User reviews

Ah, who doesn't love an 80's action adventure? Action, adventure, and humor blends to perfection in this 80's classic.

'Romancing the Stone' certainly is a fun ride - from beginning to end. They just don't make them like they used to. The chemistry between Douglas and Turner is wonderful, and is the key element to making this good old-fashioned romantic adventure comedy work. Funnyman Danny de Vito was also wonderful!

Being a comedy, not everything has to be realistic and justified. There are instances when they dodge bullets or escape when it shouldn't be possible, but in the name of adventure one can easily overlook these flaws. 'Romancing the Stone' is a feel-good, laugh-out loud, hold on to your seat adventure ride to enjoy again and again. I absolutely love this!

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.

I love this movie. I'm sure that it's in my top-ten somewhere, because ever since I was a kid, I've never gotten sick of watching it. The premise is one of those that's just so damn crazy it actually works. It starts with a successful romance novelist, Joan Wilder, who has just finished her last book, but lacks the sort of love-life that she writes about. When she learns that her sister has been kidnapped and is being held hostage, she takes off to South America to help her out. It seems that the kidnappers want a treasure map that is in Joan's possession. Joan is very much a city girl and doesn't fully realize the bind that she and her sis have gotten themselves into. Once in South America, she takes the wrong bus, which breaks down in the South American jungle. When she's held up by a corrupt Police Chief, a very rugged, unshaven, shot-gun toting, Michael Douglas (Jack Colton) shows up and kicks some ass. See, Jack is a bird-trapper who wants nothing more than enough cash to buy himself a yacht. Realizing that Joan is lost in the jungle and fully incapable of surviving on her own, Jack agrees to take her to the nearest town for $300 in travellers' checks, so off they go. By now, we've learned that besides the two goons who've kidnapped Joan's sister (one of which is Danny DeVito in one of his funniest roles EVER) the South American police are after the map as well. Everyone wants what's at the end of the map. What follows for the next hour and a half is one of the most exciting and funny action/adventure movies ever filmed. Michael Douglas is absolutely perfect in the role of Jack Colton and delivers some of the funniest one-liners I've ever heard. Kathleen Turner is equally great as the naive romantic and, as always, she looks great. A great script is brougth to life perfectly by Robert Zemeckis and his direction is air-tight. Please go watch this movie, even if you've seen it a hundred times already......"Oh YEAH!!!! Now that's a campfire!!!!

Years later and a knowing glance or a strong saxophone riff will take you back to the eighties. Small cast with solid performances by all and it really was a joy to watch all over again.

This exciting adventure tale concerns about a romantic,feisty writer named Joan Wilder-Kathleen Turner-who becomes involved in a dangerous journey to Colombia.He goes to rescue her sister,being kidnapped by a sympathetic mobsters-Danny DeVito-.Into lush jungles of Colombia,she finds a soldier of fortune named Jack Colton-Michael Douglas-who becomes to her ally.

This agreeable comedy-adventure blends unstopped action,rip roaring,love story,cliff hunger,tongue in cheek and is extremely funny and entertaining.For comic relief with delightful bit of humor are supplied by Danny DeVito and continuous jokes about relationship between both stars: Turner and Douglas.The picture contains spectacular scenarios,some nice stunts and funny lines.Colorful cinematography by Dean Cundey,Zemeckis's usual cameraman(Back to the future trilogy,Who framed Roger Rabbit).Noisy though catching music with synthesizer score by Alan Silvestri,posteriorly he made an excellent symphonic soundtrack,he's also Zemeckis habitual(Polar Express,Castaway,What lies beneath,Forrest Gump).The motion picture is well directed by successful director Robert Zemeckis.It's followed by an enjoyable sequel directed by Lewis Teague: Jewel of Nile.The film will have you on the edge of your seat but the adventure and action never let up.It's a winner for Douglas and Turner fans.Worthwhile seeing it but will not displease those seeking likable and rip-snorting stories.

