| Romancing the Stone | |
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Promotional film poster |
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| Directed by | Robert Zemeckis |
| Produced by | Michael Douglas |
| Written by | Diane Thomas |
| Starring | Michael Douglas Kathleen Turner Danny DeVito |
| Music by | Alan Silvestri |
| Cinematography | Dean Cundey |
| Editing by | Donn Cambern Frank Morriss |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | March 30, 1984 |
| Running time | 106 mins |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English French Spanish |
| Budget | $10 million[1] |
| Box office | $86,572,238[2] |
Romancing the Stone is a 1984 American action-adventure romantic comedy. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it stars Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. The film was followed by a 1985 sequel, The Jewel of the Nile.
The film earned over $86,572,238 worldwide in box-office receipts and an additional $36 million in video rentals. It also helped launch Turner to stardom, reintroduced Douglas to the public as a capable leading man, and gave Zemeckis his first box-office success.[3] A remake of the film is under development[4] and is expected to be released in 2011.[5]
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Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) is a lonely New York romance novelist who receives a treasure map mailed to her by her recently-murdered brother-in-law. Her widowed sister, Elaine (Mary Ellen Trainor), calls Joan and begs her to come to Cartagena, Colombia, because Elaine has been kidnapped by bumbling antiquities smugglers Ira (Zack Norman) and Ralph (Danny DeVito), and the map is to be the ransom.
Hastily flying to Colombia, Joan is detoured from the rendezvous with Ralph by Colonel Zolo (Manuel Ojeda), the man who killed Elaine's husband. Joan ends up in the jungle and is almost killed by Zolo, but is saved by the swashbuckling American bird exporter Jack T. Colton (Michael Douglas). For getting her to Cartagena, Joan promises to pay Jack $375.
Jack and Joan elude Zolo, who wants the treasure for himself and who chases them with military police, which he commands as a "private army". After spending a night hiding in a crashed marijuana smuggler's C-47 airplane, they encounter a drug lord named Juan (Alfonso Arau), who is a big fan of Joan's novels and who helps them escape from Zolo.
After a night of dancing and passion, Jack suggests to Joan that they find the treasure before handing over the map. They follow the clues and find the treasure: an enormous emerald called El Corazon ("The Heart"). Unknown to Jack and Joan, their trail has been picked up by Ralph, who tries to take the emerald and taunts Joan that Jack would have done the same.
But Ralph flees without the treasure when Zolo appears, and Jack and Joan are chased into a river and go over a waterfall. Jack and Joan end up on opposite sides of the raging river; Joan has the map, but Jack has the emerald. Jack directs Joan to Cartagena, promising that he will meet her there with the emerald, but she is skeptical, owing to Ralph's taunts.
In Cartagena, Joan contacts Ira, but cannot find Jack. She meets with Ira and Ralph at their base (an old fortress) and makes the exchange. As Joan and Elaine attempt to leave, they are stopped by Zolo and his men, who have captured Jack. Zolo demands the emerald and threatens Joan with the crocodiles that Ira keeps as pets. To save Joan, Jack surrenders the hidden emerald to Zolo, but a crocodile bites off Zolo's hand and swallows it along with the emerald.
As a furious gun battle takes place between Zolo's soldiers and Ira's gang, Joan and Elaine dash for safety, but they are pursued by the enraged Zolo. Jack tries to stop the crocodile from escaping but lets it go when he sees that Joan is in danger. Joan knocks Zolo into the crocodile pit, and Ira and his men escape, but Ralph is left behind as the authorities arrive. After a kiss, Jack dives into the water after the crocodile, leaving Joan behind with her sister.
Some time later, Joan is back in New York, delivering a new manuscript based on her adventure, and her publisher, Gloria (Holland Taylor), loves it. Returning home, she finds Jack waiting for her in a sailing boat. He caught the crocodile (which died from a fatal case of indigestion from swallowing the emerald, and had it made into a pair of boots), sold the emerald, and bought the boat he had told Joan was his dream. They go off together, planning to sail around the world.
Filming locations included Veracruz, Mexico (Fort of San Juan de Ulúa); Mazatlan, Mexico; and Manila, Philippines. The scene where Turner and Douglas get separated on opposite banks on a whitewater river about ⅔ into the movie was filmed on the Rio Antigua near the town of Jalcomulco, Veracruz.
This was the first Zemeckis film to feature an electronic-orchestral music score by composer Alan Silvestri; Silvestri has scored each subsequent film Zemeckis has directed. The novelization of this film was credited to Joan Wilder. Sylvester Stallone was originally considered for the role of Jack T. Colton.
Although, upon its release, comparisons to Raiders of the Lost Ark were inevitable (Time magazine called the movie "a distaff Raiders rip-off"),[6] the screenplay for Romancing had actually been written five years earlier. It was written by a Malibu waitress named Diane Thomas in what would end up being her only screenplay; she died in a car crash shortly after the film's release. Though Thomas received solo writing credit, several uncredited script doctors helped to refine the film's screenplay.[7]
Turner later said of the film's production, "I remember terrible arguments [with Robert Zemeckis] doing Romancing. He's a film-school grad, fascinated by cameras and effects. I never felt that he knew what I was having to do to adjust my acting to some of his damn cameras – sometimes he puts you in ridiculous postures. I'd say, 'This is not helping me! This is not the way I like to work, thank you!'"[8] Despite their difficulties on the film, Zemeckis would go on to work with Turner again, casting her as the voice of Jessica Rabbit in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Studio insiders expected Romancing the Stone to flop (to the point that, after viewing a rough cut of the film, the producers of the then under development Cocoon fired Zemeckis as director of that film),[9] but the film became a surprise hit. It became 20th Century Fox's "only big hit" of 1984.[10] Zemeckis later stated that the success of Romancing the Stone allowed him to make Back to the Future, which was an even larger success.[11] The film's success also led to a sequel, 1985's The Jewel of the Nile, without Zemeckis at the helm but with Douglas, Turner, and DeVito all returning. Though it performed respectably, its success did not match that of the original. A second sequel called Crimson Eagle was planned but never got past the development stage. Another film, The War of the Roses, again reunited Douglas, Turner and DeVito.
The film was well received by critics and is considered by some as one of the best films of 1984.[12][13][14][15] It holds an 86% approval rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 42 reviews.[16]
Award wins:[17]
Award nominations:
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