Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

1999
NC-16
1h 56m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

99K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer1:30

An African-American Mafia hit man who models himself after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.An African-American Mafia hit man who models himself after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.An African-American Mafia hit man who models himself after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

99K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,604

159

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 8 nominations

Videos2

Trailer 1:30

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

Clip 3:12

Bill Murray vs. Zombies? We're Dying for 'The Dead Don't Die'

Clip 3:12

Bill Murray vs. Zombies? We're Dying for 'The Dead Don't Die'

Photos113

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Jim Jarmusch stated in an interview that he wrote the role of Ghost Dog specifically for Forest Whitaker, and if Whitaker hadn't taken the role, the film probably would not have been made.

Goofs
Before killing the hunters, Ghost Dog turns off his car by turning the key in the ignition. When he stole the car, however, he used an electronic device to override the ignition.

Quotes
Ghost Dog: There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.

Crazy credits
The second to last person thanked at the credits' close is Akira Kurosawa--the Japanese filmmaker who filmed one of the Ghost Dog's central texts, Rashomon.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Instinct/The Loss of Sexual Innocence/Limbo (1999)

Soundtracks
Ice-Cream
(instrumental mix)
Written by R. Diggs and C. Woods
Produced, mixed and arranged by RZA for Wu-Tang Productions, Inc.
Published by Careers-BMG Music Publishing, Inc.
On behalf of Ramecca Music and Wu-Tang Publishing (BMI)
Featuring Ghostface Killah, Cappadonna and Raekwon
Raekwon appears courtesy of Loud Records

User reviews390

Review

Featured review

10/10

A Tour de Force for Whitaker

Men clinging to noble, outdated ideals in a world that no longer cares about such things: that's the concept here. Whitaker shows amazing strength and control in an antihero role that is necessarily secretive and subdued. Silva and Tormey turn in solid performances -- Tormey is especially poignant as the second-fiddle mafioso, torn between his admiration of Ghost Dog and his devotion to his own sempai (Silva).

The excellent soundtrack, courtesy of RZA, adds its own somber-yet-hip mood to the work. Jarmusch frames his characters on rooftops, on 'hood byways, in mansions, in the back rooms of Chinese restaurants, and everywhere there is a feeling of the walls closing in, of things coming to an end, of finality. See it. It's a good movie.