GHOST RIDER

[Nived]

It's official! Mark Steven Johnson is the new Joel Schumacher. It took Schumacher two movies to bring the Batman franchise to its knees, and with only two movies, Johnson has already buried two comic book franchises with 2003's Daredevil and this month's Ghost Rider, which arrives in theaters dead-on-arrival; flat-lined, from it's hokey beginning to it's clichéd video game ending.

Nicolas Cage stars as Johnny Blaze, a famous Evil Knievel-esque stunt performer that sold his soul to Mephistopheles (or Mephisto for short), played by Peter Fonda, in order to save his dying father, stricken with cancer. In a moment of young, naïve, foolishness he signed, with his own blood no less, a life contract to become the devil's bounty hunter; damned to hunt down fallen angels cast out of heaven.

During the day Johnny is normal, but at night, in the presence of evil Johnny's skin burns off and his skull lights aflame with hellfire. His motorcycle transforms into a speed demon able to travel fast enough to melt parking meters and vertically climb up sky scrapers, and in its wake, leaves behind a fiery trail of destruction.

The idea sounds kind of, well… cool, actually. Unfortunately the studio – in an attempt to cash in on the Marvel product – limited the film only to a PG-13 rating in order to reel in a wider audience: 10 and 12-year-old boys, which was a terrible, terrible move.

Instead of a fun and wildly entertaining ride, what we got is one of the worst comic book adaptations to crash land in theaters since Batman & Robin and Catwoman (which I'm sure you all have already forgotten about). Yes, it really is THAT bad.

Instead of cranking out another soft and wimpy flick about demons, hell and tortured souls straight from the formulaic, cardboard factory of clichés, what we should have gotten was a fun, dark, R-rated blast more along the lines of Blade or The Crow, heck, even Spawn had more bite and attitude! It seems like Johnson isn't even passionate or interested in telling his own story, and it shows.

The heavily forced and completely uninteresting romance between Johnny Blaze and his long-time love, Roxanne Simpson (played by Eva Mendes) has but not a spark of chemistry. Mendes is given little to do, and does little more than stand around and look pretty as the "damsel in distress", whose only real talent is an impressive bust-line.

Nicolas Cage – who is an expressed fan of the Ghost Rider comics – is one of the film's biggest flaws; completely miscast as the macho avenger. Cage is a talented actor when working with the right material (see his performances in the underrated Bringing out the Dead and Matchstick Men), but at the age of 43 (pretending to be 28), and his James Stewart persona of acting just isn't what this particular film called for.

What it needed was an actor with a hard edge and some grit, someone with the kind of tough-guy presence, like a young Clint Eastwood. Thomas Jane might have made a nice Ghost Rider, and I'm sure if someone like Robert Rodriguez had been working behind the camera we would have gotten that fun, R-rated ride that we should have had to begin with.

The film tries to do many things at once, and succeeds at nothing. It tries to be humorous, but nothing is funny. The scene in which Johnny tries to explain his night-time dark side to his girlfriend aims for laughs, but all I could think about was the scene in Batman, where Michael Keaton compares his superhero gig as being just another job to Kim Basinger.

Ghost Rider also tries to be scary, but nothing comes close to being frightening, and in the end, after all its constant failures, amounts to little more than boredom. Normally I don't do it, but I was tempted to walk out.

Throughout the film Johnny Blaze talks about deserving a second chance, in order to turn things around, for the better. Cage is an actor who deserves a second chance, especially coming off last year's "it's so bad, it's good" remake of The Wicker Man. As for writer/director Mark Steven Johnson, he's had his second chance. This whole comic book movie thing, it just isn't your game, kid.


2 / 10

[Big Boss]

I liked it! Yeah it could have been "more" on a lot of fronts, but it was better than Fantastic Four!

I think the sequel will be much better just like the other sequels of so-so or bad first comic movies like Hulk, Superman Returns, and Fantastic Four.

