to those who watched it, QUESTIONS,REACTIONS, ETC.(Discussion Thread. Heavy Spoilers)

[daywalker2007]

although lets be honest, is anyone out there as good as a Del toro or Norrington to give us what we want?

maybe there is more talent out there that can bring us more comic book movies onto the big screen

 

[Pilgrim]

I think del toro could do something great but at the same time I don't really have much of a problem with msj directing. I thought the daredevil director's cut was awesome but I think they need someone else to write the next ghost rider. It just seems to me that the movie moves along too fast in some places and doesn't take enough time to explain things in a better way. Maybe some of it was cut.

 

[Darkest Knight]

About what? Wes Bentleys bad acting?

Probably, haha...

It was pathetic, I agree. First comment I actually made about the movie after seeing it the first time. Wes Bently licks goat penis.

 

[The Kid]

do you think maybe Ghost Rider deserved a director like Del toro or Stephen Norrington?

If I had to choose a director for the sequel, it'd definitely be Peter Jackson. MSJ's fine though. He's a rare director, one who actually reads the comic before doing the movie.

I still think Norrington's Blade movie stands up today as an example of creating a comic book character that can exist in our own reality,
it was bloody, exciting and bloody good stuff!

Amen

i think most people seem to say that Ghost Rider should have been in this sort of "reality" in the film.

Yeah, but I don't have much of a problem with the way it was done here as a more off beat approach. Adds that folktale quality I think is there in every comic since they don't usually aspire to be like moby dick or something deep like that. The way people react to this film, I think they expected Hemingway quality... weird.

The Blade universe created was very realistic although a great deal came from Wesley Snipes who just oozes coolness on screen!

True. Without him, that movie wouldn't have been half as cool. I think the whole movie basically stood on his shoulders because everything else in it was weak. Does blade even have any theme music?

I dont know, maybe Norrington should have been hired, he didnt do anythng since 2003's ex league of gentlemen

Cool movie, I thought.

 

[Brian Braddock]

watching GR, I coudnt help thinking that the world they had created on screen very much lent itself stylistically (both in look and tone) to the world as seen in Blade (more so than other Marvel films), and I wondered what Stephen Norrington would do with the character, given the chance (Blade, is afterall, a bonafide classic).

I guess we'll never find out though as Norrington has divorced himself from making films due to disalusionment with the Hollywood process.

 

[futureknight]

I really wanted the movie to be great. I am pleased to see it doing well at the box office, but I"m also horrified because it, in some way, validates the trash that avi and those involved gave us.

The visual effects of the Ghost Rider were great, but the plot sucked. Never mind the plot, just any facet of realism was tossed out. Yes, I did say realism when talking about a comic book movie. Even with suspension of disbelief, you have to have realism in the other aspects of the movie. For instance, Ghost rider "escaping" from prison with one cop to stop him. WTF was that? Sprinkler system coming on in the lockup, but no one investigating? The ending was ridiculous, and I just love how blaze was able to tell meph he was keeping the GR and then have nothing happen to him. His woman should have been smited the second the words left his mouth.

Very disappointed with the quality of the story. Very impressed with the visual.

 

[uchiha_itachi]

saw it tonight i loved it, considering they had to fit in the whole rider history and character historys i thought it done really well, its up there with the first spiderman for me so i cnt wait til number 2

 

[Fanticon]

Ok so I finally watched it. Not nearly as bad as people are making it out to be. But about exactly what I expected after seeing all the TV Spots. This movie can be broke down in this equation: The Crow + Constantine + Blade - An 'R' rating + DareDevil + Fantastic Four + PG13 rating = Ghost Rider.

Look...MSJ needs to really stop practicing with comic book adaptations and just find his 'style' already.

Young JB was great. Same Eliott and Peter Fonda were perfect. Wes Bentley and the Hidden...ummmm...ok. Nick Cage...he'll do...Eva...well, she was the cheeziest part of the movie. All the effects for GR were amazing! His voice, and the things he said...jumped straight off the pages of the comics. But the movie itself...not good, not bad...somewhere in-between. Marvel Comic movies that were great on an epic scale...Spidey 1-2(and 3 I hope), X1-3. The rest fall in the category of 'Love it or Hate it'. GR will be in my collection...I grew up on the comics...I didn't abandon them...but I had always wondered...will it ever become a movie? And this is very close to how I had hoped it would turn out. And the first Penance stare moment was awesome!
Unfortunately...my overall fair rating is a 6 1/2 out of 10. And I wanna call the SHH review out...I know you were a tad dissapointed...but trying to give this one a positive review makes you look like you were paid to endorse it.

