History Film / GhostRider

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[[caption-width-right:350:Hot Wheels!]]

''Ghost Rider'' (2007) is a supernatural action film based on the [[ComicBook/GhostRider comic book]] of the same name from Creator/MarvelComics.

Johnny Blaze, the son in a [[BadassFamily father-son motorcycle stunt team]], is in love with [[UnfortunateNames Roxanne]], the daughter of the richest man in town. After planning to run away with her, Johnny discovers his father is terminally ill with little time left. [[{{Satan}} The Devil]] (in a {{Cameo}} performance by Creator/PeterFonda) shows up and offers Johnny a DealWithTheDevil. Johnny asks the Devil to save his father's life. Miraculously, Barton Blaze is [[LiteralGenie cured of his cancer]], but dies immediately afterward in an accident because the Devil wants Johnny freed up.

Realizing what he's just gotten himself into, Johnny takes off and abandons his sweetheart at their meeting place.

[[AgeCut Fifteen or twenty years later]], we join Johnny (Creator/NicolasCage) on the road. He's now a world-famous stunt cyclist, and repeating the SurvivalMantra "you can't live in fear", knowing the Devil hasn't come for him yet, but he keeps living through the increasingly insane stunts he does.

Meanwhile, Blackheart (Creator/WesBentley), son of the Devil, shows up and has decided it's time for the old man to step aside for a new Lord of Hell. He summons [[QuirkyMinibossSquad three elemental demons]] to serve him, promising that if they help him defeat the Devil, he'll give them nobility in Hell.

Meanwhile, Roxanne has turned up to interview Johnny after his stunt. Johnny takes this as a sign and asks her out. But the Devil of course picks the night she agrees to give him another chance to call in his marker. Johnny refuses, but cannot resist the power of hell. He transforms into the Ghost Rider and dispatches the first of Blackheart's minibosses. Now Johnny must try to control the power of the Rider, defeat the elemental demons, and Blackheart - all while trying to keep Roxanne out of the line of fire.

The rest of the film plays out like a video game. Meet [[{{Mentors}} a mentor]]. CharacterDevelopment (such that it is), BossFight with one of the minibosses.

Followed by a 2012 sequel, ''Film/GhostRiderSpiritOfVengeance''.

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!!This film provides examples of:

