Rating: 
Summary: Not your Fathers action flick.
Review: Ghost Dog is a mixed bag, a guilty pleasure where else do you get 60 yr old Italian mobsters rapping a Public Enemy song? A French speaking Ice Cream Vendor, And Forrest Whitaker as a modern day Samurai? The Film is filled with a Quirky charm. Not your run of the mill "Romeo Must Die" Kind of Action film. It requires a little Patience and a sense of humor but well worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: ...the American Nakadai Tetsuya...
Review: Great cinematography, great art. The protagonist bases his life and vocation (as a "hit man") on the "Hagakure" - the Japanese classic on the way of the samurai. Probably not a great "date" movie, but right up there with "Fight Club," "American Beauty" and "Magnolia" as a movie for men to think about - and the thoughts are going to be diverse I'm sure!
Rating:
Summary: That's it -- I've got to get a DVD player!
Review: I saw this at the Angelica in New York the first week of May. I loved it. I've got to own this picture so I can see it again and again. You will want to own it, too. Forest Whitaker is wonderful as a young man living in the city who has chosen the path of a samurai. He does hits for the mafia and comes to be at odds with them. The mafia guys are hilarious. Whitaker is friends with a French-speaking ice cream vendor and a little girl. Throughout the film there are quotes from a book of samurai philosophy. Gary Farmer makes a brief appearance. Eccentric and great fun this is bound to acquire a cult following. I highly recommended it. It deserved better distribution.
Rating: 
Summary: ghost dog bites
Review: There comes a time when you need to take a step back from art film analysis and reflect on whether or not you got your $7.00 bucks worth. My friends and I spent a great deal of time on this question, along with "Why in the hell did we stay for this whole movie? I think the two questions are related.Ghost Dog is one of the worst films I have ever paid money to see, period. It is an art film gone very wrong. I tried to justify shelling out the money to see this film in a first run theater. But unlike some other reviewers, I lack the imagination to make up these deep hidden meanings. Ghost Dog kills with a gun and opens and starts cars with some high tech device, he is no Samurai. His training is the book Hagekure: The book of the Samurai, which appears to have brainwashed him. The director stops the film to put up what seem like endless quotes from this book, while Forest Whitaker reads them at a third grade tempo. These were appropriate times for the audience to do a time check on their wristwatch, or maybe make a cell call. While some quotes appeared philisophical, others mention putting on rouge when the Samarai wakes up to keep him from looking pale. How interesting. Even worse were the attempts to make the film break the 90 minute mark (it seemed MUCH longer). On several occasions Forest would steal a car and drive slowly through the city streets for the entire duration of a RZA track. While perfect for late night MTV, if they still played music videos, these scenes take the film tempo from slow to comatose. The attempts to lighten the mood with humor were bombs also. The lack of communication between the haitian and Ghost Dog basically interpreting each other was only funny once, yet it goes on and on. The italian gangster rapping along to Public enemy was silly and well over the top, especially in the presense of the mob boss. The only real laughs I got were seeing Forest twirl his gun like a sword before holstering it after each kill. I don't believe this was intended to be funny. The showdown between Ghost Dog and Louie was anti-climatic at best. Why didn't Ghost Dog disembowl himself like real Samarai do. That would have been much more entertaining. I'm not sure why film critics give so-called art films so much more room to be blatantly bad and stupid than the big Hollywood productions. Other reviews appear to have bought into this hook, line, and sinker I suggest to movie buyers to purchase a great hit-man-with-a-conscious film like The Professional, or le femme nikita. ---Scott Wilkerson
Rating:
Summary: The Ghost Dog
Review: This was an amazing portrait of a modern day assasin, many films such as leon and grosse point blank have attempted to be the premiere of US assasin "cool guy" role,but neither of these captured what Ghost Dog did for me, this film put you in the place of the lead and charactor names seem e-relivent! I wont even try to explain any seen or you about the story, but i will tell you to buy and/or watch this title. For fans of the type, this is the ET or Star Wars of the genre.
Rating:
Summary: Best movie ever!