 

[InvisibleWoman]

I knew hardly anything about the comic book of Ghost Rider prior to seeing the movie yesterday and I have to say - I quite liked it! I think some scenes could have been cut at the beginning (like Spider-Man, it takes the lead too long to become the hero! I found myself waiting for him to burst into flames!) But other than that, I found it very enjoyable and it made me want to find out more about the Ghost Rider character. I thought Nic Cage gave a solid performance and Eva Mendes was refreshing as she played a female who did more then scream and faint. I think the main flaw was that it lacked a huge action sequence that made me go WOW! Like the fight between Xavier and Jean in X-Men 3.

However, it did what it said on the tin and it seems to have done well at the box-office. I think, like X-Men, it's a good set up for a sequal.

I might go and see it again!

 

[Cyrusbales]

My review from my blog.....



GHOST RIDER


Ghost Rider, is the latest comic book film to hit our screens. Having made a large impact in the US box office and a succesful marketing campaign behind it, it sets itself up for a high standards, which it unfortunately fails to meet.

Nicolas Cage plays Johnny Blaze, who after making a deal with Mephistopheles(basically the devil) to save his father's life, becomes property of the deal maker. Many years of solitary death dodging through horrific stunts, his end of the deal is called upon, turning him into the demonic Ghost Rider at night, who must stop a viscious plan.

Whilst Cage gives a good performance, at times slightly ambiguous but very likable, the rest of the cast are rather poor. The actors playing villains in this movie are attrocious, delivering cliche lines with cliche performances. The fault lies greatly with the choice of casting and screenplay, which builds up the central character only, leaving the enemies as inadequete one dimensional stereotypes.

The humour in the film comes as quite welcomed, correctly placed as to not overshadow the nature of the subject matter, but revealing the main character's emotion and points of veiw. There are some great sequences which blend humour and mild action nicely.

A problem within this movie is narrative's nature, which leaves no building up, or worthwhile motives for the audience to get behind. There seems very random incidents that come across as out of place, and detract away from the better elements and make the story weak.

The special effects and direction are higher points, but fail to overcome the narrative's workings and the level of acting and atrocious character development of the supporting cast, with the exception of Sam Elliot(the caretaker) who is an enjoyable character for the veiwer.

Overall, this is not one of the finer moments of comic books turn films. The first sequence with Ghost Rider comes as a massive anti-climax and the film begins to fall apart from there. With a massive reworking of the villains, and a more thoughtout narrative, this movie probably would have been quite impressive, as it is, Ghost rider struggles to achieve mediocre.

 

[BURNFOREVER]

Hey, friends.
The day has come.
Finally, GR shows his flaming face on these lands.
March, 2nd. Cinemark, midnight session.
It´s very hard to make a cold, rational review, being such a hardcore fan as i am, like many others who participate these boards around these years.
I can say the movie thrills me; was very cativating seeing GR live, on the big screen, in his full glory and flames.
Tears? Of course. Many scenes makes me cry. Jesus, i´m a weenie...
No. I´m a fan. Period.
The movie was cool. Fast, fun and moving.
It´s perfect? No. It´s not.
It´s the GR definitive movie version? Hope not.
MSJ have all my respect for taking a character when it seems everybody was leaving it. Comics, movie, all gone. Mark enters GR world and lights the fire. The movie comes to life, most by the efforts and passion of Mark and the whole crew.
I will be eternally grateful for the respect they treat the Spirit of Vengeance.
SFX was wonderful! The flaming fx, really amazing. GR came to life for real.
Sam Elliot as Slade? Superb. He´s the natural born Western GR.
Fonda is great as Mephisto.
The climate is cool. The western vibe was very correct.
Music? Chris Young is a god. Marvelous.
Songs? GRS in the sky by Spiderbait really surprises me ( why not is in the soundtrack album... ).
So, the final result is very pleasent. I think the general crowd was satisfied, and the fans, well, speaking for myself, i love it.
Can´t wait to see it again. Sure thing.
MSJ has a masterpiece on his hands.
Almost.
Some things, hm, just don´t look so cool.
Namely:
-Too much humor. Almost ruined the climate.
-JB watching monkeys on tv, "drinking" jellybeans and listen to The Carpenters. Nic Cage himself said this was his contribution to the script, because he does all these stuff. Damn...
-Mack died and nobody even notice.
-Why Slade doesn´t go to fight side by side with JB?
-The Hidden were defeated so easely.
-Where are the movie rock songs?
-And where, oh my God, where are the creepy, awesome, loyal to the comics, Blackheart demon form MSJ always talked on the interviews?!!! Nothing, nada.
All this points are not enough to make GR a bad movie, no sir!
It´s cool. That´s enough for me.
Box office hit, despise all the bad reviews ( damn critics! people aren´t dummies! they watch what they want, morons! ).
I think we have to move on.
A sequel is inevitable, right?
So why not give some other writer and director a chance?
Like Blade. Norrington & Del Toro. Two different vision and still great movies. GR2 need to go further, edgier stuff.
Maybe Ketch, maybe Blaze or even someone new, like a modern day Slade, who knows? But the first step was given.
I want some hardcore stuff now. Dark now, ok?
Why not Alexandre Aja directing a Andrew Kevin Walker script?
Vengeance, Scarecrow, Blackout, Lilith, Stephen Lords the Deathwatch...
There are options. Many of them.
But for now i´m very pleased. MSJ makes me very happy.
Thanx resurrect the Demon, man!
Thanx a lot!
GR4EVR!!!
CADA VEZ MAIS.

