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The Jewel of the Nile

The Jewel of the Nile

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not Too Bad For A Sequel
Review: THE JEWEL OF THE NILE is a sequel to ROMANCING THE STONE. The director and the screenwriters are new but Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito are back in their old familiar roles. The cast also includes Spiros Focas and Avner Eisenberg.

This time the adventure takes place in North Africa where Turner is invited to accompany a wealthy Arab to his own country. She soon finds herself caught in another big mess in a very strange land. Naturally Douglas has to rescue her as he did before in ROMANCING THE STONE.

Danny DeVito's best scene comes near the beginning of the film when he suddenly emerges from a barrel on a dock with a rapid-fire description of his experiences in a Columbian jail. On balance JEWEL OF THE NILE is an entertaining movie but it does not quite recapture the magic of ROMANCING THE STONE.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Nowhere near as strong as the original
Review: The success of "Romancing the Stone" wasn't in the non-stop bickering between the principals. Rather, that was a component in a film -- one of my favorites -- that had a lot of other things going for it, like atmosphere, an intersting B-story featuring rival groups of antagonists, an interesting setting and, most importantly, the tension between Joan Wilder's romantic fictions and her romantic reality.

With "Jewel of the Nile," everything is gone except for the bickering. The most enjoyable villain is reformed (mostly), the setting is generic (and fairly insulting) Middle East, and the adventure features little of the fun that informed the first movie.

Apparently, there's a script for a third movie floating around in Hollywood that's allegedly far superior to "Jewel of the Nile," and there are people who are reportedly disappointed they couldn't ever make it, due to the lack of success this film had. I'm sorry, but "Jewel of the Nile" got what it deserved: It's a middle of the road remake to a film that really lucked into its breakout status to begin with. This is by-the-book filmmaking, and comes off that way.

Whereas I am pleased to own "Romancing the Stone," "Jewel of the Nile" is definitely just a rental, at best.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Nowhere near as strong as the original
Review: The success of "Romancing the Stone" wasn't in the non-stop bickering between the principals. Rather, that was a component in a film -- one of my favorites -- that had a lot of other things going for it, like atmosphere, an intersting B-story featuring rival groups of antagonists, an interesting setting and, most importantly, the tension between Joan Wilder's romantic fictions and her romantic reality.

With "Jewel of the Nile," everything is gone except for the bickering. The most enjoyable villain is reformed (mostly), the setting is generic (and fairly insulting) Middle East, and the adventure features little of the fun that informed the first movie.

Apparently, there's a script for a third movie floating around in Hollywood that's allegedly far superior to "Jewel of the Nile," and there are people who are reportedly disappointed they couldn't ever make it, due to the lack of success this film had. I'm sorry, but "Jewel of the Nile" got what it deserved: It's a middle of the road remake to a film that really lucked into its breakout status to begin with. This is by-the-book filmmaking, and comes off that way.

Whereas I am pleased to own "Romancing the Stone," "Jewel of the Nile" is definitely just a rental, at best.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A waste
Review: They had this terrific character, who was a romance novelist writing about the old West. So what did they do? Put her in a pointless, overbaked tale set in Egypt. What could have been a great trilogy was ruined in film two.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Great Movie!
Review: This move is great! It's not as good as the first movie, "Romancing the Stone", but this one comes in close! Danny Devito plays the role of Ralph wonderfully! I even got my brother hooked on the movie!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Bad script = bad movie.
Review: This movie is actually used by the book "Good Script, Bad Script" to illustrate how not to plot a movie or write dialog, and I agree. The story just meanders about with a stream of gratuitous and clumsily done action scenes, and buffoonish auxillary characters. Finally, the actors look like they don't want to be in this movie; quite a waste of talent.

As for the DVD, there is little in the way of supplements, and the transfer is a bit dirty.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Top Notch!
Review: This movie is awesome, I don't give a dang what anybody says, it is one of the most well done romance movies I have seen yet. It is so funny I laughed all the way through it the first time... and have re-watched it over and over, and it never wears out as a love story. Haven't found any others with such good direction or fitting musical scores yet. I give it 5 of 5 stars... and always will!

