Lula wrote: i Don't believe fear is just something to conquer, but the key to the edge of our experience..including truth and love.
I will never forget the feeling that came over me when I saw the long dark street stretching down the screen in the nighttime scenes when we first see the older Johnny Blaze.
Mind you, thinking about it , that added more weight to the darkness carried by Johnny that Nic was silently conveying. He does that deeper emotion thing so well.
Well said, Lula!
The appearance of older Johnny is indeed overwhelming... u know what? One thing I love Nic so much is what u said... he can always make the characters more alive & closer to humanity. :)
(Yeah I study literature... but still have a lot to work. Thanks for ur compliment, though. )
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LOSERS always whine about their best. Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.
Hi mara! it was Gerfalcon who started the amazing darkness and light theme...she lit my touch paper!
Did you say you were studying literature Eirian, with a mind like yours I bet you are doing brilliantly!
I love the topic of fear and love too Randy, great to see you by the way I was recently asked for a 4word life story, mine was 'through fear found love' (not the romantic kind). i Don't believe fear is just something to conquer, but the key to the edge of our experience..including truth and love. I'm looking forward to reading your poems in a it Oom!
Sadly, I think you are right Gerfalcon. The Ghost Rider sequel hangs within the ambience of criticism..let's hope it swings in the other direction. Let's keep blowing it that way!
I've only got the eye of an amateur, but I thought the effects were great and the cinematography was inspired. Mind you, it had been a while since I'd see any film and I chose Ghost Rider as my first so I was just pretty blown away. I will never forget the feeling that came over me when I saw the long dark street stretching down the screen in the nighttime scenes when we first see the older Johnny Blaze.
The only thing I didn't like about this film was the Buffy the Vampire Slayer stylee baddies. On the whole they just weren't baddie enough for me.( Sorry to all Buffy fans ) Mind you, thinking about it , that added more weight to the darkness carried by Johnny that Nic was silently conveying. He does that deeper emotion thing so well.
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Holy plasma balls ~ Blake the Master Sorcerer ~ Magic in his hands
Oom, please post those poems I´d love to read them!
Randy, thanks for the quote, it rings true to me because I´ve been there. Will look for the author.
Lula, I had never noticed the contrast between the darkness and the light in the film until you mentioned it. Thanks for making me want to see it again (it´s not one of my faves though).
-- Edited by mara on Sunday 26th of July 2009 06:35:45 AM
Thank you Lula! You have a great insight into the film too, love ur post! :) Basically I think it's an underrated film, but if you ask me whether I expect the sequel highly, my answer is 'not so sure'. Cuz even though it has a good theme, the way it is represented is not so ideal... that's probably why many criticize it toughly. At least its visual effects should be improved IMHO.
Hey Randy, I love that quote too! Thanks for sharing!
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LOSERS always whine about their best. Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.
I love that quote Randy.....because it rings so true. I've written many a poem on the subject of FEAR. I'll share some of them in another thread if anyone is interested.
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"Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do" ~~Gian Carlo Menotti~~
okay, i'm about to mangle a quote here, so be nice " to fear love is to fear life. to fear life means you are already three parts dead." from memory, so can't make it exact and i have no idea who said it..... love the topic wolverine!
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"never explain. your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe it anyway" - IHOP sugar packet -
Oh Eirian, to me Ghost Rider is not so good (but I still watch it with my cousins once-removed, it's a fun movie anyway) but I love your post! Really deep!
I bet Jack must be proud of you so much :).
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"No discussion -- no deals." - Face/Off Script. "You are what you love, not what loves you." - Adaptation. SAY IT LOUD - I'M A NICAHOLIC AND I'M PROUD XD!!!
I totally agree the film is...Totally utterly ridiculously underrated!
Thank you for your excellent review! everytime i read a positive one about Ghost Rider, it feels like it redresses the imbalance and somehow soothes the glimmers of inner rage I sometimes feel about the injustice of the criticsm it's received.
I love your take on the whole darkness and light theme...the scene that springs to mind is when Johnny sees Roxanne for the first time after they parted...up until that point we have seen him swathed in darkness, even in the cinematography, with the dark streets..., and she appears as if in a light at the end of a tunnel, like an angel, dressed all in white, (in contrast to Johnny's regular black clothing) so bright he almost cannot see!
