1981). See more »
Goofs
When Joan gets on the bus she closes her window. The window is not cracked. In the next scene the bus is driving along through the jungle and all the windows are closed on the right boarding side of the bus where Joan was sitting and none of the windows are damaged or cracked. Shortly thereafter Joan wakes up on the bus and the window is cracked all the way through. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Grogan:
What's it gonna be, Angelina?
Joan Wilder:
[voiceover narration]
It was Grogan: the filthiest, dirtiest, *dumbest* excuse for a man west of the Missouri River.
Grogan:
So, you can die two ways, angel: quick like the tongue of a snake, or slower than the molasses in January.
Joan Wilder:
[voiceover narration]
But it was October.
Grogan:
I'll kill you, goddammit, if it's the Fourth of July! Where is it? Uhh. Get over there!
Joan Wilder:
[voiceover narration]
I told him to get out, now that he had what he came for.
Grogan:
Not quite, angel.
[spits]
Grogan:
...
[...] See more »
Alternate Versions
The DVD makes several changes to the subtitles that accompany Spanish dialog. Originally, very little Spanish dialog was subtitled; only Zolo's remark to Ralph that "You must be French," and his order to "Assemble your men" were originally captioned. On the DVD, "You must be French" is changed to "Are you French?," while "Assemble your men" is captioned only as "Speaking Spanish." The translations only appear when the English subtitles are turned on. The lines in which Zolo commandeers Ralph's car and orders him to turn around, a scene where a soldier spots Jack and Joan walking through a cemetery, and orders given to search the hotel as Jack and Joan sneak out, are now translated on the subtitle track. Juan's explanation of who she is, which was already subtitled, is now preceded by "This is Juanita Wilder." See more »
Truth be told: I came a little late to the party when it comes to having seen "Romancing The Stone". I didn't see it for the first time until the Fall of 1993, but had seen it's sequel, "Jewel of the Nile" numerous times since its initial theatrical release in 1985. Normally when it comes to seeing sequels, I almost always prefer the original to the sequel--but for many years I absolutely loved "Jewel of the Nile" not knowing about "Romancing the Stone".
When I finally did see "Romancing the Stone" nine solid years after its theatrical release on some premium cable channel, I was blown away by it. All those years spent raving about "Jewel" should have been spent raving about "Romancing the Stone". The original is leaps and bounds superior to the sequel (even though "Jewel of the Nile" does have its own charms--to a degree upon reflection) and contains what is arguably Kathleen Turner's best on-screen performance. Have we ever seen her better in anything else? Maybe in "Peggy Sue Got Married" or in "Prizzi's Honor" perhaps even in "Body Heat", but, it's safe to say that without her enormously captivating, thoroughly fabulous performance as Joan Wilder opposite Michael Douglas' career best comic performance as Jack Coltin, the movie wouldn't be such the modern-day classic it is and always will be.
As far as I'm concerned, Turner was robbed of the Oscar for Best Actress in 1984 for this film. So often the Academy favors dramatic performances over comedic performances when everyone worth their Screen Actors Guild card knows comedy is infinitely trickier to pull off convincingly than drama. How many actresses could have been as perfect as Turner is as Wilder? Only Susan Sarandon comes to immediate mind--she would have been magnificent come to think of it.
Also, there hasn't been a successful romantic adventure film made since that even comes close to comparing with "Romancing the Stone" I believe. And, I've looked long and hard to find one even compatible to this and have failed. There may be many knock-offs but no real diamonds in the rough.
Danny DeVito as always was a hoot to watch and Holland Taylor as Joan's book editor, Gloria, is simply sensational in a brief but memorable turn at the beginning and tail-end of the movie. It's a mystery why she's never really been a bigger star before now, with her groundbreaking, Emmy Award-winning work on "The Practice" at least giving us a taste on what we've been denying ourselves by not making a big noise in support of her landing bigger, juicier starring roles.
