The Ghost and the Darkness

Do not know how I missed this one. As I write this review it has been nearly thirty years since its original release. WOW! The lead actors look so young. Imagine! I do like both Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas so I bought this expecting a “treat”. I was not disappointed. Michael Douglas can play “the weird guy” so well and truly does in this one. And, Val Kilmer is so “serious”. Good acting. Even considering the eons of technology advancement this movie is enjoyable. Read its back story (i.e., the actual story on which it is based) and you will appreciate it even more. Hope you like this one. I did.

Epico

Exactly as described.

Was a great movie I will watch it again

An underrated movie that, surprisingly, got a lot,of negative reviews, “The Ghost and The Darkness” is based on a true story that the late writer William Goldman has fashioned into “Jaws” in Africa. Charles a Remington (Val Kilmer) receives a commission to built a bridge for the railroad in Africa. He faces man eating lions that begin picking off his workers.When writer William Goldman first pitched the story for this, he sold it as “Jaws” in Africa and the parallel works. While it deviates from the true story, the story does capture the spooky feeling that is hinted at around the legend of these lions.Roger Ebert, a man I usually trust, disagrees with me about the film. He named it one of the worst films of 1996. He was often wrong and is in this case as well.The Blu-ray from Shout features a new 4K scan of the negative and it looks fairly good although the colors aren’t quite as bold as they should be. WHY Paramount won’t license out their titles for 4K releases is beyond me. They seem to do this to torture fans; license 4K scans of movies for Blu-Ray, wait for fans to buy the title and release it in 4K almost to spite film fans. Oh and then they’ll stream this (n compressed 4K just to rub salt in the wound.The audio is quite good with a solid 5.1 mix.Unfortunately, Shout has elected not to provide any special features for the film. A commentary track would have been helpful especially given the rewriting that occurred when Michael Douglas came on board in a supporting role asking for his role to be significantly expanded. Douglas, reportedly, also recut the film against the director’s wishes (which also bulked up his role). If the director’s original cut exists, it would be worth digging it out of the vault and adding it as a special feature even if it is in lower resolution.We do get the theatrical trailer and that’s it.A fine film that took it on the chin by many critics, time has been pretty kind to “The Ghost and The Darkness” it’s just too bad Ebert isn’t around to change his opinion.

This is my second time to buy the movie The Ghost and the Darkness regarding the lions of Tsavo. I have read books on the man-eaters but this movie really captures what happened. This is an exciting movie and I think it should be a movie people should watch. Michael Douglas, Val Kilmer and the entire cast are outstanding. I wish this Blu-ray copy had some extras on the making of this film, though.

I have always liked "The Ghost and the Darkness", ever since I first saw it in the theater. For me, it harkens back to the old black & white "African Safari" films of the 30's and 40's, but with better acting, story and realism.I love wildlife, so I could never watch a movie where wild animals are killed by hunters just out for something to take back home and stuff! This story isn't about that, its about human survival against two predators who were known to have killed 135 human rail-workers just for the pleasure (we know that Lions will kill baboons just because they hate baboons, so to me, this is believable) of it in 1898.I think Val Kilmer is one of the most underrated actors of his generation. He does a great job portraying a real life Victorian era Irish engineer, John Henry Patterson, believable brogue and all, and creates a character you like and can relate to. Even Michael Douglas' self-indulgent creation of the fictional character "Charles Remington", whom Douglas created for himself (Douglas was also Executive Producer on the film) is a great addition to the story and is well portrayed by Douglas. The friendship that develops between Patterson (Kilmer) and Remington (Douglas) is believable and when Remington becomes the lions next victim, he is truly missed. The supporting cast is wonderful, even if many of them don't survive to the films climactic end.One of the standout elements of The Ghost and the Darkness was the score composed for it by, the now late, Jerry Goldsmith. Jerry Goldsmith always had a penchant for scoring for African/Desert themed films and this score is no exception. It is powerful, moving, frightening and lends the exact right flavor to the film and compliments its visuals perfectly. I usually don't get too weepy when watching films, but when Goldsmith plays his sweet, sweeping "resolution" theme when Patterson sees his wife at the Tsavo train station and meets his newborn son for the first time at the conclusion of the film, I can't help but get choked up by the scene! The scene of Patterson's burning of the fields after Remington is killed is powerfully accentuated by Goldsmith's music!As mentioned in the film, the two actual male Lions who were the man-eaters in the real event are on display at the Field Museum in Chicago. I have visited the museum and saw the two lions myself. Although the lions are maneless, which is a trait of Tsavo lions (they were portrayed in the film as HAVING manes), they are HUGE and one can see the power and ferocity that was there once.The film itself is HIGHLY underrated and tends to get maligned, mostly by people who admit that they never actually sat down and watched the film from beginning to end. I think this low opinion of the film is completely unjustified, because, even IF you don't like the film's subject matter, this incident REALLY occurred, the acting is wonderful, the cinematography is beautiful, the locations are great, the music is magnificent and the story is gripping and moving.Technically, the DVD is not the best quality transfer that it could have been and I hope they re-release it on DVD and Blu-Ray someday soon with a higher resolution transfer. The Ghost and the Darkness DESERVES to be seen in its best form!I give "The Ghost and The Darkness" 5 stars without hesitation.

This is an older movie with an interesting cast - not an obvious collection but still works. Based on a true story - it is a compelling story. Some violence, scary parts, language - but in my opinion I would watch with my 10 year old grandson.  Having said all of this, I never hesitate to update my reviews should new info seem useful. All of my reviews reflect my honest, personal experience with the reviewed item - your experience may be different. I am not influenced by any outside source. I receive/accept NO free products or discounts that are not available to all shoppers- ever.  As a top 30 reviewer, I've been doing reviews for over 25 years with Amazon - over 6,200 reviews posted, those reviews have been viewed well over 50,000 times, including well over 26,000 likes. BOTTOM LINE:  I pay for all my stuff, just like you do.

Wow wow trippant ce film et nous pouvons voir ces lions au musée Chicago complètement fou

Deze film is deels gebaseerd op waargebeurde feiten. Kolonel Patterson (Kilmer) heeft echt geleefd en werd geplaagd door een koppel "mensen etende" leeuwen, bij de aanleg van de spoorweg door Tsavo (Kenya).

Excellent film. And the cinematography and musical score are fantastic.

Der Fim hält sich erstaunlicherweise sehr eng an der Buchvorlage von Patterson, der die beiden Löwen auch nach längerer Zeit getötet hat. Ich habe das Buch gelesen. Ein großartiger Film. Die Filmlöwen hatten jedoch im Gegensatz zu den Originallöwen Mähnen. Die beiden Menschenfresser von damals waren zwei mähnenlose riesige Männchen. Es gab sogar Wissenschaftler, die diese beiden Tiere einer besonders aggressiven Unterart zuordnen wollten. Die Originallöwen stehen noch heute ausgestopft im Field-Museum in Chicago...im Internet kann man sie anschauen.

Well done