* ActorAllusion: Mephisto (played by Creator/PeterFonda) calls Johnny's ride a "nice bike" while eyeing it up and down. The Ghost Rider's motorcycle in this film is a tweaked version of the exact same model Fonda's character rode in the seminal classic Film/EasyRider.
* AgeCut: The film starts with young Johnny and Roxanne, then cuts to the adult Johnny.
* AllThereInTheManual: The novelization ended with an explanation of how Johnny Blaze got off the murder charges, having "some hotshot New York lawyer" make a mockery of the prosecutor's case. Said lawyer was supposed to be [[Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} Matt Murdock]]. Which is almost certainly a ShoutOut to the original Ghost Rider concept. He was intended to be a Daredevil villain, but it was just too good of an idea.
* AnswersToTheNameOfGod:
-->'''Roxanne:''' [on discovering Johnny's manager dead] Jesus!
-->'''[[HeWasRightThereAllAlong Blackheart]]:''' Not even ''close''.
* AssimilationBackfire: [[spoiler:Blackheart {{No Sell}}s Blaze's penance stare power the first time it's used on him since he doesn't have a soul. When he draws the trapped souls of San Venganza into his body in a bid to increase his power, Blaze realizes that he's made himself vulnerable to the stare and uses it to destroy him.]]
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Blackheart says the IAmLegion line verbatim.
* AssholeVictim: Anyone the Ghost Rider beats up.
* TheAtoner: Both Riders.
* AwesomenessIsVolatile: Implicitly the reason that Ghost Rider's bitchin' hellcycle tears up the road, sets things on fire and sends cars flying.
* BadassBiker: ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* BadassLongcoat: Carter Slade wears one when he becomes the Ghost Rider, replete with bullet holes through which show flickers of hellfire.
* BodyHorror: Johnny's transformation into the Ghost Rider.
* BookEnds: Both of Sam Elliot's monologues at the start and end of the movie begin with "It's said that the West was built on legends."
* CallItKarma: The Penance Stare. If you look into GR's eyes while he's within an arm's reach of you, he can force you to experience every iota of pain you've ever inflicted on others without cause in your life. Your average hood just realizes he should go home and rethink his life. A villain will be reduced to a vegetable - unless they [[OurSoulsAreDifferent don't have a soul]].
* CassandraTruth: Johnny confesses he's the Ghost Rider to Roxanne, but she believes it's just a fear of commitment sort of thing.
* ChainPain: One that's heated with hellfire, at that.
* CivvieSpandex: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Johnny is a performance motorcyclist so wears biker gear as his street clothes.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: There's something of an 'orange and blue' theme around Ghost Rider and Blackheart respectively.
* CombatStilettos: Roxanne is surprisingly good at running in heels.
* CompositeCharacter:
** Ghost Rider is Johnny Blaze, but the different appearance of Ghost Rider (Chain wrapped around the torso, and the spikey one) is the comic book costume of Danny Ketch (Ghost Rider II). Originally, the chain was ''exclusive'' to Danny, who had the spike-bearing costume. When Johnny was brought back for the new comics, he inherited the look. Johnny originally wore stylized black leathers with a high collar and that was ''it''. Also, Johnny's version of Ghost Rider fired blasts of flames while Danny had the Penance Stare. This version has both powers, though the Penance Stare is given more importance by the plot.
** Barton Blaze became the reason why there was a deal with Mephisto, not Johnny's adoptive father, Crash Simpson. (Although there was a mention of Roxanne Simpson's father, who, ironically, didn't approve of her relationship with Blaze.)
** The Caretaker is really Carter Slade (the original Ghost Rider, later renamed Phantom Rider).
* {{Confessional}}: Blackheart mockingly confesses to a priest before killing him.
* ConfusedBystanderInterview: This scene happens with a goth girl (Creator/RebelWilson) who is not so much confused as ''impressed''.
* ConvectionSchmonvection: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since it's supernatural fire.
* CoolBike: The Ghost Rider's flaming bike.
* CoolHorse: The previous Ghost Rider's flaming [[StealthPun metal-banded horse]].
* CoversAlwaysLie: The [[http://www.impawards.com/2007/posters/ghost_rider_ver4_xlg.jpg theatrical poster]] has Ghost Rider carrying an unconscious Roxanne, which never happens in the movie.
* DealWithTheDevil:
** Johnny's DealWithTheDevil is an odd one. He did it to save his beloved father rather than for personal gain, which is presumably why he is able to control the Ghost Rider's powers so quickly. Johnny also never actually agrees to signing. He cuts himself, bleeds on the contract, and Mephisto considers it sealed. That may actually account for his inability to remove the powers once the contract was complete.
** The main plot item the contract of San Venganza, was the result of basically [[WretchedHive an entire crapsack city]] making deals with the Devil.
* DeepSouth: The film is primarily set in Texas, and appropriately enough, most of the cast have thick accents.