And this is one element I love about the film, we too as an audience are pulled between the darkness and light as we watch Johnny being pulled.. People don't often talk about the emotion in this film. And maybe it's just me and the whole context of how i experienced the film but there were elements of real pain in here, that only an actor like Nic could portray by just being..like a real depth of emotional darkness..so when Roxanne appears like the angel everything brightens up temporarily for us too.
I guess you are as keen as me now to see another Ghost Rider, Gerfalcon!
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Holy plasma balls ~ Blake the Master Sorcerer ~ Magic in his hands
Well, thank you very much ladies! I try to have a different take on even the wide-criticized films... after all, most of them still have some food for thought. I really appreciate ur encouragement and will keep writing! :)
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LOSERS always whine about their best. Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.
Wow Gerfalcon, your insight on this movie was great! I loved reading your thoughts, please keep them coming! You´re a very wise young lady: I agree that we are our own devil... There is another world, but it is in this one (Yeats?)
Wow Eirian! Fantastic analysis of Ghost Rider. Especially this part
"In the film, Johnny keeps telling himself, "You can't live in fear" and "You always have a second chance". Facing fear and managing to overcome it is necessary. This attitude toward life is crucial because we have to believe that we deserve to be "reborn" every time we fail or do the wrong things even though nobody is willing to give us a second chance; otherwise, we will always live in fear or sin and never be able to better ourselves. Before fighting against Blackheart, the caretaker asks Johnny to remember to "stay in the shadow" so that he can win the battle. This clip reminds us that sometimes we need to confront the darkest side in our heart to really solve the problems we have"
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on the movie. :)
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"Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do" ~~Gian Carlo Menotti~~
I watched Ghost Rider the other day. I didn't want to see it very much before cuz there are too many negative comments on the film, but after finishing it, I feel good and have much to write down, which I didn't expect.
It is the two best movies adapted from comics I've ever seen (the other one is The Dark Knight). Frankly speaking, its visual effects are no more special than other comic-adapted films, and some arrangements of the plot are confusing; still, the meaning in the film is worth thinking again and again.
Name is one important factor of the story, especially that of the couple. "Blaze" is the surname of Johnny, and this word represent light and dark; that is, the characteristics of Johnny and also of all human beings. Passion, ideal, love, and so on are positive traits we have, and they light up our life like "blaze". Conversely, hatred, jealousy, and others are negativeness, which are like the "blaze" from Hell/the darkness. Two kinds of the blaze lie in our mind. They are always fighting against each other and depend on us to control them, just as Johnny says, "I'm learning how to control it", we are all learning, too. As for his girl Roxanne, her name stands for "dawn" in Persian, and she's indeed a beam of light in Johnny's dark life. One of the most obvious evidence is when Johnny's performing, he falls down on seeing Mephisto/the devil; when he sees Roxanne, he flies across the helicopters. The devil makes him "fall", while Roxanne leads him to success, both in the performance and in his life.
In the film, Johnny keeps telling himself, "You can't live in fear" and "You always have a second chance". Facing fear and managing to overcome it is necessary. This attitude toward life is crucial because we have to believe that we deserve to be "reborn" every time we fail or do the wrong things even though nobody is willing to give us a second chance; otherwise, we will always live in fear or sin and never be able to better ourselves. Before fighting against Blackheart, the caretaker asks Johnny to remember to "stay in the shadow" so that he can win the battle. This clip reminds us that sometimes we need to confront the darkest side in our heart to really solve the problems we have.
The theme of Ghost Rider is the negativeness of humanity and the process to find the salvation. The truth is, however, we ourselves are the devils and the angels/salvation of our life. Those who like Johnny know that only the soul can be taken but not the spirit are able to take the initiative in life and in the end find the way out in the face of any challenge, for they understand that lesson well.
Thanks for your reading... time for me to jump off the soapbox, LOL!!
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LOSERS always whine about their best. Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.
YAY!! Nice one Gerfalcon!!
everytime i read a positive one about Ghost Rider, it feels like it redresses the imbalance and somehow soothes the glimmers of inner rage I sometimes feel about the injustice of the criticsm it's received.
