Ghost Rider (DVD, 2007, Extended Cut; 2-Disc Set)

As Promised I am posting about the 2 Disc Ghost Rider DVD that was just released!

The 2nd Disc is the one with the Bonus Features...

One of the Features is called: Spirit of Vengeance, The Making of Ghost Rider:

Part 1: This had some interesting interviews and some background history.

For those that did not know, this movie was supposed to be a 'supernatural western' movie, based on the 1950-1970's comic book version. That definitely has some of the fans upset, as they were expecting a more grim and gritty 1990's - 2000's Ghost Rider comic book version.

Johnny Blaze's bike was patterned after the movie 'Easy Rider' where Peter Fonda played 'Captain America'. Peter was also in this Ghost Rider movie, so the bike was intentionally styled after the one he rode in Easy Rider!

The coats the fallen angels wear were patterned after the coats worn by the gunslingers in 'Once Upon A Time In the West'!

Part 2: Some interesting background on the making of the movie... in Australia. This I found to be informative and a little entertaining. However it was seeing Eva Mendes, and Nic Cage doing their scenes that kept my interest.

Part 3: Could have done without this part... very technical, and overlong in running time. After the first few minutes, I didn't see anything valuable so fast forwarded thru some of it....

Next part of the Bonus Features was the Comic Book Origin featurettes:

1970's - actually started by going back to the 1950's where there was a 'Ghost Rider' from M.E. Comics, which got cancelled around the time of the Comics Code Authority coming into being. Dick Ayers was the artist on this version. Then in 1968 the Ghost Rider name was taken by Marvel Comics when Stan Lee directed Roy Thomas to have a comic written about this Ghost Rider who was also a western character. Roy had Gary Friedrich write the story and Dick Ayers was there to draw it! Westerns had become passe by then, so this Ghost Rider version lasted a short while only....

1980's - Roy Thomas was asked about having a motorcycle rider as a villain, which he had done in a Daredevil comic, with the villain called 'Stunt-Master'. However Roy decided that the concept should be a superhero instead of a villain, and thus the new Ghost Rider was born! Roy had been a fan of Elvis Presley since 1956 when Elvis sang Heartbreak Hotel, and remembered how hot Elvis looked in his leather outfit in the '68 'Comeback Special'. Thus the Ghost Rider had a look, which Mike Ploog the artist added to with a flaming skull head. Stan Lee called Roy and asked that the character's name be 'Johnny Blaze', which sounded a lot like 'Johnny Storm' the Human Torch who was a member of the Fantastic Four! Mike Ploog borrowed some concepts from Evel Knievel and the comic book lasted for several years!

1990's - This period was covered also. There was a new Ghost Rider, named Danny Ketch. I had read just a few of these comics, as Marvel expanded its' comic line by almost fourfold during this period, and I had cut back on purchases..... This period was sufficiently covered in the DVD for those who are fans of this period of the Ghost Rider.

2000's - This period was additionally covered, and had a good interview with the Kubert Family, (Joe, Adam and Andy), who were involved in this period. The Ghost Rider is now a more supernatural book, and a lot more grim and gritty.

Note: Not enough room left to finish this review. Please check our Blog!

For those who come and see this movie with expectations for a typical superhero movie such as Spiderman or X Men, you will be dissapointed. This is NOT a typical superhero film, Ghost Rider is not a typical superhero (in fact he is not a superhero at all, he is an anti hero, someone you wouldnt expect to be called good but is). But for what it is, this is one of the years best movies. If you liked Constantine you will probably like this. The extended edition is worth getting

A+++

If you liked this movie, well you just have horrible taste in movies, enough said! Mediocre special effects, acting, and story line make this movie literally unwatchable. I only sat through this movie because it was FREE and to confirm how bad of a movie it really was and question why Nicholas Cage was even acting. I would rather commit suicide that have to sit through another SINGLE minute of this movie.

To give you a bit of an idea about where I am coming from in this review I did collect the Ghost Rider comics from the early 90's for a few years. So I was well versed in the story and history of "The Ghost Rider" when I went to watch this movie.

I can say that first of all this Marvel comics movie is no where near the level of the Spiderman, Iron Man, or X-men movies. In fact I think this movie falls in line with movies that Marvel put out like Daredevil and The Punisher movie. It is a solid 3/5.