 

[TripXyDE]

sometimes we can commit the same mistake

we idolize a movie/adaptation too much that we often forget to really open our minds from outside the fanboy perspective... then we realize after a while that it really is awful.

like when I saw Star Wars Episode 1...
because I was a Star Wars geek, I thought it was one great movie that will get up among the classics. But it is only later that I realize, after the fanboy fever has simmered down, that I was just blinded by my being a fanatic.

Same goes with X-Men 3. I thought it was marvellous. But after watching it again on dvd. I realized, "man, that was lame"

If you really loved the movie, fine. But I hope youre not just being blinded by a temporal fanboy fever.

And by the way, BURNFOREVER, if you really thought the movie was SO GREAT, it's kinda surprising that you were able to produce 7 valid complaints.

And you are right...
"Mack died and nobody even notice."

we didn't even remember to discus his death scene ...till now that you mentioned it

 

[Darkest Knight]

I do not think X-Men 3 is as bad as the wrap it gets. No way, no how.

 

[jrd550]

So far I think DareDevil made more money and cost less... hopefully MSJ won't be allowed to do another GR... I wish they had used Goyer's script, and a different director.

 

[crazy sock]

the main reason i think why X3 blew as it did and disappointed as much as it had, was b/c they tried to cram too much into it. its the same problem batman and robin had with there being too much stuff put in it. other than that i dont rele see anything else wrong with X3, im not saying i liked it cause i sure didnt enjoy it. but i dont think it was made bad in anyway, like with its editing or dialogue or acting or the casting n whatever else. it simply just had to much going on that didnt come together smoothly. like they had Angel in there(the guy with the wings) n he rele didnt play much of an important role. he was there to just move things along. and the whole "x3 has sentinels" thing is disappointing because that robot wasnt a sentinel but just a danger room bot. it coulda been a lot better if they didnt try n fit everything into it since it was gunnah be the last X-movie.

 

[TripXyDE]

ok, i may have been exaggerating when i said that X3 was lame.
that WAS a bit TOO MUCH
yes, i DID enjoy it. but, yes i agree, that they crammed too much into it that there was a mess.

AND what i hated about it was the TOO MUCH KILLING (& ALTERATION) OF MAIN CHARACTERS on it. So much so that it leaves not enough breathing room for a sequel

cyke is dead
jean grey is dead (maybe that's ok, but if the intention is to focus new characters in further episodes, do we really have to kill them?)
xavier died, lived ...and in ANOTHER body?! (interesting twist. but isn't that COMPLETELY ALTERING/MESSING with the source material?)

 

[Cyrusbales]

I think they could have set up onslaught from his out of body consciousness, but what the heck, back to Ghost rider....

Crapy Villains!

 

[Mr. Socko]

When I first saw X3, I LOVED it.

Then once I got it on DVD, I rewatched it, and it was really lackluster, I didn't enjoy it, the action was stupid, it just wasn't fun. I have yet to watch it again on DVD and regret that I bought it.

 

[crazy sock]

ok, i may have been exaggerating when i said that X3 was lame.
that WAS a bit TOO MUCH
yes, i DID enjoy it. but, yes i agree, that they crammed too much into it that there was a mess.

