The Ghost and the Darkness

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 movie is based on a true story. I've seen it once many years ago when it 1st came out. Great movie. Addition to my collection and I want to watch it again.Fast shipping and delivery! Arrived in good condition.If you like suspense, this is a good one. I recommend!

This is a very well done film with a great cast and I completely forgot that TOM WILKINSON in in this too! ( R.I.P. All in all it is a classic!

this a good movie.IF you watched the documentary on this you will know it is a true story about the lionsThey really there to build a bridge .The documentary was on Discovery

Based on real events this is very interesting. These were not normal Lyons! The only thisng about the movie is Hollywoodized to make it even scarier, if possible. The Lyons were female not male.

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.

Extremely fast shipping

One of the best real-life adventure stories ever. You will never forget this film!