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• 1080p High Definition

• Spirit of Vengeance Featurette

• Audio Commentaries

• Spirit of Adventure Featurette

• Interactive Menus

• Spirit of Execution Featurette

Special Feature Rating:

Johnny Blaze (Matt Long) is a daredevil stunt rider.  Along with his father Barton (Brett Cullen) he performs motorcycle jumps and stunts with a small circus.  The father and son team don't get along that well, but when Johnny discovers that his dad has cancer he sells his soul to Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda who seems to be channeling Jack Nicholson) in exchange for having his father cured.  Barton is cured, and Johnny decides to leave the circus and run off with his girl friend Roxanne (Raquel Alessi).  Things aren't quite that simple however.  Though Barton is well, Mephistopheles kills him during his next performance and warns Johnny never to get involved with anyone again.  After all, the young Blaze now belongs to the devil who has big plans for him.

Fast forward a number of years.  Johnny (now played by Nicolas Cage) is now a famous daredevil.  He fills auditoriums with people wanting to see his jumps and there are videogames based on his stunts.  No matter how dangerous a jump or horrible a spill, Johnny gets up unhurt, it's almost like he's being protected.

Things seem to be looking great for Blaze.  He's famous, respected, and rich, and he even reunites with Roxanne (now played by Eva Mendes.)  For some reason Roxane has only aged about ten years while Blaze has aged 20, but that doesn't seem to bother anyone in this movie.  Before Johnny can rekindle the blaze (no pun intended) with his paramour from years before, Mephistopheles appears and announced that he has a use for the cyclist.  It turns out that Mephistopheles' son, Blackheart (Wes Bentley), has turned against him.  Along with three other demons from Hell, Blackheart is searching for the Contract of San Venganza that will allow him to overthrow his father and create Hell on Earth.  In order to aid Blaze, Mephistopheles gives him the power of the Ghost Rider.  With a flaming skull for a face and a bitchin' cycle to ride, it's up to Blaze to prevent the unthinkable.

Story Rating:

This Blu-Ray disc presents the movie with its original aspect ratio of 2.4:1, and does quite a good job too.  The film is filled with eye candy and there are several scenes that would make excellent demo material.  When Ghost Rider is driving up the side of a skyscraper and then engages in a battle with a helicopter at the summit is some of the coolest scenes in the film and this really pops off the screen.  The level of detail is excellent too, with every crag and line on Nicholas Cage's face being reproduced with horrifying accuracy.

The CGI looks especially good on this BD.  While you can still tell that it was generated by a computer, Ghost Rider, as well as his motorcycle, look real enough that you're not constantly reminded that they are artificial.  They don't have that cartoony feel that many CGI figures do. *cough* The Hulk *cough*.   Though the movie itself isn't great, the images are impressive.

Picture Rating:

The disc has an uncompressed 5.1 audio track as well as a Dolby True HD option.  (There's also a French dub in 5.1.)  There really isn't much difference between the two, and viewers will be pleased with either selection.   The movie has a very dynamic and active soundtrack and these tracks reproduce that faithfully. 

The reproduction was flawless, with no distortion or other common problems.  It's only too bad that the script to the film wasn't as impressive as the audio that accompanies it.

Sound Rating:

Overall Rating:

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