Ghost Rider (Two-Disc Extended Cut)
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Actor: Brett Cullen, Matt Long (II), Nicolas Cage, Peter Fonda, Raquel AlessiBrand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.40:1
Running Time: 114 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-06-12
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Ghost Rider (Two-Disc Extended Cut)
DVD Review: Unleash The Spirit of Vengeance...
Summary: 4 Stars
When director Mark Steven Johnson was lucky enough to be tapped to helm Fox's big screen adaptation of "Daredevil" he turned out to be an absolute perfect fit for the genre. Not only was he a fan of the comic, but he wanted to go against the Hollywood grain, and stay as true to the source material as possible. A move that was bold, but had proven successful several times over ("Spiderman", "Batman", and "Superman" are good examples), and the choice proved to work out well for "Daredevil" as well, resulting in big box office numbers and DVD sales. So, after achieving success with his first comic book adaptation, Mark moved on to a character even more obscure than Daredevil, and since he'd proven himself with great success previously, Sony gave him the OK to both write and direct what he hoped would be Marvel's next big franchise, "Ghost Rider" starring Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes.
"Ghost Rider" is the origin story of Marvel's self-proclaimed 'Spirit of Vengeance'. After having sold his soul to the demon Mephistopholes (Peter Fonda) to save his father, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) must become the Ghost Rider, a bounty hunter whose purpose is to send escaped demons back to Hell. As if being a demon hunter wasn't enough to deal with, Johnny is trying to rekindle a relationship with an old girlfriend (Eva Mendes), while trying to gain control over the entity within him. Now, a demon named Blackheart (Wes Bentley) along with his minions, have come to Earth in search of a group of evil souls that was hidden by a previous Ghost Rider many years ago, Mephistopholes summons the Ghost Rider to stop Blackheart before he gains control of the souls and destroys the Earth.
"Ghost Rider" was one of those movies where I wasn't sure how it was going to fare at the box office. I had hope that it would do well, but I was aware of the fact that the character was not one of Marvel's most popular or well-known, unlike Spiderman and X-Men, but then again Daredevil wasn't known of too much outside of the comic book medium. The biggest advantages that this movie had going for it was the fact that Nicolas Cage ("Con Air") was attached as the lead star, so fans of his work would surely turn out, Eva Mendes ("Hitch") is popular with guys so that would put some more butts in the seats, and the director had achieved commercial success with his previous effort "Daredevil" so he had garnered some faith amongst comic book fans. With these advantages "Ghost Rider" had a decent chance of holding its own at the box office and possibly spawning a future film franchise. But did it deliver the goods, or was it a film that should have remained in development hell where it had stayed for so many years.
I personally enjoyed "Ghost Rider", even though most critics hated it, I felt that it was a very faithful comic book adaptation, and a rather difficult one at that, since the history of the character has been tweaked over and over throughout the years at Marvel. Director/writer Mark Steven Johnson did a very good job of taking all the various histories of the character, finding the common themes among them and weaving them together to make a cohesive story that was full of terrific special effects, fights, drama, and even some comedy. He proved himself a very capable director for the genre with "Daredevil", and even though this movie isn't as dramatic as his previous effort, it was every bit as engaging and taking a character that is relatively obscure in the mainstream and making him popular is a tremendous achievement and one that both he and Marvel can be proud of.
The actors did very well with their characters, for the most part. Nicolas Cage was an excellent choice for Johnny Blaze, Cage's quirkiness as an actor made him ideal for such a far-fetched role. Eva Mendes was solid as the love interest, early on I thought her performance seemed a little off, but she rallied after her first couple scenes and made the character hers. Sam Elliott was great as Caretaker, his scenes with Nic Cage were used mostly for exposition, but he managed to make them fun, and actually stole the scenes away from Cage every time. Peter Fonda, though not in the movie a whole lot, appeared to be enjoying his role as Mephistopholes, imbuing every line with a hint of malice, and delivering a more restrained performance than most actors when playing a role like his. Which brings me to the weakest member of the cast, Wes Bentley. Wes played the role of Blackheart so over-the-top that he seemed almost goofy in places rather than scary, near the end of the movie he finally scaled back his performance and began to deliver his lines with much more realism and finally fulfilled the villainous role he was in. For the most part if the special effects team hadn't done some tweaking to his facial features and the sound team wouldn't have manipulated his voice, Wes wouldn't have been very effective as the villain, but their work saved his early scenes in the movie, giving his performance a little more balance, but not much.
However, with all the great performances, and even the weak one by Wes Bentley, "Ghost Rider" wouldn't have amounted to anything if it weren't for the outstanding special effects work that brought ol' flamehead to life. The special effects team worked hard to get the digital fire to look realistic, which is not an easy task given how random fire acts, and many times CGI created fire can be easily spotted when compared to real flames. But this time was different, the effects team not only made the fire realistic, but also managed to convey emotions using the flames, by playing with shadows on the skull of Ghost Rider, and also giving the flame a blue hue when he was calming down (a decision that is not actually scientifically accurate, a flame actually turns blue as it gets hotter not as it cools). The Hell Cycle also featured some CGI enhancements, specifically the flaming wheels. In the comics, the wheels were pure flame, but for the movie the decision was made to have actual wheels be engulfed in flames to lend more weight to the motorcycle on screen. The effects for all the demons that Ghost Rider must fight and all the powers he uses to dispose of them were all excellently rendered and are truly top-notch in the field of CGI. The best looking effect sequence was the ride across the desert with Ghost Rider and his predecessor riding side by side, that scene alone is a prime example of how high the quality of the CGI was in this film.
Assisting the special effects wizards were the sound technicians who were tasked with the difficult job of creating sounds that could be passed off as being supernaturally created. In this task the techs succeeded brilliantly, the sounds were all very well crafted, all of the enhanced voices were very cool, most were only subtle enhancements (for Mephistopholes and Blackheart), but Ghost Rider's was by far the best vocal enhancement and the most involved. Every line Nicolas Cage spoke for Ghost Rider was enhanced through several filters to achieve the perfect sound that was described as being a 'deep, demonic, mechanical lion's roar' mixed with his voice.
As a side note, there are two versions of "Ghost Rider" available, the theatrical release and the extended cut. Both versions of the film are very good, but I would have to say the extended cut is the better version to watch, with approximately 20 minutes of footage inserted back into the film. This version of the movie contains much more depth, featuring several scenes that explain a few plotlines a little more, and just serves to flesh the story out a little better, making for a much more fulfilling movie experience.
All in all, "Ghost Rider" is a solid comic book adaptation, that stays true to its roots, delivering an entertaining ride that doesn't disappoint.
"Ghost Rider" is rated PG-13 (for both theatrical and extended cuts) and contains violence and language.
Description of Ghost Rider (Two-Disc Extended Cut)
Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) was only a teenaged stunt biker 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.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG - 13 UPC: 043396196643 Manufacturer No: 19664Once 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 |
 On Blu-ray |  CD Soundtrack |  Ghost Rider: Road To Damnation |
Stills from Ghost Rider (click for larger image)
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