The acting of Nicolas Cage is decent but not stellar. There is nothing wrong with his performance but it is not spectacular to say the least. The supporting actors are fine. The Blackheart character is a bit cheese though.

The strongest part of this movie is the Computer Graphics and the action. Personally, I'm glad they waited this long to create the movie in order to have the best CGI possible. How else can you have a Ghost Rider running around if you do not have the graphics for it.

The storyline is alright and captures the essence of The Ghost Rider comics. Nothing spectacular but you get the idea of what the rider is all about.

A solid 3/5. A great way to waste a Saturday afternoon but I'm not sure you can rewatch this movie a bunch of times.

Latsyrhc
Tamarack Collectibles

Great Movie and awesome deal to add to my collection. I find it helpful when I can find a good price on ebay.

Well if you are thinking about this movie I can tell you I found it a little bit of a let down. I love motorcycles and I like Cage so went in thinking it would be great. Has some good bike seen but to much satanic garbage. Keep the kids away. Thats just this guys opinion.

Awesome Movie full or Action Packed Adventure. It really is a Good movie for I'd say Age 13 on up. It does have a little language and some violence plus some scary scenes. It's a movie that you need to watch twice in order to fully injoy what it has to offer.

Awesome special effects and I love Nicky Cage! Eva Mendes is so beautiful in this movie. I never thought I would like a movie that was based on a comic book but this is great to watch! Recommended!

It a really good movie with great special effects. A+ job for the special effects. Overall a really good movie for the family. A+ rating

Not as good as I thought it would be. It was ok...just not up to Nick Cage's usual standards I thought.

Teri Podolak
teripodolak@cox.net

Great storyline, good action. good special effects. Was looking for a movie with a lot of action. Nicolas Cage plays the main character and is good at what he does. A must see movie for Nicolas Cage fans.

Ghost Rider has never been one of my favorites. I didn't really expect to like this movie at all. But the film is actually pretty well done. I found the special effects to be pretty cool, and there were also a few positive points for Nicholas Cage as far as his acting is concerned. This film is no typical comic book - superhero flick, which fans of "Ghost Rider" in general should be aware of already. It has enough of the "good movie" formula to be entertaining, at least upon the first viewing.

I rented the movie to see if I liked it, and I loved it. I made my husband go out and buy the movie. The special effects are wonderful, Nicholas Cage is excellent in this. I have watched it several times, and enjoy it every time. The story line is a romance, with some humor thrown in and then the dark, evil element. The humor keeps it from getting too dark, and yet there is the element of surprise. My favorite part is near the end. I won't spoil it for you, but it was a nice ride.

A good film with some good special effects. I was expecting a bit more.....
Worth watching 1 or 2 times, probably not 3.

I liked that it was a Superhero movie.Most of them are all great,with good special effects.I was never really into Ghost Rider,until I saw this movie.I think Nicolas Cage was the perfect actor for the role of Ghost Rider.It had good special effects,action.It had some darker Villains than you normally see in Superhero movies.If you like Superhero movies,you should like this one.

The item arrived on time but it was defective and the user would not respond to my concerns................................................................................

Good movie. Cool effects...........................................................................................................................

i bought this dvd to replace my regular addition of ghost rider. i enjoy watching movies with commentaries. you can learn alot about the production of the film. i am a nicolas cage fan and he did not disapoint. his performance was fantastic.

Amazing movie. It's just the sort of popcorn movie anyone can enjoy. : )

Nicholas Cage was the perfect choice for the role and if you're a bike lover you'd probably drool over his sweet ride.

good movie for everyone in the family with a good message. A message about redimtion and about good and evil. A movie that all ages can watch and enjoy.

This is one movie we really liked and I've been wanting to buy it for a long time. I decided I could get a good price on e-bay and I liked that it was the extended cut. Haven't watched it yet since I've received it since I'm in process of moving, but will definitely watch it once settled.

it's a great action movie. i bought it because we rented it once when it first came out and didn,t get to finish the last few minutes. at this price,it was just as cheap to buy it as to rent it again.

I really enjoyed this movie because it was very different, especially when Nick Cage turned into a skeleton and his head was on fire at night. Nick cage is a very good actor and I enjoy seeing him.