AND what i hated about it was the TOO MUCH KILLING (& ALTERATION) OF MAIN CHARACTERS on it. So much so that it leaves not enough breathing room for a sequel

cyke is dead
jean grey is dead (maybe that's ok, but if the intention is to focus new characters in further episodes, do we really have to kill them?)
xavier died, lived ...and in ANOTHER body?! (interesting twist. but isn't that COMPLETELY ALTERING/MESSING with the source material?)

yea i know what you mean, but i heard that they didnt want to make any more X-sequels so thats prob why they made such a mess out of X3. they killed off a lot of the main characters cause they didnt want to give a chance for any more sequels to be done. and i agree with cyrusbales about how they could have set up a onslaught story for a fourth movie,
X4-ONSLAUGHT or something like that. if they did go that way, they could have had actual sentinels n whatnot. whatever, i cant afford to focus on other marvel movies n their mistakes. i dont even like thinking about ghost rider.

 

[I_Hate_U_All]

I really wanted the movie to be great. I am pleased to see it doing well at the box office, but I"m also horrified because it, in some way, validates the trash that avi and those involved gave us.

The visual effects of the Ghost Rider were great, but the plot sucked. Never mind the plot, just any facet of realism was tossed out. Yes, I did say realism when talking about a comic book movie. Even with suspension of disbelief, you have to have realism in the other aspects of the movie. For instance, Ghost rider "escaping" from prison with one cop to stop him. WTF was that? Sprinkler system coming on in the lockup, but no one investigating? The ending was ridiculous, and I just love how blaze was able to tell meph he was keeping the GR and then have nothing happen to him. His woman should have been smited the second the words left his mouth.

Very disappointed with the quality of the story. Very impressed with the visual.

You're digging waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too deep to find flaws in this flick.

GR was chased by the entire police force in this movie after escaping jail.

The sprinkler system activated, yes. The police probably did investigate but they're humans like us and require time to move from place to place.

Yes Meph doesn't just bust out a bazooka and blow Johnny sky high right there at the end but he does say "i'll make you pay for this."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh

 

[Bad Apple]

I didn't really like the movie that much. There wasn't enough Ghost Rider. It was a mediocre superhero movie. No better than daredevil.

 

[LadyVader]

-Mack died and nobody even notice.

He's the comic relief. Are we supposed to notice?

Just kidding. Yeah, it was kinda weird that they killed mack after making him so likeable but I guess they needed to show us Blackheart meant business. It was a pointelss death if you ask me. They could've made it more interesting if Mack would've died protecting his friend somehow.

 

[Nepenthes]

i hated this movie so much i forced my self to fall asleep

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

He's the comic relief. Are we supposed to notice?

Just kidding. Yeah, it was kinda weird that they killed mack after making him so likeable but I guess they needed to show us Blackheart meant business. It was a pointelss death if you ask me. They could've made it more interesting if Mack would've died protecting his friend somehow.

Yeah i agree with this, they should have had Blackheart going for Roxanne first and Mack jumping in front of her, it would have given him a good and honourable death scene.

 

[not_a_victim]

Finally saw it last night...
What I liked:
-The visual effects. If this is truly the reason for the delay in the release of the movie, then it was worth it.
- Sam Elliot. He owns every movie he is in.
- Peter Fonda. Just like above, he really helped the movie with his skills.
- Nic Cage. I pretty much like most of his work. Remember that an actor can only work with the material given to him.
- The story as a whole.
What I didn't like:
- Not enough character exposition, especially between Mephistopheles and Blackheart. You don't really know why these two are out for each other. It's just "I want to take over." from Blackheart. It made me think of the Highlander "There can be only one" idea, and the Star Wars Sith/ Apprentice thing.
- The final fight. I get that GR's pennance stare doesn't work on those without a soul. Why would Blackheart choose the tactical error of absorbing all those souls while GR is around? Blackheart was setting himself up for a defeat. Also, I thought the final fight should have been three to five minutes of brutal, bone crushing melee, possibly with GR discovering powers he did not know he had.
- The editing. This seems to cover most of the complaints I really have. The whole thing seems so rushed.
For Example: The final fight could have been longer and much more brutal. Better editing could have provided better character exposition, etc.
- Run time. I know movie that excede 90 minutes are discouraged by the studios, but this seemed to be one that could have benefited from another 30 minutes of time. A lot of the editing problems would have disolved with more time.

Overall, I liked the movie. Cage does a great job as someone teetering on the edge of sanity. His look/laugh/actions when he is changing, especially when he is in jail, remind me of his cafeteria fight scene in Face/Off.