Rating: 
Summary: Too Many Unforgivable Errors:
Review: I'm a freak for jungle adventure movies, of any kind. I have to admit, that while I did find this movie somewhat entertaining, I also found it to be substantially less that I had come to expect from Michael Douglas and, to a lesser extent, Val Kilmer. The basic premises for this story is true and although I have not read Colonel Patterson's first-hand account, I did find Peter Capstick's abbreviated version fascinating in his book "Death in the Silent Places." So much so that I immediately went to the web to check out the display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. They have a site devoted to the Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo. Check it out. What bothered me most about this film is how a professional hunter and a professional soldier could manage to drop their rifles so many times and still live to tell about it. No way! Period! If we are to believe Patterson and Capstick, the reason that these two man-eaters lived so long is because they were uncanningly clever and, further, no one managed to connect with the hundreds of bullets sent their way for ten months. That is why these two beasts were thought to have supernatural powers. Having said that, I will probably watch it again, but certainly not as often as I will other adventure films.
Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Adventure Movie for All
Review: Ghost and the Darkness was an excellent movie, despite the fact that Michael Douglas's character never existed. The story is well acted, the action is great and the scenery is beautiful!! The animal actors in the film are trained very well and are also gorgeous animals. This movie kept me on the edge of my seat even after the end! A great adventure movie set in the correct period it should be: Colonial Africa, when it was vastly unexplored. Definitely 5 out of 5 stars!
Rating: 
Summary: These Lions Don't Sleep At Night
Review: This 1996 film is based on a true event - the man-eating lions that attacked a railroad construction project across the Tsavo river in 1898. The lions would sneak into the construction camp at night to snatch a man and then devour him. Two hunters eventually eliminated this threat after many trials. The lions seemed so calculating and powerful that many believed them to be demons in the form of a lion. After being killed, the remains ended up in the Field Museum in Chicago.The lions of Tsavo in southern Kenya are known as man-eaters; the males are often maneless. This area was part of a slave-trading road; weak or sick slaves were killed and left for the animals. [What were they thinking?] Colonel John H. Patterson was the engineer in charge, and had hunted tigers in India. His book "The Man-Eaters of Tsavo" is available; you can compare the history to this dramatization. This film won't tell you that the man-eating lions of Tsavo continue to take prey to this day. Whenever there is a shortage of cattle the lions hunt humans. "Four legs good, two legs better" may be their motto. There are books that will tell you more about this topic.
Rating:
Summary: Prey for the hunters
Review: Val Kilmer is John Henry Patterson, the engineer in charge of a british led construction team building a bridge in the middle of Africa. He is a renowned professional who has been successful in the past and who has been waiting his whole life to travel to the dark continent. He is thrilled when he is hired by Robert Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson). However, all the excitement he brings on his travel will soon end and turn into fear and despair as he encounters one of the most amazing true stories ever told. The construction site is, to all accounts, cursed. There are two teams who don't necessarilly see eye to eye, and the construction itself is a daunting task. Beaumont is a mean man who enjoys torturing and pressing his employees (even from the distance between England and Kenya). But these are the least of the problems that Patterson has to face. The site is also under siege by two maneaters, two lions to which the locals gave the names of The Ghost and The Darkness. These lions don't behave like normal lions do. They work as a team and they don't only hunt for food, they hunt for fun. Their attacks leave a bloody trail in puts the greatest fear into the construction workers hearts. Patterson needs to do something to keep the work on schedule, but none of his ideas seem to work in stoping the two beasts. Thus enters Charles Remington (Michael Douglas), an american hunting legend who lives with a tribe of bushmen. Together they fight the lions in every way they can, but in the end, not everyone will survive... The ghost and the darkness is a really great film. It's greatest strength is the suspense that the lion attacks bring with them. How many times can Patterson and Remington face death? Who will die next? Will they kill the animals? There is no way you can take your eyes off of the screen. Kilmer and Douglas give both fine performances, and are greatly helped by the supporting cast of Wilkinson, Kani and Hill. Hopkins does a great directing job by creating the suspense and the action needed to tell the story, helped by a great score from Jerry Goldsmith. Finally, if you ever go to Chicago's Fields Museum of Natural History, you'll be able to see the two lions on which this story is based.
Rating:
Summary: Jaws in the Serengeti
Review: This is a good, old-fashioned thriller about man versus beast. Exciting, well-paced, well-acted (despite Val Kilmer's sometimes wobbly Irish accent). Although based on fact, in plot and structure it resembles Spielberg's Jaws in more ways than one: cunning, ferocious maneater wreaks havoc on a community; civilized scientist/engineer teams up with tough old salt to hunt down maneater; a tense showdown in which.... I won't spoil the ending for you. This is a good Saturday night movie that didn't deserve all the snide, hostile reviews it got at its premiere.
