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Ghost Rider (film)
Encyclopedia
Ghost Rider is a 2007 superhero film
written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson
. Based on the character of the same name
which appeared in Marvel Comics
, the film stars Nicolas Cage
as Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who sells his soul to the Devil and transforms into the
vigilante
Ghost Rider.
Its sequel film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
will be released on 17 February 2012.
, the Devil, Mephistopheles
(Peter Fonda
), sends his bounty hunter
of the damned, the Ghost Rider
, to retrieve a contract for a thousand corrupt soul
s from the town of San Venganza. Because the nature of the contract would give Mephisto the power to bring Hell
to Earth
, the Rider refuses to give him the contract and goes into hiding.
A century and a half later, Mephisto reaches out to seventeen-year-old stunt motorcycle rider Johnny Blaze
(Matt Long
), offering to cure his father's lung cancer in exchange for Johnny's soul. Johnny inadvertently 'signs' the contract when, after a paper cut, a drop of his blood lands on the signature space. The next morning Johnny awakes to discover that his father's cancer is cured, but his father is killed that same day in a motorcycle crash. Johnny accuses Mephisto of causing his father's death, but Mephisto considers their contract fulfilled. The Devil tells Johnny that he will return for him in the future when he is "needed".
Years later, Johnny (Nicolas Cage
) has become a stunt rider famous for surviving disastrous crashes during his stunts. Before a particularly dangerous new stunt, Johnny meets his childhood sweetheart Roxanne (Eva Mendes
), now a journalist, and makes a dinner date with her that evening. During the same time, Blackheart
(Wes Bentley
), the demonic son of Mephisto, comes to Earth to find the lost contract and use its power to usurp his father. To protect himself, he enlists the fallen angels known as the Hidden, a trio of demon spirits who represent three of the four elements
— the water
-demon
Wallow (Daniel Frederiksen), the earth
-demon Gressil (Laurence Breuls), and the air
-demon Abigor (Mathew Wilkinson
). In response, Mephisto makes Johnny the new Ghost Rider, and offers Johnny his soul back in return for defeating Blackheart. Johnny discovers a series of powers as Ghost Riders, most notably the Penance Stare, which punishes those whose eyes he looks into by forcing them to experience all the suffering they'd ever inflicted on others. Johnny is spirited off by his bike at high speed to a railroad station built in place of the graveyard where the contract was once buried. Johnny discovers Blackheart and his minions at the station and Johnny kills Gressil while the others escape.
The next day, Johnny wakes in a cemetery chapel, where he meets a man called the Caretaker
(Sam Elliott
), who seems to know all the history of the Ghost Rider. When he arrives home, Johnny finds Roxanne and tries to explain his situation, but she doesn't believe him. The police
arrive and take Johnny into custody for his connection to the damage done to the city and the deaths caused by Blackheart. After transforming from the proximity of the criminals in the cell he was placed in, Ghost Rider breaks out to track down Blackheart. He fights and kills Abigor, in full view of Roxanne and much of the police force. Observing the scene after obtaining the location of the contract, Blackheart realizes that Roxanne is Johnny's weakness.
Johnny goes for advice from the Caretaker, who tells him of his predecessor, Carter Slade, a Texas Ranger
known as a man of honor before his greed became a reason for him to be sentenced to death. Slade made a deal with Mephisto to break free; in return, Slade became the Ghost Rider who hid the contract of San Venganza. The Caretaker then warns Johnny to stay away from those whom Blackheart and the fallen angels can use against him. Johnny then returns home to find that Blackheart already has Roxanne. During their resulting fight, Johnny finds that his Penance Stare has no effect on Blackheart, who has no soul to burn. Blackheart threatens to kill Roxanne if Johnny does not deliver the contract to him.
Johnny returns to the Caretaker to obtain the contract. Johnny guesses that the contract is buried in one of the graves. He picks up a shovel and starts to dig, until the Caretaker snatches the shovel and breaks it, revealing the contract hidden in its hollow handle. The Caretaker then reveals that he is Carter Slade, having held on to his last bit of power in expectation of this moment. He speculates that Johnny has God on his side because he made his deal with Mephisto for love rather than greed or desperation, and shows Johnny the way to San Venganza. They ride together into the desert, both in Ghost Rider form. They stop a short distance from the town, where Slade gives Johnny his lever action shotgun, and the warning to "stick to the shadows" before fading away.
