Every Way The Lost City Is Secretly A Remake

The Lost City revives the genre of old romantic action-adventure movies but, in doing so, secretly remakes one of the well-loved classics too.

The Lost City honors plenty of classic adventure movies and plays on well-loved stereotypes of the genre, but it also has certain features that make it secretly a remake. The Lost City follows a reclusive romance novelist and her book’s handsome cover model as they try to escape the jungle and find The Lost City of D. On the most basic level, The Lost City plays like a mash-up of many romantic action-adventure movies, but it does stray from the genre’s stereotypes as well.

The archetypes of the action-adventure genre that The Lost City uses tend to be tongue-in-cheek. For example, Brad Pitt’s character Jack Trainer would ordinarily be the stereotypical lead in an action-adventure flick, but Channing Tatum’s Alan Caprison eagerly, albeit naively, takes on this role. The Lost City, which performed well at the box office, manages to be unique in certain aspects; subverting many tropes of the predecessors of its genre.

However, despite its clear nods to other action-adventure movies, The Lost City‘s central plot and themes fundamentally make it a remake of Romancing the Stone. The 1984 action-adventure sees the rugged adventurer Jack T. Colton (Michael Douglas) falling in love with protagonist (and romance novelist) Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) before being chased through the jungle by antique smugglers and their henchmen for lost treasure. These parallels are unmistakable, and here’s every way The Lost City is secretly a remake of Romancing the Stone.

The Plot

Both Romancing the Stone and The Lost City have remarkably similar plot points. A reclusive romance novelist is forced to go on the hunt for hidden treasure due to a kidnapping, before the kidnapping sparks a dangerous jungle adventure with a handsome man whom she has ill feelings towards. Throughout their journey, these feelings change and develop, and they end up finding love, but the protagonist’s discovery of themselves is the most important part of their journey in both films here.

The Romance Novelist

Sandra Bullock plays Loretta Sage in The Lost City – the last film before Bullock’s suspected acting break – a romance novelist who is past her literary prime. Loretta has become reclusive since her husband’s death and, despite once going on plenty of expeditions, writes sub-par books from the house she rarely leaves. Similarly, Romancing the Stone’s protagonist Joan Wilder is a successful romance novelist but is also lonely. Loretta is more familiar with adventures than Joan, who revels in a city environment; however, they are both thrown into the unknown, and their journeys throughout their movies mimic the stories they write in their books.

The Relationship With The Lead

The Lost City differs slightly here by having Jack Trainer, as the expected protagonist, removed from the story quite early on. Brad Pitt’s Jack is exceptionally similar to Michael Douglas’ character and fits the lead of romance novels their stories are reflecting. In this way, Jack Trainer is used more to pay homage to Romancing the Stone before taking a different route with their male lead. However, Alan Caprison, as unprepared as he is, still carries the narrative well and does have heroic moments: using Loretta’s “walking disco ball” outfit to distract the bad guys and save them. The Lost City also follows the same romantic story as Romancing the Stone, with the two leading pairs progressing from not getting along to falling in love and connecting on their journey, respectively.

The Kidnapping

Romancing the Stone’s adventure kicks off due to Elaine – who is the wife of Joan’s recently murdered brother-in-law, Eduardo – being kidnapped by an antiquities dealer. Elaine’s ransom is for Joan to find the treasure with a map she was given. In The Lost City, it is Loretta herself who is kidnapped, but it also becomes the moment that undoes her simple life, and she too must find the hidden treasure with a map she was given by her kidnapper.

The Location

The location of both movies emphasizes how The Lost City is a remake of Romancing the Stone in multiple aspects. Both movies are predominantly based in a jungle and feature two sets protagonists primarily trying to find a telephone, leading them to a small town where they find refuge. Location, therefore, plays a big part in both movies as Joan and Loretta are both torn away from the comfort of their own homes and thrust into the unknown of the jungle.

The Outdoor Dance

An outdoor dance scene in both movies marks a turning point for the protagonists and their relationship. In Romancing the Stone, whose sequel Jewel of the Nile killed the franchise, Jack and Joan escape the jungle and find a small town where they dance and share their first kiss. In an almost perfect remake of the scene, Loretta and Alan escape the jungle to find a small town. They, too, dance and start to connect and understand each other, which becomes a turning point in their relationship. In addition, in both movies, the outdoor dance scene marks a turning point in the pair’s respective treasure hunts. Jack and Joan decide to steal the treasure themselves, and Loretta hears a song that answers where the treasure is that she is searching for.

The Treasure/Discovery

In Romancing the Stone, Joan’s adventure leads her to physical treasure, an emerald called El Corazón, Spanish for ‘The Heart.’ However, her journey is more about rediscovering herself, which she does and writes a best-selling novel because of it. Loretta’s The Lost City ending is slightly different; she discovers there is no physical treasure, but her journey was learning to move on from the heartache of her husband’s death. Neither Joan nor Loretta were after the riches themselves, and Loretta’s personal journey mimics that of Joan’s – a rediscovery of herself.

The Ending

In true romantic-comedy style, both movies end with an idyllic scene showing the two, now in-love, protagonists. Romancing the Stone has Jack waiting on a boat named Angelina (after the protagonist of Joan’s book), and they plan to sail around the world together on a new adventure. In the final scene of The Lost City, not including the post-credit scene, Loretta and Alan are on a beach after a successful book tour, and both characters have clearly grown from their adventure.