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Romancing the Stone

Promotional poster for the film.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Produced by Michael Douglas
Jack Brodsky
Joel Douglas
Written by Diane Thomas
Uncredited:
Lem Dobbs
Howard Franklin
Treva Silverman
Starring Michael Douglas
Kathleen Turner
Danny DeVito
Alfonso Arau
Manuel Ojeda
Music by Alan Silvestri
Cinematography Dean Cundey
Álex Phillips Jr. Robert Lee "Bob" Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an Academy Award - and Golden Globe -winning American Film director, Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American Actor and producer, primarily in Movies and Television Diane Thomas ( January 7, 1946 – October 21, 1985) was a Screenwriter. Lem Dobbs (born as Lem Kitaj on December 24 1959 in Oxford England) is an British - American Screenwriter Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American Actor and producer, primarily in Movies and Television Mary Kathleen Turner (born June 19, 1954) is a Tony Award - and Academy Award -nominated American actress. Daniel Michael DeVito Jr (born November 17 1944 is an American Actor, director and producer, who first gained prominence for his portrayal Alfonso Arau (born January 11, 1932) is a Mexican actor and director Manuel Salvador Ojeda Armenta (born November 4 1940) is one of the most active actors of Television and Cinema in Mexico. Alan Silvestri (born March 26, 1950, New York City) is an acclaimed American Academy Award nominated Film score Composer
Editing by Donn Cambern
Frank Morriss
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) March 30, 1984 (USA)
Running time 105 min. Donn Cambern (born October 29 1929) is an Academy Award nominated film editor Frank E Morriss is a film and television editor with more than fifty film and television program credits dating from 1968 Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar)
Country Mexico / USA
Language English
Followed by The Jewel of the Nile
IMDb profile

Romancing the Stone is an American 1984 action-adventure film. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The Jewel of the Nile is a Sequel to the 1984 romantic adventure Romancing the Stone featuring Michael Douglas, Kathleen The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events The Walt Disney Company founds Touchstone Pictures to release movies with subject matter deemed inappropriate for the Disney name Action movies are a Film genre where action sequences such as fights, Shootouts Stunts Car chases or explosions either take precedence It also has many elements that might categorize it as a romantic comedy. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it stars Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. Robert Lee "Bob" Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an Academy Award - and Golden Globe -winning American Film director, Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American Actor and producer, primarily in Movies and Television Mary Kathleen Turner (born June 19, 1954) is a Tony Award - and Academy Award -nominated American actress. Daniel Michael DeVito Jr (born November 17 1944 is an American Actor, director and producer, who first gained prominence for his portrayal There is a second part, played by the same actors, titled The Jewel of the Nile. The Jewel of the Nile is a Sequel to the 1984 romantic adventure Romancing the Stone featuring Michael Douglas, Kathleen

The movie was a respectable hit and earned over USD$114 million worldwide in box-office receipts and $36 million in video rentals. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for Admission to a venue This film also helped launch Turner to stardom, reintroduced Douglas to the public as a capable leading man, and gave Zemeckis his first box office success.

Contents

Plot summary

The plot of the movie revolves around romance writer Joan Wilder, played by Kathleen Turner, who travels to Colombia to find her kidnapped sister. Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. In time she falls in love with a soldier of fortune and the two become romantically involved as they search for a precious stone which the kidnappers want. An adventurer or adventuress is a term that usually takes one of three meanings One whose travels are unusual and often exotic though not so unique as to qualify

Opening sequence

The first few minutes of the movie depict a scene from one of Joan Wilder's novels, entitled The Savage Secret. An evil cowboy named Grogan (Ted White) storms in on a sexy damsel in distress named Angelina (Kymberly Herrin). Ted White is an American stunt man/actor who doubled for John Wayne, Fess Parker, Clark Gable, Lee Marvin and Richard Boone The subject of the damsel in distress, or persecuted maiden is a classic theme in world literature art and film Kymberly Ellen Herrin (born October 2, 1957) is an American model and actress. He threatens to kill Angelina unless she does exactly as she's told. "Where is it?" he asks. Angelina motions to a saddlebag in the corner. What is in it is never revealed. Now that he has what he wants, she tells him to get out. Grogan smiles. "Not quite. " he says. He orders her to take her clothes off. Reluctantly, Angelina begins to unlace her skirt. When she finishes with the laces, she pulls back her skirt to reveal a knife strapped to the back of her leg. While Grogan is distracted by Angelina's breasts, she throws the knife from across the room in his chest, killing him. As she prepares to leave the house, Angelina points out that Grogan killed her father, raped and murdered her sister, burned down her ranch, shot her dog and stole her Bible (this last being emphasized, as if stealing a Bible is a greater crime than murder, rape, or arson).