I'm not a fan of romantic comedies, but this is one exception to that.

The whole premise is ridiculous, the plot twists improbable, but who cares? This is a movie meant to entertain and it does so successfully. Don't look for any political statements or tests of one's intellect--you won't find any. Just sit back, suspend your disbelief, and enjoy the show.

"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)

When a version of a female Walter Mitty is ever done no doubt about it that Kathleen Turner should get first call. Unless you think she kind of did it already with Romancing The Stone.

Turner is a romance novelist by profession who in real life is a rather humdrum sort prone to accidents. But a piece of mail from her sister who is in Colombia with a map to a rather large emerald, the Hitchcockian McGuffin of the film leads her on a high road to adventure the kind of thing she writes about.

Her adventure in Colombia includes taking the wrong bus, being chased by a free wheeling army colonel, falling in the hands of drug dealers, pursued by bottom feeding crook Danny DeVito and finally partnering with the kind of adventure hero she writes about in Michael Douglas.

Douglas and Turner would prove so popular that they did two other pictures in the 80s. The film itself got an Oscar nod for Editing.

Some others in this gifted cast are Mary Ellen Trainor as her sister, Holland Taylor as Turner's editor, Alfonso Arau who is a drug dealer fan of her work, and Manuel Ojeda as the army colonel obsessed with that big green jewel.

Romancing The Stone is a lushly photographed and vigorous satire on all those old action/adventure films. You know, the stuff you only see in romance novels.

This was highly entertaining with humour, danger, romance & likeable leads. Danny De Vito put in a great performance as Ralph and deserved more screen time. The hero and heroine had the right chemistry and were good to watch. The jungle locations were breathtaking and I liked the soundtrack. Never a dull moment. 10/10

Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner's chemistry carry this romantic adventure film to reasonable heights. There's not a whole lot of depth here, but it's fun for what it is. Danny DeVito is some solid comic relief. It isn't Raiders, but Romancing the Stone is an enjoyable, fun-spirited film.

I remember loving this movie on its original release back in the 80's and didn't want to miss its being shown here as part of an 80's movie season, but sadly learned that like so much other popular culture from that particular decade - music and fashion come just as prominently to mind - "Romancing The Stone" definitely shows its age.

It has its charms, notably the chemistry between leads Douglas and Turner and a little Danny De Vito (or should that just be little Danny De Vito!) goes a long way, but it wasn't the rip-snorting adventure packed, fun-filled romantic romp I remembered, instead now coming across with as much flair and pizazz as a moderate TV adventure episode, a la "Heroes" or the like.

Now my critical eye discerns that the prologue just seems to hold up the action, Douglas takes too long to make his appearance, the baddies aren't bad enough and the supposed excitement, danger and intrigue served up en-route just isn't exciting, dangerous or intriguing enough.

It's still likable, I still laughed at Douglas' throwaway comment about The Doobie Brothers disbanding and I was still pleased to see the couple sail off, if not into the sunset, then certainly down the boulevard, but on reflection I wished I hadn't watched it at all and thus preserved intact my youthful happy, I dare say more innocent recollections of a popular family entertainment which hasn't aged at all well.

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

One review is saying this is a film only for people nostalgic who lived in that time period. But I was born in the year 2000, and the movie fills me with the kinds of romance, adventure, and emotion, that is timeless. Part of the reason for this is the superb atmosphere. You really feel you are there in all of the locations. It is one of the most atmospheric movies you can watch. The other good thing about it: no pointless CGI. Everything made nowadays is just done on computers with CGI characters. It's never believable. Maybe we need to go back to how things were done in the past. Sets, matte paintings, and practical effects. CGI = no imagination.

Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner are "Romancing the Stone" in this 1984 adventure film, well-directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Turner plays romance author Joan Wilder, who in order to ransom her sister Elaine, flies to Colombia to deliver a map sent to her by her late brother-in-law. Joan soon gets involved in a bizarre situation better than anything she's ever written. She gets on the wrong bus and soon meets Jack (Michael Douglas), an adventurer who lives by his wits. He agrees to get her out of the jungle for $375 in travelers checks, as long as they're American Express. Because Joan has the map, several factions are after her, including Ralph (Danny DeVito) and lots more scary people. Jack talks Joan into going after the treasure themselves to give her more of a bargaining chip.

This is a very fun film, with lively performances by Douglas, Turner, DeVito and the rest of the cast. Many funny and suspenseful moments, including Joan being recognized and feted by a Colombian drug dealer, a Tarzan-like swing across a river, and problems with alligators. Not to mention a little romance along the way for Joan and Jack.

Highly enjoyable, very satisfying film with the two stars working very well together.

Romancing the Stone is an upbeat, humorous, adventure movie.

Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) is a romance novelist who's just finished another book when she gets a frantic call from her sister to come save her bacon in Colombia. Joan, unbeknownst to her, had in her possession a very valuable map for some hidden treasure in Colombia. A couple of kidnappers were holding Joan's sister hostage in exchange for the map.

Joan runs into Jack Colton (Michael Douglas) whose occupation, origins, and intentions are unknown. Besides looking like a discount Indiana Jones, he did save Joan's life. They would be joined at the hip for the rest of the movie.

This was a fun and entertaining movie. Danny DeVito was truly the only comedy worth laughing at even if Douglas and Turner were in the funny situations. The movie came together nicely and kept the same tone throughout. Romancing the Stone was rock solid.

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

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.

This movie along with Goonies and Indiana Jones made my childhood a happy happy memory. Although I watched it who knows how many times renting it from a video store on a VCR cassette I decided to watch it after a long time because non of my family has seen it. Three generations of woman on a New Year's Eve and I had to pick a movie. A tricky thing to make them believe me it's a great choice for a celebration night and after I said that Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito they were little less skeptical. But mentioning Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis sealed the deal. And to watch this movie after 30 plus years on the New Year's Eve with family of all generations 2022 was a bingo! The ladies enjoyed it very much. Both exciting and fun. And to see this old movies when everything was made and done on a more inoncent or naive level than today, brings back nostalgia. They talked different, acted, behaved and dressed different and like the years even the haircuts were closer to 50s than to today's age. Michael Douglas is such a force of nature on screen and together with amazing Kathleen Turner it was a true adventure with pure love experience. They don't make movies like this no more. Today it's more shallow, more explicit violence or more caricature of everything. Even the woman on today's screen behave like men so they lost this innocence, modesty and tenderness that Kathleen and so many women of that age and before had. It's not by any means a movie that is going to make you think too much. It has a simple plot but great adventure that I can only wish someone can create again on that playful natural level. The period where two of them meet and travel together to get to the phone is the best part and has a special place in my childhood memories. Seeing it today again I can only confirm it.

This is the movie that saved Robert Zemeckis' career. His first two films I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Used Cars are fun little movies, but they were not exactly the financial successes that the studios were hoping from the new whiz kid they wanted to be another Steven Spielberg. It almost looked like Zemeckis' directing days were done until Michael Douglas picked him out to direct his next producing and starring film, an original screenplay of a romance novelist finding herself in the kind of adventure she wrote about despite having live a life enclosed inside her small New York apartment. This feels the least like a Zemeckis film out of anything he made in his first twenty years or so, and that's because he really was just a director for hire. The studio wasn't terribly pleased with his work before the film's release, firing him from Cocoon as director before this even opened. Well, it went on to do well and allowed him the clout to make a little movie about a teenager who goes back in time to the 50s. Before that, though, Kathleen Turner went to Columbia to find her sister.

