The Jewel of the Nile

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The Jewel of the Nile

PG

1985

1h 44m

Adventure

Action

Romance

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Popcornmeter

50%

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28 Reviews

37%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Novelist Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) is living with adventurer boyfriend Jack Colton (Michael Douglas) on his yacht. But she leaves when Omar (Spiros Focas), the head of a North African nation, asks her to visit his country and write about him. Jack intends to go on a pleasure cruise to Greece, but when he learns that Joan is a pawn in Omar's quest to polish his image and gain greater power, he partners with continent-hopping criminal Ralph (Danny DeVito) in a quest to free her.

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Critics Consensus

The sense of romantic spark has waned and the prevalence of stereotypes has grown in Jewel of the Nile, although there is still plenty of swooning action for fans of the first adventure.

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Bob Thomas

Associated Press

Jul 23, 2019

[The script] seems to consist of shouted dialogue and descriptions of action scenes. Lewis Teague's direction doesn't help; the extreme closeups seem aimed for the cassette audience.

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Paul Attanasio

Washington Post

Jan 4, 2018

Director Lewis Teague uses the frame the way a magician uses a hat or a handkerchief: surprises are always popping into it, or out of its shadows.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Jan 1, 2000

3/4

It's to everybody's credit that The Jewel of the Nile is an ambitious and elaborate attempt to repeat the success of the first movie; it's not just a ripoff.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Nov 29, 2025

2.5/4

I’ve always found it a tad better than its mangy reputation.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Apr 13, 2024

2.5/4

...the film’s mild success, at the outset, is due almost entirely to the irresistibly personable efforts of its two stars...

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

Mar 15, 2021

4/10

A pesky sort of sequel, not so bad that one reviles it for good but sadly just good enough that once a decade or so you will find yourself giving it another chance and wasting another two hours finding out that it really is simple mediocre entertainment.

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nick S

@Nick_S Jul 23, 2026

Another Romancing the Stone would have been fine, but the storytelling here is nowhere near as creative as the original. In fact it's pretty hamfisted all round. The cast is great if course, which makes it watchable. There are some eye-catching scenes too. But it's a shell of what it could have been.

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Daryn B

@RT75836451 May 22, 2026

The only thing this movie did for me was reaffirm that third-worlders are the worst. This movie sucked.

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Blake- N

@PBSAniDom May 7, 2026

The Jewel of the Nile comes across as a very "mid classic" in the most literal sense of the phrase. It has the charm of an 80s adventure-romance sequel, but it never quite reaches the energy or excitement that would make it truly memorable. The chemistry between the leads is still there, and that helps carry the film through its more predictable stretches, but the story feels thinner and less engaging compared to what you’d hope for from a follow-up. Visually it’s got that warm, exotic travel-adventure feel, but the pacing can drag, and the stakes never feel all that compelling. It’s the kind of movie that’s easy to watch but just as easy to forget once it’s over. Nothing is outright terrible, but nothing really stands out either. Overall, it sits firmly in the "just okay" category—watchable, mildly entertaining, but lacking real bite. 5/10.

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Emerson H.

@RTreviews7282 Feb 14, 2026

There are some enjoyable parts in The Jewel of the Nile, it’s mostly confusing.

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keven q

@kevenquinlan Oct 4, 2025

Well, I love Romancing The Stone- we all did. This tries to recapture that but fails. It's gratuitously inane, contrived, and silly. I saw this in the theatre and I'm watched it again in 2025- didn't really like it than, like it less so now. Going to keep the first but this one was so... Blah. The endless attempts at humor were far too many and not often humorous. I'm glad they tried but this fell way flat.

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Jed M.

@Jed76 Jul 9, 2025

Dumb fun, only watched it because we had watched Romancing the Stone the night before.

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Lewis Teague

Director

Michael Douglas

Jack

Kathleen Turner

Joan

Danny DeVito

Ralph

Spiros Focas

Omar

Avner Eisenberg

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Synopsis

Novelist Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) is living with adventurer boyfriend Jack Colton (Michael Douglas) on his yacht. But she leaves when Omar (Spiros Focas), the head of a North African nation, asks her to visit his country and write about him. Jack intends to go on a pleasure cruise to Greece, but when he learns that Joan is a pawn in Omar's quest to polish his image and gain greater power, he partners with continent-hopping criminal Ralph (Danny DeVito) in a quest to free her.

Director: Lewis Teague
Producer: Michael Douglas
Screenwriter: Mark Rosenthal, Lawrence Konner
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox
Rating: PG
Genre: Adventure, Action, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $65.5M
Runtime: 1h 44m
Sound Mix: Surround

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