Review: I absolutely loved this masterpiece of a film! Forest Whitaker was born for this role! One of the highlights of the film was the distinction between Ghost Dog's (Forest Whitaker) street smarts and gracefulness as compared to the idiotic simplistic world of the Italian mafioso figures depicted in this film. Finally a movie that truly hits home with that kind of comedy, strange yet extraordinary. If you haven't seen this film yet, what are you waiting for? Also, the soundtrack is phenomenal, especially if you really like hip hop and rap! Definitely also worth checking out!
Rating:
Summary: A Tale of Two Warriors
Review: Jim Jarmusch, idiosyncratic warrior and independent filmmaker extraordinare, has made another film that falls, both stylistically and thematically, into the director's long line of culture clash, fish-out-of-water comic dramas. It is an offbeat crime comedy that, for the most part, follows the genre's rules according to plot (most of it is straight out of Le Samourai), but adds its own spin with oddball subplots, allusions, and touches (all bearing the imprint of their director). The film bears a number of similarites, in fact, with Jarmusch's previous fictious work, the surreal, deadpan Western Dead Man, except Ghost Dog is much more accessible to mainstream audiences. Forest Whitaker, in a role written specifically for him, plays the title character with the quiet elegance, dignity, and grace of an early Charlie Chaplin. (Johnny Depp also comes to mind for his performances in the aforementioned Dead Man and Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands.) Ghost Dog is an old-fashioned samurai, and hit man, stuck in an ever-changing world. (perhaps much like director Jarmusch and his ever-fading romantic worldview and optimism). He lives on the roof of a buiding, feeds pigeons, and keeps mainly to himself. His relationships with a French ice cream vendor(think Night On Earth) and a young girl (similar to that in Pi) are priceless. The light humor sprinkled throughout adds much interest to the proceedings. Much of it comes at the expense of the helpless Italian mobsters in the film. Perhaps Jarmusch's only failure is not developing some of his secondary characters beyond their stereotypes. The DVD appears to warrant a purchase (I have mine on pre-order) for its deleted scenes, documentary, and isolated music score. The music is one of the most important, and surprisingly wonderful aspects of the film. (This coming from someone who is by no means a fan of rap.) The other extras should offer an interesting insight into Jarmusch's directorial processes, although the lack of a audio commentary by the director is disappointing. We are lucky, though, to get what bonuses we do after MGM's no-frills release of Mystery Train on DVD. So, if you're a fan of Jarmusch's, of independent cinema, or just any type of unique and hypnotically engrossing film, Ghost Dog would be an excellent DVD to look into purchasing. While you're at it, consider buying Yamamoto Tsunetomo's Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai, a major influence on the film. A film recommended to any patient filmgoer over 15. It is one of my favorite films of 2000 to date, and the best, funniest, and strangest crime comedy since the Coen Brothers' 1998 effort, The Big Lebowski.
Rating:
Summary: Funny movie by a unique filmmaker
Review: I love how Jim Jarmusch lets the viewer decide whether Ghost Dog is a noble samurai dutifully and honorably carrying out the duties of his master, or completely, utterly insane. Forest Whitaker, perfectly cast for this role, also keeps the viewer guessing; a masterful performance. Jarmusch sometimes appears to let his affection for hip-hop culture overwhelm his sensibilities as a director, but Whitaker and the rest of the excellent cast keep the film grounded in (semi-)reality. Well worth seeing, despite the fact that the soon-to-be-famous "sink killing" would be impossible in real life -- pipes aren't shaped that way!
Rating:
Summary: Still Deciding
Review: This is a neo-noir film that has a certain appeal. The music... the script... I don't know, but when I saw it a the theatre I really didn't like until it was over. But for some reason I would like to see it again. Rent it before you buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Plain out: Dope. An excellant film.
Review: Ghost Dog was truly an excellent film. The plot, dialogue, subtle comedy, and low key presentation together truly made this one of the best films I have ever seen I don' think I could give a higher recommendation. Just see it. When you do you'll realize that this is a film you'll want to own.
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