The Film
Assembled double-time in just a year and a half, without helmer Robert Zemeckis and suffering the sudden passing of writer Diane Thomas, The Jewel of the Nile does what a lot of good sequels do. The creative team tried to identify what made Romancing the Stone a hit and then give us more of the same, only different. The story moves the amorous adventurers Jack and Joan (Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner) first to Europe then to the Middle East, crossing paths with a charming despot and the rebels who would stop him.
Some people liked the approach of making the McGuffin a person this time out instead of another object, haters didn't, but the idea has been copied more than once since (see Men in Black II… or, on second thought, don't.) Jewel was also one of the first movies to ask the question, What happens to the perfect couple after they ride off into the sunset together for their fairytale ending? The answer is poignant, funny, and definitely worth a look for Stone fans.
The Picture
I'll get the bad news out of the way first: Jewel has a great many nighttime and otherwise dark scenes which, as on the Romancing the Stone Blu-ray, are artifacty but perhaps even more so here. In at least once case, when lovable bad guy Ralph (Danny DeVito) first confronts Jack on a dock, a single scene can look mismatched from shot to shot due to the variations in lighting and subsequent haze. The compression artifacting mixes with film grain to add a layer of unwelcome digital distraction to the 2.35:1 image.
On the other hand, the exaggerated colors of the opening story within a story are certainly eye-catching, as are some bright bits of desert garb and decoration. The widescreen sandscape photography, while not on the scale of Lawrence of Arabia, is pleasingly sharp and lifelike. Many of the costumes in the second half feature fine patterns which reproduce cleanly without artifacting or other geometric anomalies. And it's not the fault of the video transfer, but the climactic special effects look pretty darned awful.
The Sound
What a difference a year makes: As evidenced by the existence of a Dolby 4.0 soundtrack created back in 1985 (theatrical 5.1 would not arrive until 1992), the audio is more ambitious right from square one, and the DTS HD 5.1 remix/remaster impressed me in almost every scene. The designers bothered to add soft wind to the surrounds of an outdoor sequence, a touch that some people won't even notice. The front-to-back passing of a motorcycle to the left is countered by back-to-front knife throws, tanks roll overhead and fountains gurgle. There are plenty of big, modern-style explosions including several in an extended battle involving a fighter jet that never leaves the ground, with abundant low-frequency effects, resonance and enjoyable directionality. Off-camera gunfire possesses genuine menace and three-dimensional presence, while different tribal ceremonies are expansive and wholly believable.
The Extras
The almost-six minutes of deleted scenes are served up in high-definition, but this lot is of the "I can see why they cut it" variety. Director Lewis Teague recorded a commentary that plays silently for long stretches but he is frank in his self-criticism, if distracted by minor observations. "Romancing the Nile: A Winning Sequel" is an above-average 21-minute warts-and-all behind-the-scenes exposé, and the eight-minute "Adventures of a Romance Novelist" explores the challenges of writing a worthy new follow-up. These two featurettes are presented in HD, technically, although it appears to be an upconversion of SD material. These bonus features from the 2006 special edition DVD were created at the same time as those on the Romancing the Stone disc, even using some of the same soundbites, but all of Stone's featurettes are delivered in standard-def. Strange.
Final Thoughts
The exploits of Joan and Jack were so beloved that you can't blame audiences for wanting more, and the filmmakers were only too happy to oblige. With this polished Blu Jewel, their journey, and possibly your collection, is complete. Unless of course, like my wife, you consider The War of the Roses an unofficial third film in the series….
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