To save his father, stuntman Johnny Blaze makes a deal with Mephistopheles and sacrifices his soul. When itÂ’s time for the devil to take his due, he brings Johnny into an epic battle with Blackheart. In the presence of evil, Johnny transforms into a super-strong skeleton with a flaming skull who has the power to defeat Blackheart and his minions.
one word ACE! great film
A good comic book hero film, that displays excellent special effects, but suffers from poor casting as Nicholas Cage clearly far too old for this type of role. Sam Elliott is the exception to this who delivers yet again on the type of performance we have all come to expect of him.
Excellent comic film, a lot of action and a good storyline. A film for comic lovers as well as action lovers.
Fun to watch, highly entertaining.
After what seemed like an eternity in post-production, Marvel Comic's cult superhero finally revs up and rides out in Mark Steven Johnson's ('Daredevil') slight, but surprisingly enjoyable, adaptation. I've given this film an extra star for three reasons not necessarily related to its literary or artistic merits as an original work of cinema 1) Ghost Rider is cool 2) I enjoy Nicholas Cage's overacting 3) I'm in love with Eva Mendes, needless to say, if any of the aforementioned are inapplicable to you, just think of this as an average film. Cage is Johnny Blaze, an Evel Kenevel-esque stuntman who makes a desperate deal with the devil ('Easy Rider' Peter Fonda) which quickly turns sour, and before he knows what's hit him; Blaze is press ganged into becoming Satan's bounty hunter, the latest in a long line of Hell spawn henchmen known as Ghost Riders...so far, so ridiculous. I wasn't in the least bit enthused with having Mark Steven Johnson on board as auteur, for 'Daredevil' was quite patchy in spite of good performances from Ben Affleck & Jennifer Garner as Elektra. I felt that MSJ swung the mood & tone too far and too often: from dark & atmospheric in one scene to light & breezy in another, coupled with an unnecessarily long origin story, cut in just as the main narrative was gathering momentum.
'Ghost Rider', though saddled with similar attempts at the comedic courtship scene (no see-saw fight this time, but we do get to see Cage riding alongside old flame Eva Mendes's news-van in a long, overacted but ultimately worthwhile scene) is focused, well shot and sets a good pace from the outset. Ghost Rider's origin; well acted by newcomers Matt Long (teenage Nic Cage) and Raquel Alessi (teenage Eva Mendes) is covered in the opening fifteen minutes and provides enough back story to make Johnny Blaze & Roxy Hart's rocky romance seem believable. MSJ handles this somewhat tricky prologue with commendable skill and breviloquence, his artistic flair doesn't let up, for the Ghost Rider itself is something quite special; his flaming skull is up there with The Human Torch & Silver Surfer as one of Marvel's best rendered SFX, for if you dug Spawn taking care of business back in 1997, then you'll certainly get a kick out of seeing our bony, badass biker raising all kinds of hell in the here & now. Nichols Cage imbues his character with some memorable quirks like eating jellybeans from a cocktail glass, drinking black coffee from a jug and listening to 'The Carpenters' before a big jump, for only Nic Cage's deadpan delivery could sell a line like: "sshhh: you're steppin' on Karen". Johnny Blaze's hilarious attempts at evoking his alter ego in front of the mirror also allow Cage an opportunity to unleash his distinct brand of manic humour/ method overacting; his wide-eyed gurning / teeth gnashing tomfoolery works a charm, natch, and the scene is on a par with Toby Maguire's web tryouts in 'Spiderman'. Essentially an urban western, Ghost Rider's supporting cast add an oddball sentiment to this already bizarre, but strangely beautiful, picture. Now if this had this been a Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez film, the role of old cowboy/ narrator Caretaker would've gone straight to Michael Parkes, nonetheless, Sam Elliot (Major Ross in 'Hulk') works well and has one of the best, most commanding voices in the business. Wes Bentley also crops up as the pasty faced villain Blackheart, personally, I don't know what Wes is doing here, or why the breakthrough actor of 1999 ('American Beauty') is wearing mascara and spouting lines that would embarrass any B-movie hack. Eva Mendes plays to her obvious strengths and, as seen in 'Hitch', has good comic timing and delivery.
Its refreshing to see a comic book movie that doesn't take itself too seriously without falling into the trap of 'Batman & Robin'-esque banality, for whilst 'Ghost Rider' doesn't really deserve a sequel, it's a fun ride while it lasts. And any movie that has the camp, cheese-driven chutzpah to play Johnny Cash's timeless ballad 'Ghost Riders In The Sky' (albeit a lame cover) as the actual Ghost Rider blazes past, deserves some credit. Supernatural silliness aplenty, but fine SFX, an involving storyline and Nicholas Cage at his best (worst) ensure a ghostly good time is had by all.
I'm a huge fan of Nicolas Cage and Nicolas Cage is a huge fan of the comic book Ghost Rider. So this seemed like a good film for me to see. However mostly due to a 12 rating I was disappointed.
After years of torment over whether he would get to put on the red and blue cape of Superman, Nicolas Cage found that he was never to play the role that he most desired. Now instead of the Man of Steel, Cage gets a chance to play his second favourite comic book character in the shape of ghost rider.
Johnny Blaze is a man cursed by the Devil to become his ghost rider and to deal out the angel of death"s fury on the living. Every night the ghost rider hunts down the unjust and burns them with his penance stare. But will he warm the heart of his long-lost love along the way and avenge his father"s death?
Ghost Rider could have been an excellent film in the mould of The Punisher but it sold out to appeal to teenagers instead of being true to the roots of the comic book and being more violent and more adult. What we get is a laughable anti-hero with a flaming skull and a film that is neither for teenagers nor adults.
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. Based on the Marvel character, stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze gives up his soul to become a hellblazing vigilante, to fight against power hungry Blackheart, the son of the devil himself.
Extended version of this action fantasy starring Nicolas Cage. In order to save his dying father, young stunt cyclist Johnny Blaze (Cage) sells his soul to Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) and sadly parts from the pure-hearted Roxanne Simpson (Eva Mendes), the love of his life. Years later, Johnny's path crosses again with Roxanne, now a reporter, and also with Mephistopheles, who offers to release Johnny's soul if Johnny becomes the fabled, fiery Ghost Rider, a supernatural agent of vengeance and justice. Mephistopheles charges Johnny with defeating the despicable Blackheart (Wes Bentley), Mephistopheles's nemesis and son, who plans to displace his father and create a new hell even more terrible than the old one.
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