After killing Wallow, who was sent to stall for time, Johnny gives the contract to Blackheart. He quickly transforms into Ghost Rider in an effort to subdue Blackheart, but dawn comes and he is rendered powerless. Blackheart uses the contract to absorb the thousand souls into his body, referencing the Biblical demon Legion
. He attempts to kill Johnny, but is distracted when Roxanne uses Johnny's discarded shotgun to separate them. After she fails to destroy Blackheart, Johnny takes the gun and moves into the shadows; the shotgun turns into a supernatural weapon that shoots hellfire and blasts Blackheart apart. Blackheart re-forms, but Johnny moves in and uses his Penance Stare, made effective by the thousand souls inhabiting Legion's body, to render him catatonic. Johnny turns away from Roxanne, ashamed of his monstrous appearance; but she approaches him. As Roxanne strokes Johnny's bare skull, he reverts to human form.
Mephisto appears and gives Johnny back his soul, offering to relieve him of the burden of being a Ghost Rider. Johnny refuses, saying that he will use his power against Mephisto, to protect the innocent and avenge his father. Infuriated of being robbed of the power, Mephisto vows to make Johnny pay, to which Johnny in response recites his favourite saying: "You can't live in fear". Mephisto then disappears, and Blackheart's body dissipates with him. Johnny and Roxanne share words and a kiss at a tree marked to symbolize their relationship, whereupon Johnny rides into the sunset with Slade's voice acting as narrator to close the film.
In May 2000 at the Cannes Film Festival
, Marvel Comics
announced an agreement with Crystal Sky Entertainment to film Ghost Rider with actor Jon Voight
attached as a producer. Production was scheduled to start in early 2001 with a budget of $75 million, with actor Johnny Depp
expressing interest in the lead role.
In July 2000 Stax of IGN
reviewed a draft script for Ghost Rider written by David Goyer. The script version is set in Louisiana
. Stax felt that the revision was convoluted; he suggested that Goyer rewrite the plot and develop the characters.
The following August, Dimension Films
joined Crystal Sky to co-finance the film, which would be written by David S. Goyer
and directed by Stephen Norrington
. In June 2001, actor Nicolas Cage
entered talks to be cast into the lead role for Ghost Rider, and by July, had closed a deal with the studio. According to producer Steven Paul, Cage had found out about Depp being a possibility for the role and contacted the director to express his own interest, being an avid Ghost Rider fan.
In the following August, Norrington abandoned the project due to a scheduling conflict, leaving to film the action flick Tick Tock
starring Jennifer Lopez
. Cage eventually left the project as well. By May 2002, the studio Columbia Pictures
sought to acquire rights to the film in turnaround from Dimension Films following the success of Spider-Man
. In April 2003, under Columbia Pictures, director Mark Steven Johnson
took over the helm for Ghost Rider with Cage returning for the lead role. Both had been drawn by a script written by screenwriter Shane Salerno
. Johnson, rewriting Salerno's script, was set to begin production of Ghost Rider in late 2003 or early 2004. With production delayed into October 2003, Cage took a temporary leave of absence to film The Weather Man
. Ghost Rider production was slated to tentatively begin in May or June 2004.
Ghost Rider had again been delayed to begin in late 2004, but the lack of a workable script continued to delay production. In January 2005, actor Wes Bentley
was cast as the villain Blackheart
, having been introduced to Johnson by Colin Farrell
, who had worked with the director in Daredevil
. Actress Eva Mendes
was also cast opposite Cage as Roxanne Simpson
. On February 14, 2005, Ghost Rider commenced filming in Australia at the Melbourne Docklands film studios. Then in March 2005, actor Peter Fonda
(who starred in Easy Rider
) was cast as the villain Mephistopheles
. Johnson originally planned to film before an audience at the Telstra Dome, but instead opted to create a crowd using computer-generated imagery. The director also chose to film in the motorcycle district of Melbourne
. By June 2005, principal photography had been completed for Ghost Rider, which was set for a summer 2006 release. In April 2006, the cast and crew performed last-minute reshoots in Vancouver
. Ghost Rider was originally scheduled to release on August 4, 2006, but the date was moved three weeks earlier to July 14, 2006. Sony changed the film's release date once more to February 16, 2007 to help relieve the studio's crowded 2006 calendar.
motorcycle for Blaze's stunt cycle, and a heavily customized hardtail chopper named "Grace" which transforms into the "Hell Cycle". The Hell Cycle's wheels, made of pure flames in the comics, were changed to be solid tires covered in flames in order to give the motorcycle more weight onscreen.
Ghost Rider's skull
flames were designed to become smaller and blue
to display any emotion
other than rage. The film's visual effects supervisor, Kevin Mack
, and the visual effects team at Sony Pictures Imageworks
handled the difficult task of creating computer-generated fire on a shot-by-shot basis. Ghost Rider's voice was manipulated by sound designer Dane Davis, who won an Academy Award for Sound Editing
for The Matrix
. Davis filtered Cage's line readings through three different kinds of animal growls that were played backwards and covered separate frequencies. Davis then amplified the dialogue through a mechanical volumizer. Director Johnson described the sound as a "deep, demonic, mechanical lion's roar".