* DetectEvil: Johnny transforms into the Ghost Rider in the presence of evil people. He also has the ability to sense whether a particular person is good or evil (seen when the Rider takes out a bunch of prisoners who attacked him, but declares one "Innocent" and leaves him alone).
* DisproportionateRetribution: Averted. By definition, the retribution the Penance Stare inflicts is ''precisely'' proportionate to the subject's crimes.
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Johnny Blaze, both in human and Ghost Rider form.
* DrivingUpAWall: Johnny Blaze's infernal alter-ego escapes police pursuit by riding his motorcycle up the side of a skyscraper, leaving a trail of hellfire and molten glass.
* ElementalPowers: Ghost Rider is [[PlayingWithFire Fire]]. He's pitted against three demons, each with power over another; [[BlowYouAway Abigor]], [[MakingASplash Wallow]], and [[DishingOutDirt Gressil]].
* EvilIsDeathlyCold: Blackheart freezes a biker's beer just by being nearby.
* FaustianRebellion: Johnny does this after the Devil shows up to thank him for living up to his contract.
* FlashBack: Johnny recalls his father fondly when he has to explain why he wants to do a certain stunt in a certain way.
* FlippingTheBird: Ghost Rider does this when he escapes from the police.
* FreakinessShame / FreakyIsCool: Roxanne reacts positively to Johnny in the end when she sees him as Ghost Rider.
* GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: Ghost Rider does this a few times before declaring judgement on someone.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Blackheart after getting the contract.
* GoodCopBadCop: The police try this on Johnny when he's suspected of murder. It fails because Blaze knows that they are both good guys.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: The police try GoodCopBadCop on Johnny and the good cop smokes a cigarette.
* HelicopterBlender: Johnny dares to risk invoking this with his chopper-jumps-choppers stunt.
* {{Hellfire}}: It burns hotter the more sins the target has. This tends to show up as the Rider's Penance Stare (or as fireballs he can throw). It sears souls.
* HellishHorse: The previous Ghost Rider's horse is a black horse. Nothing special until the Ghost Rider powers up. Then it's a flaming metal skeleton horse which leaves fiery hoofprints.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: A good description of [[spoiler:Blackheart's fate; he set out to acquire the power of the contract of San Venganza, but only realised after he got it that this made him vulnerable to the Penance Stare]].
* IAmLegion: Blackheart, upon getting what he came for.
* ImmuneToBullets: Johnny in his Ghost Rider form.
* InPrisonWithTheRogues: Johnny gets wrongly accused of murders committed by Blackheart and gets thrown into a shared cell full of multiple thugs. After ganging up on him and beating him up together, Johnny transforms into Ghost Rider and blasts all of them away, steals one guy's jacket, then burns through the bars of the cell to escape prison.
* InstantExpert: It looks that way, but Johnny knew the Devil would be coming for him from since his teens, and has spent the intervening years reading a lot of metaphysical and paranormal books to prepare himself for what he'd become when the Devil called in the marker.
* InstantKnots: The Ghost Rider's chain, but justified as the Ghost Rider can control it by will alone. It even adjusts itself when he wraps it over his chest.
* IronicEcho: Said to and by Johnny, then Rider: "Nice jacket."
* {{Jerkass}}: The punk who wants to beat up Johnny Blaze in jail, because he always bets for Johnny to be killed by his stunts. The punk loses every time, of course.
* JustHitHim: Blackheart seems to prefer pushing Ghost Rider over to punching him, and even pushes Johnny into a church that he obviously ''wanted'' to enter. The wind demon, too, does little more than knock Ghost Rider around.
* LargeHam: Zig-zagged. For the majority of the movie Nicolas Cage plays Johnny Blaze surprisingly straight-laced. But then comes the times when [[IncomingHam Johnny turns into Ghost Rider]] and [[LaughingMad all of that goes out the window]].
* LaughingMad: Johnny while turning into the Ghost Rider for the first time.
* {{Leitmotif}}: The Ghost Rider has one, as does Roxanne.
* LogoJoke: The Marvel logo features comic-book images of the Ghost Rider in its pages; after it fully forms it blazes briefly, then turns metallic and grows spikes, replicating the Ghost Rider's transformation. Seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp3lquJlXbI here]].
* TheMagicTouch: Johnny's motorcycle and a shotgun.
* MagicAIsMagicA: The "at night in the presence of evil" rule for Johnny's transformation is adhered to begin with, and the fact he can't transform while in direct sunlight is made a critical part of the final battle. However, Johnny and the gravekeeper transform despite the fact that there's no evil around, basically [[RuleOfCool so we can see two Ghost Riders riding together]]. Later, Johnny rides through a swamp, at night, with a demon nearby and doesn't transform until it's [[RuleOfDrama dramatically appropriate]]. In the final moments of the film Johnny [[RuleOfCool rides into the camera and transforms]] despite the fact that it's dusk and he's not near any evil beings. [[FridgeBrilliance Though the latter one may be due to him now being free of his contract.]] Much earlier in the film, Johnny is shown trying to take control of the forces possessing him and has some success.