She then takes back the saddlebag and rides off across the desert. She is chased by Grogan's brothers, but her lover, the heroic Jesse (William H. Burton), suddenly appears. He shoots her pursuers out of the saddle. The couple meet and kiss. Then, Jesse pulls her up onto his horse and, in true romantic style, rides off into the sunset.

The scene then switches to the apartment of shy, mousy, lonely romantic novelist Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner), who has just finished writing the story. A romance novel is a literary Genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries Angelina never speaks in the scene. All her lines are delivered by a voice-over by Turner. The term voice-over refers to a production technique where a non-diagetic voice is broadcast live or pre-recorded in Radio, Television, Film,

Although the opening scene has little to do with the story, there are some connections:

  1. Many of Joan's fans say Angelina is her most popular character.
  2. Towards the end of the movie, during a confrontation with Zolo, Zolo asks Joan how she would like to die, "Slow like a snail, or fast like a shooting star. " Grogan said something similar to Angelina. Joan also uses Angelina's knife-throwing tactic on Zolo, but Zolo blocks the knife with a piece of wood he uses as a weapon.
  3. At the end of the movie, Jack shows up in New York with the boat he bought with El Corazon. In honor of Joan, he has named it Angelina.

Rest of film

After the opening sequence, Joan receives a strange package from her dead brother-in-law Eduardo, who was recently murdered and dismembered, from Colombia. Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. Soon afterwards, she gets a frantic call from her sister Elaine (Mary Ellen Trainor), telling her she has been kidnapped and needs the map from the package as ransom. Mary Ellen Trainor (born July 8, 1950) is an American actress who may be best remembered as either Dr

Hastily flying down to Colombia from New York, Joan gets lost on the way to her destination, Cartagena: - interestingly, the destination of the bus she got on, Castillo de San Felipe, is in Cartagena and where she was instructed to go to hand over the ransom later in the movie. The City of New York Cartagena de Indias (kaɾtaˈhena ð̞e ˈin̪d̪jas in Spanish; the usual English pronunciation is ˌkɑrtəˈheɪnə deɪ ˈɪndiəs is a large city Also, the city purporting to be Cartagena de las Indias is obviously not that. In the film, the castle is shown going down to the level of the moat, whereas the real Castillo de San Felipe is raised several tens of metres above the surrounding water. Eventually she runs into swashbuckling opportunist Jack T. Swashbuckler or swasher is a term that developed in the 16th century to describe rough noisy and boastful Swordsmen It is based on a fighting style using a Colton (Douglas). In return for helping her find her way to Cartagena, Joan promises Jack US$375 in traveler's checks. He helps her elude key villains, the vicious leader of the secret police, Zolo, who is responsible for Eduardo's murder (Manuel Ojeda), and a dastardly duo of zany bandits, Ralph (Danny DeVito) and Ira (Zack Norman). Manuel Salvador Ojeda Armenta (born November 4 1940) is one of the most active actors of Television and Cinema in Mexico. Daniel Michael DeVito Jr (born November 17 1944 is an American Actor, director and producer, who first gained prominence for his portrayal

Along the way, Jack discovers Joan's map. He tries to convince her to go after the treasure indicated on it. Joan is reluctant, but after they become lovers, she relents and agrees to go after the prize, whatever it is (the map doesn't specify). They decide they can retrieve the treasure and give the then-worthless map to the kidnappers.

After some harrowing escapes, they eventually find the treasure, which turns out to be an enormous emerald about the size of a baseball, called El Corazon ("The Heart"). Emeralds are a variety of the Mineral Beryl (Be3Al2(SiO36 colored Green by trace amounts Unbeknownst to them, they have been tracked by the malevolent Zolo and by Ralph, who steals El Corazon from them. But before he can escape with it, Zolo's men appear on the scene as well as the Colombian Police. After getting El Corazon back from Ralph, Joan and Jack eventually get separated, but agree to meet at Joan's hotel in Cartagena. Jack doesn't show up, which troubles Joan, since he possesses the gem.

She meets with Ralph and Ira, her sister's captors, and turns over the map. They are interrupted by Zolo, who knows the map is now worthless. Zolo's men have Jack, but he has refused to disclose the location of El Corazon. When Zolo threatens to feed Joan to the crocodiles, Jack gives up the gem, which he has been hiding on his person, slinging it off his foot towards Zolo's crocodile pit.