I do agree that I would like to see someone else direct. Ghost Rider is a movie capable of a lot and maybe an R rating wouldn't be bad

[ilovemovies]

I LOVED Daredevil. It's one of my favorite comicbook movies. It's just flat out great IMO.

Ghost Rider, on the otherhand, is pure cheese. It's entertaining in a so bad it's good kind of way. But ultimately the movie is disposable and forgettable despite a very entertaining performance from Nicolas Cage. Wes Bently and Peter Fonda, on the otherhand, give atrocious performances. Eva Mendes is fine in a thankless and Sam Elliot is completely wasted in a nothing role.


A bad movie but at times enjoyable. It's entertainingly bad. But it's also not remotely memorable. It's actually quite forgettable. There is no doubt that this movie will be quickly forgotten. It's just not good or bad enough to linger around.

5/10

[Alter Ego Cinem]

wow, cheesey cheesey movie,

but a lilttle fun

[Nived]

As much as I disliked Fantastic Four and Daredevil, both were still better than Ghost Rider. And Superman Returns and Hulk were much better too, and I was definitely not a fan of 2003's Hulk.

[LedZeppelin1114]

It sucked a fat cock.

2/10

[Cronos]

despite its faults, mainly Cage in the lead role and his numerous retarded attempts at comedy i found it to be pretty enjoyable, the acting was decent and it had some nice effects scenes......should and could have been a lot better though

7/10

[mrsilkunderwear]

nick cage: don't f@%^ with me punk.

[MisterTwister]

I loved it. I dug the performances (yes I liked Cage!) the FX was amazing and the action top notch. Needed to be at least 15 minutes longer though (I got my wish cause the extended cut coming to DVD is that much longer, yipeeeee)

8/10

[JackBurton72]

Its hard to say who ruined this movie. Mark Stephen Johnson is a awful director but Nicolas Cage is on one big giant free fall. God only knows when he will stop starring in bad movies. His half ass Elvis impersonation in this movie is disgusting. And if anyone has seen Next he is still falling fast and hard.

[barryallen_thef]

Ghost Rider wasnt that half-bad..did it stray from the source material? yeah a bit..but it was kind of fun n cool in a cheesy kind of way

as for daredevil and FF *bleh* i hated and still hate both movies

Ben Affleck IS NOT DAREDEVIL/MATT MURDOCK..

i bought the movie on dvd and i only watch the first 15 minutes of it and i had to stop watching it cause it was THAT BAD...i eventually watch the whole thing on HBO and i still hate it..cant wait for Rise of Silver Surfer thought

[Sonny Corleone]

Ghost (dick)Rider sucks LE GRANDE PENIS!

[Ayestrain]

Definitely shouldn't let MSJ touch anymore comic movie franchises (wasn't there talk of him adapting Preacher?) Daredevil was on TV last night--god how shitty is that movie? So short on action, Ben Asscrack looks ridiculous in the suit. Such a great character, so much wasted potential.

Ghost Rider I remember being a notch above that but not by much.

[MidnightAngel]

Originally Posted by Nived

It's official! Mark Steven Johnson is the new Joel Schumacher. It took Schumacher two movies to bring the Batman franchise to its knees, and with only two movies, Johnson has already buried two comic book franchises with 2003's Daredevil and this month's Ghost Rider, which arrives in theaters dead-on-arrival; flat-lined, from it's hokey beginning to it's clichéd video game ending.

Nicolas Cage stars as Johnny Blaze, a famous Evil Knievel-esque stunt performer that sold his soul to Mephistopheles (or Mephisto for short), played by Peter Fonda, in order to save his dying father, stricken with cancer. In a moment of young, naïve, foolishness he signed, with his own blood no less, a life contract to become the devil's bounty hunter; damned to hunt down fallen angels cast out of heaven.

During the day Johnny is normal, but at night, in the presence of evil Johnny's skin burns off and his skull lights aflame with hellfire. His motorcycle transforms into a speed demon able to travel fast enough to melt parking meters and vertically climb up sky scrapers, and in its wake, leaves behind a fiery trail of destruction.