So 16 years later, "Romancing the Stone" is still unequivocally the best of its genre and makes you wish the Turner would get the chance to work far more than she's been in recent times. The woman is a comic genius and we need to let the powers that be in Hollywood know that we want more of her and quickly.
One suggestion: If Turner, Douglas and DeVito ever do reteam--let it not be in a second sequel. "Romancing" is just too perfect to capitalize on any further. They couldn't do a sequel to "The War of the Roses" for obvious reasons (if you've seen the movie you already know why). Just imagine how great they would have been in "Primary Colors" as Jack and Susan Stantin. John Travolta (on target for sure) and especially Emma Thompson (in a surprisingly weak performance) take note. It's a shame the film's writer, Diane Thomas didn't live long enough to have written any other films of this magnitude. This one produced gem of hers has given millions of people the world over countless hours of fun-filled escapist delight. A true classic in every sense.
GRADE: A
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Truth be told: I came a little late to the party when it comes to having seen "Romancing The Stone". I didn't see it for the first time until the Fall of 1993, but had seen it's sequel, "Jewel of the Nile" numerous times since its initial theatrical release in 1985. Normally when it comes to seeing sequels, I almost always prefer the original to the sequel--but for many years I absolutely loved "Jewel of the Nile" not knowing about "Romancing the Stone".
When I finally did see "Romancing the Stone" nine solid years after its theatrical release on some premium cable channel, I was blown away by it. All those years spent raving about "Jewel" should have been spent raving about "Romancing the Stone". The original is leaps and bounds superior to the sequel (even though "Jewel of the Nile" does have its own charms--to a degree upon reflection) and contains what is arguably Kathleen Turner's best on-screen performance. Have we ever seen her better in anything else? Maybe in "Peggy Sue Got Married" or in "Prizzi's Honor" perhaps even in "Body Heat", but, it's safe to say that without her enormously captivating, thoroughly fabulous performance as Joan Wilder opposite Michael Douglas' career best comic performance as Jack Coltin, the movie wouldn't be such the modern-day classic it is and always will be.
As far as I'm concerned, Turner was robbed of the Oscar for Best Actress in 1984 for this film. So often the Academy favors dramatic performances over comedic performances when everyone worth their Screen Actors Guild card knows comedy is infinitely trickier to pull off convincingly than drama. How many actresses could have been as perfect as Turner is as Wilder? Only Susan Sarandon comes to immediate mind--she would have been magnificent come to think of it.
Also, there hasn't been a successful romantic adventure film made since that even comes close to comparing with "Romancing the Stone" I believe. And, I've looked long and hard to find one even compatible to this and have failed. There may be many knock-offs but no real diamonds in the rough.
Danny DeVito as always was a hoot to watch and Holland Taylor as Joan's book editor, Gloria, is simply sensational in a brief but memorable turn at the beginning and tail-end of the movie. It's a mystery why she's never really been a bigger star before now, with her groundbreaking, Emmy Award-winning work on "The Practice" at least giving us a taste on what we've been denying ourselves by not making a big noise in support of her landing bigger, juicier starring roles.
So 16 years later, "Romancing the Stone" is still unequivocally the best of its genre and makes you wish the Turner would get the chance to work far more than she's been in recent times. The woman is a comic genius and we need to let the powers that be in Hollywood know that we want more of her and quickly.
One suggestion: If Turner, Douglas and DeVito ever do reteam--let it not be in a second sequel. "Romancing" is just too perfect to capitalize on any further. They couldn't do a sequel to "The War of the Roses" for obvious reasons (if you've seen the movie you already know why). Just imagine how great they would have been in "Primary Colors" as Jack and Susan Stantin. John Travolta (on target for sure) and especially Emma Thompson (in a surprisingly weak performance) take note. It's a shame the film's writer, Diane Thomas didn't live long enough to have written any other films of this magnitude. This one produced gem of hers has given millions of people the world over countless hours of fun-filled escapist delight. A true classic in every sense.
GRADE: A