Rating: 
Summary: A jewel of a movie.
Review: Really great... Mixes meditations on Japanese Samurai culture with contemporary cultural themes. Add in a dash of Jim Jarmusch's humor, modern american multi-cultural subplots, darn good musical score and you have a great movie. The Haitian ice-cream truck guy and the little girl with the Jamaican mom illustrate the growing multi-culturalism within the U.S. black community too, which not many films bother to touch on. I wasn't a fan of Forest Whitaker before this movie - but the way he moves is poetry. This film's a jewel.
Rating:
Summary: Now I know, who Forest Whitaker is...
Review: I will remember Forest Whitaker, becase of this movie. Can say that it is heartwarming and very funny movie, which I really enjoed. You might say the script is bad. Yes, for James Cameron it would be, not for Jarmusch though. Plot, play, music, and everything else compiled by Jarmusch will give you deep satisfaction. Try it...
Rating: 
Summary: GHOST DOG THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI
Review: I feel really bad for me because I purchased this video. This was by far the worst movie I have seen in a long time. I practically had to fast forward through the parts that meant nothing.Usually forest whitiker acts very well but in this movie went straight from my dvd player into the trash. Stupid plot,no action,horible actors= terrible movie.I guess this is why the movie went straight to video.Warning: this movie was terrible
Rating: 
Summary: Ghost dog is very original.
Review: Ghost dog is a fun movie to watch. Some people completely miss the point of the movie. It's not supposed to be completely serious. It is part comedy and part drama. Forrest Whitaker gives an excellent performance. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Sublime...
Review: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Jim Jarmusch's latest film, is a dark yet strikingly beautiful film to behold. Forest Whitaker plays Ghost Dog, a gangsta who lives his life according to the book of Hagakure, an ancient text that reveals the code by which the ancient samurai lived. When Ghost Dog finds himself the victim of a racist attack, Louie, a two-bit Mafiosi steps in and saves his life. According to Hagakure, for his favour, Louie becomes Ghost Dog's retainer [master], and Ghost Dog becomes the perfect hitman for the mafia family Louie belongs to. After a particularly complicated assignment, Louie is forced to reveal Ghost Dog to his Godfather, who wishes to avenge the death of a family member. Reacting in accordance to the way of the samurai, Ghost Dog embarks on a mission to destroy the force that seeks to kill him. Ghost Dog is a film which explores a show down between two ancient tribes, the mafia and the samurai, and brings a breath of fresh air into the tired genre of the gangster film through it's highly spiritual background. In many ways similar to Peter Greenaway's 'Pillow Book', due to it's contemporary protagonist being guided by an ancient Japanese text, from which excerpts are interspersed with action, yet Jarmusch here makes this technique truly his own, making Greenaway's efforts at contemporary film-making seem almost childish by comparison. The acting, while simple and stylised is excellent throughout, particularly in the difficult scenes between Ghost Dog and his best friend Raymond (a French speaking Algerian Ice Cream man) and Pearline (a ten year old girl Ghost Dog trades books with). The mafia family are performed in the most amusingly ridiculous fashion, their slow, simple, cumbersome manoeuvres a farcical contrast to Ghost Dog's elegant samurai battle tactics. Jarmusch handles the material sensitively, giving us glimpses of Ghost Dog's humane side both in his excellently written conversations with Pearline, his respect for nature, and most importantly his love for the pigeons he uses to communicate with Louie. The RZA (of Wu Tang Clan) provides a fantastic Instrumental soundtrack has the rare quality of seeming inseparability from the picture on screen, as the beats respond to the picture, and the picture fits the groove seamlessly. Overall, Ghost Dog: The Way of The Samurai, provides a balanced mix of subtle comedy, superb artistry and excellent dramatisation. An unmissable film.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Forest Whitaker's best performance.
Review: GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI was surprisingly bad. I find it hard to believe that Forest Whitaker would have accepted such a badly written script. I found it hard to decide if the movie was trying to be comical or if the acting and the script were so bad that it just appeared funny. Throughout the movie Whitaker's character, "Ghost Dog", reads passages from a Samurai warriors guide book. I assume the readings are supposed to give the viewer a philosophical look into the chaarters ideology. At first these readings are sort of amusing (again, I do not think that is their intention) but later these reading become down right annoying. This a "B" movie at best.
Rating:
Summary: Love the movie, but the DVD musical features disappoint
Review: I loved the movie in the theatres and loved the musical score that RZA contributed to it. I became very excited when the DVD advertised that it would offer an isolated musical score (the score being unavailable in audio format only). However, when I clicked the link on the DVD that accessed the isolated musical score, it only played a 30 second snippet. I was very disappointed. Maybe my DVD was defective?
Rating:
Summary: Suave, Best Movie Ever
Review: Constantly entertaining. Ghost Dog(Forest) is a samurai that whacks people for the mafia, eventually they become enemies and it's either Ghost Dog or the Mafia. Full of action sequences that display a modern samurai's skill with a gun rather than a sword. Very funny too, especially a conversation between the mafia about nicknames. The movie adds to the samurai aspect by displaying qoutes from Hagekure: The book of the Samurai(good book) which you'll probably still be trying to understand long after you see the movie. This Movie surpasses the usual 5 star rating, if I could I'd give it a 10. The acting and directing are both perfect. Jim Jarmusch has done it again, only this time even better. I only wish Ghost Dog was shown in more theaters so more people could have enjoyed it, but if you missed it in the theater buy it. To sum the movie up in two words "Boston Whaler". P.S. Also try to see Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man.
Rating:
Summary: A REALLY bad film!
Review: Ghost dog is one of the worst films I've seen in many years. This film has an ambition to show us the life and honour code of a modern samurai. But the fact is that Forest Whitaker makes a poor samurai, who is not the least believable in his role. The director, Jim Jarmusch, has tried to create a poetic film, but the result is pathetic, and you will see through the cheap plot instantly. This is not a film I want to contaminate my collection with...
Rating:
Summary: Strikes a sweet chord of so many emotions.
Review: The word "yearning" comes to mind when viewing this film. Even in its aftermath I still feel its strong tug on my emotions. Like other Jarmusch films its delivery is unconventional in every way. Yet it contains themes to which we can all relate such as loyalty, love, friendship, and even the meaning of life. What makes these universal themes so interesting here is that Jarmusch gives us unlikely characters and situations in which to play them out. Some of the relationships among characters are even surprising, yet credible. Of particular note is Forest Whitaker who is absolutely fabulous in every role he takes on. His role here as Ghost Dog is no exception. He gives us a haunting character with a gentle appearance, voice and manner seemingly at odds with his purpose in life. The musical score, executive produced by the The RZA, is what takes this film to perfection. The music is brilliantly woven in so that it does not in any way distract; rather it heightens what we are seeing and feeling in the film. For those of us who have been awaiting the next truly creative music to come on the scene, here it is! I don't believe this film can be compared to any other. It's a one of a kind that should not be missed. Thank you Jim Jarmusch and The RZA.
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