The idea sounds kind of, well… cool, actually. Unfortunately the studio – in an attempt to cash in on the Marvel product – limited the film only to a PG-13 rating in order to reel in a wider audience: 10 and 12-year-old boys, which was a terrible, terrible move.

Instead of a fun and wildly entertaining ride, what we got is one of the worst comic book adaptations to crash land in theaters since Batman & Robin and Catwoman (which I'm sure you all have already forgotten about). Yes, it really is THAT bad.

Instead of cranking out another soft and wimpy flick about demons, hell and tortured souls straight from the formulaic, cardboard factory of clichés, what we should have gotten was a fun, dark, R-rated blast more along the lines of Blade or The Crow, heck, even Spawn had more bite and attitude! It seems like Johnson isn't even passionate or interested in telling his own story, and it shows.

The heavily forced and completely uninteresting romance between Johnny Blaze and his long-time love, Roxanne Simpson (played by Eva Mendes) has but not a spark of chemistry. Mendes is given little to do, and does little more than stand around and look pretty as the "damsel in distress", whose only real talent is an impressive bust-line.

Nicolas Cage – who is an expressed fan of the Ghost Rider comics – is one of the film's biggest flaws; completely miscast as the macho avenger. Cage is a talented actor when working with the right material (see his performances in the underrated Bringing out the Dead and Matchstick Men), but at the age of 43 (pretending to be 28), and his James Stewart persona of acting just isn't what this particular film called for.

What it needed was an actor with a hard edge and some grit, someone with the kind of tough-guy presence, like a young Clint Eastwood. Thomas Jane might have made a nice Ghost Rider, and I'm sure if someone like Robert Rodriguez had been working behind the camera we would have gotten that fun, R-rated ride that we should have had to begin with.

The film tries to do many things at once, and succeeds at nothing. It tries to be humorous, but nothing is funny. The scene in which Johnny tries to explain his night-time dark side to his girlfriend aims for laughs, but all I could think about was the scene in Batman, where Michael Keaton compares his superhero gig as being just another job to Kim Basinger.

Ghost Rider also tries to be scary, but nothing comes close to being frightening, and in the end, after all its constant failures, amounts to little more than boredom. Normally I don't do it, but I was tempted to walk out.

Throughout the film Johnny Blaze talks about deserving a second chance, in order to turn things around, for the better. Cage is an actor who deserves a second chance, especially coming off last year's "it's so bad, it's good" remake of The Wicker Man. As for writer/director Mark Steven Johnson, he's had his second chance. This whole comic book movie thing, it just isn't your game, kid.


2 / 10

Now i understand why this movie was postponed a year later. My guess is that they rewrote the script and voila...still sucks! Glad that Nicholas Cage has been nomimated for a razzie award for worst actor in Ghost Rider/Next. Don't leave Las Vegas Nick.

[Derek237]

I just saw this recently. I was kind of avoiding it because everyone was saying how terrible it was.

Call me crazy, but I really liked it. It was good cheesy fun- I actually found myself just laughing at some of the absurd cheesiness of it all- but, in kind of a good way...that end speech Cage gives and Peter Fonda's reaction to it...oh my God...corny as hell. Even for a comic book flick. But you know what, I found a lot of it pretty cool, too. It has some awesome and creative action scenes. And as odd as it may seem...I really liked the love story as well.

I will say this though: Wes Bentley makes for an awful villain. He was terrible.

I was happy to snag the director's cut on DVD for 6.99 from Blockbuster (I'm sure many here will say that I overpaid), but I have had fun watching it. I watched both the commentaries, too. It was interesting to have a whole track dedicated to a producer's point of view...especially when it's the producer of a big budget action film that many would say is sub-par (maybe an understatement)...he is very honest about things, and just generally it was interesting to listen to.

