Ghost

"Before Sam was murdered, he told Molly he'd love and protect her forever."

1990 2h 7m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 6,231

FantasyRomanceThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.

“Before Sam was murdered, he told Molly he'd love and protect her forever.”

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Cast

Patrick Swayze
Sam Wheat
Demi Moore
Molly Jensen
Whoopi Goldberg
Oda Mae Brown
Tony Goldwyn
Carl Bruner
Vincent Schiavelli
Subway Ghost
Rick Aviles
Willie Lopez
Martina Deignan
Rose
Rick Kleber
Mover

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jerry Zucker
Writers: David J. Negrón Jr., Bruce Joel Rubin
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $505M — a 23.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

36 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jerry Zucker, shot by Adam Greenberg. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Maurice Jarre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Walter Murch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Before Sam was murdered, he told Molly he'd love and protect her forever.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0099653 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jerry Zucker directs. Adam Greenberg behind the camera. Maurice Jarre scores. Walter Murch cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Grossed $505M — a 23.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
236 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Jerry Zucker, shot by Adam Greenberg. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Maurice Jarre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Walter Murch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Before Sam was murdered, he told Molly he'd love and protect her forever.".
8IMDB entry: tt0099653 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 20 themes, including "fortune teller", "corruption", "soulmates", "afterlife".
10Released under 39 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Adam Greenberg
Original score: Maurice Jarre
Editing: Walter Murch
Production design: Jane Musky
Costume design: Ruth Morley
Makeup / hair: Marietta Carter-Narcisse
VFX supervisor: Katherine Kean
Sound: Steve Maslow
Stunt coordinator: Allan Graf
Runtime: 127 min · 2h 7m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $22,000,000
Box office: $505,000,000
Return: 2295% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Ghost (1990)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Jerry Zucker

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2020-12-04
★ 9/10
Top-of-the-line drama/thriller tackles the afterlife A man suddenly discovers that he's a ghost (Patrick Swayze) and means to find his killer while protecting his former fiancé (Demi Moore). Tony Goldwyn plays his business partner while Whoopi Goldberg is on hand as a psychic spiritual advisor. Like all great movies, “Ghost” (1990) takes about 15-20 minutes to establish the characters and then takes off, gripping the viewer until the end. It combines drama, thrills and comedy in its fascinating exploration of the hereafter and is cut from the same cloth as future movies “City of Angels” (1998), “Meet Joe Black” (1998) and “The Sixth Sense” (1999). While the film’s theology is no deeper than a Jack T. Chick tract and I don’t agree with every jot & tittle, it effectively conveys its profound ideas in a way that is palatable to the masses. The movie runs 2 hours, 6 minutes and was shot in New York City (Manhattan and Brooklyn), Paramount Studios and downtown Los Angeles. GRADE: A/A-
GenerationofSwine2023-01-12
★ 10/10
Tony Goldwyn should have been a more popular actor. He was actually pretty exceptional in almost everything he has done but never actually made it to superstar status. Instead he kind of lingered in supporting actor limbo through the 90s and then kind of disappeared. It's a shame. And he's not the only unsung hero in Ghost, Vincent Schiavelli is in it too. It has a great cast that brings their all to the film. The script isn't that imaginative, you've seen a few movies like this before, but that never really matters when it's done well.
CinemaSerf2025-02-02
★ 7/10
"Sam" (Patrick Swayze) and his girlfriend "Molly" (Demi Moore) aren't the best at pottery, but they do know how to make a mess! A trip to the theatre to see the Scottish play doesn't end well though, as he is randomly attacked in the street. She's desolate but fortunately his work colleague "Carl" (Tony Goldwyn) is on hand to try to help her through the aftermath. What she doesn't know, though, is that "Sam" is stuck in limbo. He can't move on and so must watch her every day life unfold. Quickly, he realises that his old pal is keen on "Molly" and then, even worse, begins to suspect that his death wasn't quite as random as it might have seemed. How can he talk to her; warn her? Well that's where the star of the show comes in. "Oda Mae" (Whoopi Goldberg) is a medium who spends her time telling old widows that their long dead husbands still love them. She is ill-prepared to star in her own version of "Blithe Spirit", though, and that doesn't get any easier when she tries to convince "Molly" she is really in touch with "Sam" and that he is terrified that she may also be a target of a nefarious plot. The Righteous Brothers also have to take a share of the plaudits here as their "Unchained Melody" refrain helps set the scene for a romantic mystery that's peppered with some tea-time menace and a Goldberg who is at the top of her game. The plot itself isn't maybe the strongest and I'm glad I didn't have an account with his bank, but it's two hours that flies by keeping sentimentality and slapstick to a minimum and allowing the spirit of "Madame Arcati" to enter the 1990s enjoyably. There are even nuns, too!