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Post by janntosh on Jun 4, 2019 17:09:00 GMT
and Black Panther's dad  one of the biggest star vehicles flops of all time? Totally went under the radar despite having Michael Douglas fresh off numerous hits and Val Kilmer fresh off Batman Forever and Heat |
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Post by moviemouth on Jun 4, 2019 17:14:49 GMT
I just don't think that kind of movie was or has ever been much of a draw. A period piece about bridge builders in Africa being attacked by lions just isn't a good sell.
Funny enough I was one of the people who saw it at the cinema back in 1996.
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Post by vegalyra on Jun 4, 2019 17:21:38 GMT
Yeah, it's one of my favorite films. I don't know why it flopped. I read the old book once a long time ago as well.
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Post by janntosh on Jun 4, 2019 17:23:16 GMT
I like the movie but it’s really choppily edited. Feels like loads of stuff was cut out
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Post by janntosh on Jun 4, 2019 17:23:57 GMT
I just don't think that kind of movie was or has ever been much of a draw. A period piece about bridge builders in Africa being attacked by lions just isn't a good sell. Funny enough I was one of the people who saw it at the cinema back in 1996. The goal according to the writer was to create movie that felt like “Lawrence of Arabia crossed over with Jaws” |
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Post by politicidal on Jun 4, 2019 17:37:37 GMT
I actually enjoyed it. Eerie vibe with the lions and the music is great.
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Post by wmcclain on Jun 4, 2019 18:13:59 GMT
The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), directed by Stephen Hopkins. As the narrator says, this is a true story in it's most important aspects. Two lions, the Tsavo Man-Eaters, terrorized construction workers of an African railway in 1898. They had many strange characteristics, leading to a superstitious panic:
- Man-eaters are usually solitary.
- They are usually old and ill, not young and healthy.
- They did not eat all the men they killed, but seemed to kill for sport.
- Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson wrote that one of the lions began to stalk him after he had wounded it.
- Finally, Patterson claimed around 140 men were killed, which must be a record for two lions. Some authorities doubt that high number.
Val Kilmer is likable as the engineer who is going to finish his bridge, evil lion spirits or no. Emily Mortimer, age 25, is his young wife. Some of the lines were stolen for The 13th Warrior (1999), and Jerry Goldsmith scored both films, reusing some themes. Here he starts with Celtic airs for Patterson, evolving into African and action music. It's a tremendous adventure story, but I have problems with the film. The real Patterson would have knocked down the Tom Wilkinson character for speaking about his family in the way he did. More importantly, the screenplay needs doctoring. Writer William Goldman wanted the story made into a film as soon as he heard it. He has a chapter on it in Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade. He greatly admires Michael Douglas both as an actor and as a producer; after all his first film as producer was One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), a risky and innovative project. The problem is when a producer acts in his own film. Douglas was not originally going to appear in the movie but they couldn't get the Great White Hunters they wanted, Sean Connery being unavailable, etc. So Douglas finally volunteered. A producer can be dispassionately good at business and even artistic decisions, but actors are insecure people who need to be loved. Given control they will write up their own parts, invent new backstory and try to build an unnecessary emotional bond with the audience. This can ruin the story. In this case when "Remington" appears he elbows out Patterson, our hero. Goldman also says "I could have written it better". I think he tends to write down to his audience, going for cheap laughs and the over-obvious. That's more apparent in something like Maverick (1994) than in this picture, but still... Maybe a different director could have done more with it, although one of Goldman's gripes is giving the director credit for everyone else's work -- especially screenwriters. I don't see a Blu-ray of this available yet. The North American DVD is 4:3 letterboxed. Anamorphic PAL DVDs are available. 
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Post by Prime etc. on Jun 4, 2019 18:30:35 GMT
Didn't care for it.
The filmmakers sided with the Muslim railroad workers over the Hindu ones who are mocked for their religious attitude on cows. Only the Muslim foreman is given any focus-and Kilmer waves to him when he leaves which seemed weird for such an undeveloped character. Douglas is miscast.
