The Hills Have Eyes II

What started with the Carter family, clearly didn't end with the Carter family. Some time later, as part of a routine mission, a unit of National Guard soldiers stop at a New Mexican outpost only to find the isolated research camp mysteriously deserted. After spotting a distress signal in a distant mountain range, the team decides to commence a search and rescue mission into the hills. Little do they know that these are the very hills that the ill-fated Carter family once visited, and that a tribe of cannibalistic mutants lies in wait. And this time, there is an even larger force of evil at work that is intent on the soldiers' very destruction.

War movie, horror movie—the difference is negligible in the grim sequel to last year's hit remake of Wes Craven's 1977 mutant thriller. After a grisly childbirth and some gory killings, the real action starts with a group of gung-ho National Guardsmen blasting their way through Kandahar. It proves to be a training exercise in the Southwestern desert, thank God, but the troops are being watched by a real menace: the man- eating spawn of 1950s nuclear testing, who have learned a few things about strategery as they lure the soldiers into a killing ground of rocky hiding places and booby-trapped tunnels. Yes, the most assured fighting men are the first to go; yes, the company peacenik (Michael McMillian) will undergo a Straw Dogs conversion to lethal force. Directed by Martin Weisz from a script by Craven and his son Jonathan, the movie has already bummed out the fanboys with its paucity of cool kills—this despite a genuinely unnerving who's-out-there use of shallow focus and a mortality rate in the high double digits. But for anyone other than hardcore gore-hounds, this flipbook of deliberately invoked global-unrest horrors, from friendly-fire killings to rape as a breeding weapon, is effectively mean and unrelenting—and pretty far from fun.

Genres: Suspense/Horror, Remake and Sequel
Running Time: 1 hr. 29 min.
Release Date: March 23rd, 2007 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for prolonged sequences of strong gruesome horror violence and gore, a rape and language.
Distributors: 20th Century Fox Distribution
Production Co.: Midnight Pictures, Peter Locke Co.
Studios: Fox Atomic
U.S. Box Office: $20,380,497

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Cast

James Arnold Taylor - Leonardo, Mitchell Whitfield – Donatello, Nolan North – Raphael / Nightwatcher, Mikey Kelley - Michelangelo, Mako Iwamatsu - Master Splinter, Sarah Michelle Gellar - April O'Neil, Chris Evans - Casey Jones, Patrick Stewart - Max Winters, Zhang Ziyi – Karai, Kevin Michael Richardson - General Aquila, Paula Mattioli - General Serpiente, Fred Tatasciore - General Gato, Kevin Smith - Diner Cook, John DiMaggio - Colonel Santino, Laurence Fishburne – Narrator.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a 2007 film based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The film sees the Turtles grown apart after their defeat of The Shredder and their sensei, Master Splinter, is trying to keep the family together. Meanwhile, strange things are happening in New York City. An army of ancient creatures threatens to take over the world and the Turtles must unite again to save the world.

It is the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film to be made of computer-generated imagery (by Imagi Animation Studios), with the previous films being live action. It is the fourth film in the franchise, and the first in 14 years, with the previous film having been released in 1993. Chronologically, the film takes place after the original films. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was released on March 22, 2007 in Israel and Russia, on March 23, 2007, in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, and will be released on April 5, 2007 in Australia as well as subsequently in numerous other countries. It was the #1 film in the U.S. on its opening weekend, bringing in $25.45 million dollars.

The film features the four Turtles — Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo — as well as Splinter, Casey Jones and April O'Neil. Its main villains are Max Winters, and Karai and the Foot Clan. Voices are provided by Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Patrick Stewart and Ziyi Zhang. It is also the last film by Mako Iwamatsu.

Production

The first of three films released in the TMNT franchise by New Line Cinema in the early 1990s was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Subsequently, The Secret of the Ooze was released in 1991, and finally Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III in 1993. The 1993 film was the last TMNT film released until 2007. A CGI TMNT movie was first announced in 2000, with John Woo supposedly at the helm. That movie languished in development hell, however, and John Woo ultimately moved on to other projects. TMNT departs from the previous films' live action style, and is the first TMNT film to be CGI. Writer/Director Kevin Munroe, who had previously worked with video games, comics and television animation said that he wanted to do total CGI instead of live action and CGI turtles because it would be easier for the audience to "suspend disbelief for such an offbeat story" as there would be no break in the reality between CGI and live action. Producer Tom Gray explained that the decision to depart from the live action franchise was due to escalating budgets for the three films, and with each film making less than its predecessor, a CGI film became a reality. For example the first film made $132 million on a budget of $11 million, and the third made $42 million on a budget of $20 million. The rights expired with Golden Harvest, and Gray, at an animation company, said the question arose there over a CGI TMNT film in 2004.

