Ghost and the Darkness

UPC: 097363235071

Studio: Paramount

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Graphic Violence, Questionable for Children]

Summary: A man bringing modern transportation to the ancient jungles of Africa discovers one of man's oldest enemies lays in wait for him in this period adventure drama. John Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson) is the owner of a British railroad firm who is building a rail line through Uganda. A bridge is needed so that the tracks may cross a large river, and engineer John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer) is summoned to the African nation to supervise construction. While Beaumont has placed Patterson under a strict deadline, the bridge designer is certain that with his guidance, the local laborers will be able to complete the job in time. However, when several workers are killed in an attack by a lion, Patterson is forced to deal with the animal; while he bags a lion who invades the work site one evening, it soon becomes obvious that there's more than one predator in the nearby jungle. The lion attacks continue, eventually claiming the lives of 130 men, and Patterson and Beaumont finally agree to call in Charles Remmington (Michael Douglas), an expert hunter who understands the nature of the man-eaters and knows how to lure them into his trap. The Ghost and the Darkness is based on a true story, which was previously brought to the screen in 1953, in Arch Oboler's pioneering 3-D adventure Bwana Devil. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Adventure

Awards: Best Sound Effects – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Cinematography – American Society of Cinematographers

Features: Widescreen version
Dolby Digital: English 5.1 Surround; English Dolby Surround; French Dolby Surround
Spanish subtitles
English captions
Interactive menus
Scene selection
Theatrical trailer

Ghost and the Darkness

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 11/10/1998

Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, 2 PCM stereo

Runtime: 109 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: Spanish,English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Scene Selection
0. Scene Selection
0. Menu Group #1 with 15 chapter(s) covering 01:49:49
1. Train To Mombassa [6:08]
2. Welcome To Tsavo [6:39]
3. The Nights Are Safe Again [4:34]
4. "I, too, have killed a lion. 00:04:46
5. No Reason For Fear [7:39]
6. The Ghost And The Darkness [5:52]
7. The Contraption [8:56]
8. The Devil Has Come [6:09]
9. A Time For Bravery [4:47]
10. The Thicket [7:43]
11. They're Only Lions [10:47]
12. The Lair [9:30]
13. Human Bait [7:45]
14. Sort It Out [8:00]
15. The Lion Killer [10:27]

Karl Williams

This action film from writer William Goldman and director Stephen Hopkins grafts a true story onto the structure and character types of Jaws (1976) to create a derivative but admittedly spellbinding and effectively spooky film. The central bogeymen are a pair of lions instead of a shark, the locals are railroad laborers instead of vacationers, and the setting is Africa instead of an island beach community, but savvy viewers will get the gist of what the filmmakers are up to pretty quickly. In the place of the na?ve sheriff we get a na?ve architect (Val Kilmer), and in place of a seasoned sport fisherman we get a seasoned hunter (a grizzled Michael Douglas having fun in a role his father would have been comfortable inhabiting a few decades earlier). Point for point, Hopkins and Goldman ape the earlier classic, and the stunning revelation is that it works remarkably well, resulting in a taut, suspenseful film with an outcome never in doubt but leaving the viewer chilled, thrilled, and satisfied. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Henry Cele  Actor 
Emily Mortimer  Actor 
Michael Douglas  Executive Producer 
William Goldman  Screenwriter 
A. Kitman Ho  Producer 
Stephen Hopkins  Director 
Gale Anne Hurd  Producer 
Paul B. Radin  Producer 
Steven E. Reuther  Executive Producer 
Michael Douglas  Actor 
Val Kilmer  Actor 
Tom Wilkinson  Actor 
John Kani  Actor 
Om Puri  Actor 
Bernard Hill  Actor 
Brian McCardie  Actor 

Country: USA