Val Kilmer stars as Lt. Col. John Patterson, a 19th-century Irish engineer drafted by Britain's railroad bosses to build a trestle bridge over an African river, thus expanding the empire a tiny bit more. In Tsavo, Patterson is instantly hailed for killing a man-eating lion that had been making life hell for native workers. But morale sinks when a pair of unstoppable big cats devour more men and destroy the project. Along comes an Ahab-like, expatriate American hunter (Michael Douglas) to help Patterson face the almost preternatural powers of the two killers. The script by William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) is based on fact, though the film owes more to Spielberg (specifically toJaws) than history. There are also suggestive echoes of Kipling and Conrad in the material and characters, and there are hints of emotional complexity and psychological nuance that make one wish this could have been a great film instead of a merely fun one.--Tom Keogh
Cool action movie, neat plot, great lions This is a very cool movie. I first heard about it in a National Geographic magazine when I was reading an article about the man-eating lions of the Tsavo region. It was a little demonizing, considering that lions don't normally hunt people, but they explained that this was a special case. The acting was great, and the lion action was really cool. I love animals, and read about them all the time, so this was a great movie for me. I watched with my friend and we bothed screamed when the lion attacks the guy's wife in his dream. Though its sad when the lions die, I still thought this was a great movie. It was complete with that antique safari feeling, yet there was still that James Bond action sense. It was like Jaws on the land. The acting was great as well. This is definetely a movie to buy for some serious enjoyment
Something You Can Sink Your Teeth Into Mulitple Times I always found this to be an outstanding based-on a true story adventure film which holds your interest throughout. It features some great suspense and the story is fascinating. . A good surround system doesn't hurt here, either, as DVD provides some great sound.
Stan Winston, one of the best special-effects men in the business, lent his talents to this film while Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas are more than adequate in the starring roles and the African with the freckles (sorry, I don't have his name) is really a likeble fellow.
Except for the first one, the lion attack scenes are not gruesome and the filmmakers did a nice job a having just the right amount of action and lulls. Neither is overdone. This film has never been given much due but I've never shown it to anyone who didn't thoroughly enjoy it.NEW YORK POST CRITIC SHOULD BE FED TO THESE! The Ghost And The Darkness is a fabulous film, and unlike The moronic, and ridiculous review from The New York Post,people who appreciate true, adventure films will enjoy this great movie.I invite the critic who slammed this film in his Post Review to take a trip to Tsalvo and camp-out there,then explain to the villagers how unrealistic this story was. Director Michael Douglas'Role in this movie was fine, PLUS he's married to Catherine Zita Jones...EAT YOUR HEART-OUT NEW YORK POST!
