Ghost Rider (film)

In the days of the American Wild West, Mephistopheles sent the damned bounty hunter, the Phantom Horseman, to pick up a contract for a thousand evil human souls from the town of San Wenganza. The horseman refused to give the devil the contract, having managed to escape and hide from him along with the contract.

After 150 years, stunt biker Johnny Blaze finds out that his father, Barton Blaze, is dying of lung cancer . Mephistopheles comes to him with a promise to heal his father in return for Johnny's soul. Johnny signs the contract with blood. In the morning, father’s cancer did not happen, but the father himself dies in a failed stunt. Johnny accuses Mephistopheles of Barton’s death, but Mephistopheles reports that he completed his part of the deal, Blaise Sr. was healed, so Johnny’s soul is now his. Johnny leaves his girlfriend Roxanne Simpson.

Over the years, Johnny became a famous stuntman because of his dynamic stunts and the mysterious ability to survive after terrible falls from a motorcycle. Before the next trick, he meets Roxanne, now a journalist, and they renew friendship.

Blackhart , the son of Mephistopheles, comes to Earth in search of a treaty of San Wenganza to make a coup against his father. He calls for help from the three fallen angels : Vallo, Gressille and Abigor . Blackhart begins the search, killing all the people in its path.

Mephistopheles appears in front of Johnny, forcing him to become the Phantom Racer, promising to free him from the contract if he can kill Blackhart and the three assistants. Blackhart and the angels head to the old railway station, where the cemetery used to be. Johnny's motorcycle leads him directly to them. His bewitched “ chopper ” arrives at the station, where Johnny turns into a Ghost Rider. The battle begins, in which Johnny finds a weapon - a heavy long chain. He kills Gressil, but the others manage to slip away. Returning to the city, he hears a woman being robbed. He saves her by using the “Punishing gaze” (the most powerful weapon of the Ghost Riders), making the robber remember all the bad things he has done in his entire life, and incinerating his sinful soul stained with the blood of innocent people. The offender survived, but his fate was much worse than death.

The next day, Johnny wakes up in the cemetery, where he meets with the Ranger, who knows everything about the Ghost Riders. Arriving home, Johnny sees Roxanne there and reveals that he works for the devil. Roxanne, not believing him, leaves. Police arrive and arrest Johnny for the destruction of his motorcycle and for those who died at the hands of Blackhart. He is put in a pre-trial detention cell, where criminals recognize him and begin to beat him. He turns into a Racer and beats everyone except one young man whom he sees as innocent. That night, after the Phantom Racer defeats Abigor, Roxanne sees him and finally believes what Johnny told. Watching them, Blackhart realizes that he has found Johnny's weakness.

Johnny returns to the Caretaker, who tells him about Johnny's predecessor, Texas Ranger Carter Slade. According to legend, Slade was a man of honor, but once greedy and, in the end, was on the gallows. To save himself, he made a deal with Mephistopheles and became the Phantom Horseman. The caretaker warns that Johnny stay away from loved ones and friends so that Blackhart cannot use them against him. Roxanne arrives at Johnny’s apartment, where she discovers Meg and says she loves Johnny. Meg says that Johnny is constantly reading demonic books, one of which Roxanne begins to read.

Blackhart finds her and kills Meg, and Roxanne is stunned. When Johnny returns home, Blackhart attacks him. Having turned into a Racer, Johnny tries to use the “Punishing gaze" on a demon, but he has no soul. Blackhart threatens to kill Roxanne if he does not bring him the San Wenganza treaty. Johnny returns to the Ranger, who reluctantly gives up the contract.

Johnny convinces that he has a plan, then the Ranger reveals that he is Carter Slade, still alive because of the power of the Phantom Horseman, and offers to show the way to San Wengza. They ride together in the desert: Slade - on a fiery ghostly horse, and Johnny - on a fiery motorcycle. Having approached the city, Slade gives Johnny his shotgun and disappears.

Killing the fallen angel Vallo in the swamp, Johnny gives the contract to Blackhart, but he becomes the Racer, hoping to defeat the enemy. Blackhart repels the attack and absorbs all 1000 souls of the town, calling himself the Legion . The battle continues, in which Roxanne grabs a shotgun and discharges him in Blackhart. Then she throws Johnny's empty weapon, which, holding it in the shade - the source of power of all the Phantom Racers - changes the shape of the weapon and enhances its combat potential. A powerful volley of Hellfire destroys Blackhart, but the black souls of San Wenganza quickly restore the demon. Johnny uses Punishing Gaze to burn Blackhart, because he now has 1000 evil human souls. Discarding Blackhart's body, the Ghost Rider turns into a man, while remaining outwardly a Racer. Initially, he is ashamed of his monstrous appearance, but Roxanne convinces him that he is not afraid.

