Jewel Of The Nile

Released By:

Fox Home Video

Features:

1985; 106 Min; Rated PG; Dolby Surround: English, French; Widescreen (2.35).

Extras:

Theatrical Trailer.

Review:

Jewel Of The Nile is the follow-up to the hit, Romancing The Stone. In this sequel, Jack Colton (Michael Douglas), Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) and Ralph (Danny DeVito) all return searching for personal treasures. Jack is in search of, well nothing really, just fun. Joan is trying to finish her latest book and a find new direction for her career and love life. Meanwhile, Ralph is continuing to search for the latest treasure that will make him rich.

Joan, in her quest find her new spark, is whisked away to Africa by a power hungry sheik named Omar, while Jack and Ralph are taken to Africa go to Africa to search for the "jewel of the nile." Their paths are intertwined, of course, leading to their new adventure.

As sequels go, this isn't bad, but it lack the spark of the original, perhaps this is because Robert Zemeckis didn't return. The film still is fun, and the actors definitely are enjoying themselves. This was the second of many collaborations between Turner, Douglas and DeVito. One of the things that was most amusing for me, was remembering there was a day when Hollywood film makers would actually shoot on location. They didn't rely on local locations, that we're completely dressed up, or blue screens to transport the characters to other parts of the world. Ah, so goes the modern saga of Hollywood. Higher budgets, less reality.

On the technical side, this disc looks very good. The are no signs of digital artifacts, at least none that I noticed. Some of the night scenes are rather grainy, but this is probably due to the photography of Jan De Bont, I don't have any real gripes about it. It seem to be the same transfer as Fox's previously released widescreen laser disc, which I had no problem with. Unfortunately, Fox did not take the time to re-master the soundtrack into Dolby Digital 5.1. You would think knowing their schedule six months in advance, they could have at least put that much effort into the release. But so it goes in the world of DVD for most studios, quantity over quality. The Dolby Surround audio is decent, but seems to lack some of the punch the original LD had.

There aren't many extras on this disc.  The trailer that was included was pretty much shot. I guess you could count the animated menu as a extra feature, but I don't.

While not as fun as the origianl I'll give the film a 7 for actual quality.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give the disc presentaion a 5, with no bonus biscuits.

Dan Linzmeier, FIT Productions
Fitprod@aol.com
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