Morally its less progressive than King Kong 1933 and other 60s safari films in attitudes towards Nature.
The lions are demonized rather unfairly since they happen to be just living in their ancestral habitat as this railroad is going through.
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Jun 4, 2019 18:42:03 GMT
Also starring King Théoden and Carmine Falcone. Love the flick, I have a picture of me with the lions at the Field Museum in Chicago. That movie has to be in my all time top 50. Douglas is a little over the top and the film is not exactly historically accurate (to say the least), but the movie is a ton of fun.
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Jun 4, 2019 18:44:42 GMT
It's a great movie.
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Post by anthonyrocks on Jun 4, 2019 20:33:42 GMT
GREAT Movie! 
LOL, I actually watched it a couple of days ago.
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Jun 4, 2019 22:13:02 GMT
It's an old fashioned adventure film like many jungle movies that were made in the 1950's.
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Post by Winter_King on Jun 5, 2019 13:16:44 GMT
Despite not being well received, I love that movie.
Awesome soundtrack too:
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Post by Winter_King on Jun 5, 2019 13:20:50 GMT
The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), directed by Stephen Hopkins. As the narrator says, this is a true story in it's most important aspects. Two lions, the Tsavo Man-Eaters, terrorized construction workers of an African railway in 1898. They had many strange characteristics, leading to a superstitious panic:
- Man-eaters are usually solitary.
- They are usually old and ill, not young and healthy.
- They did not eat all the men they killed, but seemed to kill for sport.
- Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson wrote that one of the lions began to stalk him after he had wounded it.
- Finally, Patterson claimed around 140 men were killed, which must be a record for two lions. Some authorities doubt that high number.
Val Kilmer is likable as the engineer who is going to finish his bridge, evil lion spirits or no. Emily Mortimer, age 25, is his young wife. Some of the lines were stolen for The 13th Warrior (1999), and Jerry Goldsmith scored both films, reusing some themes. Here he starts with Celtic airs for Patterson, evolving into African and action music. It's a tremendous adventure story, but I have problems with the film. The real Patterson would have knocked down the Tom Wilkinson character for speaking about his family in the way he did. More importantly, the screenplay needs doctoring. Writer William Goldman wanted the story made into a film as soon as he heard it. He has a chapter on it in Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade. He greatly admires Michael Douglas both as an actor and as a producer; after all his first film as producer was One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), a risky and innovative project. The problem is when a producer acts in his own film. Douglas was not originally going to appear in the movie but they couldn't get the Great White Hunters they wanted, Sean Connery being unavailable, etc. So Douglas finally volunteered. A producer can be dispassionately good at business and even artistic decisions, but actors are insecure people who need to be loved. Given control they will write up their own parts, invent new backstory and try to build an unnecessary emotional bond with the audience. This can ruin the story. In this case when "Remington" appears he elbows out Patterson, our hero. Goldman also says "I could have written it better". I think he tends to write down to his audience, going for cheap laughs and the over-obvious. That's more apparent in something like Maverick (1994) than in this picture, but still... Maybe a different director could have done more with it, although one of Goldman's gripes is giving the director credit for everyone else's work -- especially screenwriters. I don't see a Blu-ray of this available yet. The North American DVD is 4:3 letterboxed. Anamorphic PAL DVDs are available. One of the most impressive parts of the real life story that was depicted in the movie was the idea of using a train carriage to capture the lions. While one was a captured, the men that were there failed to shot at close range due the lion being a complete frenzy and leaving the man scared. The lion's roar was so loud that it left some of the hunters deaf.
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Post by janntosh on Jun 5, 2019 13:28:39 GMT
The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), directed by Stephen Hopkins. As the narrator says, this is a true story in it's most important aspects. Two lions, the Tsavo Man-Eaters, terrorized construction workers of an African railway in 1898. They had many strange characteristics, leading to a superstitious panic:
- Man-eaters are usually solitary.
