25th anniversary of The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)

25th anniversary of The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) Oct 13, 2021 16:49:41 GMT mattgarth likes this

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Post by drystyx on Oct 13, 2021 16:49:41 GMT

Oct 12, 2021 17:50:07 GMT mattgarth said:

The earlier film BWANA DEVIL in 1952 also dealt with the 1898 Tsavo Lion attacks.

That version starred Robert Stack in the Val Kilmer role.

It had the distinction of being the first color 3-D movie.

BWANA DEVIL was pretty drab, and had the same problem as THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS with being a traditional contrived Hollywood script (okay, "screenplay" to satisfy the ones who want to find something to whine about).

Of the two, I'm not sure which I prefer. Ghost and Darkness had just a bit more entertainment value (but it was still dull, just not as dull as Bwana), but Bwana was a bit less contrived and Hollywood. I rate both about 4/10. Failures mostly in the writing. They should have been much better, considering they were jungle movies. It takes a relentless hack effort to make a jungle movie dull. But these guys did it in both movies.