Watched: 11/07/2025
Format: Amazon
Viewing: Unknown
Director: Robert Zemeckis
I have no idea how this movie would read to The Youths. Fine, I expect, minus some of the jokes that would fly over their heads (ie: "The Doobie Brothers broke up?").
Mostly it makes me miss Kathleen Turner in movies (yes, I know she's still very active... we just don't cross paths anymore). And, man, she showed up fully formed as a movie star. Her Joan Wilder (this is her third film and fourth screen credit) is a really pretty fun character even if they have to work overtime to make you think she's "blossoming" during the course of the film.
Maybe the action-packed climax goes on too long (I've felt this since I saw the movie as a kid) but it's otherwise a lean, tight movie with lots of solid stuff.
But also, rewatching is a reminder of how 1980's the 1980's truly were. Romancing the Stone is an astounding cultural artifact in that respect. From turning Danny DeVito into a movie star (he was a huge hit from this, which is kind of odd when you see how little he's actually in this movie) to the Alan Silvestri soundtrack. Michael Douglas exudes weird 1980's male energy that lacks any self-awareness. And our odd relationship with South American countries in the 1980's as the drug trade was in high gear and the CIA was mucking about installing governments.
Unfortunately, they rushed the follow up and made one of the single worst sequels I remember from the era, killing the golden goose.
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