MovieChat Forums > Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (2000) Discussion > Nice try, but fail.

Nice try, but fail.

posted 15 years ago by SardonicSavior
23 replies | jump to latest

I came in expecting to like this mind you... And I picked up on plenty of the attempts at "subtlety." I get the dog, I saw the guy stumble from the fake bullet, and I get it, he's a noble bear... I love Forest Whitaker, and I think he is both likable and a great actor. The daughter of the mob boss did her part excellently, and the surviving mob boss was decent. Whitaker pegged the intended role right on... And that's as far as it goes. The native American was just silly. The way Ghost Dog swished his gun around was more cowboy than samurai... They were about function, not flash. Every mobster was acted HORRIBLY and grossly over stereotyped. I see where Boondocks Saints 2 got it from...

Why practice forms with a sword only to use a gun? He also used no hand to hand... He uses a silly scrambler that he got... Somehow, that works on any car AND gate. Supposedly building a silencer is simple, so I buy that... But he insists on using the pigeons, but guns are cool? The very instrument to kill the samurai? And everyone seems to be cool with going gun crazy as well. Maybe if the characters methods were thought out a little better, or the mobsters were a little tougher it would have been more cohesive...

6/10 for casting a few good characters and trying to make Forest Whitaker a real life batman. I'm done now hahaha Please feel free to argue.

[–] shapethrower 15 years ago

If you're aware of what Jim is referencing and the little tips of the hat to other film makers in his films it makes the story more rewarding (i.e. Hagakure, Rashomon, Looney Tunes cartoons relating to events, spaghetti westerns, etc.).

The rest is a matter of taste I guess, but I for one love this film.

Last name? I'd rather not say. My brother's in politics. ~ Raoul Duke.

[–] SardonicSavior 14 years ago

A tip of the hat shouldn't be so obvious. The point is to subtly work it in. Otherwise it becomes too relavent and needs a sort of explanation. And why reference to a spaghetti western in a film of an urban American samurai? And I'm sure I missed SOME of them, I'm by no means that perceptive for a first run through of anything... But I wouldn't have my character bust out a whip just because I love Indiana Jones.

I know it is largely a matter of taste, it just bothers me when I see so many things I would outright call flaws- so key to the plot and telling,- being overlooked.

[–] Ivan357 14 years ago

I couldn't agree more, i give it a 4/10 those gun maneuvers costed a point. I can't believe the shoot out scenes where Forest could of had his eyes shut and still shot everyone in the head without getting hurt and that was the weekest gang of bad guys i ever saw.

For me these things overshadowed the subtleties i usually come to appreciate and an excellent idea ruined but i did get a good laugh at the idea of Forest hidding under the washroom sink, i know i would have a hard time and i only weigh 150 pounds.

[–] Journalissimo 14 years ago

Actually, I'm kinda with you here. Forest Whitaker was good, but most of the mobsters...Huh? I couldn't tell if there were parts that were actually supposed to be funny or if they just came off that way because they were so ridiculously played. Examples: the kid throwing stuff out the window and the elderly mobster who kept shouting. Also, why were most of the mobsters watching (old) cartoons all the time? Was that a way to juxtapose their own absurdity? So...yeah...

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] taumpy_tears 12 years ago

this. the comedy was incredibly obvious.

[–] TheHypnotron 14 years ago

But you forget... Ghost Dog is ...

crazy...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165798/board/thread/170528670

[–] TheBeardedWonder 14 years ago

Agree with you entirely. Why have someone be a samurai only to have him use NOTHING BUT guns? It's like making a movie about a great film director then having the character write books the entire movie.

And like you I got (most of - def not all) what they were going for (the western style, the cartoons mimicking what's going on, he's like a bear, etc...) But so what does all that add up to? Nothing.

We have a guy speaking French for days even though people speak English back to him, Whitaker with magical devices that can unlock and start cars or open gates depending on what needs to be done, lame shoot outs that were boring by 1980s standards, a cliche plot involving a hit man betrayed by his employer, the usual stupid and undeveloped gangster characters, and possibly the worst soundtrack of the 90s.

I had to watch this movie on 1.5 fast forward speed to even get through it. Don't get me wrong, there are many worse movies out there, I just don't understand why everyone went crazy for this flick when everything about it is pretty standard... 6/10 from me as well.

"Did you mean for all those words to come out like that or did they just fall out randomly?"-H.H.

[–] the-organizm 14 years ago

Using different weapons is to develop form. In martial arts, it's not punching stuff all the time, everything is put into a form to build muscle memory, and to develop techniques which can work in a lot of different situations, not just swinging a sword around.

The idea of gangsters being morons is exactly that. They're morons, and their business is a mess.

Back when the movie was made, digital locks were still in the trial stage, and they weren't as sophisticated as they are now. It was actually pretty simple to build one, if you knew the make and model of the car or lock, you could do it at home with stuff from Radio Shack, which is exactly what people did. It's very, very simple code, the same idea that the T.V-B-Gone uses.

I'll admit, though, swishing the guns around did look kind of dumb.

[–] david_de_jesus 14 years ago

You obviously are not a samurai and dont know nothing about samurais, otherwise you wouldn´t come with such inane points.

So according to you because he was a hit man he is not allowed to have hobbies, like the carrier pigeons or the kendo for instance. His life has to be only about being badass and killing stuff. He has no place talking with kids or reading books either.
A samurai leads a complete life, HE chooses what he does, how he does it, he is aware of that but nevertheless chooses. If he chooses to use pigeons instead of cell phones he can do it because he is a samurai. But obviously you didnt got that.

[–] navyk77 14 years ago

A samurai that doesn't even speak Japanese...Only English...lol

[–] Origamipaper 14 years ago

Wow....I am surprised no one figured out why he swings his guns like that and then returns it into his holster. He does it in the same fashion Samurai would do with their katana before putting it back in their sheath

"The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering" - Bruce Lee

[–] fusoyaff2 14 years ago

He follows the way of the samurai, he doesn't dress up as one. Perhaps you should read their code some time so things make more sense for you.

[–] Killingforcompany 14 years ago

Remember that he is far removed from Ancient Japan. He seemed to be someone who took the philosophy and code of the samurai and applied it to his own (and very different) life. He's more like a contemporary urban samurai. Ghost Dog is like someone who is trying to live a life of ancient principles and values in contemporary and far removed times.

[–] Wellerrr 14 years ago

fail

[–] panemique 14 years ago

OK so if I get your point, you think living by the samurai code means using swords and speaking japanese, and you think all mobsters should look like those badass gangsters from Oz?

So sad you didn't get this film at all.

This movie is really about style, it talks about people whose world they once knew is now vanishing, and what we see is their desperate last struggle to hang to what they know.

Also, I couldn't disagree more with what has been written about the music: it's only the best soundtrack ever!

[–] NotAnUndercoverCop 13 years ago

Haters gone hate. This is easily one of the greatest films of all time. Not #1 or #2. But, if you were going to make a list of the top 250 films and this movie wasn't on it, you'd have yourself one incorrect list there.

[–] franzkabuki 13 years ago

"The Native American was just silly".

Stupid f-cking white man...

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] iffy619 12 years ago

LMAO Brillant

"Whoo-ah"

[–] fforw 13 years ago

Regardless of the respectable kill count, this is no action movie.

As I see this movie, none of the actions of Ghost Dog have to make sense because that's the f#%&! point of the movie.

It's a movie how our identities are largely arbitrary and often don't make any real sense. The mob guys are pathetic old fools having trouble with the land lord, Ghost Dog projects thankfulness and finding a father figures into some total nonsensical connection to feudal japan, etc etc.