- They are usually old and ill, not young and healthy.
- They did not eat all the men they killed, but seemed to kill for sport.
- Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson wrote that one of the lions began to stalk him after he had wounded it.
- Finally, Patterson claimed around 140 men were killed, which must be a record for two lions. Some authorities doubt that high number.
Val Kilmer is likable as the engineer who is going to finish his bridge, evil lion spirits or no. Emily Mortimer, age 25, is his young wife. Some of the lines were stolen for The 13th Warrior (1999), and Jerry Goldsmith scored both films, reusing some themes. Here he starts with Celtic airs for Patterson, evolving into African and action music. It's a tremendous adventure story, but I have problems with the film. The real Patterson would have knocked down the Tom Wilkinson character for speaking about his family in the way he did. More importantly, the screenplay needs doctoring. Writer William Goldman wanted the story made into a film as soon as he heard it. He has a chapter on it in Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade. He greatly admires Michael Douglas both as an actor and as a producer; after all his first film as producer was One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), a risky and innovative project. The problem is when a producer acts in his own film. Douglas was not originally going to appear in the movie but they couldn't get the Great White Hunters they wanted, Sean Connery being unavailable, etc. So Douglas finally volunteered. A producer can be dispassionately good at business and even artistic decisions, but actors are insecure people who need to be loved. Given control they will write up their own parts, invent new backstory and try to build an unnecessary emotional bond with the audience. This can ruin the story. In this case when "Remington" appears he elbows out Patterson, our hero. Goldman also says "I could have written it better". I think he tends to write down to his audience, going for cheap laughs and the over-obvious. That's more apparent in something like Maverick (1994) than in this picture, but still... Maybe a different director could have done more with it, although one of Goldman's gripes is giving the director credit for everyone else's work -- especially screenwriters. I don't see a Blu-ray of this available yet. The North American DVD is 4:3 letterboxed. Anamorphic PAL DVDs are available. One of the most impressive parts of the real life story that was depicted in the movie was the idea of using a train carriage to capture the lions. While one was a captured, the men that were there failed to shot at close range due the lion being a complete frenzy and leaving the man scared. The lion's roar was so loud that it left some of the hunters deaf. Lol that was no doubt because of the gunshot sounds. Not the lions |
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Post by anthonyrocks on Jun 5, 2019 13:41:16 GMT
Despite not being well received, I love that movie. Awesome soundtrack too: LOL, Yeah I really like the Soundtrack as well.
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Post by Winter_King on Jun 5, 2019 13:46:34 GMT
One of the most impressive parts of the real life story that was depicted in the movie was the idea of using a train carriage to capture the lions. While one was a captured, the men that were there failed to shot at close range due the lion being a complete frenzy and leaving the man scared. The lion's roar was so loud that it left some of the hunters deaf. Lol that was no doubt because of the gunshot sounds. Not the lions Not according to John Patterson. The Youtube channel History Buffs has a nice video about the history behind the movie:
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Jun 5, 2019 14:12:59 GMT
Lol that was no doubt because of the gunshot sounds. Not the lions Not according to John Patterson. The Youtube channel History Buffs has a nice video about the history behind the movie: Yeah it's like the movie poster says, only the most incredible parts of the story are true. Agree 100% with his assessment of the film, and I remember how awesome that music was in the theater. It's an excellent flick and it's yet another example of how Rotten Tomatoes is a useless site.
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Post by kuatorises on Jun 5, 2019 15:33:00 GMT
I've never actually heard anyone say anything bad about this movie. I've always seen and heard people say that they enjoy it.
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Post by politicidal on Jun 5, 2019 16:55:44 GMT
Despite not being well received, I love that movie. Awesome soundtrack too: LOL, Yeah I really like the Soundtrack as well. Incidentally for all its apparent critical drubbing it won an Oscar for best sound editing.
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