The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)

Hollywood pictures based on true stories tend to be a mixed bag. History buffs will be quick to point out historical inaccuracies. But one must remember that a motion picture cannot be 100% true to the events that the film was based on and some liberties must be taken to make the film cohesive and entertaining. And as a history buff myself, I always look into the actual events behind the film.Colonel Patterson's account of the two man-eater's of Tsavo is an unusual and interesting account in British and natural history. Because of the unusual nature of this event, such an account lends itself perfectly to a motion picture, even if some parts are embellished.The film is told from the perspective of Samuel, a native who worked as a railroad worker with Colonel Patterson. The events took place in 1898, almost a century before the movie adaptation. Aside from some embellishments and Michael Douglas' character (who was fictitious), the events as described by the real Colonel Patterson are largely based on his memoir of his experience with the rogue lions and the trials he faced in managing railroad workers of different backgrounds to work together.In addition to the suspense and action that involves the lions, some of the best sequences involve the interactions among Patterson, Remington, and Samuel; All done with great dialogue. Samuel explains situations and the characters' backgrounds with terminologies that his people in the time frame would understand, but it is still conveyed very effectively to the audience. His narration that takes place in the aftermath of an attack gives insight to the fear and perspectives of the workers of varying backgrounds. You really feel their intense fear. Remington, a skilled but cocky American hunter, brings a minor sense of comic relief to a tense situation. He seems confident that these are just ordinary lions that can be easily located and killed, but soon sees otherwise.This makes for a great suspense and adventure picture with some memorable dialogue and scenes. And I also recommend reading The Man Eaters of Tsavo (the official account of the events) in addition to the movie; As truth can be more interesting than fiction.

Released in 1996 and directed by Stephen Hopkins from William Goldman's script, "The Ghost and the Darkness " is an African adventure based on the true events of two man-eating lions responsible for the deaths of scores of bridge construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda Railway from March through December 1898. The lions were dubbed The Ghost and The Darkness by the workers and thought perhaps to be demons. Val Kilmer plays real-life military engineer Lt. Colonel John Henry Patterson, who was commissioned to carry out the project. The addition of Michael Douglas as a charismatic great white hunter, Remington, is fictional, as Patterson pretty much hunted and killed the rogue lions on his own. Some claim that Douglas ruined the movie by using his clout to enlarge his part, but his character is only in the movie for 49 minutes as it is. Another deviation is that neither of the male lions had huge manes, as depicted; Tsavo lions possess either minimal manes or none at all. Interestingly, the two lions are on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Patterson claimed that these big cats were responsible for up to 135 deaths; however, an official paper states that 'only' about 28–31 killings can be verified, but this figure does not take into account all those who were killed but not eaten by lions. I've always had mixed feelings about this movie, which can be witnessed in the fact that some people lambaste it (e.g. Roger Ebert's scathing review) while others laud it as a great or near-great adventure flick (the movie won an Academy award for Best Sound Effects). I'm in the middle. I think the actors and their characters are great. Kilmer curiously won a Razzie for his performance, which is inexplicable because he makes a great protagonist, taking the material serious with a low-key performance rather than a melodramatic one. Douglas takes the more megalomaniacal approach, but I'm pretty sure that's the way a lot of great white hunters were, cartoony though it may be. The locations, costuming and cinematography are also great, as are the lions and the creature F/X. The problem lies with the story, or the way it's told. The entire movie revolves around the lions attacking the personnel and the corresponding hunt to kill them. This is fine except that there's not enough human interest for a feature film of 110 minutes. A solid half hour could have easily been cut, making for a more compelling watch. Better yet, they should've given the characters greater dimension with more poignant dialogue and character-defining episodes, as was done in "Jaws" (1975), for example. I suppose it doesn't help that there are no primary female characters, although Emily Mortimer has a bit part as Patterson's wife.ADDITIONAL CAST: Tom Wilkinson plays the bastage financier of the project while John Kani and Om Puri appear as foremen. Bernard Hill plays the requisite doctor while Brian McCardie is on hand as a British supervisor. The movie was shot in Kenya and South Africa. GRADE: C+

You watched Jaws with the same amount of fear for water like the protagonist? Well what about a equally great Lion hunt in the African Savannah? The Ghost and the Darkness is based on a true story, which only unfaithful parts are the ones that Michael Douglas (producer and one of the heroes of the movie) changed. He also edited 45 minutes of the movie out, so that his (side-)character could get more room, which is why director Stephen Hopkins isn't that fond of the final cut.It's even more of a sign of the great quality that the movie, regardless of this trivial facts, won a deserved Oscar and a cult- following.The cinematography is really effective in bringing you into the wild, African, atmosphere and showing you both the beautiful and the dangerous sides of the African continent.The fitting soundtrack is composed by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith and really effective.The visual effects are really good for the most part, and they used mostly real lions which are very well integrated into the shots with the actors, so that it feels fairly real for the most part.The production design is incredible and the movie feels really grand scaled.Also the actors are very good, Val Kilmer is a believable protagonist you root for and Michael Douglas (even though he sabotaged the movie behind the scenes) is really great as this experienced hunter.All in all a very effective, grand scaled adventure movie, based on a heroic and (mostly) true story...

A bridge engineer and an experienced old hunter begin a hunt for two lions after they start attacking local construction workers. Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas nailed it in this movie but mostly Kilmer this is a Jaws movie but instead Sharks we get Lions the first one gets shot in the head by Kilmer but then 2 more show up and they start kill people the only thing i was kind let down is the thing that Douglas is in the poster and he is in the movie like 40 minutes or so the main character is Val Kilmer and to this day i still think he is a very good actor at least in movies like this. If you loved Jaws like everyone else did you will love this movie it was a huge surprise for me and it definitely gets a 10.