Joan is a romance novelist who lives an incredibly sheltered life. When word reaches her that she must return a map sent to her by her sister's husband right before he died to her sister's kidnappers in Columbia, she does what she must as a good sibling and leaps out of her comfort zone to help her family. On her trail, though, is Zolo, a Columbian bureaucrat and big honcho in their secret police who wants the map for himself. He follows her, misdirecting her from Cartagena to the middle of nowhere where he tries to kill her. Just as he is about to do the deed walks in Jack T. Colton, an American staying in Columbia until he can save up enough money selling exotic birds. The accident that stranded Joan and Zolo destroyed Jack's bird collection, and when he gets Joan away form Zolo he agrees to lead her to Cartagena for three hundred seventy-five dollars.

Hence begins the meet cute adventure that sends Joan into the heart of an adventure that she could have written alongside the personification of her idealized man (named Jesse in her novels) but not quite as she expected. Jack is rougher and less suave than Joan might have wanted, and their initial relationship is not one of love, but as this is a romantic adventure, they do fall in love by the end. And therein lies the movie. It's a cheerfully predictable adventure movie greenlit to give Michael Douglas a starring vehicle in the then-popular genre of Raiders of the Lost Ark rip-offs.

It feels distinctly different from most of Zemeckis' work of the period because he had nothing to do with the movie's script, and neither did Bob Gale. It's a much more traditional narrative with a cleaner three act structure and a pair of characters that grow in predictable ways. It's almost a proving ground for Zemeckis to show that he could make movies other than high energy madcap adventures. Not to say that this doesn't have some of those qualities, but as a much more traditional Hollywood adventure, Romancing the Stone is Zemeckis saying, "Of course I can make this kind of movie."

What he brings to the adventure really is the sense of energy. Action sequences are lively filmed, for instance. The sequence that takes them through a small hamlet in the four by four of the local drug kingpin who happily takes them around to show them the sights (such as where he was born) while Zolo is in hot pursuit behind them is delightful. The final sequence that pits Joan and Jack against the American kidnappers and Zolo in a Cartegena fort is alternatively funny and exciting. In the middle of it all are Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas as the central pair. Their banter is solid, their chemistry strong, and delivery never less than amusing, especially from Turner who never quite stops being terrified of the strange surroundings and events she finds herself in.

Romancing the Stone is far from a challenging work, but it's both of its time and works as a fun little adventure movie outside of it. It's a good thing that audiences appreciated it in enough numbers, because if they hadn't the rest of Zemeckis' career might have never happened.

I certainly wouldn't call Romancing the Stone the best adventure film ever or anything, but it is a truly entertaining and fun one at that. The story is admittedly old-fashioned(and I think purposefully so) but the freshness of the material more than compensates. The gags are very tongue-in-cheek, there are some very clever touches in the writing and the action is breathless. The film is great to watch, there is a terrific score and the direction is fine. Michael Douglas is quite world-weary here and his character is nothing special but he also has a lot of charm about his performance, while Danny DeVito is great fun as the inept kidnapper. But it is Kathaleen Turner's movie, she dazzles in the role, and her chemistry with Douglas is in general very good. In conclusion, a lot of fun. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Romancing The Stone is meant to be a comedy so criticizing how ridiculous and stupid it is,is a little besides the point. But some moments really push it like:escaping a gang of drug runners because they recognize your the author of the romance novels they read every night. The film is filled with ludicrous action sequences that have no tension nor humor. Certainly not one of Robert Zemeckis' better attempts. Not to mention the 'funny' dialogue which just leaves you shaking your head(at least I was shaking my head perhaps such derpy discussions appeal to you).

The characters in this film,particularly the antagonists,are caricatures of actual human beings. The main villain,Zolo,is very much just cartoonish version of Dr Szell from Marathon Man. One is former military the other is a revolutionary/army leader,they both go to New York to get jewels and they both use automatic knives. And if you think you can get me to mention the great Sir Laurence Olivier's name with that guy,you are quite wrong.

Perhaps it was meant to be an entertaining,light adventure flick but the result is inanely dull.