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Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai Details

1999 DVD Certificate 15.gif
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 5412 members

Eastern and Western cultures and philosophies intersect in this comic drama from acclaimed director Jim Jarmusch. Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) is a silent modern-day warrior who lives on a rooftop shack. He spends his days breeding pigeons and playing chess in the park with his best friend, Raymond (Isaach de Bankole), a French-.. Read more

Starring Forest Whitaker, Henry Silva, Henry Tormey, Victor Argo
Director Jim Jarmusch
Genres Drama

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Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai

Eastern and Western cultures and philosophies intersect in this comic drama from acclaimed director Jim Jarmusch. Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) is a silent modern-day warrior who lives on a rooftop shack. He spends his days breeding pigeons and playing chess in the park with his best friend, Raymond (Isaach de Bankole), a French-speaking ice-cream man. At night he goes to work as a hit man, performing his tasks stealthily and invisibly, abiding by the codes established by HAGAKURE: THE BOOK OF THE SAMURAI, an 18th-century text. One night, while on his latest hit, Ghost Dog encounters a mob boss's beautiful daughter, Louise (Tricia Vessey). Although Ghost Dog leaves her unharmed, her father nonetheless orders Ghost Dog's execution, to the dismay of Louie (John Tormey), his loyal retainer. As the mobsters struggle to locate the mysteriously untraceable Ghost Dog, he must find a way to protect himself while remaining loyal to Louie and the ancient codes that define him as an individual. Jarmusch successfully tackles a variety of genres with GHOST DOG, including mob movies and spiritual samurai films. Fusing all of this with the RZA's thumping, atmospheric score, GHOST DOG remains another entertaining addition to Jarmusch's impressive filmography.

Starring Forest Whitaker, Henry Silva, Henry Tormey, Victor Argo, Camille Winbush, Frank Adonis, Cliff Gorman, RZA
Director Jim Jarmusch
Studio FILM 4
Run time DVD: 1 hr 51 mins
Certificate DVD Certificate 15.gif
Genres Drama
Language English
Hearing-impaired English
Released DVD: 12 May 2008
Production year: 1999
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (6) of Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai

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  • 3 stars out of 5

    Inspired by Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï, Jim Jarmusch's quirky crime drama creates a world of such deadpan solemnity that humour exists solely in the eye of the beholder. Forest Whitaker is perfectly at home here, as a bushido-obsessed hit man who communicates with his boss by pigeon and doesn't speak a word of his ice cream-selling best friend's language. The word laconic doesn't do justice to the film's tempo — though the outbursts of explosive violence as Whitaker jousts with mobsters John Tormey and Henry Silva tend to spoil the absurdist ambience.

    • Radio Times
  • 3 stars out of 4

    A film that is likely to divide audiences: some will find its literary structure pretentious, others will enjoy a slyly comic movie about a clash between two different codes of honour.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
  • Most helpful member's review of Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai

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  • 7 out of 7 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Different and thoughtful

    I am a big fan of assassin-type films and the premise for this sounded good. A lonely man known as Ghost Dog lives on the roof with his pigeons, but as one hit goes wrong, he ends up being chased by those who ordered the hit.

    Rooted in japanese tradition and perpetrated by a large, silent black man, whose best friend runs an ice cream truck and speaks french, which Ghost Dog can't understand, this is very original and enjoyable.

    Jim Jarmusch is an indie favourite, but I have been unable to see most of his films, this being the most well-known.

    Forest Whitaker is very good and music by The RZA is also quality. Scenes of action are well handled, and the readings from the Harakure give the film a quality similar to the code that Ghost Dog follows.

    Vwey different to mainstream action, this is recommended.

      • Adam H. Gallimore from the middle of Dorset
  • Most recent members' review of Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai

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  • 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 0 stars

    Incredibly bad

    In the early scene in the car, I thought 'this mundanity must have a point'. But no, it continued that way until I gave up. Worst film ever. :-(

      • elgy from Sale
  • News and features

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    Touching The Void

    London Film Festival opens

    • 19 Oct 2006

    The 50th London Film Festival opened on Wednesday with a screening of The Last King of Scotland from director Kevin Macdonald. Based on the reign of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, the fictionalised story stars Forest Whitaker, who appeared in the title role of Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai. The film also features Gillian Anderson – better known as Dana Scully from long-running TV series The X-Files – and James McAvoy, star of Shameless. McAvoy told the BBC that his role... Read more

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Rating breakdown

5,412 Member ratings
  • 100
632
  • 90
550
  • 80
1,175
  • 70
965
  • 60
846
  • 50
442
  • 40
312
  • 30
199
  • 20
196
  • 10
95

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    • Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai
      Eastern and Western cultures and philosophies intersect in this comic drama from acclaimed director Jim Jarmusch. Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) is a silent modern-day warrior who lives on a rooftop shack. He spends his days breeding pigeons and playing chess in the park with his best friend, Raymond (...