The following July, the studio presented a Ghost Rider panel at Comic-Con International
and screened a teaser for the audience. The teaser, which did not have finalized footage of the film, eventually leaked online. In the same month, Majesco Entertainment Company announced its deal with Marvel to acquire worldwide rights to produce the video game Ghost Rider
for the PS2
, PSP
, and Game Boy Advance
consoles.
In December 2005, the studio presented a first glimpse of Ghost Rider in a ten-second footage piece on the official site.
In April 2006, Sideshow Collectibles announced the sale of a Ghost Rider maquette
based on the concept art of the film.
The following May, domestic and international teaser trailers for Ghost Rider were launched at Apple.
The Ghost Rider was also featured in a commercial for Jackson Hewitt Tax Services in which the character presented his income tax forms to a clerk for processing to receive a quick refund check.
On April 19, 2007, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
confirmed that in America the film will be issued on June 12, 2007 as a single-disc Theatrical Cut DVD
, two-disc Extended Cut
DVD, Blu-ray Disc
, and UMD
. Special features on the Extended Cut DVD include two commentary
tracks, a comic book history feature, and a making of the film featurette.
Extended Cut version was also release on HD DVD
in France on September 7, 2007.
, Ghost Rider has a 27% overall approval out of 122 reviews from critics. The results were mirrored in Metacritic
reviews as well, displaying a ranking of 35 out of 100 based on 20 critical reviews. Additionally, Michael Ordoña of the Los Angeles Times
and Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times expressed disappointment in the movie, with Ordoña citing the "satanic references" and "judgemental" elements of Cage's character, and Catsoulis denoting how Johnny Blaze is "more funny than frightening". Although Eric Alt of the Chicago Tribune
praises the computer-generated effects of the film, he also criticizes it, calling it a "clumsy, lifeless outing". IGN named the film the worst comic book movie of the decade.
Ghost Rider was commercially released in the United States
on February 16, 2007. The film grossed $US 15,420,123 on its opening day, while earning $US 45,388,836 for its opening weekend. The film earned $US 52,022,908 over the four-day President's Day
weekend, with a per-theater average of $US 14,374 in 3,619 theaters. The film's total earnings were $US 228,738,393 of which $US 115,802,596 was from the USA.
was announced to score Ghost Rider. In addition, Spiderbait
, a band that Johnson befriended during filming in Australia, performed a cover of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" for the end credits.
filmmakers Neveldine/Taylor
will direct.
Superhero film
A superhero film, superhero movie, or superhero motion picture is: action, fantasy and science fiction film; that is focused on the actions of one or more superheroes, individuals who usually possess superhuman abilities relative to a normal person and are dedicated to protecting the public...
written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson
Mark Steven Johnson
Mark Steven Johnson is an American film director and writer.Johnson was born in Hastings, Minnesota and attended California State University, Long Beach. He has directed and co-written the two comic book based films Daredevil and Ghost Rider. His early writing credits are for the film Grumpy Old...
. Based on the character of the same name
Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze)
Ghost Rider is a fictional character, an antihero in the Marvel Comics Universe. He is the second Marvel character to use the name Ghost Rider, following the Western hero later known as the Phantom Rider, and preceding Daniel Ketch.Johnny Blaze was portrayed both in the 2007 film Ghost Rider and...
which appeared in Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, the film stars Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
as Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who sells his soul to the Devil and transforms into the
vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
Ghost Rider.
Its sequel film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is an upcoming 3D superhero film based on the Marvel Comics antihero Ghost Rider, scheduled to be released in theaters on February 17, 2012. The film is a loose sequel to the 2007 film Ghost Rider. It will be directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. Nicolas...
will be released on 17 February 2012.
Plot
In the American Old WestAmerican Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
, the Devil, Mephistopheles
Mephisto (comics)
Mephisto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Silver Surfer #3 and was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema, loosely modeled on Mephistopheles - a character from the Faust legend.Debuting in the Silver Age of comic books,...
(Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...
), sends his bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
of the damned, the Ghost Rider
Phantom Rider
The Phantom Rider is the name of several fictional characters, Old West heroic gunfighters appearing in comic books in the Marvel Comics universe...
, to retrieve a contract for a thousand corrupt soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
s from the town of San Venganza. Because the nature of the contract would give Mephisto the power to bring Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, the Rider refuses to give him the contract and goes into hiding.
