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Movies / On DVD / The Ghost and the Darkness
The Ghost and the Darkness

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The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)

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52 %
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Reviews Counted:44

Fresh:23

Rotten:21

Average Rating:5.5/10

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Synopsis: Based on a true story, THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS takes place in Africa during the late 1890s and concerns two ferocious lions who killed 130 railroad construction workers in only two months. A... Based on a true story, THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS takes place in Africa during the late 1890s and concerns two ferocious lions who killed 130 railroad construction workers in only two months. A pair of courageous men, no-nonsense engineer John Patterson (Val Kilmer) and rugged hunter Charles Remington (Michael Douglas), set out to shoot the creatures, known as the Ghost and the Darkness. Making their task even harder is the two animals un-lionlike behavior--they kill in tandem, attack in the daylight, and show no fear of anything. Soon the hunters become the hunted.... [More]

Starring: Val Kilmer, Michael Douglas, John Kani, Om Puri

Starring: Val Kilmer, Michael Douglas, John Kani, Om Puri, Tom Wilkinson, Bernard Hill, Brian McCardie, Emily Mortimer, Henry Cele

Director: Stephen Hopkins

Director: Stephen Hopkins
Screenwriter: William Goldman
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
Producer: Gale Anne Hurd, A. Kitman Ho, Paul B. Radin

[See More Credits]

Reviews for The Ghost and the Darkness

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This should have been Jaws meets Alien meets Out Of Africa. But instead ends up being a far more tepid version of all three.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Neil Jeffries
Neil Jeffries
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

atmospheric but uneven thriller

comment Comment
11/08/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

A familiar tale, well told.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
01/01/00
Boston Phoenix
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Despite mumbo jumbo about the lions being supernatural demons unleashed by the imperialistic white man, it's nothing more than Jaws with claws.

comment Comment
01/01/00
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
07/02/02
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
08/19/03
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah)

The main failure of the script is a complete lack of tension.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/01/00
Barbara Shulgasser
Barbara Shulgasser
San Francisco Examiner

The real feature of this Stephen Hopkins-directed, William Goldman-scripted yarn are the gross and gory attacks, which explode at well-timed thrill intervals throughout.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Thompson
Bob Thompson
Jam! Movies

The Ghost And the Darkness keeps you waiting, and waiting, and waiting... and it just never revs up.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

A scenery-chewing Michael Douglas is the highlight of this passable landlocked variation of Jaws.

comment Comment
10/06/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
05/05/03
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
07/01/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Excellent thriller. Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer are outstanding.

comment Comment
01/24/03
Forrest Hartman
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal

Provides us with an unforgettable primal encounter with the mysterious other.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
08/28/02
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

The camerawork is frenetic and confusing, and the big confrontations are as likely to provoke unintentional laughter as edge-of-the-seat excitement.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
02/27/01
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
08/30/04
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
11/06/02
Jeff Strickler
Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
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