Romancing the Stone (1984)

Romancing The Stone is STILL such a wonderful movie!!! A great storyline along with a great cast. It has action, suspense, blossoming love story, with tons of laughter!!!! I would highly recommend this movie to anyone!!!!

Fmovies: This film tries to do it all: adventure, comedy, and romance. Romancing the Stone succeeds, but Crocodile Dundee and other films have done it better.

Kathleen Turner stars as romance novelist Joan Wilder, a city girl who unintentionally finds herself stranded in the Colombian wilderness, miles away from modern communication and transportation. She encounters her opposite, a rugged outdoorsy soldier of fortune named Jack. Their clashing personalities are fun to watch. Of course, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom presented a similar relationship and did it better, but let's give Romancing the Stone credit for doing it first (by a few months).

Good cast. Danny DeVito is especially entertaining. I liked how Joan's experiences transform her character. Good plot premise. But parts of the script are a bit sloppy. The story moves forward at a good pace, but the progress of the story relies too often on "coincidences." (Imagine if you read a Superman story where every time Superman is about to catch the bad guy, a piece of kryptonite falls from the sky and knocks him unconscious.)

I was shocked that this film was nominated for best editing. In some getaway scenes, the editors apparently cut the part where the hiding party realizes that their pursuers have just arrived. The editors simply cut to the shot where the hiding party is attempting their escape. Fixing this problem would have extended the film's runtime by about 10 seconds. Also, there are some goofs involving stunt doubles, one of which could have been fixed by simply cutting the shot a second earlier.

I was disappointed that we never learn the history of the treasure or the map. Nor do we learn how or why Elaine's husband acquired the map or why he was in Colombia in the first place.

Despite its flaws, this movie is fun. Check it out if you enjoy adventure flicks.

"Romancing the Stone" is an Indiana Jones-like adventure/comedy/romance film. It is everything: entertaining, exciting, thrilling, great fun, hilarious, involving, dark, sometimes scary, very pleasant and a timeless classic.

Adventure is something which isn't missing in this movie by any means. This is adventure/action in the nostalgic 80's style. Lots of 80's elements are in this film: music, cars, the quality of film-making, hair styles, clothes and even in the sounds of the guns (they have a formidable sound). Nothing to do with the excessive violence and noise of nowadays's action films and also with no need of any special effects at all - and it works so well! This movie proves that a simple but good story with no special effects can make a quality film and such thing is certainly much better than a movie with only special effects but no plot.

The movie is supposed to take place in Colombia, but it was filmed in Mexico. Who cares anyway? The scenario is one of the many solid attributes of the film. Cartagena is a beautiful place and the colombian jungles are amazing either. The backgrounds/landscapes are simply brilliant: forests, mountains, rivers, waterfalls, clouds, etc...

This film features the talents of actors such as Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito, Zack Norman, Alfonso Arau, Manuel Ojeda, Holland Taylor, Mary Ellen Trainor, Kymberly Herrin, Ted White and others. All of them are very well in their roles. It was directed by the great Robert Zemeckis, who also directed "Back to the Future", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "The Polar Express".

The characters are all well developed and interesting. Jack T. Colton is a funny fortune soldier (the "T" means trustworthy, according to himself) and he's greatly played by Michael Douglas. Joan Wilder is the romance novelist of the story, very well portrayed by a beautiful Kathleen Turner. Zolo is a very dangerous and persistent villain, well played by Manuel Ojeda. Ira is obsessed by crocodiles and often says «Look at those snappers» - he's portrayed by Zack Norman. Ralph is a funny, very tense, nervous and stressful villain, comically played by Danny DeVito. But despite being villains, both Ralph and Ira fear Zolo and his men because they know how dangerous they are. Juan is a very humorous character, beautifully portrayed by Alfonso Arau.

The movie contains some swear language, but with moderation. They don't overdo it, so this detail doesn't ruin a movie with little to be improved for me. This movie also contains some cool Spanish lines. The emerald (called "El Corázon") is a gorgeous precious stone! Romeo (Joan Wilder's cat) is beautiful, adorable and fluffy. I wouldn't mind to have a cat like him (and Romeo is a cute name for a cat).

