Romancing the Stone (1984)

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.

Director:

Robert Zemeckis

Writer:

Diane Thomas

Stars:

Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Douglas	...	Jack Colton
Kathleen Turner	...	Joan Wilder
Danny DeVito	...	Ralph
Zack Norman	...	Ira
Alfonso Arau	...	Juan
Manuel Ojeda	...	Zolo
Holland Taylor	...	Gloria
Mary Ellen Trainor	...	Elaine
Eve Smith	...	Mrs. Irwin
Joe Nesnow	...	Super
José Chávez	...	Santos
Evita Muñoz 'Chachita'	...	Hefty Woman (as Chachita)
Camillo García	...	Bus Driver
Rodrigo Puebla	...	Bad Hombre
Paco Morayta	...	Hotel Clerk

Storyline

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

colombia | treasure map | romance novelist | rescue mission | latin america | 

---

Taglines:

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.

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Romance

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA Mexico

Language:

English Spanish French

Release Date:

30 March 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Auf der Jagd nach dem grünen Diamanten

Filming Locations:

Huasca de Ocampo, Hidalgo, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,105,741, 1 April 1984, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$76,572,238

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$115,078,260

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, El Corazon Producciones S.A., Nina Saxon Film Design

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The phrase "Romancing the Stone" is a piece of jewelers' jargon, referring to a step in preparing a gem for use in jewelry.

---

Goofs

In the drug dealer's village, Joan is told there is no telephone for many miles. Yet in the chase that ensues, many telephone poles with wires can be seen throughout the village.

---

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: ...
[...]

---

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."

---

Connections

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

---

Soundtracks

Main Title
(uncredited)
from How the West Was Won (1962)
Music by Alfred Newman
Used in the prologue

User Reviews

Great

Great action comedy adventure from the mid 80's starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny De Vito. Douglas and De Vito are great but to me the film belongs to Kathleen Turner, she's fantastic and looks absolutely stunning. Its also very well directed from the future director of Back to the Future and Forrest Gump amongst others. Its often mentioned as a rip off of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom but I don't really think it is that apparent, the scenes in the Jungle at the start of the film are really good especially when they find the crashed plane "There's nothing like a good fire"!!!. Danny De Vito is really funny as the comic relief and his cousin has some funny lines "Look at them snappers, would ya". My only small complaint is the romantic stuff is a little corny but I suppose thats for the female audience. They followed this up with "Jewel of the Nile" just a year later! Sadly like most sequels it wasn't nearly as good as this, actually its not really worth bothering about unfortunately, Douglas, Turner and De Vito also teamed up again in another film "War of the Roses" but that film has no connection with this or Jewel of the Nile. So if you haven't seen Romancing the Stone look out for it, it's excellent.