Before Kevin Munroe was hired as director and writer, Munroe first had to gain the approval by Turtles co-creator Peter Laird. Not knowing if they'd ever meet again, Munroe brought an original copy of the first issue of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book for Laird to sign. After spending a day discussing his ideas with Laird, Munroe left the meeting unsure if he would get the film. Later, he would open the comic to see a drawing Laird had done of Raphael, one of the turtles, with the words "Dear Kevin . . . make a good movie . . . or else."

Munroe stated in terms of the story line that ideas were floated as extreme as the Turtles being in space, but eventually it just came back to New York City, and the theme of the family that had fallen apart. When scripting the screenplay, Munroe wanted to take on a less lighthearted tone as shown in the 1987 animated series and emphasis on dark elements as shown in the original comics to appeal to the mature audience. "I had a very specific tone because mixing that sort of action and comedy is a very specific thing. Most people were just coming and wanting to make it too funny. I think that version of the movie could do really well, but we wanted to do something where it sort of pushes the envelope a little bit more and says that animation is more than just comedic animals bumping into each other and farting!" Munroe said that both in design and in the rendering of the animation he was after the feel of a comic book.

Production for TMNT began on June of 2005 with a budget estimated between $35 to 40 million. Other sources stated the budget is $34 million. Development and pre-production took place at Imagi's Los Angeles facility and then the state-of-the-art CG animation were produced in Hong Kong, followed by post-production in Hollywood. For designing the New York backdrop, art director/concept artist Simon Murton stylized the familiar Manhattan skyline and urban landscapes to make them appear uniquely "TMNT." "We began with cinematic cues from certain black-and-white films from the 1940s and '50s," notes Murton. "I really wanted to push the lighting and the environments to create the look and feel of an alternate reality."[11] The animators that worked on the fight sequences were inspired by Hong Kong action films. Animation director Kim Ooi explains since it was in CG, they were able to "push and stylize beyond the limits of live action." Imagi used Maya with Pixar’s RenderMan for the production pipeline’s back-end.

The cast is basically a new one compared to the older films. Jim Cummings is the only past TMNT actor to appear in this film. Cummings has previously contributed voice-work in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. TMNT was Mako Iwamatsu's last film prior to his death. Mako was announced as the voice of Splinter at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, 2006. He then passed away the next day. It has been reported that he had previously recorded a majority of his dialogue for the film, making this his last film. A dedication to Mako appears at the end of the film's credits.

