Product Description

A young motorcyclist sells his soul to the Devil to save his father, and then to release himself from his obligation years later, he becomes the Ghost Rider to defeat the Devil's much more evil son, Blackheart.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: CAGE/MENDES/BENTLEY/ELLIOTT/FONDA
Title: GHOST RIDER
Street Release Date: 06/12/2007
Domestic
Genre: ACTION / ADVENTURE

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14338 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2007-06-12
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .30 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

On the DVD
Though largely reviled by critics, Ghost Rider performed well enough during its theatrical run to warrant this deluxe edition DVD, which adds nine more minutes to the feature and includes a wealth of extras that cover its production, as well as the Marvel Comics character's history. The deleted footage is a mix of throwaway detail (reporter/love interest Eva Mendes' investigation into the Ghost Rider's identity gets more screen time) and interesting character wrinkles (the reason behind Johnny Blaze's deal with Mephistopheles has a less-than-honorable side) that help in part to give the film some dramatic heft. But these will have less cache with viewers and fans of the film than the supplemental features, which cover the making of the film in broad but interesting detail. Two commentaries are provided, one from director Mark Steven Johnson and visual effects supervision Kevin Mack, and the other by producer Gary Foster; both are informative, but those with a taste for the technical side of moviemaking will find the former more valuable, as both men cover the production intricacies at length. The making-of featurette "Spirit of Vengeance" is actually three 30-minute documentaries which include interviews with the cast, production tidbits, and a eyebrow-raising bit of Nicolas Cage working through his own process of "becoming" the Ghost Rider (those that consider Cage an amusing eccentric will find these clips most enjoyable). A gallery of animatics show how certain scenes evolved from production sketch to finished special effect, but the most intriguing extra is "Sin and Salvation," a four-part documentary that traces Ghost Rider's comic book incarnation from his origin in the 1970s to the revivals and revisions of the '90s and 2000s. For longtime GR fans, this may be the most valuable extra, as it gives an excellent overview of the character, and serves as a reminder of what made him such a cult hit to those who may have been disappointed by this big-screen version. -- 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 ?

Campy, Dumb and Not worth a Sequel
Bottom Line: Other than Eva Mendes' cleavage, this movie was pretty dumb. The dialog was campy and the plot was see through. Seemed like a set up for a sequel; Note to Studio: Don't bother. If the director was going for a cheesy kind of comic book thing, he hit it right on. The problem is that this is a big screen movie - go read the comic book if you are looking for cheese.

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.