A century and a half later, Mephisto reaches out to seventeen-year-old stunt motorcycle rider Johnny Blaze
Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze)
Ghost Rider is a fictional character, an antihero in the Marvel Comics Universe. He is the second Marvel character to use the name Ghost Rider, following the Western hero later known as the Phantom Rider, and preceding Daniel Ketch.Johnny Blaze was portrayed both in the 2007 film Ghost Rider and...
(Matt Long
Matt Long
Matthew Clayton "Matt" Long is an American actor. He played the teenaged Jack McCallister on Jack & Bobby, the younger Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider, and Tyler Prince in Sydney White....
), offering to cure his father's lung cancer in exchange for Johnny's soul. Johnny inadvertently 'signs' the contract when, after a paper cut, a drop of his blood lands on the signature space. The next morning Johnny awakes to discover that his father's cancer is cured, but his father is killed that same day in a motorcycle crash. Johnny accuses Mephisto of causing his father's death, but Mephisto considers their contract fulfilled. The Devil tells Johnny that he will return for him in the future when he is "needed".
Years later, Johnny (Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
) has become a stunt rider famous for surviving disastrous crashes during his stunts. Before a particularly dangerous new stunt, Johnny meets his childhood sweetheart Roxanne (Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes is an American actress.She began acting in the late 1990s, and after a series of minor roles and performances in several smaller films such as Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror and Urban Legends: Final Cut , she broke into the mainstream, appearing in leading roles in Hollywood...
), now a journalist, and makes a dinner date with her that evening. During the same time, Blackheart
Blackheart
Blackheart is a fictional demon in the . The character was created by Ann Nocenti and John Romita, Jr., and first appeared in Daredevil #270...
(Wes Bentley
Wes Bentley
Wesley Cook "Wes" Bentley is an American film actor known for his role of Ricky Fitts in American Beauty.-Early life:Bentley was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the son of Cherie and David Bentley, who are United Methodist ministers....
), the demonic son of Mephisto, comes to Earth to find the lost contract and use its power to usurp his father. To protect himself, he enlists the fallen angels known as the Hidden, a trio of demon spirits who represent three of the four elements
Classical element
Many philosophies and worldviews have a set of classical elements believed to reflect the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based. Most frequently, classical elements refer to ancient beliefs...
— the water
Water (classical element)
Water is one of the elements in ancient Greek philosophy, in the Asian Indian system Panchamahabhuta, and in the Chinese cosmological and physiological system Wu Xing...
-demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
Wallow (Daniel Frederiksen), the earth
Earth (classical element)
Earth, home and origin of humanity, has often been worshipped in its own right with its own unique spiritual tradition.-European tradition:Earth is one of the four classical elements in ancient Greek philosophy and science. It was commonly associated with qualities of heaviness, matter and the...
-demon Gressil (Laurence Breuls), and the air
Air (classical element)
Air is often seen as a universal power or pure substance. Its supposed fundamental importance to life can be seen in words such as aspire, inspire, perspire and spirit, all derived from the Latin spirare.-Greek and Roman tradition:...
-demon Abigor (Mathew Wilkinson
Mathew Wilkinson
Mathew Wilkinson is an Australian film and television actor. Mathew's best-known role was as Abigor in the film Ghost Rider which was made in 2007...
). In response, Mephisto makes Johnny the new Ghost Rider, and offers Johnny his soul back in return for defeating Blackheart. Johnny discovers a series of powers as Ghost Riders, most notably the Penance Stare, which punishes those whose eyes he looks into by forcing them to experience all the suffering they'd ever inflicted on others. Johnny is spirited off by his bike at high speed to a railroad station built in place of the graveyard where the contract was once buried. Johnny discovers Blackheart and his minions at the station and Johnny kills Gressil while the others escape.
The next day, Johnny wakes in a cemetery chapel, where he meets a man called the Caretaker
Caretaker (comics)
Caretaker is a fictional Marvel Comics character. There have been two incarnations of the character, The first version appeared in Ghost Rider vol. 2 #28 in the Rise of the Midnight Sons storyline. After this version died his granddaughter assumed the role. She debuted in Ghost Rider vol...
(Sam Elliott
Sam Elliott
Samuel Pack "Sam" Elliott is an American actor. His rangy physique, thick horseshoe moustache, and deep, resonant voice match the iconic image of a cowboy or rancher, and he has often been cast in such roles.-Early life:Sam Elliott was born in Sacramento, California, to a physical training...
), who seems to know all the history of the Ghost Rider. When he arrives home, Johnny finds Roxanne and tries to explain his situation, but she doesn't believe him. The police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
arrive and take Johnny into custody for his connection to the damage done to the city and the deaths caused by Blackheart. After transforming from the proximity of the criminals in the cell he was placed in, Ghost Rider breaks out to track down Blackheart. He fights and kills Abigor, in full view of Roxanne and much of the police force. Observing the scene after obtaining the location of the contract, Blackheart realizes that Roxanne is Johnny's weakness.
