The one thing that has me the most excited about this film is that there won't be a huge computer generated feel to it. Most of the locations are real, not something put together inside a studio hanger. Although early word from critics that have seen an early cut of the film are for the most part quite bad, I'm still holding out a little bit of hope that this still will be fun and enjoyable. I never expected this movie to win an Oscar, but I also don't expect it to win any Razzies either.
To have more freedom with the motorcycles they decided to pass on product placement opportunities. The motorcycle featured in the movie will by the Yamaha VMax 1700. The purchased four brand new Yamahas for the movie with cost 20,000 Euros apiece.
The bike they decided to use was the Yamaha VMax 1700, a large high-end motorcycle that has weight to it but still feels compact.
Two used pretty much as is for Blaze's bike, then two being modified into Ghost Rider's new Hell Cycle. The latter is quite a departure from the large tricked-out chopper seen in the comics and previous movie, and they modified it quite drastically, painting it a solid black with all the rubber and leather melted to make it look like it's covered in tar or as King put it, "like something that came from out of the fires of hell." They had limited time to create the new Hell Cycle but it will be enhanced by CG after the fact. Because they're so expensive, they don't use the VMAX for stunts, instead having retrofitted a Kawasaki KX3 to look like the Ghost Rider cycle.
New Costumes for the Film
Costume designer Bojana Nikotovic invited us into her trailer to check out some of the outfits she's made for the shoot, including Johnny Blaze's leather jacket, pants and boots, which were essentially the same as before but had been aged and worn out to make it look like he'd been on the road for years. When he transforms into the Ghost Rider, that leather jacket is painted to make it look burnt similar to the Hell Cycle, but they also put oil on it to make it look shinier.
The Make-up Department
He went through the silicone make-up worn by Johnny Whitworth after his character is "blessed" by the devil, which covers his entire head, arms and chest, which you'll see as his outfits erode. Jason's crew--which was only eight people on their biggest days with hundreds of extras---also felt the rush of a production that got rolling fairly quickly, trying to do make-up tests before everyone was off to Romania, though the filmmakers thought the original Blackout make-up made him look too much like a zombie. While there were elements for the character taken from the comics, for the most part, they created their own take on the Blackout character, so no ponytail or his vampiric aversion to sunlight.
Jason showed us a few of the later stages in Ciaran Hind's make-up as the Devil, in which he had a burst blood vessel in his eye and looking almost nothing like the actor. We were told that he is wearing make-up throughout the movie and only really looks like himself in a flashback as a younger version of the character. All of their make-up would later be embellished by visual FX but they clearly had put a lot of time into doing what they could practically. While the rushed production has been a problem, their biggest challenge had surprisingly been dealing with Romanian and Turkish customs who held much of their supplies as
"Without Zarathos, we don't stand a chance against Roarke," Elba's Moreau tells Blaze as he leads them through the tunnel.
"I thought you're supposed to have a faith," Cage responds.
"But we should have guns, too," Moreau says as they come out into the armory.
"Guns and alcohol, some priest. I'm starting to like you," Cage jokes, although a couple of takes he responded by saying, "Naughty priests."
Even though the scene we watched was fairly innocuous, Arad and Taylor both hinted about an exorcism scene being shot in a different part of the caves during the time we were there, though clearly, it involved major plot spoilers they didn't want to give up so readily.
"Well this exorcism scene is going to be excellent. We shot half of it this morning and we shoot half of it at the end, but we're really welcoming… " Taylor paused there to figure out the best way to go on. "There's like two different versions of Nicolas Cage. There's sort of mainstream Cage and there's balls-to-the-wall Cage, and we're definitely welcoming the demon. The performance we're getting from Cage, it's going to be one of those epic Nic Cage performances that people talk about. "
The interviews above are an excerpt from a Superherohype set visit.
Ghost Rider : Spirit of Vengeance is directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor's starring Nicolas Cage, Ciaran Hinds, Violante Placido, Idris Elba, and Johnny Whitworth.
Ghost Rider hits theaters February 22, 2012.