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| Reviewed by: Chris Burton 21 Oct 2008 Romancing The Stone
| |  Romancing the Stone is a love story, and an Indiana Jones-esque adventure directed by Robert Zemeckis. Its an excellent film. It won the Golden Globe for best picture and Kathleen Turner won a Golden Globe for her performance. Critics love to use the words 'rip-roaring' to describe a film, and if any movie is rip-roaring, its this one.
Kathleen Turner plays Joan Wilder, a romance novelist from New York. She discovers that her sister Elaine's husband was killed in Colombia, and Elaine is still there. Elaine calls Joan and tells her that she has been kidnapped. Her captors are sending a map to Joan. It is a map leading to a priceless jewel. She must fly to Colombia.
Once in Colombia, Joan's bus breaks down in the middle of the jungle. She is being chased by bandits and desperadoes. All Colombian officials are corrupt, including the police, so there is no where for her to turn. She decides to get help from local outlaw/ hero Jack Colton (Michael Douglas).
Joan begins to essentially live the life of a female heroine in one of her books. Jack Colton projects the rugged masculinity of the men she always writes about. Danny DeVito, plays Ralph, the villain in search of the jewel. Manuel Ojeda plays Zolo, an evil colonel who's on the trail of the riches as well. Zack Norman plays Ira, Ralph's cousin and a man obsessed with crocodiles.
The romantic tension between Douglas and Turner grows. He is reluctant to help her at first, because he only cares about himself. But the attraction of riches is what originally gets him to sign on. He then of course begins to care for her and fall for her.
One of the only negatives I can bring up with this film is the 80's soundtrack. Its the only thing that keeps me from truly being lost in the atmosphere. But other than that, all the actors (especially Turner) do an outstanding job. This is a very well-made adventure.
The people of California didn't vote for Arnold, they voted for John Matrix. The disc is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen, and encoded at 1080p. It looks great, at least compared to how I always watched it on a dilapitated videotape that got worse upon every viewing. It still maintains its lazy 80's visual design, though- and the colors aren't as strong as some may be hoping. But that's the way I like it! I want the grain!
Audio is DTS HD Lossless Master 5.1 surround, and is equally 80's awesome. The sound design itself is not always impressive. The film remains front heavy during many scenes, but the surrounds do kick in and the seats rumble. |
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Copyright (c) 2007 Rock Star Media Works, Inc. All rights reserved.
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