Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Romancing the Stone Blu-ray Movie Review

Fall in love all over again with 'Romancing the Stone' on Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 9, 2008

You're the best time I ever had.

From the 1980s was born the revolution that has become home theater. Home video playback devices, primarily the VHS cassette deck, supported by the LaserDisc format that improved on the tape-based mediums and offered the more discriminating home theater aficionado what seemed to be the peak of home video picture and sound quality, emerged at affordable prices with an avalanche of equally affordable pre-recorded media. Also emerging was the rise in popularity of cable-based pay-per-month premium television channels, such as HBO and Cinemax, offering buyers dozens of movies per month, played without commercial interruption and, perhaps most importantly, without content edited for material deemed "inappropriate" for over-the-air television. For anyone who grew up on a steady diet of home video tapes, 12" LaserDiscs, and particularly the cable television channels, no doubt the name Romancing the Stone instantly recalls memories of many an airings of the famed 1984 adventure-comedy film, playing in what memory seems to recall being a nearly nonstop loop. The right film, with the right mix of content, including a pair of budding superstars, an up-and-coming director, and offering high adventure, laughs, and a side of romance, Romancing the Stone was a film worthy of its continuous playback and popularity in the waning years of the decade.

Jack and Joan search for a better soundtrack to their movie.

Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner, The Jewel of the Nile) is the author of several romantic adventure novels. A single woman and a hopeless romantic, she creates fictional worlds in which she longs to live and characters with whom she longs to fall in love. Little does she know that her true-life adventure is set to begin when she receives in the mail a mysterious package and a panicked call from her sister Elaine (Mary Ellen Trainor), begging Joan to bring the contents of the package, a treasure map, to a hotel in Cartagena, Colombia. Her arrival in the South American country is marked by difficulties, boarding the wrong bus and, soon enough, coming face-to-face with Zolo (Manuel Ojeda), a man bent on acquiring the map. A mysterious heroic figure suddenly appears on the scene, and Wilder is rescued by the dashing, rugged Jack T. Colton (Michael Douglas, King of California), an American who agrees to escort her to Cartagena for a small sum of money. As the pair set out on their adventure, evading gunmen, discovering a downed cargo plane full of illegal drugs, and staying one step ahead of Ralph (Danny DeVito, Twins) and Ira (Zack Norman), the pair responsible for kidnapping Joan's sister, they decide to seek the treasure at map's end before handing over the map and, hopefully, rescuing Elaine in one piece.

The success and long-term staying power of Romancing the Stone may be attributed to several crucial factors. First and foremost, the film effortlessly melds four key magic ingredients that make a film successful -- action, drama, comedy, and romance -- and does so with an ease and charisma not often found in cinema prior to and in the years following the film's release. The adventure film with romantic and comedic twists is nothing new; Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes Back are but two contemporaries of Romancing the Stone that offered audiences films heavy on action but with a sprinkling of romance and laughter in support of the primary story. Romancing the Stone sets itself apart from the crowd thanks to what is often equal parts comedy, drama, action, and romance. Many scenes elicit various emotional responses in the viewer. An action scene may offer romantic overtones or a comedic twist in the resolution of the immediate conflict; a scene solidifying the romantic angle simultaneously features one of the film's funniest moments; the film's dramatic overtones are often accompanied by heavy doses of action. Indeed, Diane Thomas' script is cinematic gold, a classic tale of a damsel in distress who discovers true love in the form a rugged rescuer while on a long road filled with adventure, perils, pitfalls, laughs, riches, and relentless enemies.

The script's brilliant integration of styles, smartly-written characters, and classic love story mean nothing without just the right talent lending their skills to the picture, and in that regard, Romancing the Stone, again, is an unequivocal success. Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner share a chemistry together that seems to defy the laws of cinematic convention, the relationship not only believable but natural in its formation, progression, and solidification, within the time restraints of the film and its place amongst the action, drama, and comedy, of course. Douglas is superb as the hero while Turner captures the lonely heart spirit perfectly, aided by a script that pens her as a lonely, hopeless romantic who calls her cat Romeo, dreams of falling in love with a fictional rough-and-tumble hero of her own creation, lives vicariously in a fantasy world that shares many of the same thrills as she is about to experience first-hand, and it is her familiarity with literary convention and adventure that allows her, at times, to be the true action hero of the film, even if her actions save the day through blind luck. Her character is terrifically written and equally well performed. Danny DeVito makes a bad guy lovable; his charm and wit make him the perfect choice to portray a wannabe thug that talks the talk but turns tail and runs for cover when push comes to shove.