Plot

After the defeat of their old arch nemesis, The Shredder, the Turtles have grown apart as a family: Leonardo has been traveling the world for the last year, honing his skills. Raphael has been scouring the streets at night as a masked vigilante, the Nightwatcher, taking a page from Casey Jones' book. Michelangelo, in order to bring money in, has taken a job as a masked children's birthday party character (known as "Cowabunga Carl"), and Donatello works as an information technology consultant. Struggling to keep the family together, Splinter then realizes that strange things are starting to happen in New York. Immortal tech-industrialist Max Winters, who attempted to conquer the world three thousand years ago by amassing an army of monsters using an ancient device to open a portal during an alignment of nine stars, is seemingly at work at the plot again. In the process, he reawakens his siblings, called the "Stone Generals", from their sleep (the four having been recovered unknowingly by April). Furthermore, Winters has enlisted the help of Karai, a minion of the erstwhile Shredder, who is intent on restoring the glory of her late master. Karai has assumed leadership of the fearsome Foot Clan and throughout the majority of the film, she is an elusive, adept ninja and commander who directs her troops in accordance with Winters' wishes of opening the portal.
As the film progresses, the Turtles reacquaint with one another and enlist the help of their old allies, Casey Jones and April O'Neil, in order to put a stop to Winters' plans and save the world. Leonardo returns to New York City and re-assumes the leadership of his brothers, though this creates much contention between Raph and Leo; much of the second half of the film focuses on the discord between the two, ending in a duel between the two that Ralph feels will determine the true leader of the Turtles. The battle grows on and ends with Raphael the victor. Raphael's sais were intertwined with Leonardo's katanas and the last strike was waiting to happen. Raphael made the strike, breaking the katana blades and pinning Leonardo to the ground. Coming to the realization of what he had done and fearing what type of being he had become, Raphael runs off in complete shock. Suddenly, Leonardo was hit by a dart that weakened his senses. Added the fact that he had broken katana blades and was all alone, Leonardo was subject to capture by the Stone Generals. Hearing Leonardo's painful scream, Raphael runs back to track the usurpers, though to no avail. He returns to his deep-sewer home and, much like Leonardo before him, calls upon Master Splinter for leadership advice. He admits to Splinter that he understands why Splinter chose Leonardo as the leader over him (as proven on the roof where Raphael gave into his rage to deliver the final blow). Splinter tells him that he is no less or more than his brother and confirms that Raphael's aggression is partially the reason he was not considered as the leader of the Turtles, though that it not to say that Raphael lacks the potential. The three brothers then set out to save Leonardo and, with the help of Splinter, Jones, and O'Neil, they took on the Foot in their attempt to rescue Leonardo. They were finally able to do so and Raphael had new katana blades for Leonardo. Raphael then asks Leonardo to lead them and mentions that they needed him. In a touching scene of brotherly love, Leonardo returns the statement, "I need you, too [on this team]!" With that statement, the team was finally whole.
Though Winters is considered evil by the Turtles and their allies throughout the film, he ultimately is redeemed by his good intentions; his motives for opening the portal were to return thirteen beasts already released to where they came from, return his siblings to mortality and flesh, and restore his own mortality. One of the Soldiers realizes Winters' true intentions and begins to rally the others into mutiny, though the Turtles ultimately thwart this attempt, with the help of Jones, O'Neil, the Foot Clan and Master Splinter.

300 Spartans

In the midst of the Persian-Greco war, Spartan King Leonidas leads his army of 300 soldiers into battle against the invading Persian army during the Battle of Thermopylae. According to legend, their valor and sacrifice inspired all of Greece to unite against the Persian foe, leading to the origins of democracy.

300 is a 2007 film adaptation of the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller about the Battle of Thermopylae. The film is directed by Zack Snyder with Frank Miller attached as an executive producer and consultant, and was shot mostly with bluescreen to mimic the original comic book work. 300 stars Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Rodrigo Santoro, Andrew Tiernan and David Wenham. The film is scheduled to be released in both conventional and IMAX theaters on March 9, 2007.

The film 300 is faithfully adapted from the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller in which Spartan King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the last man against Persian King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his massive army. Facing insurmountable odds, the Spartans' sacrifice inspires all of Greece to unite against the Persian invaders. The story is loosely based on the Battle of Thermopylae which took place in the summer of 480 BC.

Cast

On September 26, 2005, a casting call was issued for the role of Pleistarchos, younger portrayals of Leonidas, as well as a Persian messenger. Three days later, a second casting call went out for the role of the Oracle Girl, a slave to the Ephors. In October 2005, Lena Headey was announced to join the cast as Gorgo, Leonidas' wife. Actors David Wenham, Dominic West, Rodrigo Santoro, and Vincent Reagan were also announced to join the cast. Santoro was familiar with the graphic novel before ever auditioning.

Production

In May 2003, the project was being produced by Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton, whilst Michael B. Gordon had completed a second draft of 300 that was 121 pages long. In June 2004, director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) was hired to helm the film. Snyder, with the help of screenwriter Kurt Johnstad, worked to rewrite Gordon's script for production. Frank Miller, the author of 300, was also attached to the project as executive producer and consultant.The film is a shot-for-shot adaptation of the comic book, similar to the film adaptation of Sin City.Snyder said that he had photocopied panels from Frank Miller's comic book and worked to plan out the shots that would lead up to the moment and the shots to get out of it after. "It was a fun process for me to kind of have to go, to have a goal, to have a frame as a goal to get to," said Snyder. The director also worked to craft the film style to be similar to the comic book. Numerous images and pieces of dialogue are taken frame for frame from Miller. One exception to the direct adaptation was using the character Dilios to narrate the story. Dilios was used by Snyder to show the audience that the surreal "Frank Miller world" of 300 was through the perspective of Dilios taking artistic license in his storytelling about the Battle of Thermopylae. Snyder also added the sub plot of Queen Gorgo trying to rally support for her husband.The film spent two months of pre-production in creating 125 shields, 250 spears and 75 swords, although some were recycled from Troy and Alexander. The actors trained alongside the stuntmen, and even Snyder joined in. 600-700 costumes were created for the film, as well as extensive prosthetics for various characters and the corpses of Persian soldiers.

