A “Jewel” of A Film
The Jewel of the Nile is a true sequel, taking place almost immediately after (six months after to be exact) the events of Romancing the Stone. Wilder and Colton are together and having a fun time, preparing to sail out into the world in their new boat as they had talked about doing in the original film. However, a curious northern African ruler named Omar steps in to ask Wilder to come to the Morocco to stay with him and write his biography. Joan Wilder, having become tired of writing romance, is very interested in the job and decides to go, while Colton declines the invite and intends on leaving without her with a heavy heart.
This split is very temporary as the very same night their boat gets blown to pieces before Colton boards it. It’s the work of this mysterious Omar character, and Colton resolves to get to the Africa, reluctantly with the vengeful (but still very funny) Ralph (played by De Vito) en tow, who is coming solely to seek out a the Jewel after hearing about it from an African native. After breaking Joan out of prison, the trio must continue to escape Omar’s small army while simultaneously helping out a holy man that was a prisoner of Omar’s. Ultimately, it’s revealed that this holy man is very important to his people, and it’s up to the trio to help reunite him with his people.
On Blu-ray
The Jewel of the Nile was recently simultaneously with its predecessor, Romancing the Stone, on Blu-ray just yesterday. The two are comparable in terms of their presentation quality, number and type of extras, and even in their menus. With that said, you can expect a nice looking film – deep, true blacks with little to no signs of compression, a nice contrast that helps colors ‘pop’ off the screen, and an overall sharp and clear picture that is devoid of almost all grain and specks. The audio is again presented in a satisfying, but not quite outstanding, DTS-HD Lossless audio track.
The extras are unfortunately the same ones that were on the 2006 DVD release and are:
Deleted Scenes – Six deleted scenes totaling about six minutes add some additional content for fans.
Romancing The Nile: A Winning Sequel – Just over twenty minutes and in SD, this feature is a continuation of the “Rekindling” feature found on the Romancing the Stone release. Once again Douglas, Turner, and De Vito, this time along with director Lewis Teague and screenwriter Mark Rosenthal, talk about various memories and making of tidbits and the enjoyment of working with each other.
Adventures of a Romance Novelist – This eight minute SD feature is just some fluff as it has screenwriter Rosenthal summarizing the film’s plot and little else.
Trailer and Director Commentary – The theatrical trailer and a commentary track complete the list of extra features for this Blu-ray release.