Romancing the Stone Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Romancing the Stone comes to life on Blu-ray like never before with an impressive 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer. The film's opening moments in the arid desert look fabulous; sweat glistens off of the heroine and the foe; detail is high; blacks are deep; and the imagery is sharp and well-defined. Once the film breaks from the fantasy world of Joan Wilder's novel and returns to the real world, various shots of her apartment are equally impressive in their own right. The image takes on a paler look than what was seen in the bright, orange- and brown-tinted desert, but the lighting scheme shows off a realistic flair to the interior of the apartment. All of the knickknacks, furniture, and the fireplace look clean and realistic, with a nice texture and depth about the entire set and sequence. The image further impresses in a myriad of subsequent scenes throughout the runtime of the film. Take, for example, the bus Joan first boards in Colombia. The tassels on the window curtains, the wear and tear on the seats, and even the grime as seen on the exterior of the vehicle all add their own small details to the film that bring it alive and create throughout the picture a definitive film-like cinematic experience. Colors are exceptional as well. The greens of the jungle, the multi-colored side of the aforementioned bus, and even the brown dirt of Colombian terrain is impressive. Flesh tones remain accurate throughout, and only a few select scenes appear excessively soft. Romancing the Stone offers viewers another high-quality catalogue title from Fox.

Romancing the Stone Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Romancing the Stone fails to impress sonically despite the inclusion of a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. From the film's opening moments, it becomes apparent that the sound is muffled and is presented with a harsh edge about it. The sound always comes across as undefined and lacking in clarity, perhaps a limitation of the original elements but is certainly more cluttered and jumbled than one might expect. It feels cramped and seems constantly struggling to be let loose and make a better impression. Make no mistake, it's loud and forceful, just not as natural and free-flowing as one might expect. Guns shots ring out with volume but little-to-no definition or oomph. Bass is lacking, and surround speakers offer little in the way of either discrete effects or environmental ambience in scenes ranging from the bustling streets of New York to the jungle locales of Colombia. Atmospherics are pronounced across the front, but the track never creates the immersive atmosphere one might expect to find in a film taking place in a dense jungle or urban environment. A heavy jungle rainstorm in chapter seven is front heavy and the sounds of the thunder, rain, and a mudslide become jumbled together with absolutely no definition, just a barrage of sound at a volume that's too high and the segment in question, fun from a visual perspective, is worsened thanks to the lack of even a decent audio presentation. These are but a few examples from early in the film, and the track never demonstrates any kind of improvement.

Romancing the Stone Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Romancing the Stone comes to Blu-ray with only a handful of bonus materials. First up are eight deleted scenes (1080p, 18:58). Rekindling the Romance: A Look Back (480p, 19:47) features the cast and crew reminiscing about their experiences on the film. The piece delves into the script, the choice of Robert Zemeckis as director, the casting, the difficult filming conditions and various challenges faced by the cast and crew, and more. A Hidden Treasure: The Screenwriter (480p, 3:15) is a brief look at the film's screenwriter, Diane Thomas, the novelty and groundbreaking aspects of her script, and her untimely death. Douglas, Turner, and DeVito: Favorite Scenes (480p, 3:56) features the film's lead actors recounting some of the film's more memorable scenes. Michael Douglas Remembers (480p, 2:23) features the famed actor sharing a few memories of this film and his career.

Romancing the Stone Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Romancing the Stone is a landmark film of sorts, one that made careers for its lead actors and director Robert Zemeckis (The Polar Express) and effortlessly combined romance, action, drama, and humor in nearly equal parts. Featuring a fine ensemble cast, including a pair of headliners that share an on-screen chemistry as natural and refined as the best in Hollywood history, and plenty of charm, wit, and good old-fashioned adventure storytelling, Romancing the Stone remains a popular, admired, and fresh title to this day, almost a quarter-century after its initial theatrical release. 20th Century Fox's Blu-ray release, unfortunately, is hit-or-miss. Sporting a high quality video transfer yet a surprisingly lackluster soundtrack and only a meager helping of bonus materials, Romancing the Stone on Blu-ray is a recommended purchase only for longtime fans of the film or those without the previous DVD edition in their film libraries.