Ghost RiderSave

In rural Texas during the 1960s, teenage Johnny Blaze (Matt Long) is the youngest member of a motorcycle stunt-rider family — his father Barton Blaze (Brett Cullen) leads a touring carnival stunt show. Johnny's father is diagnosed with terminal cancer; Johnny, desperate to save him, makes a deal with a mysterious stranger named Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) — surrendering his soul in exchange for his father's life. The next morning, Barton's cancer is gone — but during that day's stunt show, Barton dies in an unrelated motorcycle accident that Mephistopheles had not specifically prevented. Johnny realisizs that Mephistopheles has technically fulfilled the deal but in a way that maximisizd Johnny's pain.

Years later, adult Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) is the world's most-renowned motorcycle stunt rider, performing impossibly dangerous tricks across major stadium tours. He has survived multiple stunt accidents that should have killed him — his survival is explained by Mephistopheles's lingering soul-debt protection. Johnny lives in an isolated lake-house in the desert, lonely and emotionally damaged by his decades of supernatural debt. His childhood sweetheart Roxanne Simpson (Eva Mendes) — now a successful television reporter — re-enters his life when she's assigned to cover his latest stadium tour.

Mephistopheles re-emerges to call in Johnny's soul-debt. Mephistopheles needs Johnny — or specifically the Ghost Rider, the demonic spirit of vengeance that resides in his soul — to capture a runaway demon named Blackheart (Wes Bentley), Mephistopheles's own son. Blackheart has stolen the Contract of San Venganza — a thousand-year-old infernal document that lists the names of thousands of damned souls that Blackheart plans to use to take over the world. Johnny is given an ultimatum: capture Blackheart or be consumed by his own Ghost Rider transformation.

Johnny's first Ghost Rider transformation occurs at night, in a parking garage where Blackheart's three demonic henchmen — Wallow, Gressil, and Abigor (each named after a different infernal-mythology demon) — are attacking civilians. Johnny's transformation is depicted as involuntary and painful — his soul-debt forces him to assume Ghost Rider form when Mephistopheles activates the contract. Ghost Rider's signature 'Penance Stare' — looking directly into a demon's eyes to subject them to the cumulative pain of all their victims — is depicted for the first time in the parking-garage battle. The Penance Stare destroys Wallow.

Blackheart's plan involves activating the Contract of San Venganza at a derelict ghost town named San Venganza in the desert. The activation will summon the contracted thousand-soul army into physical form; Blackheart, controlling the army, will use them to seize political and economic power on Earth. The film's middle act consists of Johnny's investigation of Blackheart's location — which leads him to encounter the previous Ghost Rider, an immortal cowboy named Caretaker (Sam Elliott) who has been guarding the San Venganza ghost town for over a century.

Caretaker reveals that he was the original Ghost Rider in 1885 — a bounty hunter who made the same Mephistopheles deal as Johnny. Caretaker's century-long penance has involved guarding the San Venganza Contract from being accessed by Blackheart. He trains Johnny in Ghost Rider abilities; Johnny learns to summon his bike-form (a flaming Hellcycle that can ride on water and walls) and to control his transformations voluntarily. The training sequences are the film's most-extended character-development beats; Cage and Elliott's on-screen chemistry is widely cited as the film's primary creative bright spot.

Blackheart arrives at the San Venganza ghost town and begins his Contract activation ritual. Johnny — now fully-trained as Ghost Rider — rides into San Venganza to confront him. The climactic battle is the film's most-cinematically composed action sequence: Ghost Rider on his Hellcycle versus Blackheart wielding the Contract's growing supernatural power. Caretaker arrives mid-battle to provide critical support; the two Ghost Riders fight side-by-side. Roxanne is captured by Blackheart and used as a hostage; her rescue is the third-act emotional anchor.

Ghost Rider defeats Blackheart in single combat. The Contract of San Venganza is destroyed; the thousand-soul army is dispersed. Mephistopheles, recognisizing that Johnny has fulfilled his end of the bargain, offers to take the Ghost Rider curse from Johnny's soul — effectively making him human again. Johnny refuses, choosing to retain the Ghost Rider abilities to use them against future demonic threats. The film's epilogue shows Johnny riding off on his Hellcycle, accepting his permanent Ghost Rider status; Roxanne, having reconnected with him during the crisis, remains in his life as both girlfriend and confidant.