The Jewel of the Nile [Special Edition]

Director: Lewis Teague, Glenn Randall Jr. Lewis Teague

Overview

"Fans of Romancing the Stone will be happy to know that its sequel has gotten an upgrade with this special edition disc of The Jewel of the Nile. It has received a new, anamorphically enhanced video transfer that improves a bit on the previous DVD edition of the title. The audio portion of the disc retains the same Dolby 4.0 Stereo track that its predecessor has, and the mix is a solid one. There's also an array of extras for the film's fans. First up is a commentary with director Lewis Teague; despite periodic gaps of silence, it's an amiable, chatty track that offers plenty of interesting behind-the-scenes details. There are also six deleted scenes. None of these bits are revelatory, but fans will find them interesting enough to watch once. The package also includes two featurettes, one about the choices the filmmakers made in mapping out the sequel's plotline and another that is a more comprehensive making-of piece. The latter featurette is particularly interesting, as all the participants are candid about the problems involved in making the film. The package is rounded out by a theatrical trailer and an eight-page booklet of notes included in the disc case. All in all, any fan who liked The Jewel of the Nile will enjoy this special edition disc."

Product Details

Release Date:	08/29/2006
UPC:	0024543266976
Original Release:	1985
Rating:	PG
Source:	20Th Century Fox
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:46:00
Sales rank:	3,317

Special Features

Commentary by director Lewis Teague; "Romancing the Nile: A Winning Sequel" featurette; "Adventures of a Romance Novelist" featurette; Deleted scenes

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kathleen Turner	Joan Wilder
Michael Douglas	Jack Colton
Danny DeVito	Ralph
Avner Eisenberg	Holy Man
Paul David Magid	Tarak
Howard Jay Patterson	Barak
Randall Edwin Nelson	Karak
Samuel Ross Williams	Arak
Hamid Fillali	Rachid
Holland Taylor	Gloria
Guy Cuevas	Le Vasseur
Peter De Palma	Missionary
Mark Daly Richards	Pirate
Hyacinthe N'Iaye	Nubian Wrestler
Daniel Peacock	Rock Promoter
Alaoui Hassen	Station Master
Akasby Mohamed	Old Man in Suq
Timothy Daniel Furst	Sarak
Flora Alberti	Society Matron
Patricia Davidson	Society Matron
Spiros Focás	Omar
Stacey Sher	Actor
Mohamed Attifi	Omar's Elite Guard
Sakeke Colobanane	Nubian Chief
The Flying Karamazov Brothers	Actor
Rose Tobias Shaw	Actor
Benyahim Ahed	Omar Officer
Makoula Ahmed	Ticket Seller
Zaouia Abdelmajid	F-16 Pilot
Ted Buffington	Firewalker
Ziraoui Mustapha	Omar's Elite Guard
Baji Abdelmajid	Omar's Elite Guard
Kachela Mohammed	Omar's Elite Guard
Jack Nitzsche	Composer

Technical Credits

Mark Rosenthal

Lawrence Konner

Diane Thomas

Lewis Teague	Director
Mark Rosenthal	Screenwriter
Lawrence Konner	Screenwriter
Michael Douglas	Producer,Producer
Diane Thomas	Screenwriter
Jack Brodsky	Producer
Paul Botham	Sound Effects
Leslie Hodgson	Sound Effects
Gerry Humphreys	Sound Effects
Glenn Randall Jr.	Director

Editorial Reviews

As a sequel, The Jewel of the Nile achieves the kind of moderate success level that makes a viewer glad for its existence, but equally glad there was no third installment. There was something so raw and wonderful about watching an exhausted Kathleen Turner traverse a South American jungle in high heels, alongside a Michael Douglas divided between grungy self-interest and heroism, that made Romancing the Stone such an unexpected delight. The Jewel of the Nile can't quite duplicate the charm, but the chemistry between Douglas, Turner, and perhaps most importantly, Danny DeVito, does keep the second one going through some gangbuster set pieces and miles of North African desert. A holy power struggle is not up to the juicy narrative level of a map-driven quest for a glimmering jewel, but there's enough native whimsy in this movie to keep it lively and fun, especially in the performance of Avner Eisenberg as the kindhearted holy man. It's also nice to see the Arabs portrayed with varying levels of sympathy, not the evil caricatures too often seen in big-budget releases. DeVito's opportunistic Ralph again steals his scenes, spraying gallons of spittle as he tries to talk his way through the most foreign of lands. Undoubtedly confusing some folks who thought it was a third in the series, DeVito paired himself with Douglas and Turner again in The War of the Roses, the wicked black comedy he directed four years later.