Johnny goes for advice from the Caretaker, who tells him of his predecessor, Carter Slade, a Texas Ranger
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
known as a man of honor before his greed became a reason for him to be sentenced to death. Slade made a deal with Mephisto to break free; in return, Slade became the Ghost Rider who hid the contract of San Venganza. The Caretaker then warns Johnny to stay away from those whom Blackheart and the fallen angels can use against him. Johnny then returns home to find that Blackheart already has Roxanne. During their resulting fight, Johnny finds that his Penance Stare has no effect on Blackheart, who has no soul to burn. Blackheart threatens to kill Roxanne if Johnny does not deliver the contract to him.
Johnny returns to the Caretaker to obtain the contract. Johnny guesses that the contract is buried in one of the graves. He picks up a shovel and starts to dig, until the Caretaker snatches the shovel and breaks it, revealing the contract hidden in its hollow handle. The Caretaker then reveals that he is Carter Slade, having held on to his last bit of power in expectation of this moment. He speculates that Johnny has God on his side because he made his deal with Mephisto for love rather than greed or desperation, and shows Johnny the way to San Venganza. They ride together into the desert, both in Ghost Rider form. They stop a short distance from the town, where Slade gives Johnny his lever action shotgun, and the warning to "stick to the shadows" before fading away.
After killing Wallow, who was sent to stall for time, Johnny gives the contract to Blackheart. He quickly transforms into Ghost Rider in an effort to subdue Blackheart, but dawn comes and he is rendered powerless. Blackheart uses the contract to absorb the thousand souls into his body, referencing the Biblical demon Legion
Legion (demon)
Legion is a group of demons referred to in the Christian Bible. The New Testament outlines an encounter where Jesus healed a man from Gadarenes possessed by demons while traveling, known as Exorcising the Gerasenes demonic.- In the Bible :...
. He attempts to kill Johnny, but is distracted when Roxanne uses Johnny's discarded shotgun to separate them. After she fails to destroy Blackheart, Johnny takes the gun and moves into the shadows; the shotgun turns into a supernatural weapon that shoots hellfire and blasts Blackheart apart. Blackheart re-forms, but Johnny moves in and uses his Penance Stare, made effective by the thousand souls inhabiting Legion's body, to render him catatonic. Johnny turns away from Roxanne, ashamed of his monstrous appearance; but she approaches him. As Roxanne strokes Johnny's bare skull, he reverts to human form.
Mephisto appears and gives Johnny back his soul, offering to relieve him of the burden of being a Ghost Rider. Johnny refuses, saying that he will use his power against Mephisto, to protect the innocent and avenge his father. Infuriated of being robbed of the power, Mephisto vows to make Johnny pay, to which Johnny in response recites his favourite saying: "You can't live in fear". Mephisto then disappears, and Blackheart's body dissipates with him. Johnny and Roxanne share words and a kiss at a tree marked to symbolize their relationship, whereupon Johnny rides into the sunset with Slade's voice acting as narrator to close the film.
Cast
- Nicolas CageNicolas CageNicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
as Johnny Blaze / Ghost RiderGhost Rider (Johnny Blaze)Ghost Rider is a fictional character, an antihero in the Marvel Comics Universe. He is the second Marvel character to use the name Ghost Rider, following the Western hero later known as the Phantom Rider, and preceding Daniel Ketch.Johnny Blaze was portrayed both in the 2007 film Ghost Rider and... - Eva MendesEva MendesEva Mendes is an American actress.She began acting in the late 1990s, and after a series of minor roles and performances in several smaller films such as Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror and Urban Legends: Final Cut , she broke into the mainstream, appearing in leading roles in Hollywood...
as Roxanne SimpsonRoxanne SimpsonRoxanne Simpson is a fictional supporting character of the Marvel Comics superhero Johnny Blaze also known as Ghost Rider.-History:With his mother having abandoned him and his father dead, Johnny Blaze was taken in by Crash Simpson and his family. As a child, he was friends with Roxanne Simpson,... - Peter FondaPeter FondaPeter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...
as MephistophelesMephisto (comics)Mephisto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Silver Surfer #3 and was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema, loosely modeled on Mephistopheles - a character from the Faust legend.Debuting in the Silver Age of comic books,... - Wes BentleyWes BentleyWesley Cook "Wes" Bentley is an American film actor known for his role of Ricky Fitts in American Beauty.-Early life:Bentley was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the son of Cherie and David Bentley, who are United Methodist ministers....
as BlackheartBlackheartBlackheart is a fictional demon in the . The character was created by Ann Nocenti and John Romita, Jr., and first appeared in Daredevil #270...