* MarqueeAlterEgo: How frequently the Rider gives way to Johnny... especially in the big fight scene at the end. {{Justified|Trope}} by adhering to the very earliest comics, where Johnny only became the Rider at night/in the dark.
* MindRape: In addition to being {{Hellfire}}, the Penance Stare of the Ghost Rider rips a target's mind open, so as to make them relive the pain they've caused others with every sin they've committed.
* MundaneUtility: Johnny Blaze uses his NighInvulnerability to... be a great stunt driver.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Johnny's reaction when he revisits the scene of his rampage the night before.
* NeverSayThatAgain: Blackheart, when asked about Mephistopheles by name.
* NewOldWest: The movie tied in an older Western character by the same name (who existed in the comics but was unrelated to the modern character, initially). Besides being set in the American Southwest, the creators of the movie were intentionally going for a Western feel in several areas, albeit with a supernatural twist. For example, the clothing of Blackheart and his henchman were made similar to traditional Western costumes with an updated look.
* NightmareFace: Blackheart has one aside from his normal face.
* NitroBoost: What Johnny uses in his Blackhawk Helicopter jump stunt.
* NobleDemon: Johnny-as-Ghost Rider.
* ObliviousJanitorCut: The eponymous biker rides down the side of a office building, shattering glass windows all the way down, and the janitor, wearing headphones again, doesn't notice the broken glass until after Rider is long gone.
* OhCrap: Blackheart essentially has one when [[spoiler:Ghost Rider manifests before him and observes that Blackheart now has "a thousand souls to burn", prompting Blackheart to briefly panic before he's subjected to the Stare]].
* OminousLatinChanting: We hear a gleeful burst of this when Johnny is forced into his first Ghost Rider transformation.
* OurSoulsAreDifferent:
** [[spoiler: Absorbing every soul in the town of San Venganza causes Blackheart to be vulnerable to the Penance Stare.]]
** Johnny Blaze seems to lose his free will as a consequence of selling his soul to the Devil, as he is unable to refuse to become the Ghost Rider, or even to get off his bike when Mephisto doesn't want him to. Once his big mission is complete and his soul restored, though, Blaze has no trouble refusing the Devil's offer to free him of the Rider or in using the powers of the Rider against Mephisto's plans on Earth.
** Souls are the source of free will, and if one makes a DealWithTheDevil, they ultimately become a puppet. ''However'', the intent behind the deal can make this more complex: because Johnny "did it for love, to help someone [he] cared about, not for money or fame" "puts God on [his] side."
* PersonalArcade: Appropriately enough, there's an ''Evel Knievel'' pinball in Johnny Blaze's apartment.
* PostModernMagik: The Ghost Rider of the past hands the current one his shotgun which fires Hellfire (if in the hands of a Ghost Rider). This might be a subtle nod to an era in the comics when Johnny Blaze lost the mantle of Ghost Rider, but used a shotgun that could shoot hellfire with what remaining power he had.
* PowerEchoes: Upon [[spoiler: absorbing all the souls in San Venganza]], Blackheart's voice is his voice ''plus all of theirs''.
* PowerIncontinence: Small case, PlayedForLaughs. Johnny's mere presence is enough to make a policeman's lighter flame flare up.
* PreAssKickingOneLiner:
--> To the Wind Demon -- "Let's clear the ''air''!"
--> To the Earth Demon -- "Hey ''dirt'' bag!"
--> To the Water Demon -- ''"Surprise!"''
* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The three elemental demons who work for Blackheart.
* RealityEnsues: Ghost Rider's Hell Cycle [[BurningRubber creates flame on the road it travels]], resulting in one long trail of melted tar.
* RedRightHand: The Ghost Rider has a ''flaming skull''. Additionally, one of the first things to happen to Blaze during his initial transformation is that his hands turn red.
* RuleOfCool: The reason Johnny took out the cars and instead put in six Blackhawk helicopters? "My dad thought it'd be cool." His manager agrees Johnny's dad was right.
* ScissorsCutsRock: You might think that the water elemental would be the logical opponent to beat hellfire-powered Ghost Rider. It turns out hellfire beats water.
* ShoutOut:
