"The Ghost and The Darkness" tells the real story of Lt. Col. John Paterson (played by Val Kilmer) and his fight to build a railway bridge across a river in Africa in 1896 during the Imperialism but it's not only that. Besides the difficult of building this great project he must protect his employees and himself of two dangerous lions who are believed to have killed more than 100 men. The local residents call them as 'The Ghost' and 'The Darkness' because of their great abilities to appear and disappear fast into the woods after killing many of the bridge workers.
Patterson is not alone on the hunt of these two lions; he is helped by a notorious American hunter (Michael Douglas) with notable skills on hunting. Both men are trapped in a risky mission and they must run fast because the time is running out and the bridge must be made because England wants to go ahead in the conquest of more African territories surpassing Germany and other European countries. And that bridge must be done no matter what it takes.
It is said that this film is based on true events but I still find very difficult to believe in many of the things portrayed here (such as many of the lions attacks or Kilmer facing the lion without shooting and surviving after that). Douglas's character is fictional (read trivia section), created for dramatical purposes and that was great (although many people complain that he was the worst thing in the movie). He really made the movie more watchable than it is, added energy to a story that kept being boring and very slow at times. Considering that "The Ghost and The Darkness" was written by the great William Goldman I expected a more thrilling movie, with more character and story profundity. I mean, it's just two guys hunting two killing lions in the desert and....? Too much gratuitous and not so fantastic but enjoyable and watchable.
The locations were amazing; the main theme score composed by Jerry Goldsmith was brilliant (a little bit wasted, could be used more here or in another film); some of the action scenes were great with the required amount of tension needed but other ones didn't worked at all (many of the attack scenes were unconvincible although real animals were used); the cinematography of Vilmos Zsigmond was good and bad (the day light scenes were very good, he captured great things, but the night scenes was just like the title, too much darkness). Acting is fine for a movie of this caliber, Kilmer was okay, Douglas was very interesting, and the movie also features good performances of Tom Wilkinson, Bernard Hill, John Kani (the leader of the tribe), Om Puri, Emily Mortimer and Brian McCardie.
It is very entertaining, it doesn't shock the viewer, it doesn't scare the viewer, and it doesn't have a meaning towards anything. The qualities and defects depends of the viewer. 7/10
Patterson is not alone on the hunt of these two lions; he is helped by a notorious American hunter (Michael Douglas) with notable skills on hunting. Both men are trapped in a risky mission and they must run fast because the time is running out and the bridge must be made because England wants to go ahead in the conquest of more African territories surpassing Germany and other European countries. And that bridge must be done no matter what it takes.
It is said that this film is based on true events but I still find very difficult to believe in many of the things portrayed here (such as many of the lions attacks or Kilmer facing the lion without shooting and surviving after that). Douglas's character is fictional (read trivia section), created for dramatical purposes and that was great (although many people complain that he was the worst thing in the movie). He really made the movie more watchable than it is, added energy to a story that kept being boring and very slow at times. Considering that "The Ghost and The Darkness" was written by the great William Goldman I expected a more thrilling movie, with more character and story profundity. I mean, it's just two guys hunting two killing lions in the desert and....? Too much gratuitous and not so fantastic but enjoyable and watchable.
The locations were amazing; the main theme score composed by Jerry Goldsmith was brilliant (a little bit wasted, could be used more here or in another film); some of the action scenes were great with the required amount of tension needed but other ones didn't worked at all (many of the attack scenes were unconvincible although real animals were used); the cinematography of Vilmos Zsigmond was good and bad (the day light scenes were very good, he captured great things, but the night scenes was just like the title, too much darkness). Acting is fine for a movie of this caliber, Kilmer was okay, Douglas was very interesting, and the movie also features good performances of Tom Wilkinson, Bernard Hill, John Kani (the leader of the tribe), Om Puri, Emily Mortimer and Brian McCardie.
It is very entertaining, it doesn't shock the viewer, it doesn't scare the viewer, and it doesn't have a meaning towards anything. The qualities and defects depends of the viewer. 7/10