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| Ghost Dog - The Way of the Samurai | 
 enlarge | Director: Jim Jarmusch
Actors: Forest Whitaker, Henry Silva, John Tormey, Cliff Gorman, Dennis Liu
Studio: Artisan Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $4.27
You Save: $5.71 (57%)
New (46) Used (18) Collectible (1) from $4.27
Avg. Customer Rating:  223 reviews
Sales Rank: 11463
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 116
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: IVED11489D
UPC: 012236114895
EAN: 0012236114895
ASIN: B00005QCVX
Theatrical Release Date: 1999
Release Date: August 14, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New and Factory Sealed Item Fast Shipping
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| Customer Reviews:
Ghost Dog May 4, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Peace to the Gods and Earths and/or any divine beings who has knowledge of self. This movie is right and exact filled with gems and jewels of a highly intelligent nature. Whether you want discipline and principle or have it and are seeking an understand through the Samurai sciences. This movie is for the third eye of the godly type. So the 85% need not apply because this movie is not for the deaf, dumb, and blind.
Infinite Self Allah (Isa)
The Modern Day Samurai April 11, 2008
"Ghost Dog" is a fascinating film. Rarely do I use this word to describe a person or a book, let alone a non-documentary film. But here I must, simply because of what Jarmusch has crafted here a contemporary samurai film which mirrors oh so perfectly the lives of samurai of ancient Japan given the context of the year 1999, in a seemingly decrepit city, in the USA.
Forrest Whitaker is an exceptional actor and here he does not disappoint. He IS a samurai, walking each step with compassion, yet keeping to his duty with calculated grace.
For the independent-minded, taking this entire film as a whole, RZA's fantastic score, the intriguing, Isaach De Bankole, the Dutch cinematographer's, Robby Mueller's, dizzying yet serene art direction, you simply must see this film.
A Man Movie April 5, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ghost Dog has it all, and leaves out the unwanted. There is no Ditzy female to contend for the camera with, and plenty of action. The story is based on the writings of the Samurai Code, and implements certain scenes using these edicts. The gangsters are very down to earth, being both flawed and cold hearted. If you love a movie that makes you think, and maybe a need to watch it more than once, this is for you. I have several favorites in this movie, and there is tongue in cheek humor to keep you from taking this too serious. Forrest Whitaker is very underrated in this movie, his character is well played, from the scared youth in the alley, to the defiant man in the final scene. I cannot stress enough how much this movie stirs something inside me, and it is a must have.
Treating small things with great importance February 12, 2008
To the casual viewer this may appear to be another "pigeons on the roof" movie out of ON THE WATERFRONT
with a lone wolf hero taking on the mob a la Marlon Brando. True, there are similarities. Both Terry Malloy and Ghost Dog are more connected to children and pigeons than they are to the adult world - but the former is so because he remains a childlike and illiterate palooka whilst the latter actually reads, takes children seriously, and communicates more on a "spiritual" or emotional level than he does on a verbal level. Apart from his pigeons, Ghost Dog (played by Forest Whitaker) connects or communicates best with a young girl with whom he discusses literature - including Rashomon, Frankenstein and Wind in the Willows - an ice cream vendor who only speaks French, a silent dog of the street, and intermittently with street rappers en passant. It is these elements too which remain central to the film, rather than the comical mobsters, who fumble and bumble their way through life and for recreation spend their time watching Felix Cartoons circa 1935. It is quite refreshing to see gangsters or mobsters treated like this instead of romanticised as they usually are in such iconic works as THE GODFATHER trilogy and THE SOPRANOS. Lets face it, there are similarities between "the captains of industry" and the so called mob in Western society - the means they use may differ but their purpose and intent may remain the same.
A marxist interpretation of this work is entirely plausible. Equally, Hasidic Jews of Brooklyn would relate to it and understand its themes whilst deploring its violence. Nevertheless, it seems to me one major theme is that of the Artist in a hostile and materialistic landscape attempting to survive. And surviving means self discipline, being true to one's beliefs, treating small things with great importance (his ice cream eating is undertaken with a reverence similar to a Japanese tea ceremony) and treating large things lightly (death is treated lightly).
But, the film is rich enough for the viewer to bring to it his or her own experience and enjoy on many levels.
Mr Whitaker holds the centre of the film with consummate skill - to me it's some of his best work. (To upstage Paul Newman as the laboratory experiment pool player in The Color of Money was pretty darn good too!)
Robbie Muller manages to capture the mood with his POV photography through the eyes of a pigeon - or God -and the feel of urban life. The music is all of a piece.
This is a rich film worthy of reviewing from time to time.
 One of the rare nice surprises of modern cinema January 7, 2008
Ghost Dog is a professional killer, but instead of his colleagues he lives trying not to break the law. Living in a small American town and working for the local Mafia, Ghost Dog is an anachronism, a modern samurai who lives alone, with the doves he loves. His only friend is an ice-cream seller who does not understand a word in English. When Ghost Dog ecexutes a contract, his former employers will try to exterminate him and he will fight alone against everyone. The scene of Ghost Dog's frontal assalut in his enemy's nest, is in my opinion one of the best in modern movies. The extracts from samurai texts, interspersed in this film, are also extremely interesting and thought provoking. A great soundtrack and a great performance by Whitaker.
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