So I like to think that I have good taste in movies and while I do have my share of guilty pleasures, this wasn't a guilty pleasure: I actually thought it was a good movie. So much so that I am kind of baffled that so many people hated it.

Oh well. Maybe I just have a soft spot for comic book super hero movies. The only one that came out recently that I didn't like was Fantastic Four. I didn't bother seeing the sequel, but if THAT can get a sequel, I'm really hoping for a Ghost Rider sequel, with Nic Cage returning as well, because he is great in anything IMO.

I'd give it a 7/10

[Bourne101]

This was really bad. I mean really bad. It wasn't even so bad it's good. It was just bad. It was just boring and stupid.

[Elgyn]

This movie wasn`t simply "bad".........it was frickin` PATHETIC.
Cage was all wrong for the part, Ghost Rider was goofy looking with video-game quality CGI, and the villians......

Let`s see, is this a fair fight? A flaming skeleton biker from Hell......versus a skinny Goth kid? Uhhhhh......

Worst comic-book movie since "Spawn".

[isileth]

I saw the movie at the theaters and it was worth the price of the big screen and I bought the DVD as soon as it got out in Italy.
I really liked the movie, but I must admit that I never read the original comic.
If we consider that the adaptation of a comic book is never going to be Shakespeare, I think that this movie did a good job.
I liked the actors, expecially Cage e Bentley.
They were good in portraying such improbable characters without looking stupid.
The effects were great, expecially the fire that made the ghostrider feel alive and the bike was THE BIKE that every one would like to ride.
I bought the DVD and I liked the commentary.
It was a lot of fun.
And I really liked also the song "Ghostrider in the sky".
Very funny.

[Elgyn]

Originally Posted by isileth

I saw the movie at the theaters and it was worth the price of the big screen

I liked the actors, expecially Cage e Bentley.

They were good in portraying such improbable characters without looking stupid.

The effects were great

And I really liked also the song "Ghostrider in the sky".
Very funny.

Dude.......are you, like, from an alternate universe where everything is opposite??

[barryallen_thef]

Originally Posted by Elgyn

Dude.......are you, like, from an alternate universe where everything is opposite??

u know i wouldnt be surprise if he were! lol ..

yes Ghost Rider had its flaw..but i think it was a bit tad better than Daredevil and/or FF...i think in some place it was a bid..overdone but i think probably the best part was when he change to Ghost Rider for the 1st time n Ghost Rider itself...but thats just me

[Ray DeLancey]

I'll agree about Ghost Rider. That flick lacked everything good. However, I enjoyed the Director's Cut of Daredevil. I dig Affleck. He's a good actor. The story was good.

[barryallen_thef]

Originally Posted by Ray DeLancey

I'll agree about Ghost Rider. That flick lacked everything good. However, I enjoyed the Director's Cut of Daredevil. I dig Affleck. He's a good actor. The story was good.

i think the only actor that i think was miscast-in Daredevil-was Affleck himself...although i dont see how that story-Daredevil-was good..but to each his own..the Daredevil plot was as bad as the plot for FF all things consider

[isileth]

Originally Posted by Elgyn

Dude.......are you, like, from an alternate universe where everything is opposite??

Probably

Not to mention that I am not a dude.

[Rawlin67]

this is one of those rare movies where i cant see how anyone enjoyed it. i dont bust on other peoples taste, and everyone has their own opinions, and every now and then, a movie will come out where i just say "wow, theres no way someone can actually think this is decent." this was one of those movies.

[Tyler Durden4]

add it to the list of shitty recent Comic book movies

Daredevil (Directors cut made it cool though)
Hulk
Superman Returns
Ghost Rider

[Derek237]

Oh man, I forgot about Hulk. That was a terrible flick, too!!!

Ghost Rider >> Hulk, Fantastic Four

[rob the many]

I hate this movie. Listen some of the scenes where he's riding the bike are very cool but there are big parts of this movie that is wrong. First off Wes Bently as a bad guy is really really lame. He fits in teen movies better. His acting was not believable in any way. Then you have the fact that ghost rider is a darker material so this should have been along the lines of rambo.