300 entered active production on October 17, 2005 in Montreal, and shot over 60 days in chronological order. Warner Bros. provided a budget of $60 million to back the 300 project. The director employed the digital backlot technique for the film, which was shot at the now-defunct Icestorm Studios in Montreal using bluescreens. Gerard Butler said that he didn't feel constrained as an actor by Snyder's direction of the film, however saying, "If you are performing in a way that's trying to be so truthful to the comic, then, of course, there are certain freedoms that are limited to the way that you perform." David Wenham said there were times where Snyder wanted to capture iconic moments from the comic book specifically and times where the director gave actors "absolute freedom and liberty to explore within the world and the confines that had been set".Lena Headey said of her experience with the bluescreens, "You can't sort of relate to any world, so it's very odd, and emotionally, there's nothing to connect to apart from another actor."The only scene shot outdoors is a shot of horses travelling across the countryside.The film was an intensely physical production, and Butler pulled an arm tendon and gained a drop foot. In post-production Snyder enlisted the assistance of Montreal's Meteor Studios to work on 250 visual effects shots to fill in the film footage of bluescreens and near-empty film sets. James Price, Meteor's visual effects supervisor, said the team of 70 Meteor artists manipulated the colors in 300 by increasing the contrast of light and dark, and certain film sequences were de-saturated and tinted to establish different moods for the scenes. Ghislain St-Pierre, Meteor's GM, described the look, "Everything looks realistic, but it has a kind of a gritty illustrative feel." The team worked on creating visual effects shots for scenes including a battle between Spartans and Immortals (elite Persian soldiers) and an expansion of the city of Sparta. Chris Watts and Jim Bissell created "The Crush" which filtered colours to look like Miller's novel, meaning props were painted differently on set due to the eventual process. As well as digital effects, the crew created an animatronic wolf and 13 animatronic horses.In August 2006, Warner Bros. announced that 300 would be released on March 16, 2007. In October 2006, Warner Bros. moved the release date to March 9, 2007, a week earlier. The MPAA issued an R rating for 300 for graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity.

Soundtrack

In July 2005, composer Tyler Bates had begun work on the film, describing the score as having "beautiful themes on the top and large choir", but "tempered with some extreme heaviness". The composer had scored for a test shot that the director wanted to show to Warner Bros. to illustrate the path of the project. Bates said that the score had "a lot of weight and intensity in the low end of the percussion" that Snyder found agreeable to the film. The score was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and features the vocals of Azam Ali. A standard edition and a special edition of the soundtrack containing 25 tracks will be released on March 6, 2007, with the special edition containing a 16-page booklet and three two-sided trading cards.

Reception

In an early screening in August 2006, Mark Cronan of Comic Book Resources gave a positive review for the film. Cronan described most of the film as being " a bit of a cross between Gladiator and several scenes from the Lord of the Rings movies". He found the film compelling, leaving him "with a feeling of power, from having been witness to something grand". However, he admitted, "This is a chest thumping, dirty, writhing mass of violence at times... It is all quite stylized and probably less gory overall than Miller's other big screen success, Sin City. Still, it's there, and if you don't want to see men fighting and dying, do not see this movie."IGN's Todd Gilchrist disagreed. Giving the film a score of five stars out of five, he said "Leonidas' relationship with his wife Gorgo offers a rare display of tenderness and devotion that is seldom seen in "guy movies" like this one". He acclaimed Zack Snyder as a cinematic visionary as well as the visual sensibility of the film. George Rousch acclaimed the film, citing its visual appeal and Gerard Butler's performance. 300 had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 14, 2007 and received a standing ovation from its 1700 strong audience. Alex Billington said "Be ready to be blown away on March 9th", calling a film ahead of its time. Kirk Honeycutt praised it, saying "Those turned off by the sex-and-violence cartoonery of Sin City can embrace 300". Emanuel Levy also praised the film, complimenting Snyder in that he "retells Miller's saga not as an ancient tale (sort of "once upon a time..."), but as a classic and eternal one." Todd McCarthy of Variety gave it a positive review, and praised Lena Headey, though he criticised Butler as he "bellows most of his bellicose lines, which become tiresomely repetitive as they underscore the obligations and destinies of Spartan fighters", as well as the lack of focus on geography. Erik Davis heavily criticised the film, calling it "one of the most overly hyped films in history... a boring, fast-food version of better films, with better scripts, better acting and better battles. 300 men fought to defend their freedom but, in the end, 300 people (including me) wanted their two hours back."