** The RunningGag of Johnny eating jellybeans from a margarita glass could be a nod to Music/VanHalen having a rider in their contract that stipulates that they be provided with a brandy glass full of [=M&Ms=] (minus the brown ones) before every concert. [[http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/vanhalen.asp They use it as a test to determine that the venue has read their contract carefully.]] Considering that Johnny is an uber-UsefulNotes/EvelKnievel stunt biker who thinks nothing of '''jumping six Blackhawk helicopters on a whim''', any screw-up at all could turn him into LudicrousGibs. So, yeah - specific jelly beans in a specific distribution or he '''''WALKS!'''''
** That cartoon that Johnny watches in his apartment near the beginning of the film? [[WesternAnimation/TheSkeletonDance That's a real thing]].
** "[[Franchise/MortalKombat GET OVER HERE!]]". This one is funny for being a recursive ShoutOut. Scorpion's FlamingSkull and [[StockNinjaWeaponry chainblade]] were confirmed to be shout-outs to Ghost Rider. So we have Ghost Rider making a ShoutOut to character who is a ShoutOut to Ghost Rider.
** As the Riders head to San Venganza, watch for a lizard to burst into flames as they pass, a reference to the biker in the Nicolas Cage film ''Film/RaisingArizona.''
* SouthernGothicSatan: The movie presents both ComicBook/{{Mephisto}} and his son Blackheart as Tall, Dark, and Handsome persons in human form (Mephisto also being a SilverFox), being the ones who made the {{deal|WithTheDevil}} with Johnny Blaze to eventually become ComicBook/GhostRider.
* StealthPun: Carter Slade's mount in Ghost Rider form is an ''Iron Horse''.
* StevenUlyssesPerhero: The guy with the flaming skull is named Johnny Blaze. But since his father had the same profession (stuntman), it may not have been his birth name.
* StoodUp: Twice.
** Young Johnny bails on running away with Roxanne after he realizes what his DealWithTheDevil will turn his life into.
** Years later, Johnny goes to some lengths to get Roxanne to agree to dinner with him. She grudgingly agrees, but this same night is the night Mephisto calls in the marker and forces Johnny to become the Ghost Rider for the first time.
* SuperStrength: All over the place. Of particular note is Ghost Rider getting into a tug of war with a helicopter.
* SweetieGraffiti: Young Johnny carves "J & R Forever" into a tree.
* TakenForGranite: The effect of Ghost Rider's chain on Gressil. He then gets [[LiterallyShatteredLives shattered]] instantly.
* TerribleTrio: There's the demon trio who serve Blackheart: Gressil, Abigor, and Wallow.
* {{Thememobile}}: The rider's motorcycle takes on that whole 'flaming demonic skull' motif. To a lesser degree, it's true of the previous Ghost Rider's horse as well.
* ThouShaltNotKill: The Rider won't kill humans, though the Penance Stare leaves its victims [[MindRape mentally]] [[FateWorseThanDeath ravaged]]. It is directly proportional to the amount of senseless pain and suffering they've caused others.
* TouchOfDeath: Blackheart's preferred method of killing his victims.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Jelly beans.
* TransformationTrauma: Johnny's first transformation into the Ghost Rider is seriously disturbing. The indicators of his condition go from his skin turning red and steaming when wet to his eyes lighting with the fires of hell, to the ''flesh burning off his skull and hands''.
* {{Troll}}: The Rider is clearly enjoying (nonlethally) fucking with the cops trying to stop him, at one point just outright cackling at the look of shock on a jerk detective's face when the Rider's able to evade a roadblock by just driving onto the water.
* {{Tsundere}}: Roxanne, whose [[UnresolvedSexualTension precise]] [[BelligerentSexualTension feelings]] for Johnny seem to vary every other scene.
* UnderTheSea: Okay, under the river. The police barricade a bridge, so Ghost Rider drives off the bridge into the river. He emerges with his skull and bike still on fire.
* VariableLengthChain: Johnny's main weapon, due to being imbued with Hellfire.
* VictoriousChildhoodFriend: Subverted. Roxanne wants to not forgive Johnny, but their love for each other has not been diminished by the years. Only once they get through the events of the movie, she knows they still can't be together because Johnny has sworn to fight Mephisto in revenge for what he did to Barton Blaze.
* VillainBall: While screwing people that make a DealWithTheDevil is pretty standard, it isn't very smart to do it with a prospective Ghost Rider, since the event that starts the plot proves Ghost Riders can in fact ignore the Devil's orders. Given that Mephisto doesn't use Johnny until years later, there was little reason to let his father die immediately.
* VillainsNeverLie: Mephisto.
* VillainsWantMercy: Gressil the earth elemental
-->'''Gressil:''' Have mercy.\\
'''Ghost Rider:''' Sorry, all out of mercy.
* VillainousBSOD: The effects of the Penance Stare.
* VoiceOfTheLegion: Blackheart gets this once he absorbs the souls from San Venganza.
* WalkOnWater: Or drive on it, rather.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Blackheart tends to kill anyone who he has finished questioning, and sometimes kills people [[ForTheEvulz just for fun]].
* YouKilledMyFather: Johnny says this outright to the Devil, and it's his reason for not giving up the Ghost Rider powers after he's fulfilled his end of the bargain.
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* LargeHam: As expected with Nicolas Cage. Especially during the transformation sequence.