Romancing the Stone (1984)
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Though she can spin wild tales of passionate romance, novelist Joan Wilder has no life of her own. Then one day adventure comes her way in the form of a mysterious package. It turns out that the parcel is the ransom she'll need to free her abducted sister, so Joan flies to South America to hand it over. But she gets on the wrong bus and winds up hopelessly stranded in the jungle.
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What critics compared Romancing the Stone to
With just one more (maybe two) punch-ups, The Lost City could have been a sweet and salty screwball adventure in the vein of its obvious inspirations: the twin 1980s hits Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile.
Then, for course, there's Romancing the Stone with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner which The Lost City borrows heavily from with an obvious nod to its source when one of the book tours is called "Romancing the Page."
In a setup and general vibe that reminded me of films like Romancing the Stone , The Lost City tells the story of frustrated romance novelist Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock), who has had her greatest and longest success writing the adventures of the same hero character, Dash, whose old-fashioned adventures have made up a series of books that Loretta is looking to wrap up with her latest title.
After 1951’s The African Queen set the standard for adventure-romances by uniting its era’s biggest stars on a high-stakes trip, and 1984’s Romancing the Stone parlayed the same concept into a crowd-pleasing blockbuster, many filmmakers have tried to replicate the formula.
More in line with the mood of the Jumanji reboots than the rom-com 1980s adventures it channels, whether Spielberg’s Indiana Jones films or the Michael Douglas/Kathleen Turner films Romancing the Stone (1984) and Jewel of the Nile (1985), there’s enough oddness to creep in around predictable facets.
This romantic action adventure, in theaters, pulls its inspiration from Romancing the Stone (1984), but it injects enough originality to make the implausible film a treat for audiences weary of Hollywood’s sequel-reboot cycle.
Based on the theme park ride, “Jungle Cruise” is a celebration of the ride; a cheeky, frolicky fun homage to “The African Queen,” “Romancing the Stone” and then throw in all what Disney does best.
Those hoping for something akin to the 1999 The Mummy or Romancing the Stone should be suitably thrilled by the comparable chemistry between Johnson and Blunt, always emitting the type of will-they-or-won’t-they vibe that makes them such a fantastic onscreen pair.
For long time adventure fans, this really is the throwback blockbuster we’ve been waiting for, with plenty of nods and homages to greats such as Romancing the Stone , The Mummy and Indiana Jones.
The script from Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (among other names) is surely looking back towards classics like Romancing the Stone and Indiana Jones for inspiration, but the most prominent influence is actually Disney’s other IP based on a theme park ride, Pirates of the Caribbean.
Their relationship is reminiscent of Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas in “Romancing the Stone.”
For anyone old enough, or old-movie-centered enough, to care (which is maybe five percent of this movie’s prospective audience), the banter between these two could be said to evoke Bogart and Hepburn — or, at least, Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in “Romancing the Stone.”
Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn are funny, but they deserve better material than this 'Romancing the Stone' riff.
Taken at face value, Snatched was probably envisaged as a kind of Romancing The Stone style caper for the Taken generation that combines edgy action-comedy with some touching mother-daughter moments.
Soon, the film starts to mirror plot lines from “Romancing the Stone.”
There’s a great bit involving Christopher Meloni as a Romancing the Stone Michael Douglas wannabe that builds to a spectacularly insane conclusion, while a running gag involving a dog whistle is paid off nicely during the film’s final act.
Instead, the odd-couple comedy—a surprisingly violent and unsurprisingly crass play on Romancing the Stone—runs the gamut from mildly amusing to dismal.
No, the only reason it registered in my head was due to it being a pivotal location in the action-adventure rom-com, "Romancing the Stone."
She and Pratt get a little wet and her hair relaxes as the romance kicks in, and the movie leaves Spielberg’s farm to evoke stuff like the bantering that Kathleen Turner does with Michael Douglas in Romancing the Stone.
The bickering romantic interplay between Howard and Pratt seems lifted from the 1980s “Romancing the Stone.”
He certainly gets more to do than Howard, whose part is like a third-generation xerox of the high-strung damsels-in-distress played by Kathleen Turner in “Romancing the Stone” and Kate Capshaw in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”
Still, this retrograde Romancing The Stone subplot is much preferable to scenes of Claire’s nephews, teenage Zach (Nick Robinson) and preteen Gray (Ty Simpkins), getting some brotherly bonding in while trying not to be eaten.
Since Hollywood is always trying to remake popular old school movies from the 80s, a studio exec could do a lot worse than pairing Pratt and Howard in an updated version of Romancing the Stone .
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Reynolds can form chemistry with anyone, and with Johnson, they give off Romancing the Stone vibes.
A hybrid of dozens of other comedic heist flicks as well as “Romancing the Stone,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Red Notice” is a shameless, unabashed, and almost proud derivative effort (one scene features a character whistling the main theme from “Raiders”).
The dark humor and action twists of “Game Night” are reminiscent of a throwback to retro 80s movies like “Something Wild” and “Romancing the Stone,” films that combined comedy, mystery, action, and romance but with a slightly more ominous tone.
He teams up with sea princess Mera (Amber Heard) in a Romancing the Stone meets Spielberg style quest, with the two bickering their way through deserts, Italian coastlines, ruins and stormy seas to make sure his destiny is met.
He owes a lot to the imperfect heroes of the films director James Wan set out to emulate with Aquaman (Indiana Jones, Romancing The Stone, etc), and Momoa reveals himself as a pretty excellent comedy action hero.
It’s part Romancing the Stone , part The Da Vinci Code , part Sinbad, and all comes across as a bit of a straight-to-video, eighties swords and sorcery tale, and highly derivative.
Broadly, Wan’s movie does the same, but with the series’ emphasis now firmly on fun, there’s a crude and botched attempt to invest the proceedings with a classic adventure undercurrent – a Romancing the Stone for millennials.
Once Momoa and Heard pair up, the movie starts to find a little more of a groove, especially as they go on a globe-trotting Romancing The Stone -style adventure.
While expertly weaving in an origin story through flashback, Wan winks at “Star Wars,” “The Karate Kid,” “The Ten Commandments,” “Romancing the Stone” and “National Treasure.”
Though the advance publicity would have you believe Knight and Day is a modern spin on Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (puh-leeze!), the best template for these types of films is Robert Zemeckis’ Romancing the Stone .
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(Hello also to Romancing the Stone, and honestly what these Jumanji movies could use is some good smooching between people who are old enough to have their own credit cards.)
However cynical one could become toward the prospect of another breed of Romancing the Stone (1984), The Goonies (1985), or National Treasure (2004), Uncharted defies all odds, despite its gaming origins.