The Interesting History Of Sparta

When one studies the history of Sparta, it is difficult to conclude that this society was not one of history's strangest. Maybe due to design by a man names Lycurgus than through developing naturally.

In the last few centuries, quite a few societies have been constructed by committees, and there have been many more failures than successes. The history of Sparta can serve as an example of both a success and a failure, and it would be helpful to remember these ancient people whenever we opt to design anything, such as a business or family.

In a time when cities were typically surrounded by walls to protect them from the latest conquering horde, Sparta needed none. Each and every male citizen was trained literally from birth to be a hardened, world-class soldier.

In English, the term "Spartan" has connotations of discipline and frugality. A Spartan room, for example, might contain nothing but a table and chair. This is an accurate description of the Spartan way of life. In the mind of a historian, however, the meaning of "Spartan" leans more towards "brutal" and "militaristic." Sparta was a society designed to dominate its neighbors: A warrior culture.

Sparta was a considerable military power for over a thousand years. Their system of warfare based on hoplite spearmen was copied by every army in the Mediterranian region. Their soldiers' prowess was demonstrated most vividly in 480 B.C. at Thermopylae, a narrow stretch of land between cliff and sea where only 300 Spartan hoplites held off an entire Persian army numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

This power dearly cost the Spartan citizens, and their unusual society eventually garnered a more humble status as a Roman tourist attraction.

Sparta took common Greek practices to extremes, even ones which would seem brutal to modern people. For example, it was acceptable in most of Greece to abandon an unwanted newborn in the woods. There was a chance that someone would find and adopt such a baby. In Sparta, babies were a communal asset, unless they were considered a liability due to being somehow weak or deformed. These infants were thrown over a cliff!

Every day of a young boy's life was a struggle for survival. Boys lived as members of small bands, living off the land and raiding farms and villages. They were punished for stealing from other Spartans, but more for getting caught than for the act itself.

Surviving teenagers were each assigned a mentor/lover (homosexuality was considered necessary for a soldier far from home). They were put through a coming-of-age gauntlet during which a significant percentage were mortally wounded.

Marriage was a contract between two families. Young women were trained for marriage and child rearing as young men were trained for war. Women were responsible for controlling all aspects of sex and reproduction. This was often a jolting experience for the man who had seen few women during his short life.

When it came time for war, Sparta was always ready. However, they were spread very thin. The number of slaves and serfs in the wide regions around Sparta was hundreds of times the number of Spartan citizens. Sparta controlled vast wealth, but its citizens never enjoyed any of it.

Eventually, all of Greece was absorbed into the Roman empire. They were spared most of the downsides of conquest faced by the "barbarians" of places such as Gaul. Romans respected Greek culture, and even believed that Rome was founded by Greeks. Therefore, they left Greek society very much intact, including Sparta.

The Spartan culture caused each of its citizens to become an awesome powerhouse of strength and discipline. Unfortunately, there just weren't enough of them, and there wasn't much variety.

However, Sparta was now just another state within a vast empire. Though its traditions were still alive, suddenly they were quaint rather than brutally effective.

Rome won over Sparta because Romans valued individuality and personal rewards as well as communal strength and power. Sparta's society had just a few fatal flaws. It was too elitist. People couldn't "join" Sparta: They had to be born into it. Spartan men had to be warriors before being husbands, merchants, or politicians. Other cultures were allowing different men to perform different tasks. Sparta's population began to shrink as soon as Lycurgus implemented his militaristic reforms, and it never recovered.

Of course, Rome was won over by a certain movement, and you probably know what it is (This would make a good article). Think about this also when you next decide to design something.

What does this all mean, and why should you care? History shows us what has been done right in the past, and what has been done wrong. There are quite a few lessons we might take away from the history of Sparta:

To grow and expand, to gain control of assets, you need to be able to grow internally.

It's better to open your doors to diversity than to screen and weed people, or to stuff them into a mold. Think of some other regimes in the last hundred years or so that tried to do this, and what happened to them.

Wealth, power, and respect are all some people are looking for. Sparta had all of this, and for a long time. In the long run, however, these things amounted to only a few moments of glory and a place in the history books. Maybe you're looking for something more "in the moment".