/ Legion - Sam ElliottSam ElliottSamuel Pack "Sam" Elliott is an American actor. His rangy physique, thick horseshoe moustache, and deep, resonant voice match the iconic image of a cowboy or rancher, and he has often been cast in such roles.-Early life:Sam Elliott was born in Sacramento, California, to a physical training...
as Carter SladePhantom RiderThe Phantom Rider is the name of several fictional characters, Old West heroic gunfighters appearing in comic books in the Marvel Comics universe...
/ CaretakerCaretaker (comics)Caretaker is a fictional Marvel Comics character. There have been two incarnations of the character, The first version appeared in Ghost Rider vol. 2 #28 in the Rise of the Midnight Sons storyline. After this version died his granddaughter assumed the role. She debuted in Ghost Rider vol... - Matt LongMatt LongMatthew Clayton "Matt" Long is an American actor. He played the teenaged Jack McCallister on Jack & Bobby, the younger Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider, and Tyler Prince in Sydney White....
as Young Johnny Blaze - Raquel AlessiRaquel AlessiRaquel Alessi is an actress and model who starred on the FOX series Standoff and the film Ghost Rider with Nicolas Cage. She portrays the title character in the 2009 film Miss March, alongside Zach Cregger and Trevor Moore from the comedy troupe Whitest Kids U Know.-Life and career:Raquel Nazzarena...
as Young Roxanne Simpson - Brett CullenBrett CullenPeter Brett Cullen is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures and television programs. Early in 2007, he was cast as the role of an estranged father to one of the American football players, Tim Riggins , in the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights.Cullen was born in Houston,...
as Barton Blaze - Donal LogueDonal LogueDonal Francis Logue is an Canadian actor perhaps most famous for his role as Sean Finnerty in Grounded for Life.-Personal life:...
as Mack - Matt NormanMatt NormanMatthew Travis "Matt" Norman is an actor turned filmmaker, best known for his acting work on Australian TV Shows Blue Heelers, Neighbours and Stingers, U.S telemovies Moby-Dick, Silver Strand and Ghost Rider....
as Team Blaze - David Roberts as Captain Dolan
Production
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
, Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
announced an agreement with Crystal Sky Entertainment to film Ghost Rider with actor Jon Voight
Jon Voight
Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....
attached as a producer. Production was scheduled to start in early 2001 with a budget of $75 million, with actor Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
expressing interest in the lead role.
In July 2000 Stax of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
reviewed a draft script for Ghost Rider written by David Goyer. The script version is set in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Stax felt that the revision was convoluted; he suggested that Goyer rewrite the plot and develop the characters.
The following August, Dimension Films
Dimension Films
Dimension Films is a motion picture unit currently a part of The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films...
joined Crystal Sky to co-finance the film, which would be written by David S. Goyer
David S. Goyer
David Samuel Goyer is an American screenwriter, film director and comic book writer.-Early life:Goyer was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He attended Hebrew school and has described himself as "half Jewish"...
and directed by Stephen Norrington
Stephen Norrington
Stephen Norrington is a British film director whose credits include Death Machine and the comic book adaptations Blade and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.-Life and career:...
. In June 2001, actor Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
entered talks to be cast into the lead role for Ghost Rider, and by July, had closed a deal with the studio. According to producer Steven Paul, Cage had found out about Depp being a possibility for the role and contacted the director to express his own interest, being an avid Ghost Rider fan.
In the following August, Norrington abandoned the project due to a scheduling conflict, leaving to film the action flick Tick Tock
Tick tock
Tick tock is the general English language onomatopoeia for the sound made by an analog clock. Sometimes, tic tac can also be used to illustrate the same sound....
starring Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
. Cage eventually left the project as well. By May 2002, the studio Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
sought to acquire rights to the film in turnaround from Dimension Films following the success of Spider-Man
Spider-Man (film)
Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film, the first in the Spider-Man film series based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp...
. In April 2003, under Columbia Pictures, director Mark Steven Johnson
Mark Steven Johnson
Mark Steven Johnson is an American film director and writer.Johnson was born in Hastings, Minnesota and attended California State University, Long Beach. He has directed and co-written the two comic book based films Daredevil and Ghost Rider. His early writing credits are for the film Grumpy Old...
took over the helm for Ghost Rider with Cage returning for the lead role. Both had been drawn by a script written by screenwriter Shane Salerno
Shane Salerno
Shane Salerno is an American screenwriter, producer and director. He has written or co-written several blockbuster films including Armageddon and Shaft and is also one of the writer-producers of the successful CBS drama series Hawaii Five-0...