Rating:
Summary: Not great,but very good
Review: The Ghost And The Darkness is a very good movie.It stars Val Kilmer as John Patterson,an engineer sent to Africa to build a railroad bridge.Almost as soon as he arrives he kills a maneating lion that had attacked one of the workers.There is a problem,though,as there are two more maneating lions(the title characters)that start terrorizing the workers,and can't seem to be stopped.Michael Douglas plays Charles Remington,a famous hunter,who is sent by Beaumont(the man who hired Patterson to build the bridge,played by Tom Wilkinson)to hunt down and kill the lions.He soon finds out that these aren't your average,everyday lions,and they seem to kill for the pleasure of it.That's about all I'll say as far as the plot goes.The cinematography is outstanding,the African scenery is just beautiful.The musical score by Jerry Goldsmith is very good.Val Kilmer does a very good job as Patterson,and Michael Douglas is good(a little over the top,maybe)as Remington.Overall,it's a very good movie,made very well.
Rating:
Summary: Not Worth Watching More Than Once
Review: This African adventure based on a real account pumps the adrenalin in true Hollywood style - and that's not necessarily a good thing. Val Kilmer plays engineer John Patterson, who has always been able to overcome all obstacles through sheer will and hard work, until, that is, he gets sent to Africa to build a bridge. In Africa, the country of his dreams, John's work is sabotaged not by man but by beast. Two man-eating lions are mauling and dragging off workers not only in their sleep but eventually in broad daylight, completely against the nature of their species. They kill not for food but for "sport." Charles Remington (Michael Douglas), an experienced hunter, is called in to help restore calm by killing the lions. This might have been an exciting story if the filmmakers had not chosen to ratchet up the terror by making these lions seem supernaturally invincible. The lions are imbued with so much (supposedly scary) intelligence that they trick Remington and Patterson more than once so they can make their kills. They become evil instead of unpredictable. As the film progresses, everything gets even more unbelievably hokey as the actors strap on their machismo. Still, the scenes with the lions are chair-grabbing tense; it's only after the scenes have ended that the viewer is likely to see how ridiculous it all is. The best part of this film comes before the lions appear, when Patterson is suffering from the pride we know he'll lose, and as the camera pans over the African savannah. But most viewers aren't watching this film for its character development and cinematography. If only the suspense had not been artificially heightened, this could have been a solid thriller. This is a decent escapist movie with not much to offer on second viewing. I'd make this a rental instead of a purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Slightly disappointing
Review: Having grown up fascinated by the Tsavo maneaters, and living in Chicago (and thus being able to see the beasts at any time), I was slightly disappointed by the shortcomings of this film.
My biggest pet peeves are the terrible acting jobs given forth by Douglas and Kilmer, and the way the lions were portrayed. I hate to be a nitpicker, but the lions were maneless. Was it not possible to do something with the manes of the lions they used?
All in all it was an okay movie, but for people who truly care about the story, the overall inaccuracy and poor acting grates on you after awhile.
Rating:
Summary: The Ghoast and the Darkness
Review: The Ghoast and the Darkness was released in 1996,it has a running time of one hundred and ten minutes. The director of this flim is Steephen Hopkins, and was released by Paramount Pictures. The Main characters in this film are Michael Douglas who is very believable in his role as a big game hunter who is the very best in the world. Val Kilmer is equaly believable in his role as the best construction engineere who must rid the camp of the killer lions to complete the rail road that is behind schueld.The setting for this picture is East Aferica in the late eighteen hundreds in a rail road construction camp where many men have already died from visious animal attacks. What makes this film even more remarkable is that it is based on a true story, with a wounderfuly suspensful Film created around it. This film tells a story of two men who must face evil in the form of two lions who seem to have supernatural abilites, Kilmer must kill the lions before they can kill again. This film is filled with twist and turns that are heart stopping as well as nail biting suspense if it is a good scare you enjoy then you will love the Ghoast and the Darkness. The lions that you are toald about in this film are to this day on display at the Smithsonain natural histories Museum in Chicago Ill.
Rating:
Summary: An heart- pounding adventure
Review: A friend told me about this movie, so I rented it to see what it was like. I was pleasantly surprised; it was not the continuous massacre that I had expected. It was a brilliantly done movie. Val Kilmer acts his part very well, and those hunting scenes were so intense and freaky that I found myself urging the characters out loud to look behind them, walk quieter, etc. The death in it was not overly gory; still, I felt that it pushed a 14A rating. Regardless, this was an awesome movie, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves intense, intelligent adventure.
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