Then the element fights are boring he defeats them with one move one move then at the end when you think theres gonna be a badass big fight what do you get the ghost rider without his powers. Hmmm. god awful descision there. 2 out of 10

[Rawlin67]

Wes Bentley was really, really silly in P2.

it was your interpretation as to whether you liked or not, personally, i found it a great camp performance. but come on, the guy rocked it in American Beauty.

[ilovemovies]

Wes Bently was awful in Ghost Rider however, I thought he was awesome in P2.

[Sonny488]

Wasn't Kiefer Sutherland supposed to star in this before Nic Cage signed on? I thought the movie sucked by the way. Dont know what it was about it but it didnt do anything for me.

[darknite125]

YeahI had heard Cage was chosen over Kiefer just because he was a bigger fan. I'm sorry but a true fan would have stepped out of the way, for Sutherland who would have owned at the role. Anyway how were they planning on making a horror movie when all the sets bright and clean? And how was the villian supposed to be scary when he was just some silly emo kid wearing guyliner with cliched generic henchmen? And how was I supposed to care about the love story if I don't care about either of the two people in love?

[barryallen_thef]

Sutherland as Ghost Rider?.....i dont see it, other than maybe if he played the 2nd Ghost Rider Danny Kaze(or somthing) ...n yeah Wes Bentley was a bad choice...but what the hell is P2? Predator 2 or somthing?

[Pride]

4/10

How can you fuck up a movie with the formula; Nic Cage + Eva Mendes + one of the coolest comic characters??!

Even the FX were dissapointing

[Homyrrh]

2/10?

I saw it at boarding school with a bunch of 14-18 year olds. And guess what? Resounding boos; unanimously voted as the worst movie we'd seen in an entire year....that included Norbit amongst others...yes I said it...

I'd go into the red if I could, but for now it's a measly 0/10.

[MISFITS_Fiend]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I liked Ghost Rider, Daredevil, AND the Fantastic Four movies. Sure, they were all cheesy, and I wish they had gone a more darker route with Ghost Rider, but I can't say I didn't enjoy myself while watching them. I don't watch them every day or anything, but I do get the urge to throw on a cheesy comic book DVD every now and then.

I liked the Hulk too, if only because it was largely faithful to the old comic book series, when it mainly focused on Bruce Banner and the Hulk was almost a secondary character. That being said, I'm hoping the next one will be more of a "Hulk Smash!" type of film.

[Homyrrh]

Yeah it's whatever. I enjoyed Fantastic Four for reasons exclusively consisting of Jessica Alba and Jessica Alba...

It's all good.

[Lost in Space]

ghost rider...suck...omg i had no idea

[ilovemovies]

Originally Posted by MISFITS_Fiend

Maybe I'm crazy, but I liked Ghost Rider, Daredevil, AND the Fantastic Four movies.

Didn't care for Ghost Rider but I enjoyed the Fantastic Four flicks and I FUCKING LOVED Daredevil.

BTW, I didn't find Daredevil to be cheesy. It IS actually pretty dark and compelling. I loved it as much as and maybe even more than Batman Begins. They are both like my favorite comic book adaptations of all time (not including graphic novel adaptations like Road to Perdition, Sin City and V for Vendetta).

[Homyrrh]

Originally Posted by ilovemovies

Didn't care for Ghost Rider but I enjoyed the Fantastic Four flicks and I FUCKING LOVED Daredevil.

BTW, I didn't find Daredevil to be cheesy. It IS actually pretty dark and compelling. I loved it as much as and maybe even more than Batman Begins. They are both like my favorite comic book adaptations of all time (not including graphic novel adaptations like Road to Perdition, Sin City and V for Vendetta).

...300.

[ilovemovies]

I thought 300 was lame. Infact, I think I would rank it even lower Ghost Rider.