. Johnson, rewriting Salerno's script, was set to begin production of Ghost Rider in late 2003 or early 2004. With production delayed into October 2003, Cage took a temporary leave of absence to film The Weather Man
The Weather Man
The Weather Man is a 2005 American comedy-drama film, directed by Gore Verbinski. Written by Steve Conrad, it stars Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine and Hope Davis and tells the story of a weatherman in the midst of a mid-life crisis....
. Ghost Rider production was slated to tentatively begin in May or June 2004.
Ghost Rider had again been delayed to begin in late 2004, but the lack of a workable script continued to delay production. In January 2005, actor Wes Bentley
Wes Bentley
Wesley Cook "Wes" Bentley is an American film actor known for his role of Ricky Fitts in American Beauty.-Early life:Bentley was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the son of Cherie and David Bentley, who are United Methodist ministers....
was cast as the villain Blackheart
Blackheart
Blackheart is a fictional demon in the . The character was created by Ann Nocenti and John Romita, Jr., and first appeared in Daredevil #270...
, having been introduced to Johnson by Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell
Colin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....
, who had worked with the director in Daredevil
Daredevil (film)
Daredevil is a 2003 American superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil...
. Actress Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes is an American actress.She began acting in the late 1990s, and after a series of minor roles and performances in several smaller films such as Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror and Urban Legends: Final Cut , she broke into the mainstream, appearing in leading roles in Hollywood...
was also cast opposite Cage as Roxanne Simpson
Roxanne Simpson
Roxanne Simpson is a fictional supporting character of the Marvel Comics superhero Johnny Blaze also known as Ghost Rider.-History:With his mother having abandoned him and his father dead, Johnny Blaze was taken in by Crash Simpson and his family. As a child, he was friends with Roxanne Simpson,...
. On February 14, 2005, Ghost Rider commenced filming in Australia at the Melbourne Docklands film studios. Then in March 2005, actor Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...
(who starred in Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
) was cast as the villain Mephistopheles
Mephisto (comics)
Mephisto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Silver Surfer #3 and was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema, loosely modeled on Mephistopheles - a character from the Faust legend.Debuting in the Silver Age of comic books,...
. Johnson originally planned to film before an audience at the Telstra Dome, but instead opted to create a crowd using computer-generated imagery. The director also chose to film in the motorcycle district of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. By June 2005, principal photography had been completed for Ghost Rider, which was set for a summer 2006 release. In April 2006, the cast and crew performed last-minute reshoots in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. Ghost Rider was originally scheduled to release on August 4, 2006, but the date was moved three weeks earlier to July 14, 2006. Sony changed the film's release date once more to February 16, 2007 to help relieve the studio's crowded 2006 calendar.
Character portrayal
Instead of a "hard drinking and smoking bad ass" Johnny Blaze, Nicolas Cage decided to give him more depth. "I'm playing him more as someone who... made this deal and he's trying to avoid confronting it, anything he can do to keep it away from him". Cage also explained that Blaze's stunt riding was a form of escape and a way to keep him connected to his deceased father, who taught him to ride. Cage rode a BuellBuell Motorcycle Company
The Buell Motorcycle Company was an American motorcycle manufacturer based in East Troy, Wisconsin and founded in 1983 by ex-Harley-Davidson engineer Erik Buell.Harley-Davidson acquired 49% of Buell in 1993, and it became a wholly owned subsidiary by 2003....
motorcycle for Blaze's stunt cycle, and a heavily customized hardtail chopper named "Grace" which transforms into the "Hell Cycle". The Hell Cycle's wheels, made of pure flames in the comics, were changed to be solid tires covered in flames in order to give the motorcycle more weight onscreen.
Ghost Rider's skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
flames were designed to become smaller and blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
to display any emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
other than rage. The film's visual effects supervisor, Kevin Mack
Kevin Mack
James Kevin Mack is a former professional American football player who played running back.-Early life:Mack was born in Kings Mountain, North Carolina...
, and the visual effects team at Sony Pictures Imageworks
Sony Pictures Imageworks
Sony Pictures Imageworks, Inc. is a visual effects and character animation company headquartered in Culver City, California, USA. SPI is a division of Sony Pictures Digital Productions, which oversees the digital production and online entertainment assets of Sony Pictures Entertainment.The company...
handled the difficult task of creating computer-generated fire on a shot-by-shot basis. Ghost Rider's voice was manipulated by sound designer Dane Davis, who won an Academy Award for Sound Editing
Academy Award for Sound Editing
The Academy Award of Merit for Best Sound Editing is an Academy Award granted yearly to a film exhibiting the finest or most aesthetic sound editing or sound design...
for The Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
. Davis filtered Cage's line readings through three different kinds of animal growls that were played backwards and covered separate frequencies. Davis then amplified the dialogue through a mechanical volumizer. Director Johnson described the sound as a "deep, demonic, mechanical lion's roar".