When studying the history of this most interesting society, you must decide how to intrepret it and its effect on society (if any). That, after all, is why the study of history is so important.



About films 300 spartans

Ghost Rider

Synopsis

In order to save his dying father, young stunt cyclist Johnny Blaze (Nicholas Cage) sells his soul to Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) and sadly parts from the pure-hearted Roxanne Simpson (Eva Mendes), the love of his life. Years later, Johnny's path crosses again with Roxanne, now a reporter, and also with Mephistopheles, who offers to release Johnny's soul if Johnny becomes the fabled, fiery Ghost Rider, a supernatural agent of vengeance and justice. Mephistopheles charges Johnny with defeating the despicable Blackheart, Mephistopheles's nemesis and son, who plans to displace his father and create a new hell even more terrible than the old one.


Cast

Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Sam Elliott, Peter Fonda, Donal Logue, Matt Long, Raquel Alessi, Mathew Wilkinson, Joel Tobeck, Daniel Frederiksen.

Director: Mark Steven Johnson

Production

In May 2000 at the Cannes Film Festival, Marvel Studios announced an agreement with Crystal Sky Entertainment to film Ghost Rider with actor Jon Voight attached as a producer. Production was scheduled to start in early 2001 with a budget of $75 million, with actor Johnny Depp expressing interest in the lead role. The following August, Dimension Films joined Crystal Sky to co-finance the film, which would be written by David S. Goyer and directed by Stephen Norrington. In June 2001, actor Nicolas Cage entered talks to be cast into the lead role for Ghost Rider, and by July, had closed a deal with the studio. According to producer Steven Paul, Cage had found out about Depp being a possibility for the role and contacted the director to express his own interest, being an avid Ghost Rider fan. In the following August, Norrington abandoned the project due to a scheduling conflict, leaving to film the action flick Tick Tock starring Jennifer Lopez. Cage eventually left the project as well. By May 2002, the studio Columbia Pictures sought to acquire rights to the film in turnaround from Dimension Films following the success of Spider-Man. In April 2003, under Columbia Pictures, director Mark Steven Johnson took over the helm for Ghost Rider with Cage returning for the lead role. Both had been drawn by a script written by screenwriter Shane Salerno. Johnson, rewriting Salerno's script, was set to begin production of Ghost Rider in late 2003 or early 2004. With production delayed into October 2003, Cage took a temporary leave of absence to film The Weather Man. Ghost Rider production was slated to tentatively begin in May or June of 2004. Ghost Rider had again been delayed to begin in late 2004, but the lack of a workable script continued to delay production. In January 2005, actor Wes Bentley was cast as the villain Blackheart, having been introduced to Johnson by Colin Farrell, who had worked with the director in Daredevil. Actress Eva Mendes was also cast opposite Cage as the Ghost Rider's girlfriend. On February 14, 2005, Ghost Rider commenced filming in Australia at the Melbourne Docklands film studios. Then in March 2005, actor Peter Fonda was cast as the villain Mephistopheles. Johnson originally planned to film before an audience at the Telstra Dome, but instead opted to create a crowd using computer-generated imagery. The director also chose to film in the motorcycle district of Melbourne. By June 2005, principal photography had been completed for Ghost Rider, which was set for a summer 2006 release. In December 2005, musical composer Christopher Young was announced to score Ghost Rider. In addition, Spiderbait, a band that Johnson befriended during filming in Australia, will perform a track for the film. In April 2006, the cast and crew performed last-minute reshoots in Vancouver. Ghost Rider was originally scheduled to release on August 4, 2006, but the date was moved three weeks earlier to July 14, 2006. Sony changed the film's release date once more to February 16, 2007 to help relieve the studio's crowded 2006 calendar.

Character portrayal

Nicolas Cage molded his "hard drinking and smoking bad ass" character Johnny Blaze to have more depth. "I'm playing him more as someone who... made this deal and he's trying to avoid confronting it, anything he can do to keep it away from him." Cage also explained that Blaze's stunt riding was a form of escape and a way to keep him connected to his deceased father, who taught him to ride. Cage rode a Buell motorcycle for Blaze's stunt cycle, and a chopper named "Grace", which transforms into the "Hell Cycle", along with the character. The Hell Cycle's wheels, made of pure flames in the comics, were changed to be solid tires covered in flames in order to give the motorcycle more weight onscreen. To express emotion, Ghost Rider's skull flames were designed to change color, such as being toned down and blue when sad. The film's visual effects supervisor, Kevin Mack, and his team at Sony Imageworks handled the difficult task of creating computer-generated fire on a shot-by-shot basis. Ghost Rider's voice was manipulated by sound designer Dane Davis, who won an Academy Award for Sound Editing for The Matrix. Davis filtered Cage's line readings through three different kinds of animal growls that were played backwards and covered separate frequencies. Davis then amplified the dialogue through a mechanical volumizer. Director Johnson described the sound as a "deep, demonic, mechanical lion's roar".