As a fan of cars, I also have a word to say about some of the cars used in this film. The Ford Bronco is the off-road vehicle that really shines here. It is a bullet-proof pick-up off-road vehicle baptized as "Pepe, the little mule" by its owner Juan. That is a fabulous car! Wow! That is war material. It's also delightful to see the legendary Renault 4L, also known as "quatrelle", but internationally known as simply the Renault 4. The Renault 4 is one of the best cars in the world. It has charming lines, a bullet-proof reliability and is an indestructible and very robust car. There's also a Shelby Cobra replica in this film (a fantastic and charismatic ca

Romancing the Stone fmovies. Kathleen Turner stars as a romance novelist who receives a mysterious map from her murdered brother in law and then must go to Columbia to save her kidnapped sister by giving up the map for ransom.

After getting on the wrong bus she meets up with Michael Douglas and the adventure begins..as Douglas seeks the treasure also..

A fast paced adventure that features great chemistry between Douglas and Turner (they would make two more movies at least after this...including a sequel "jewel of the nile"). On a scale of one to ten...8

"Romancing the Stone" came out just 3 years after "Raiders..." and in my mind is cemented as one of the great "watchable" movies, one of the very best "adventure/comedies" of all time, honest! . The on-screen chemistry between Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner is wonderful, both playing their parts flawlessly. It is most likely the movie that made Douglas a big star. I can't tell you how many times, with my children, I watched this movie, and still when I watch it alone, almost like it was the first time.

Probably my favorite moment is when Joan and Jack are in the small village and surrounded by Columbian thugs with guns and he says, "OK Joan Wilder, write us out of this one." As soon as they recognize Joan Wilder as the author they love, for her romance novels, they are welcomed into the group.

Years ago I wanted to own the DVD and now I do.

Edit: 2019 - Now owning the DVD and I have continued to watch it every two or three years, something about it never gets old or tiresome.

"Romancing the Stone" is argubly my favorite adventure movie of all-time. Yep, in my opinion it surpasses all three movies in the "Indiana Jones" trilogy (which are right behind in terms of greatness). This movie has action, adventure, comedy, drama, and romance all rolled up into one great motion picture. Kathleen Turner stars as Joan Wilder, a romance novelist who flies to the South American country of Colombia to rescue her kidnapped sister. She's ordered by the kidnappers to bring a treasure map that she received in the mail with her to the Colombian city of Cartegna. Ms. Wilder ends up getting on the wrong bus that ends up taking her deep into the jungle where she meets a fortune hunter who saves her life in more ways than one. He also seems to resemble the hero in her books. Jack Colton, the fortune hunter, is played by Michael Douglas (who also produced the film) and he talks her into using the map to find the treasure. But they're not the only ones who are dying to get their hands on the treasure. A couple of bad guys are in hot pursuit of the two adventurers. There's Zolo (Manuel Ojeda), an evil colonel who's on to Ms. Wilder (and is the real nasty bad guy of the bunch); Ira (Zack Norman), one of the crazed kidnappers who's obsessed with crocodiles (he's always saying "Look at those snappers!"); and Ralph (Danny DeVito), Ira's bumbling cousin who goes to the airport to pick up Ms. Wilder, see's at the last second that she got on the wrong bus, and is forced to go into the jungle to find her. Even Ralph and Ira know that Zolo is bad news. There are also minor supporting characters in the film. There's Gloria (Holland Taylor from TV's "The Practice"), Ms. Wilder's publisher; Elaine (Mary Ellen Trainor), Ms. Wilder's sister; and Juan (Alfonso Arau), a Colombian native who actually turns out to be a huge fan of Ms. Wilder. In one very funny scene, Ms. Wilder and Mr. Colton go to the house of this man and ask him if they can borrow his car. The Colombian tells them to get lost, until he finds out that the woman is actually Joan Wilder the novelist, and admits that he's one of her biggest fans who has read every one of her books. He proceeds to help the two get out of a jam. "Romancing the Stone" has plenty of exhilarating action scenes, and a load of big laughs. This was director Robert Zemeckis' first hit movie (which he made before the original "Back to the Future"), and I still think this is his best film. Zemeckis is one of our best directors working today, and rarely (like Steven Spielberg and James Cameron) does he make a bad film. "Romancing the Stone" is a great movie. Turner is splendid as the novelist up to her neck in trouble; Douglas is terrific as her sidekick; and Norman and Arau are hilarious in smaller roles. But the one who provides the biggest laughs in the movie is Danny DeVito. He is literally a scream in "Romancing the Stone". I kept falling down on my side because he had me laughing so hard. This is one movie that's a must-see for people who like a mix of action, suspense, adventure, romance, thrills, and lots of comedy. One of the '80s best. Followed by the very good sequel "Jewel of the Nile".

**** (out of four)