Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Ghost Rider Movie Official Thread...SPOILERS

Saw it yesterday and I loved it.
It was alot better than I had thought it would be.
I feared the worst because of the delays and the release date being pushed back but I defenately enjoyed it despite some weak story plots that made no sense (both Riders in the desert...why again?)

Great popcorn flick.

I just got home from seeing it.

It's definitely a lot of fun and worth seeing.

Like Ultra said, great popcorn movie.

#1 for the weekend. #1 opening of the year. #1 opening of Cage's career. And tomorrow it may break the record for #1 opening on President's Day weekend. Sounds good. Of course they are already talking sequel.

Can't wait for it to hit Brewvies.

Wouldn't that require someone in Hollywood to have an original thought? You should know better than to ask for the impossible.

I didn't see it until March, but I definitely had a good time. Like the comments above, I felt it was not high art but a really good popcorn movie.

Since I saw it, I've seen it repeatedly referred to as if it were the worst comic movie ever. Why? I mean, Ghost Rider hasn't been more than a 2nd- or 3rd-tier character anyway, and his various series were never anything resembling high art or even defined by a creator's superlative run like many other comic characters. So it seems we got an entirely appropriately popcorn movie for a popcorn character.

So why all the hate?

'Cause there are a lot of comic book fans without a sense of humor.

And if they think that Ghost Rider is the worst super hero movie they've never seen the Cathy Lee Crosby Wonder Woman movie...

Or Fantastic Four. Or Elektra. Or Cat Woman.

I finally got around to seeing this movie.

I wouldn't say it's the worst super-hero movie ever made. But then I haven't seen every super-hero movie ever made.

My main problem with the movie is that it's so superficial and predictable. The original comic book series had Johnny Blaze seeking the devil himself, then his soul being by spared by Roxanne (who was pure of heart). Johnny then spent his time trying to avoid being taken by the devil and battling the hordes of hell sent against him. The movie strips any sense of originality from the character and turns him into a combination of a Nasgul from "Lord of the Rings" and The Spectre. In the early issues of the comic, Johnny often puts on an act as the "spirit of vengeance"; here, it's taken more literally.

Nicolas Cage is an actor I've enjoyed watching in other movies (notably "Moonstruck"), but here he's too ham-handed to be credible. At first Johnny is created to be quirky character, but later he just comes off as dumb or over the top.

I could give a laundry list of things I didn't like about the movie (interminably slow pacing, cardboard villains, a love interest who is equal parts airhead and doormat), but I think my biggest gripe is, whereas most Marvel films remain true to the spirit of the characters while changing a detail here and there, "Ghost Rider" has no spirit (pun not intended). It just goes through the motions of special effects and motorcycle carnage without any real story.

And would someone please find something else for Sam Elliot to do besides portray the same slow-talking, wise mentor he's played ever since "Road House," if not before?

Rating:

Hey, I like Sam Elliot as a slow-talking, wise mentor! The Big Lebowski is one of my favorite movies ever.

Still haven't seen this one. Debated picking up the HD-DVD that was advertised but, since it is a Sony title, only Blu-Ray is available.

I didn't see The Big Lebowski, but if you liked Elliott in "Road House," you'll like him in "Ghost Rider." He plays essentially the same character with a comparable amount of screen time.

Actually, I've never seen Road House. At least not all the way through. Not much of a Swayze fan past Red Dawn.

I'm not a Swayze fan, either. "Road House" is just a guilty pleasure.

I liked it. Yeah, it was a little different, but still, it was what it was, summertime style fare meant to be a popcorn movie.

I sometimes think that we as comics fans (notice i include myself, just not about this particular movie) take ourselves and the comics far to seriously. He's a flamin' skull on a hellbike. Its not theatre in the round, lol.

I'm all for super-hero movies that aren't taken too seriously, rick. I loved "The Incredibles" and the movie about the super-hero academy of two years ago (I'm drawing a blank on the name).

But "Ghost Rider" was just poorly written, poorly conceived, and poorly acted, in my opinion. I don't mind popcorn movies, but I do like most of my kernels to be cooked!

FINALLY saw it on DVD today. Since my expectations weren't high, I wasn't too disappointed, but it's not a very good movie. I mainly just wanted to see how GR came to life onscreen. I thought GR looked pretty good for the most part, but like I said in my previous post after seeing the preview, I would've liked it better if he weren't so ... smooth.

It's too bad they didn't use Zarathos, but I can understand them leaving that out. The Faustian aspect of the origin is probably enough without explaining who Zarathos is and going through the whole process of them existing together.

My biggest problem with the story is that after that big battle/chase with the cops, nobody has a problem getting into Johnny's apartment even though they all say the cops and everyone's looking for him and they obviously know where he lives since that's where they arrested him.

I kept thinking maybe they should've went more horrific and gone for an "R" rating. I know it's not usual, but "Terminator" was an "R" and it kicked ass...