Promotion

In May 2005, Sony Pictures launched the official website for Ghost Rider. In the following July, the studio presented a Ghost Rider panel at Comic-Con International and screened a teaser for the audience. The teaser, which did not have finalized footage of the film, eventually leaked online. In the same month, Majesco Entertainment Company announced its deal with Marvel to acquire worldwide rights to produce a video game based on Ghost Rider for the consoles PS2, PSP, and Xbox. In December 2005, the studio presented a first glimpse of Ghost Rider in a 10-second footage piece on the official site.

In April 2006, Sideshow Collectibles announced the sale of a Ghost Rider maquette based on the concept art of the film. The following May, domestic and international teaser trailers for Ghost Rider were launched at Apple.

Ghost Rider was commercially released in the United States on February 16, 2007. The film grossed $15.9 million on its opening day. On Rotten Tomatoes, Ghost Rider has 22% overall approval out of 58 reviews from critics and a 27% "Cream of the Crop" approval out of 11 reviews. On February 9, 2007, Marvel producer Avi Arad announced the development of Ghost Rider 2 at a press event.

Ghost Rider! The best comic book ever!

Are you interested in knowing some of the basics of what is the Ghost Rider movie is all about – well, the question is - what all would you do for your love? That is what the movie is all about! Mark Steven Johnson of Ghost Rider asks you – What can you sell for your love- your soul? Can you go through hell?

You can see it all in posters, Ghost rider trailers, ghost rider wallpapers, and of course not to forget the ghost rider comics! Grab the ghost rider comics at the nearest bookshop and get the most exciting ghost rider wallpapers for your room.

The story line leads with a superstar motorcycle stunt rider by the name of Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) who makes a deal with the bad man or the devil to safeguard people whom he loves the most. Among those are his father and his childhood sweetheart, Roxanne (Eva Mendes). Now, the devil has come for his due. By day, Johnny is a die-hard stunt rider... but at night, in the presence of evil, he becomes the Ghost Rider, a bounty hunter of rogue demons. Forced to do the devil's bidding, Johnny is determined to confront his fate and use his curse and powers to defend the innocent.

Based on the popular marvel comic – the movie Ghost Rider directed by Mark Steven Johnson was able to portray a handful of highly experienced bike riders. Do you know that these riders used identical motorcycles and riding gear to confuse Swedish police. The huge machine that Johnny Blaze ( Nicolas Cage ) is riding in the movie is unbelievably polished and ominous up close, with detailed weld-work and one-of-a-kind customization done carefully.

A secret was revealed on the sets of the movie – Joakim Karlsson who died during the Isle of Man TT races was one such ghost rider! However SWT has never been able to find out if this was true or not but since then many such kinds of Ghost rider news have been surfacing up.

In spite of the Ghost rider's reputation of being inevitable, there have been many accidents on the sets of the movie. The director Mark Steven Johnson was a little bit concerned this time because every film on ghost rider seems to be haunted! There have been car crashes, fire alarms, and even a car crashing while crossing the street in the first movie to being busted by cops, (although claimed by the Ghost Rider people that this is not true, there are film clips and witnesses to these incidents and the clip of the bust can easily be found on the internet).

Randell Rogfend is a father of three children who has had a long and fulfilling writing career. His passion is writing and he has contributed to countless newspapers, magazines and books.


About films Ghost Rider

Recommended Movie In 2007

2007 is drawing near for us to greet and along with the coming of the year, major film companies are also set to bring more excitement in cinematic experience as numbers of blockbuster, highly-anticipated film features have neatly been lined up for moviegoers to enjoy and cherish on throughout.

