Product Description

Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) was only a stunt-biking teenager when he sold his soul to the devil (Peter Fonda). Years later, Johnny is a world-renowned daredevil by day, but at night, he becomes the Ghost Rider of Marvel Comics legend. The devil's bounty hunter, he is charged with finding evil souls on earth and bringing them to hell. But when a twist of fate brings Johnny's long-lost love (Eva Mendes) back into his life, Johnny realizes he just might have a second chance at happiness-if he can beat the devil and win back his soul. To do so he'll have to defeat Blackheart (Wes Bentley), the devil's nemesis and wayward son, whose plot to take over his father's realm will bring hell on earth-unless Ghost Rider can stop him.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26572 in DVD
• Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
• Released on: 2007-06-12
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 114 minutes

Amazon.com
Once intended as a feature for Johnny Depp, the long-germinating feature film adaptation of Marvel Comics' cult title Ghost Rider stars Nicolas Cage as motorcyclist Johnny Blaze, who transforms into a skull-faced angel of vengeance to battle the forces of evil. Though perhaps a bit too mature for the role, Cage brings a degree of humor to the outrageous proceedings; he's well matched by the Easy Rider himself Peter Fonda, amusingly cast as Mephistopheles, the demon with whom Blaze strikes a bargain to save his father, and in turn, causes his transformation into Ghost Rider. Wes Bentley is also fine as Blackheart, the rebellious offspring of Mephistopheles, and Blazes' chief opponent in the film. They're joined by a solid supporting cast which includes Donal Logue, Eva Mendes, and Sam Elliott, but their participation and a relentless barrage of CGI effects can't hide the fact that the story itself, though largely faithful to its comic origins, is rife with clichéd characterizations and glum B-movie dialogue. Fans of the venerable title may cry foul over this adaptation (as they did over helmer Mark Steven Johnson's previous comic-to-movie feature, Daredevil), but less stringent viewers may enjoy the fiery visuals and Cage's typically quirky performance. --Paul Gaita

Extras from Ghost Rider

Visit our Exclusive Ghost Rider Microsite Visit the Site

Beyond Ghost Rider at Amazon.com

On Blu-ray

CD Soundtrack

Ghost Rider: Road To Damnation

Stills from Ghost Rider (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

Why does Hollywood make dark films goofy ????????????
This happens time and time again.........
WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD MAKE DARK CHARACTERS AND STORIES GOOFY, CAMPY AND SILLY ?

There is a logic flaw somewhere with Hollywood quite often when it comes to comic characters or legends that eludes me.........

They take a dark character and turn it into a goofy spoof of itself with some generic "Hollywood formula" that usually damages the film with fans and loses the general audience because it changes the character that was apparently successful enough in the first place to be worthy of a movie.

Consider for a moment with comic heroes........

You have the comic fanbase who know the character and will be dissapointed if you tamper with it.

Then you have the general public who knows little about the character and thus have no preconceived expectations.

SO....
If you make the character faithful to the comic, the fans will praise it and the general public who have no other expectation will love it also.

Instead when Hollywood turns a character like Ghost Rider into a campy pale shadow of itself, the fans are turned off and the general public are left wondering... "Why is this character so popular" ?

The end result ?
Bad box office returns and the quick kill of a franchise before it can get started.

Ghost Rider STARTED right on track, but once Cage entered and started his one-liner "Comedy Central" cracks and quirky sarcasm, the movie eroded quickly.

Then try and forget the inconsistencies in story logic or even why an evil spawn with the power of Satan himself is affected by shotgun bullets, etc...

The writers seemed to confuse Ghost Rider with the Hulk also........... Ghost Rider (original comic series) was articulate and spoke like a demon with long sermon like preachings when inflicting his wrath............. this movie version of Ghost Rider grunts and utters Hulk-like sentences like........ "Ahhhhh You Guilty"

The effects department deserves great accolades for a fine job.
They did their part to make a 5 star film.

But that is a problem we see alot these days................ films focus on the effects but ignore the stories and character development.

Is the General Public getting that dumbed down today -or- am I just getting to old ?

People are razzle-dazzled by the eye candy and just ignore stories ?

UNRATED/EXTENDED DVD reviewed...
GHOST RIDER is another comic adaptation from Marvel comics. It is in the same vein as CONSTANTINE and HELLBOY that deals with supernatural fantasy. The movie incarnation of Ghost Rider, however, feels like a hybrid of the Johnny Blaze(who uses Hellfire as his primary weapon) in the 70's and Dan Ketch(magical chain/penance stare)in the 90's.

John Blaze is a stunt motorcycle rider, who decades ago sold his soul to Mephisto(incarnation of Satan), to save his dad from cancer. As with anyone who deals with evil, the deal has a hidden catch, his dad dies in an accident anyway and Blaze finds out that he is unable to die until Mephisto decides it is his time. It makes Blaze a phenomenal stunt rider but it also makes him empty.
Soon enough, Blackheart wants to de-throne Mephisto by seeking an ancient scroll with the names of the damned to grow an army. Mephisto enlists Blaze's aid by transforming him(against his will) into the "Spirit of Vengeance", Ghost Rider to stop Blackheart.
Sam Elliot(steals the show) as the "caretaker" is a character from Ketch's 90's incarnation, Eva Mendes as Roxanne, who plays Blaze's love interest.
About the extended edition:
Don't go for the slightly longer un-rated cut for hope of more violence. Pretty much everything that has been restored in this version of the movie is characterization bits, which is not a minus because it does flesh out the central players a little more, but it's doubtful that any of this material was cut at the request of the MPAA, rather, it was likely deleted for pacing reasons.

The film's EFX is well-executed and follows a darker tone like DAREDEVIL and Underworld. Although I have to say this film mostly follows the 1970 incarnation with its cartoonish sly humor. The 1980-1990's version of GR had a more serious and darker mood.
PICTURE: 2.40 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN. The PQ is phenomenal, colors extremely vibrant. Some scenes are sharper than others, but I didn't see any video artifacts at all. Great transfer
AUDIO: The DTS track has a stronger bass but not that much different from the 5.1 DD track. Sound is very powerful.
Extras:
DISC 1: Commentary by director M.S. Johnson w/ visual effects Steven Mack, another commentary by the producer is also here. Trailers are also here.
DISC 2:
Documentary called Spirit Of Vengeance: The Making Of Ghost Rider which clocks in at just under 82 minutes. The first two parts cover the origin of the film and its production while the third part details post production work.
Up next is Sin And Salvation which is a really interesting look at the comic book history of the title character, one section a piece dedicated to 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000's by way of some interesting interviews with the various artists and writers who have worked on the different incarnations of the Marvel Comics that the film was based on.
To close it out, Sony added some cool animatics and more supplements.

GHOST RIDER is not as bad as people think. It is a fun ride, a decent (if brainless) action movie geared towards fans of the comic genre. It didn't achieve its potential, but this unrated release w/ its extras are well worth a look. 3 ½ stars!
RECOMMENDED!!

Better than expected
This movie was surprisingly good. I went into it, not expecting much after recently watching the Fantastic Four movie. Ghost Rider starts off with a young Johnny Blaze, teamed up with his father, who is sick. He makes a deal with the Devil and sells his soul to heal his father. Unfortunately, the Devil never strikes a bargain with fairness in mind and Johnny is left to wait for the Devil to call. When the Devil calls, the special effects were actually amazing. The story was a bit on the short side with an ending that left a bit to be desired. Overall, this IS a fun movie to watch and the action is consistent throughout. This one will be added to my library when it's released. Enjoy.