Kathleen Turner Movie:

		List Price: $16.99		Label: 20th Century Fox Salesrank: 3649 Released: October 14, 2008
		Our Price: $8.50
		Used Price: $9.07
		MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
When her sister is kidnapped by thugs searching for a priceless jewel in the Colombian jungle, a romance novelist (Kathleen Turner) soon finds her own life filled with cliffhangers and danger. All alone, she sets out to rescue her sister and meets up with a handsome fortune seeker (Michael Douglas) who convinces her to beat the bandits to the treasure.

Description of Romancing the Stone [Blu-ray]:
Director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Contact) had a hit with this 1984 comedy that first teamed Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito. Turner steals the show from the guys, however, playing a pushy romance novelist who gets stuck among some dangerous figures in Colombia and has only a rumpled guide (Michael Douglas) as an ally. The chemistry between the stars is infectious (the trio went on to make a sequel, Jewel of the Nile, and then an interesting, dark comedy directed by DeVito, The War of the Roses). Zemeckis--whose specialty at the time was creating set pieces of raucous action (as in his Back to the Future)--keeps things hopping with lots of kinetic material. --Tom Keogh

Romancing the Stone [Blu-ray] Reviews:
Not PG anymore since they put all the profanity back in
2009-12-18 - The Netflix "Romancing the Stone" had 10+ G*damms in the first 50 minutes before we gave up. Why is this DVD rated PG when they put back all the profanity they took out to get a PG rating for the movie theaters? There is no warning in the product description that it is no longer PG.

Remember the Romance
2009-11-12 - Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) is a shy, mousy, albeit highly successful romance novelist who weeps at her own work when she finishes each novel ("Oh, God--that's good!") and, terrified to leave her Manhattan apartment, only dreams of the adventures that her fantasy character, Angelina, lives. All this changes when she receives a letter from her sister's recently deceased husband which contains a treasure map, and receives a phone call from her terrified sister held hostage by the same kidnappers (introducing the hilarious Danny Devito and Zack Norman, two partners-in-crime who happen to be cousins) who insists that Joni must deliver the map to her in Colombia. Reluctantly, the borderline agoraphobic Joni agrees, because it's her sister.

After her bus, supposed to be routed to Cartagena but ends up crashing into a jeep filled with exotic birds in the middle of the mountainous nowhere, and she is ordered to give up her purse containing the map to the same man who murdered her husband, the evil Colonel/Minister of Antiquities/Deputy Commander of the Secret Police Zolo (chillingly portrayed by Manuel Ojeda) she is narrowly rescued by a soldier of fortune named Jack T. Colton (Michael Douglas). He becomes embroiled in the struggle for what is at the end of the map, the green, priceless emerald stone. They meet numerous crazy characters along the way and hijinx abounds!

Seeing this movie on blu-ray makes me remember the sheer VISUAL pleasure of its 35mm release! Its 2.35:1 Panavision anamorphic cinematography, lensed by horror maestro John Carpenter alumnus Dean Cundey, is lush. He cut his teeth in Carpenter's early films like Halloween, The Fog, The Thing and Escape from New York, with his trademark cobalt blue night lighting; here, the screen is a tapestry of jungle greenery, flickering orange firelight and lots of wild night hues, complimented with the cool blues of Manhattan at various times of day and night. After this, he would go on to photograph several of director Robert Zemeckis' other works, the Back to the Future trilogy and then Jurassic Park for director Steven Spielberg. His naturalistic lighting lends credibility and yet an elegance and glamour to all these films.

The legendary production designer Lawrence G. Paull, of Blade Runner fame, again works his magic here, making very little, the jungles of Mexico made to be Colombia, look spectacular.

Director Robert Zemeckis, whose career was effectively over after the dismally received (but quite goodj) I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Used Cars, was enlisted by producer Michael Douglas, who recognized the then 28-year-old lad's talent. Douglas, who originally didn't want to play the part of Colton, caved in when all his potential leads declined, and he realized just how rare good parts and scripts are!

