The Ghost and the Darkness

R

Released Oct 11, 1996

1 hr. 49 min.

History

Drama

Adventure

List

50%

52 Reviews

Tomatometer

75%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Sir Robert Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson) is behind schedule on a railroad in Africa. Enlisting noted engineer John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer) to right the ship, Beaumont expects results. Everything seems great until the crew discovers the mutilated corpse of the project's foreman (Henry Cele), seemingly killed by a lion. After several more attacks, Patterson calls in famed hunter Charles Remington (Michael Douglas), who has finally met his match in the bloodthirsty lions.

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Critics Consensus

The Ghost and the Darkness hits its target as a suspenseful adventure, but it falls into a trap of its own making whenever it reaches for supernatural profundity.

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Richard B

Lots of good scare, good storyline, good acting, great thriller, loved it, 5 stars for me, in my top 20

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/09/24

Full Review

Angel R

En aquellos 90´s este peli me parecio entretenida pero el pasar de los años y volverla a ver cambio mi opinion, un guion flojo, val kilmer actua bien pero el acto final carece de emocion al mostrar un simple leon enojado.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/24

Full Review

Steven B

If you like adventure If you appreciate the hunter in most men This is a movie for those who hunt,and feel for both the hunter and the hunted. In this case,the hunters do become the hunted.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/11/24

Full Review

Jelisije J

A guilty pleasure film with great visuals and an interesting story but I have to be honest as soon as Michael Douglass appears on screen the movie goes full Hollywood......A dam shame.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/02/24

Full Review

NAPALM_DEATH

Some may not agree with my rating and that is okay. I love the fact that it's based on a true story (loosely but still). They took a real event but hyped the event up, but it's not over done. If you enjoy adventure, suspense, a little horror and you like history than this has all of that. The acting is good, the story/plot is good and it's a movie that I can see over and over and it never get's old. It was filmed in Africa and not some backstage in Hollywood which is nice. Val plays a Irishman and his accent isn't the greatest but you quickly get over it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/01/24

Full Review

Alec B

It's an embarrassing failure on all fronts, which is a shame as it squanders a perfectly good (and true) man vs. lion story. I think Kilmer and Douglas had a contest to see who's accent work could be worst (Spoiler alert: Kilmer won).

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

12/14/23

Full Review

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Stephen Hopkins

Director

Michael Douglas

Charles Remington

Val Kilmer

Col. John Henry Patterson

Tom Wilkinson

Robert Beaumont

John Kani

Samuel

Bernard Hill

Dr. David Hawthorne

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The Ghost and the Darkness: Official Clip - Killing The Last Lion

3:00

The Ghost and the Darkness: Official Clip - Meet Charles Remington

3:00

The Ghost and the Darkness: Official Clip - The Lion Trap

2:22

The Ghost and the Darkness: Official Clip - Shoot Him!

3:00

The Ghost and the Darkness: Official Clip - Lions Attack The Hospital

3:00

The Ghost and the Darkness: Official Clip - Man-Eating Lions

2:52

The Ghost and the Darkness: Official Clip - Killing The First Lion

3:00

The Ghost and the Darkness: Official Clip - Lion Hunting

2:59

The Ghost and the Darkness: Official Clip - Eating His Wife and Child

1:50

The Ghost and the Darkness: Official Clip - Dragged off and Killed

2:31

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Lisa Schwarzbaum

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: C

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Susan Stark

Detroit News

Rated: 1/4

Jul 2, 2002

Full Review

Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

The picture is too lightweight, too posturing and too self-important to go in an introspective direction.

Rated: 1/4

Jun 18, 2002

Full Review

Tim Brayton

Alternate Ending

The film has a core competency - being a meat-and-potatoes thriller about killer lions - and as such, it's kind of frustrating how much time it spends not doing that.

Rated: 2.5/5

Sep 29, 2022

Full Review

Travis Johnson

Flicks (AU, NZ, UK)

It’s a handsome, robust, old-fashioned adventure yarn, packed with spectacle and action, and populated with colourful characters—the kind of solid, entertaining programmer we used to make dozens of every year.

Aug 30, 2022

Full Review

Wesley Lovell

Cinema Sight

The Ghost in the Darkness tries to give the audience a connection between the desire to finish what one has started with the notion of fatherhood, but some of that salience is lost by the films exciting finale.

Rated: 3.5/4

Feb 12, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

Sir Robert Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson) is behind schedule on a railroad in Africa. Enlisting noted engineer John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer) to right the ship, Beaumont expects results. Everything seems great until the crew discovers the mutilated corpse of the project's foreman (Henry Cele), seemingly killed by a lion. After several more attacks, Patterson calls in famed hunter Charles Remington (Michael Douglas), who has finally met his match in the bloodthirsty lions.

Director: Stephen Hopkins
Executive Producer: Michael Douglas, Steven Reuther
Screenwriter: William Goldman
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: History, Drama, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 11, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $38.6M
Sound Mix: Surround

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