Joseph

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Somewhere In Africa.....
Review: This review refers to "Jewel of the Nile" DVD edition(20th Cent Fox)....

If you loved "Romancing The Stone", and can hardly pass the TV without stopping to watch when it's on, then go ahead and follow the adventures of Jack, Joan and Ralph in Africa in "Jewel Of The Nile". It may not stand up to the repeated viewings like RTS, but it is a fun and action packed sequel, and it is the characters that we have come to love, that make us want to watch them in action in a new and different story.

Joan(Kathleen Turner) and Jack(Michael Douglas) have been living together on his boat for six months already. Jack wants to take off and see the world, Joan has a bit of a writer's block and wants more from life. Opportunity knocks on her door when a powerful Sheik wants her to write his story. She's wisked off to Africa, leaving a brooding Jack behind, and immediatley finds herself in the midst of a mysterious, intriguing and very dangerous situtation involving an all powerful "Jewel". But have no fear, Jack is warned of the danger his beloved is in and is off to save her. Ralph( Danny DeVito),who has been lurking about and hears the word "Jewel" is not going to be left out this time, and tags along as well. An added bonus to this one are the fabulous Flying Karamazov Brothers juggling troupe, who jazz up this film a little with their entertaining skills.

I probably would go a little higher then 3 stars if I was just rating the film, but I was a bit disappointed in the DVD transfer(especially compared to RTS). It didn't seem like much care went into it. The film is presented in widescreen, which is really nice, and takes in all the action and scenery nicely, and even the colors were nice and bright, but the print was below average for a film of this age(1985). It seemed grainey at times, and I often noticed scratches and even dirt. Good sound in Dolby Surround, but with all the action and adventure in this film, DD5.1 would have been great.
The film may also be viewed in French and has subtitles in English and Spanish.

Fans of the first film, will certainly enjoy spending more time with the gang, but may want to consider renting it first, if you haven't seen it yet.

Get the Popcorn ready, and maybe some lemonade..it's a hot trek through the desert!...enjoy...Laurie




Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Okay but loses it`s touch after repeated viewings
Review: This sequel to ROMANCING THE STONE has its ups and downs.Like the first one,this is a film I saw TOO many times.Liked it a lot ten years ago,but I dont go crazy for it now.The plot:novelist Joan Wilder(Kathleen Turner)is invited by an Arab ruler by the name of Omar Kalifa(Spiros Focas)to go to his country and write his biography.That way,he will have more exposure to the western world.Bored and wanting some action in her life, she agrees.This causes tension between her and boyfriend Jack Colton(Michael Douglas),leading them to put their relationship on hold.Once she gets there,she discovers that Omar is up to no good,and that she is in great danger.Omar is disliked by his people because he took away "THE JEWEL OF THE NILE".Jack is aware of this and goes to Africa with Ralph(Danny DeVito) to rescue Joan.Here is a flaw I noticed. The big flaw is in reference to the names of the African locations.You break your head trying to figure out where they are.No specific known country name is mentionned. At one point,Joan looks at at map that appears to be Sudan,because the capital city of Khartoom is shown.Yet,the lack of information puts you in a state of confusion.At least,the locations mentionned in ROMANCING THE STONE are clear.Like the first one,this film is dated.It had a big popularity in the 80s and early 90s.It was aired many times on TV and somehow was forgotten by many moviegoers.Unfortunately,as time went by,you seem to notice that ROMANCING THE STONE had a superiour status than THE JEWEL OF THE NILE,because the action and adventure seems farfetched and too caried away.Certainly the first one was farfetched but it had a convincing effect.This time,you cant really go along with it. I must mention that this film is worth a look,and all the stars give us good performances.For me,this movie is a good example of the negative effects that occur due to repeated viewings.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Better then the Original Movie
Review: Unlike the other reviews, I think Jewel of the Nile is better then Romanceing the Stone with a better storyline, more laughs,and a more interesting premise to work with. Here Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito find adventure and thrills as they try to save a holy man and reunite him with his followers before a military dictator gains control over all of North Africa. A solid comedy/action adventure.


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