Mephistopheles appears and gives Johnny his soul back, offering to take back the curse of the Racer. Having decided not to make another deal, Johnny refuses, claiming that he will use his strength to fight evil and calls himself the "Spirit of Vengeance", a fire burning fire. Realizing that he was deceived, as last time, Mephistopheles swears that Johnny will pay for it, to which he replies with his phrase - "You can not live in fear." Mephistopheles disappears with the body of her son and returns to Hell. Roxanne later tells Johnny that he got a second chance, after which they merge into a kiss of love. Then Johnny drives off on his motorcycle, renewing his new role as the Ghost Rider.

The film concludes with the words of Carter Slade: “ They say the West is legendary. And legends give an idea of ​​something more than ourselves. About the Forces that outline the Life Line, about events that can not be explained. About those who happen to soar to Heaven or fall to Earth. This is how Legends are born! ".

In May 2000, at the Cannes Film Festival, Marvel Comics announced an agreement with Crystal Sky Entertainment to make a film about the Ghost Rider with actor John Voight as a producer. Production was scheduled to begin in early 2001 with a budget of $ 75 million, and the role of Johnny Blaze was planned to give Johnny Depp , who is interested in the project ^[1] .

In July 2000, IGN Stax reviewed the original Ghost Rider script written by David Goyer. The script version is in Louisiana . The Stax script seemed rather confusing and they suggested to Goyer to rewrite it and develop the characters ^[2] .

Before August, Dimension Films, like Crystal Sky Entertainment, started financing the film, a screenplay written by David Goyer , and directed by Stephen Norrington. ^[3] In June 2001, Nicolas Cage entered into negotiations for the lead role in the film ^[4] , and in July negotiations ended. According to producer Stephen Paul, Cage found out about Depp's ability to play this role and contacted the director to express interest in playing the lead role, as he is a fan of the Ghost Rider ^[5] .

In August of the following year, Norrington refused to make a film due to a planning conflict and remained to make another film with Jennifer Lopez in the title role ^[6] . Cage eventually left the project. By May 2002, Columbia Pictures sought to gain the rights to the film Ghost Rider , after the success of Spider-Man ^[7] . In April 2003, Mark Stephen Johnson took over as director. Nicolas Cage also returned to the project. The script was written by Shane Salerno, who Johnson rewrote and began producing the film in late 2003 or early 2004 ^[8] . Filming was delayed as Nicolas Cage took a break to star in Weather Forecaster . Filming was postponed to May or June 2004 ^[9] .

Filming of the Ghost Rider was again postponed to the end of 2004, but due to the lack of a specific scenario, production was again delayed ^[10] . In January 2005, actor Wes Bentley signed a contract for the role of the villain Blackhart . Colin Farrell , who worked with the director on the set of Daredevil , another film about superheroes, also auditioned for the role ^[11] . Actress Eva Mendes was chosen for the role of Roxanne Simpson, the romantic interest of the hero Cage ^[12] . Filming began on February 14, 2005 in Australia , at the Melbourne Docklands movie studio ^[13] . In March 2005, Peter Fonda (known for his leading role in the movie Careless Rider ) got the role of the main villain of the film - Mephistopheles ^[14] . Johnson originally planned to film the audience at the Dockland Stadium, but eventually decided to create it using computer graphics ^[15] . The filming location of the scene on the motorcycle was chosen by the director Melbourne ^[16] . By June 2005, the main filming of the film was completed ^[17] , and the film was planned to be released in the summer of 2006 ^[18] . In April 2006, actors and film crew at the last minute began filming in Vancouver ^[19] . The ghost rider was supposed to be released in August 2006 ^[20] , but the release date was postponed three weeks earlier, on July 14, 2006 ^[21] . Sony again changed the release date of the film to February 16, 2007. ^[22]

In December 2005, composer Christopher Young began music for the film. In addition, Spiderbait , with whom the director made friends during filming in Australia ^[23] , wrote music for the film's credits ^[24] .

Words and music of all songs by Christopher Young .

In November 2010, shooting began for the sequel called Phantom Racer 2 . The film was released on February 17, 2012. Nicolas Cage repeated the role of Johnny Blaze and his alter ego of the Phantom Racer. The directors were Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor , known for the movie Adrenaline .

On the Rotten Tomatoes website , the film is rated 26% based on 137 reviews with an average score of 4.2 / 10 ^[25] . The Metacritic website rated the film 35 out of 100 based on 20 reviews. ^[26]

• Official movie website
• International show
• "Ghost Rider" at the Movie Review