Diane Thomas' first script is indeed a gem, filled with action, humor, passionate romance, and a wonderful sensitivity. We really root for our leads! This movie is an example of a cross-genre piece that Hollywood has since always strived to emulate: It has everything; action, romance, suspense, humor, even a rather hot, steamy after-sex scene between our two attractive leads! This makes this movie a favorite in my book. Our two protagonists go through amazing character arcs: The petrified novelista Joan learns how to live. The hardened jungle warrior veteran Jack learns how to love.

The visual quality of the blu-ray release is superb, especially considering that this film was previously only released to DVD in non-anamorphic letterbox. The details, immediately evident in the ruddy, sweaty complexion of Grogan, Angelina's nemesis in the fictitious novelista prologue pre-opening credit sequence, really pop! A real treat!

And, no small sidebar...eureka--the film's original English subtitles are there to explain the Spanish dialogue! The "Cartagena, Colombia" caption when Elaine is captured, as well as Zolo saying "You must be French" to Danny DeVito, who is attempting to do the most ghastly Spanish, Zolo ordering "Assemble your men" to his military commander, and, the most needed, when the bell-maker Juan explains to his henchmen that "this is Joan Wilder, the one who writes the books I read to you on Saturdays!", one of the biggest jokes in the movie. Without the subtitles, in previous versions, if you don't speak Spanish, you're lost.

If I find any faults with this blu-ray release, they apply to to the quality of the soundtrack. The film was released prior to the advent of Dolby Digital 5.1, so one can't expect the kind of in-your-face clarity and realism of today's 5.1 discreet mixes, but, while the sound mixers did a bang-up job of making center dialogue (the crispest I've ever heard it outside a cineplex) completely discreet from the side music and effects channels, the side and rear channels seem to be lacking almost all high frequencies, resulting in a dulling of composer Alan Silvestri's electrifying Latin percussion and the sound of the drizzling rain. Good news is: Bass, especially in the waterfall, is superb and robust.

(sigh) In light of such a gorgeous visual transfer, which, in addition to the enchanting story and performances, makes me remember just what made me fall in love with this film to begin with, I'll forgive the audio faults (for now anyway, until a future version arrives) and enjoy the ride!

The extras, including interviews with our now much-aged cast (ironically, Danny Devito hasn't aged at all) and sumptuous deleted scenes, which contain much of the same dialogue as their film version counterparts, and replace Joan's female editor Gloria with a seemingly docile male editor but whom we know is attracted to Joan, which adds fuel to her fear and mistrust of men, are wonderful, and enhance my appreciation of an already-endearing film.

Put on your aligator boots and prepare for romantic adventure: This one is sure to please!

Enjoyably breezy
2009-10-11 - The Bottom Line:

Romancing the Stone is certainly no great film and it would have been much more successful if Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas had exhibited any chemistry at all, but if you want a little light-hearted action/adventure film you probably won't be too disappointed by this 1984 picture about a romance novelist and a soldier of fortune trying to find a precious stone.

2.5/4

Fun
2009-09-24 - I'd seen this movie some time ago in the theater and I thought my wife might like it. She had never seen it before. It is as much fun as I remember. The plot is as silly as any Lucas/Speilberg movie, but it really is a take off of all those. Great acting especially by DeVito who chews all the scenery in sight.

Unbelievably evil villians, heroic heroes (of both sexes)a lush and romantic location. Who could want more?

Indy-lite
2009-09-21 - I didn't purchase this from amazon (or anywhere, in fact). I received it as a redemption prize, probably from Kellogg's. It appears to be the relatively bare-bones 1999 release.

It's not Indiana Jones but it's not bad, either. Actually it has a lot of the same people behind it as Back to the Future. A little cheezy but nothing that will turn your stomach. But nor is it as imminently re-watchable as Raiders.