Zolo catches El Corazon, but his hand (together with the gem), is bitten off by one of the crocodiles and a gunfight breaks out between Zolo's private army and Ira's men. This allows Joan, Elaine and Jack to escape. Jack chases the hand-eating croc, while Joan and Elaine just try to get away. After a prolonged gunfight with Zolo's men, Ira and his gang seize the opportunity to escape, leaving Ralph behind.

Zolo catches Joan and Elaine. Joan tries to kill Zolo with his own switchblade in a scene mirroring that of the beginning of the movie, but Zolo blocks the thrown knife with a piece of wood. After Elaine faints from the sight, Joan, within earshot of Jack, pleads for his help. He must decide whether to save her or hold onto the croc which has ingested El Corazon. He decides to try to save Joan by scaling a rock wall to reach her. However, he arrives moments after Zolo falls into a pit full of crocodiles. Seeing that the women are safe, Jack leaves to pursue El Corazon once more.

Joan returns home to New York, more optimistic, though lonely without Jack. She churns out a hit novel based on her recent experiences. Returning home one day, she finds Jack - wearing crocodile skin boots - waiting for her in a sailboat he purchased with the proceeds of El Corazon. It turns out Jack managed to catch the crocodile, who suffered "a fatal case of indigestion" from swallowing the gem. The movie ends with Jack and Joan kissing on the deck of the Angelina, named for Joan's fictional heroine, as the trailer the boat rests on drives off into the streets of New York City.

Production and release

Due to the real-life threat of kidnappings in Colombia, the movie was filmed elsewhere. Locations included Veracruz, Mexico (Fort of San Juan de Ulúa), Mazatlan, Mexico and Manila, Philippines. The city of Veracruz is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. San Juan de Ulúa, also known as Castle of San Juan de Ulúa is a large complex of Fortresses, prisions and one former palace on an island overlooking the Mazatlán ( IPA: zat ˈlan is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa; the surrounding Municipio (municipality for which The City of Manila

This was the first Zemeckis film to feature a music score by composer Alan Silvestri; Silvestri has scored each subsequent film Zemeckis has directed. Alan Silvestri (born March 26, 1950, New York City) is an acclaimed American Academy Award nominated Film score Composer The novelization of this film was credited to Joan Wilder. A novelization is a Novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work

Although, upon its release, comparisons to Raiders of the Lost Ark were inevitable (Time magazine called the movie "a distaff Raiders rip-off"),[1] the screenplay for Romancing had actually been written five years earlier. Raiders of the Lost Ark (also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) is a 1981 Adventure film directed by Steven Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and 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. Malibu is an incorporated city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Diane Thomas ( January 7, 1946 – October 21, 1985) was a Screenwriter. Though Thomas received solo writing credit, several uncredited script doctors helped to refine the film's screenplay. [2]

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!'"[3] 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. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 Live-action/animated film produced by Amblin Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company (released

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-in-the-works Cocoon fired Zemeckis as director of that film),[4] but the film became a surprise hit. Cocoon is a 1985 Science fiction film, directed by Ron Howard about a group of elderly people who are rejuvenated by aliens In fact, it ended up being 20th Century Fox's "only big hit" in 1984. [5] Zemeckis later stated that the success of Romancing the Stone allowed him to make Back to the Future. Back to the Future is a 1985 science fiction Comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg. [6] 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. Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) The Jewel of the Nile is a Sequel to the 1984 romantic adventure Romancing the Stone featuring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Though it performed respectably, its success didn't 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 War of the Roses is a 1989 American Motion picture based upon the 1981 novel ''The War of the Roses'' by Warren Adler

References in other media

See also

References

  1. ^ The Greening of the Box Office. Sierra Entertainment Inc is a Worldwide American Video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta King's Quest II Romancing the Throne is the second installment in the King's Quest series created by Sierra Entertainment (formerly Sierra On-Line This is a list of Films depicting Colombia or specific aspects of it such as its role in the Illegal drug trade or its internal conflict by Richard Corliss & Richard Schickel, Time. (1984-04-23). Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Events 215 BC - A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Retrieved on 2007-02-09. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
  2. ^ IMDB Bio
  3. ^ The Last Movie Star. Entertainment Weekly. (1991-08-02). Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. Events 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Retrieved on 2007-02-09. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
  4. ^ Horowitz, Mark. "Back with a Future," American Film July/Aug. 1988. pp. 32-35.
  5. ^ Musical Chairs in Hollywood. Time. (1984-09-24). Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Events 622 - Prophet Muhammad completes his hegira from Mecca to Medina. Retrieved on 2007-02-09. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
  6. ^ Supplements for the Back to the Future DVD.

External links

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