Sony Pictures
GHOST RIDER
Starring Nicolas Cage (Johnny Blaze), Eva Mendes (Roxanne Simpson), Sam Elliot (Carter Slade), Wes Bentley (Blackheart), and Peter Fonda (Mephistopheles)
Directed by Mark Steven Johnson
Produced by Avi Arad, Steven Paul, Michael De Luca, and Gary Foster
Written by Mark Steven Johnson
Music By Christopher Young
Distributed by Sony Pictures
Run Time: 1 hour and 50 minutes
World Premier: February 14, 2007
Opening Weekend Box Office: $45 million
Worldwide Box Office: $228 million
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 27%
Sony Pictures
Fun Ghost Rider Facts
In the Mid-1990’s and facing bankruptcy, Marvel licensed out the film rights to several of their characters in an effort to keep the company afloat. The upstart Marvel Studios, led by Avi Arad, negotiated these deals which will see other Studios finance and distribute Marvel films with Marvel assisting in a production role that would give them a say in the script-writing process, the hiring of directors, and casting. Ghost Rider was the fourteenth film released theatrically under the Marvel Studios banner following Blade (1998), X-Men (2000), Blade II (2002), Spider-Man (2002), Daredevil (2003), X2: X-Men United (2003), Hulk (2003), The Punisher (2004), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Blade: Trinity (2004), Elektra (2005), Fantastic Four (2005), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
Several members of the Ghost Rider team took part in previous Marvel movie ventures. Writer / Director Mark Steve Johnson directed 2003’s Daredevil, Sam Elliot appeared in 2003’s Hulk, and Donal Logue appeared in Blade.
On September 6, 2005, Marvel Enterprises became Marvel Entertainment; a reflection of the company’s new initiative to finance its own motion pictures through Marvel Studios. Ghost Rider was produced and released after this massive shift in direction for Marvel Studios, which may or may not have contributed to its poor reception. A second Ghost Rider film titled Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was released in 2012 without any production assistance whatsoever from Marvel Studios. The film served as a reboot / sequel with Nicolas Cage returning as Johnny Blaze and was received even more poorly than its 2007 predecessor.
The rights to Ghost Rider reverted back to Marvel Entertainment by default in 2013 where it was decided that the character would fall under the creative jurisdiction of the Marvel Television division instead of being featured in movies produced by Marvel Studios. In 2016, the character appeared during the Fourth Season of ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. portrayed by actor Gabriel Luna (Robbie Reyes). Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debuted on ABC in 2013, and the series was marketed by Marvel Entertainment as being set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe and promoted as if the characters featured in the show could someday share the silver screen with The Avengers, but as the series progressed, Marvel Studios ignored the show and no crossovers from television to film ever transpired (though there were select crossovers from film to TV). In the meantime, Marvel Studios split from Marvel Entertainment and Kevin Feige began answering directly to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Fine, resulting in a definitive divide between Marvel Studios and Marvel Television. Despite the widespread critical acclaim for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the desire by fans to see characters such as Ghost Rider share the screen with The Avengers, the Marvel Studios team remained steadfast in their ignoring of the characters and storylines featured in the show throughout the acclaimed Infinity Saga and it soon became clear to those paying attention that Kevin Feige did not consider Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as MCU canon. In 2019, Marvel Television was dissolved as Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was promoted to oversee all Marvel content under the title of Marvel Chief Creative Officer (CCO). The 2023 book Marvel Studios – The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline confirmed that the events of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. did not occur on the MCU (Sacred) Timeline. These days, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is available to stream on Disney+ and Ghost Rider is expected to make his official MCU debut imminently.
Sony Pictures
My Ghost Rider Review
A lot of people hated Ghost Rider. I am not one of them. I think Ghost Rider is one of the coolest characters in all of Marvel and I love the conceptual story of him selflessly selling his soul and then working against the Devil! With his flaming skull and motorcycle (and horses and cars, depending on the character) Ghost Rider just looks cool and he’s one of those characters that embodies everything that makes comic books awesome!
For its time, I think Ghost Rider is a visually stunning film and I loved Niclas Cage as Johnny Blaze. That first transformation sequence where you can really see a mix of terror and ecstasy in Cage’s expression was fantastic, and you could tell throughout the film that Cage (reportedly a longtime Ghost Rider fan) was having the time of his life! I thought he had solid chemistry with Eva Mendes and that allowed their love story to matter, and I also loved everything the filmmakers did with Johnny and his dad.
Is this movie campy and ridiculous? Of course, it is, but Cage’s performance somehow makes it all okay. The way he nonchalantly tells Roxanne the truth about who he is and what has happened to him is perfect and allows the movie to have fun with its plot while acknowledging the seriousness of certain themes.
I also enjoyed the performance of Wes Bentley as Blackheart. He was really creepy in this subtle sort of way, and he stole every scene that he was in. And what can you say about Sam Elliot other than casting him as a sort of old gunslinger is perfect.
My biggest knock on this film is not the CGI nor the writing. it’s Peter Fonda.
Mephisto is a cool and complex character. In the comics, he pretends to be the traditional Christian Devil to dupe people, and that makes Marvel’s Devil quite unique. He is as evil and self-serving as they come, and he loves to grant wished in exchange for souls, though the wishes he grants tend to backfire due to his deceit. Mephisto is cold, calculating, and somewhat flamboyant, and Peter Fonda was none of that. I could have lived with no horns and no tail, and even without the red skin, but the lack of attitude and charisma were misses that can’t be ignored.
I can’t allow myself to recommend Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. The only good thing about that film was the update to Ghost Rider’s look. The Fourth Season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had some good Ghost Rider stuff, but personally, I’m looking forward to Marvel Studios bringing Johnny Blaze into the MCU where he can interact with characters such as Blade, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, and maybe even Doctor Strange, and of course a properly executed Mephisto!
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