The first to lead the pack starting in May on date 4, "Spider-Man 3" still sees Tobey Maguire as the web-swinging superhero who this time has to face the battle of his life against two of the most feared villains ever, Venom and Sandman. Exactly two weeks from it, arrives CG animated "Shrek the Third" which finds the titular character (Mike Myers) and his wife Fiona (Cameron Diaz) getting involved in the search of an heir to rule the kingdom of Far, Far Away. Near the end of the month on date 25 comes "Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End" that once again unites Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann for one last decisive battle in a titanic showdown against Lord Cutler Beckett, Davy Jones, and Admiral James Norrington.

Proceeding to the month of June, date 15 will witness the return of our four unique heroes namely Mr. Fantastic, the Human Torch, Invisible Woman, and The Thing in "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" to meet their greatest challenge yet in the form of the enigmatic, intergalactic herald The Silver Surfer. Meanwhile, less than one month on July 13, teen wizard Harry Potter is back to lead his peers defend themselves against the dark forces threatening them and the entire wizarding community upon the rise of the evil Lord Voldemort in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix".

While those sequels mentioned above undoubtedly will draw most attention from the audience, sure there are a lot of new titles worth to be checked out during the year. From epic genre, Zack Snyder’s "300" certainly is one picture hard to miss out as it opens in cinemas on March 9. Featuring ensemble cast consisting of Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, and David Wenham, this adaptation of Frank Miller’s popular graphic novel is going to bring amazement with its stunning depiction of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae. From animated field, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", the first all CG animated movie in the history of the franchise, and Disney/Pixar’s "Ratatouille" obviously will be two good options to spend more time in theaters when they arrive on March 23 and June 29, respectively.

For those who rather prefer sci-fi adventure genre, do take a look at DreamWorks’ "Transformers" which will unspool in cinemas exactly on the fourth day of July as Americans celebrate their Independence Day. Presenting young cast like Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, and Rachael Taylor in leading roles under the direction of renowned filmmaker Michael Bay, this fact only has given the picture a fresh take along with a promise of full-packed action scenes to make a great combination for an enjoyable cinematic work. As for the fantasy-genre fans, no need to be disappointed for New Line Cinema will bring up another potential trilogy after the huge success of "Lord of the Rings" series. Based on Philip Pullman’s books "His Dark Materials", the first of the adaptations, "His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass", indeed is a must-see feature as it hits the theaters on December 7 judging from its engaging story and stellar cast comprised of Nicole Kidman, Eva Green, and Daniel Craig.

Hannibal Rising

Synopsis

Lecter is eight years old at the beginning of the novel (1941), living in Lecter Castle in Lithuania, when Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union turns the Baltic region into a part of the bloodiest front line of World War II. Lecter, his sister Mischa, and his parents escape to the family's hunting lodge in the woods to elude the advancing German troops. After three years, the Nazis are finally driven out of the countries now occupied by the Soviet Union. During their retreat, however, they destroy a Soviet tank that had stopped at the Lecter family's lodge looking for water. The explosion kills everyone but Lecter and Mischa. They survive in the cottage until six former Lithuanian militiamen, led by a Nazi collaborator named Vladis Grutas, storm and loot it. Finding no other food, they kill and cannibalize a young boy they have captured, and then Lecter's young sister Mischa. Lecter blacks out and is found wandering and mute by a Soviet tank crew that takes him back to Lecter Castle, which is now a Soviet orphanage. After two years, Lecter's uncle Robert, a painter living in France, comes to Lithuania and takes the boy to live with him and his wife, the Lady Murasaki Shikibu. While in France, Lecter flourishes as a student. He commits his first murder as a teenager, killing a local butcher who insults his aunt, in a series of events leading to his uncle's death. He is suspected of the butcher's murder by Inspector Popil, an French detective who also lost his family to the war. Thanks in part to his aunt's intervention, however, Lecter escapes responsibility for the crime. Lecter divides his time between medical school in France and hunting those who killed and cannibalized his sister. One by one, he crosses paths with Grutas' men, killing them all in the most inventively gruesome ways possible. Eventually, Popil arrests Lecter, but Lecter is freed when popular support for his dispatch of war criminals combines with a lack of hard evidence. The novel ends with Lecter coming to America to begin his residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

director: Peter Webber

Cast: Rhys Ifans, Li Gong, Gaspard Ulliel, Richard Brake

Hannibal Rising is a novel written by Thomas Harris, the fourth in a series featuring his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter. The novel, a prequel to Harris' Lecter novels, chronicles the iconic serial killer's childhood and early adulthood. The novel was released on December 5, 2006 with an initial printing of at least 1.5 million copies, but was met to poor reviews. A CD version has also been released, with Harris reading the text.