The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)

A bridge engineer and an experienced old hunter begin a hunt for two lions after they start attacking local construction workers.

Director:

Stephen Hopkins

Writer:

William Goldman

Stars:

Michael Douglas, Val Kilmer, Tom Wilkinson

Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Douglas	...	Charles Remington
Val Kilmer	...	Col. John Henry Patterson
Tom Wilkinson	...	Robert Beaumont
John Kani	...	Samuel
Bernard Hill	...	Dr. David Hawthorne
Brian McCardie	...	Angus Starling
Emily Mortimer	...	Helena Patterson
Om Puri	...	Abdullah
Henry Cele	...	Mahina
Kurt Egelhof	...	Indian Victim
Satchu Annamalai	...	Worker #1
Teddy Reddy	...	Worker #2
Raheem Khan	...	Worker #3 (as Rakeem Khan)
Jack Devnarain	...	Nervous Sikh Orderly
Glen Gabela	...	Orderly #1

Storyline

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

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Plot Keywords:

lion | railway | africa | 1890s | lion attack | 

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Taglines:

Control Your Fear

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence and gore involving animal attacks

Details

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English Hindi

Release Date:

11 October 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Geist und die Dunkelheit

Filming Locations:

Songimvelo Game Reserve, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,215,063, 13 October 1996, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$38,619,405

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$36,400,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Constellation Entertainment, Douglas/Reuther Productions, Bernina Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The part of Remington was originally offered to Sean Connery and Anthony Hopkins but both declined; the producers were considering asking Gérard Depardieu when Michael Douglas, initially hired as a producer, decided to play the role himself.

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Goofs

In one scene, Remington tells Patterson that "We have an expression in prize fighting: 'Everyone has a plan until they've been hit.' Well my friend, you've just been hit." The events of this film take place in or closely around 1898, however the prizefighting expression used by Remington was coined by World War 2 era boxing great Joe Louis, who was not even born until 1914.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Samuel: This is the most famous and true African adventure.

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Crazy Credits

The beginning of the end credits is shown with a photograph of the real bridge as background.

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Connections

Referenced in Jersey Girl (2004)

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Soundtracks

Jungal Bahar (The Prey Song)
Written and Produced by George Acogny
Performed by The Worldbeaters with The Johannesburg Choir

User Reviews

One has to pray that the hunters don't become prey by that which is hunted.

"The Ghost and the Darkness" is based on an episode from the jungles of 1896 East Africa. Various European countries are engaged in the process of establishing colonies in the wealthy lands of East Africa, and chief among those is Great Britain.

Val Kilmer has been given a task--to build a bridge over a river in one of the British colonial ventures in East Africa. When he arrives at the site, he learns that the task has been brought to a total halt by the presence of two man-eating lions the natives refer to as The Ghost and The Darkness. These lions hunt as a team, and seem to have no fear of any outside force. What's more, efforts to hunt them down have all ended in failure. Kilmer enrolls the aid of an ardent big-game hunter, Remington, played by Michael Douglas. Together, the two men set out to end the killing spree and thus allow the bridge to be built.

The story is marked with violence, may be a bit squeamish for some, but the scenery and photography, coupled with a good story, makes it all worth while. There is also a very unusual musical score, which adds to the background of the entire film. On my own scale, a 9 out of 10