Promotion
In May 2005, Sony Pictures launched the official website for Ghost Rider.The following July, the studio presented a Ghost Rider panel at Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
and screened a teaser for the audience. The teaser, which did not have finalized footage of the film, eventually leaked online. In the same month, Majesco Entertainment Company announced its deal with Marvel to acquire worldwide rights to produce the video game Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider (video game)
Ghost Rider is a third-person game based around the movie of the same name. The game's storyline is a sequel to the movie, and was penned by Marvel writers Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti. Players can play as Ghost Rider both on foot, or on the Hellcycle. The villains are both from the movie and...
for the PS2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
, and Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
consoles.
In December 2005, the studio presented a first glimpse of Ghost Rider in a ten-second footage piece on the official site.
In April 2006, Sideshow Collectibles announced the sale of a Ghost Rider maquette
Maquette
A maquette is a small scale model or rough draft of an unfinished architectural work or a sculpture...
based on the concept art of the film.
The following May, domestic and international teaser trailers for Ghost Rider were launched at Apple.
The Ghost Rider was also featured in a commercial for Jackson Hewitt Tax Services in which the character presented his income tax forms to a clerk for processing to receive a quick refund check.
On April 19, 2007, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
confirmed that in America the film will be issued on June 12, 2007 as a single-disc Theatrical Cut DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, two-disc Extended Cut
Director's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
DVD, Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
, and UMD
Universal Media Disc
The Universal Media Disc is an optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on their PlayStation Portable handheld gaming and multimedia platform...
. Special features on the Extended Cut DVD include two commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
tracks, a comic book history feature, and a making of the film featurette.
Extended Cut version was also release on HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
in France on September 7, 2007.
Reception
Ghost Rider received generally negative reviews. On Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, Ghost Rider has a 27% overall approval out of 122 reviews from critics. The results were mirrored in Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reviews as well, displaying a ranking of 35 out of 100 based on 20 critical reviews. Additionally, Michael Ordoña of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
and Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times expressed disappointment in the movie, with Ordoña citing the "satanic references" and "judgemental" elements of Cage's character, and Catsoulis denoting how Johnny Blaze is "more funny than frightening". Although Eric Alt of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
praises the computer-generated effects of the film, he also criticizes it, calling it a "clumsy, lifeless outing". IGN named the film the worst comic book movie of the decade.
Ghost Rider was commercially released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on February 16, 2007. The film grossed $US 15,420,123 on its opening day, while earning $US 45,388,836 for its opening weekend. The film earned $US 52,022,908 over the four-day President's Day
Washington's Birthday
Washington's Birthday is a United States federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States. It is also commonly known as Presidents Day...
weekend, with a per-theater average of $US 14,374 in 3,619 theaters. The film's total earnings were $US 228,738,393 of which $US 115,802,596 was from the USA.
Music
In December 2005, musical composer Christopher YoungChristopher Young
Christopher Young is an American music composer for both film and television.Many of his music compositions are for horror films, including Hellraiser, Tales from the Hood, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, Urban Legend, and Drag Me to Hell...
was announced to score Ghost Rider. In addition, Spiderbait
Spiderbait
Spiderbait are an Australian alternative rock band formed in Finley in 1989 by bass guitarist Janet English, singer-drummer Mark Maher , and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004 the group's cover version of the 1930s Lead Belly song "Black Betty" reached number one on the ARIA Singles Chart...
, a band that Johnson befriended during filming in Australia, performed a cover of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" for the end credits.
Track listing
Sequel
The sequel film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance started filming in November 2010 and will be released on February 17, 2012. Nicolas Cage will be reprising his role as Johnny Blaze and will now also portray Johnny Blaze in his Ghost Rider form. CrankCrank (film)
Crank is a 2006 American comedy movie, written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, and starring Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Efren Ramirez, and Dwight Yoakam...
filmmakers Neveldine/Taylor
Neveldine/Taylor
Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, known together professionally as Neveldine/Taylor, are American filmmakers. Their written and directed productions are known for being dark, edgy and over the top, while maintaining a small budget. Both Neveldine and Taylor have written and directed several films...
will direct.
External links
- Ghost Rider at Marvel.comMarvel EntertainmentMarvel Entertainment, LLC , formerly Marvel Enterprises and Toy Biz, Inc., is an American entertainment company formed from the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. and Toy Biz, Inc....