Ghost Rider & Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Based on what's available I like it. But it's impossible to get the full feeling from it without hearing the full song.

 

I know I'm late to the party... but Blackheart is in it!? Oh man... that should be awesome if done right.

 

Yeah it looks like the movie is set up to be a battle between Blackheart and Mephisto with the Ghost Rider in Between.



Now if only we could bring in Hugh Jackman and Thomas Jane and we could have a live action Hearts of Darkness film.

 

is Cage willing to come back for more movies though?

 

He might be. He's apparently a big Ghost Rider fan as I read that they had put makeup over his real life Ghost Rider tattoo for some scenes.

 

19 days left!!!

 

I'm almost finished reading the book. I can't wait for this movie to come out...


On DVD.

 

OK, I finished. I have to say this looks to be more of a guilty pleasure than a huge, high quality film. For anyone who's read the book:

What are the chances we'll see Ben Affleck reprise his role as Matt Murdock at the end of the film?

Not very likely I know.

 

i've read the book. but what gives you the impression that'll happen?

 

I don't think it will, but in the book it's mentioned that All charges against Johnny Blaze are dropped with the help of big time New York City Lawyer Matt Murdoch.

Most likely this was simply a name dropped for comic book fans reading the book, but it had me thinking that a cameo appearance by Ben Affleck as Daredevil's alter ego would be kind of cool.

 

i didn't even think of that. good point. it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility since MSJ directed BA in Daredevil

 

It's not gonna happen. Ghost Rider is being distributed by Sony and Daredevil was a Fox property. The director has nothing to do with it. It all comes down to who owns the rights.

 

true. but you never know what might happen. i think at the least the name will be mentioned at the end

 

I laughed my head off when I saw that ad today for some insurance company with Ghost Rider applying

 

i haven't seen that promo in a while. it is a good one though

 

I finally saw that commercial. While I thought it was hilarious, seeing the Ghost Rider in a brightly lit office did sort of bring down his realistic look. At times it looked like a guy in a mask with CG flames around him.


On another topic, I can't wait to see the Cowboy Ghost Rider in action. I wish Medicom had gone and made a figure for him along with the biker ghost rider.

 

Honestly I think it looks like another friggin Marvel flop. To do a comic movie is damn near impossible. Why? Cuz you'll never saitisfy the fans.

The same applies if you make another sequel after the original works are set in our minds.......

 

Does anyone else find Nicholas Cage as an odd choice??

 

I haven't seen him in the film yet (obviously) but the entire time I was reading the novelization I kept thinking that Cage was too old to be this guy.

 

Yeah thats what I thought. But I've never read the comic so I didn't know whether he ws supposed to be old or not.

 

SuperheroHype! Reviews Ghost Rider

What do you get when you hire a director who really understands and loves the material? A faithful adaptation of a comic. In recent years it happened with Bryan Singer and X-Men, Sam Raimi and Spider-Man, as well as Christopher Nolan and Batman. It is now safe to put writer/director Mark Steven Johnson in that class as well for Ghost Rider.

Superhero Hype! got a chance to watch the anticipated Ghost Rider movie, opening February 16 and starring Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Sam Elliott, Donal Logue and Peter Fonda.

In the Columbia Pictures release, superstar motorcycle stunt rider Johnny Blaze (Cage) makes a deal with the devil (Mephistopheles, played by Fonda) to keep his father from dying. But Mephistopheles tricks Blaze, who leaves childhood sweetheart, Roxanne (Mendes), in order to protect her. Years later, the son of the devil, Blackheart, wants to take control over the world with the help of three fallen angels, called the Hidden. It is then that Mephistopheles comes to Blaze, who must now hunt down the rogue demons as the Ghost Rider.

There's quite a bit of comics history for Johnson to cover in the film (just look at Wikipedia's rundown of the Ghost Rider comics to get some kind of idea), which makes the beginning of the film seem forced. The backstory is about your typical father/son who jump motorcycles for a living (!), but it's this relationship that forces Johnny to sign his soul to the devil and we never really see that overwhelming love between father and son. There's not a lot of time to tell the origins either, so you're moved quickly to the point where Nicolas Cage and Blackheart & Co. take over the story.

It's probably a good thing, because that is also where the movie starts getting good. We need a bit more setup until Johnny Blaze (Cage) is called upon by Memistopheles. But when he does, we get the treat we've been expecting. Soon after, you get to see Blaze transform into Ghost Rider for the first time, which looks extremely painful for Blaze but enjoyable to the Ghost Rider.

When Ghost Rider does battle with Blackheart and the Hidden (or the elements, so to speak) it's an all-out slugfest with no holds barred. Their powers give the Ghost Rider a challenge in having to figure out how to defeat them. The scenes feature impressive special effects that'll have you say many times, "cool!" We won't spoil them here, but many of the best visual effects, including the full transformation, you haven't seen yet in trailers or clips. For example, the riding up the building scene from the trailers is quite long and is definitely a highlight of the film, with much more happening before and after.

Nicolas Cage really hits one out of the park here. We noticed a similar southern accent to how he talked in "Con-Air" (hey, the movie takes place in Texas after all), but Cage has created both a tragic yet fun character on-screen. It's entertaining to watch him play Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider. Fonda and Elliott are great as always, while Bentley was good casting for Blackheart and Logue adds comic relief to the dark story. Eva Mendes is definitely nice to look at, but she doesn't add much as Roxanne. We didn't really feel to close to her as we probably should have.

Those who were afraid that the film's initial release was moved from summer 2006 to February 2007 should be assured that the FX team has pulled out all the stops. CGI flames can be tricky and Ghost Rider's flaming skull, body and hellcycle are awesome and well worth the delay. The special effects for Blackheart and the Hidden were also very well done.

Naturally, since this is the story of Ghost Rider, parents should heed the rating for this film, which is PG-13 for horror violence and disturbing images.

Ghost Rider is a fun ride and definitely worth checking out!

 

That's what I like to hear.

 

You know, I saw a good trailer on tv for it. After seeing that I really wanted to see the movie............. /\ I know i'm going now.

 

That's what I need to hear. People who LOVE COMICS making comic book movies...