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 | |
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Kurt Egelhof | ... | Indian Victim |
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Satchu Annamalai | ... | Worker #1 |
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Teddy Reddy | ... | Worker #2 |
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Raheem Khan | ... | Worker #3 (as Rakeem Khan) |
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Jack Devnarain | ... | Nervous Sikh Orderly |
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Glen Gabela | ... | Orderly #1 |
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. Written by Jwelch5742
"The Ghost & the Darkness" is a very good adventure flick set in Africa in the late 19th century, and is based on a true incident. Kilmer plays an engineer sent to build a railroad bridge over the Tsavo river. Work is halted by attacks from two man-eating lions which terrorize the workers. Seems these lions are exhibiting behavior not seen in lions before, i.e. they appear to be hunting for sport ('the Ghost' and 'the Darkness' are the names given to the 2 lions by the native workers). Douglas plays a famous renegade American hunter, a tragically scarred Civil War veteran, hired by the railroad to kill the lions.
Good adventure, well-paced, with stunning photography of the African countryside. The movie has an "R" rating which I can't figure out; perhaps because of the bloodiness of the lion dinner scenes (and lunch, and breakfast, and between-meal snacks....). I have seen many PG13's which have more blood & guts than this.
I give it a straight A; my 10-year old son gave it an enthusiastic thumbs-up also).