In the days of the American Old West, Mephistopheles had a bounty hunter of the damned, a Ghost Rider, sent to retrieve a contract for a thousand souls from the town of San Venganza. He refused to give the contract — and therefore, the souls — to Mephistopheles, outran Mephistopheles, and hid himself and the contract.

A century and a half later, a stunt motorcycle rider Johnny Blaze discovers his father is dying of lung cancer. Mephistopheles approaches him with a promise to rid his father of his disease once and for all if Johnny gave his soul. Johnny inadvertently signs the contract when a spike located on its central bar breaks his skin and causes his blood to fall onto the parchment. The next morning his father's cancer is gone; but later that same day, he dies mid-stunt in a horrific bike crash. Johnny accuses Mephistopheles regarding his father's death; Mephistopheles informs Johnny that he now owns the boy's soul, as agreed. Johnny is then forced to abandon his girlfriend, Roxanne Simpson.

Years later, Johnny has become a stunt rider known not only for his dynamic stunts but also for his uncanny ability to walk away from life-threatening crashes. His manager and best friend Mack speculates that Johnny must have a guardian angel protecting him. Johnny, however, speculates that it could be something else – implied to be a demon, under Mephistophelean control. Later, on his next stunt, he meets Roxanne again, now a journalist, and they renew their relationship.

Blackheart, son of Mephistopheles, comes to Earth attempting to find the lost contract and overpower his father. He calls forth 3 other fallen angels (Wallow, Gressil and Abigor) to act as his allies. Blackheart goes on a rampage, magically killing any human in his path.

Mephistopheles goes to Johnny and forces him to become the fiery Ghost Rider, promising to free his soul if he hunts and kills Blackheart and the three fallen angels; thus turning Johnny into his personal bounty hunter. Meanwhile, Blackheart and his team have gone to an old train station, looking for an old graveyard. Johnny is driven straight to the station on his "first ride", his awakening power causing a great deal of damage to roadways and storefronts. His ensorcelled Chopper goes towards Blackheart and the fallen angels, where he transforms fully into the Ghost Rider and a fight ensues, during which he acquires a weapon, a length of heavy chain. One demon (Gressil) is defeated; the others disappear. Ghost Rider is returning to town when he hears a woman being mugged. He saves the woman by using the Penance Stare, a power by which all the wrong done by a person is returned upon them, burning their soul in the process. The mugger's soul is seared and he falls to the ground, catatonic. He is condemned, perhaps, to a fate worse than death.

The next day Johnny wakes up in a cemetery chapel where he meets a man called the Caretaker, who seems to know all about the Ghost Rider. When he arrives home, Johnny finds Roxanne and reveals himself as the Devil's bounty hunter. She leaves, generating at his tale anger and disbelief. As Roxanne leaves, the police arrive and take Johnny into custody for his connection to the damage done to the city and the deaths caused by Blackheart. He is put in a holding cell with some other prisoners, who mock Johnny and start to beat him, until he becomes the Ghost Rider. He strikes down all those who have done violence to him, but spares one whom his intuition identifies as "innocent". That night Roxanne recognizes Johnny, while he (as the Ghost Rider) is defeating the second fallen angel, Abigor. Observing, Blackheart realizes that Roxanne is Johnny's weakness when the Ghost Rider approaches her and his hellfire aura turns blue.

Johnny goes to the Caretaker who tells him about Johnny's predecessor, Carter Slade, a Texas Ranger, a man of honour who got greedy and wound up facing the gallows for his misdeeds. Slade then made a deal with Mephistopheles to break free; in return he ended up a Ghost Rider. The Caretaker then warns Johnny to stay away from those whom Blackheart can use against him. Roxanne goes to Johnny's apartment where she finds Mack, and she says that she loves Johnny. Mack tells her Johnny has been reading books, which she picks up and starts reading.

Blackheart finds Roxanne at Johnny's apartment. He kills Johnny's friend, Mack, and stuns Roxanne. Johnny arrives and is assaulted by Blackheart. Transforming into the Ghost Rider, he attempts to use the Penance Stare on Blackheart, but finds his enemy is impervious due to his lack of a (human) soul. Blackheart then threatens to kill Roxanne if Johnny does not bring him the contract of San Venganza. Johnny returns to the Caretaker to get the contract, who begrudgingly gives it to him.

The Caretaker tells Johnny that San Venganza will be "Hell on Earth" if Blackheart claims it, and admonishes Johnny to think before he acts. Johnny convinces the Caretaker that he has a successful plan. The Caretaker then reveals that he is Carter Slade, still alive because of his own power as a Ghost Rider, and offers to show him the way to San Venganza. They ride together into the desert – Carter Slade on a skeletal, flaming phantom horse, Johnny Blaze on his skeletally decorated, flaming motorcycle – leaving a destructive trail of fire in their wake. Some distance from the town, they both stop. Slade gives Johnny his shotgun (a sawn-off Winchester Model 1887 shotgun) before he rides off, fading away due to his lack of energy - Slade had only enough power to become a Ghost Rider one last time.

After fighting and destroying the fallen angel, Wallow, in a swamp, Johnny gives the contract to Blackheart but becomes the Ghost Rider as he does, hoping to pummel his foe into submission. Blackheart shrugs off the attack and uses the contract to absorb the 1,000 souls, taking on the name "Legion" as he does. The fight continues as Roxanne grabs the discarded shotgun, blasting Blackheart several times before tossing it to Johnny. Holding the weapon in the shadows - the source of his power - he transforms the shotgun into a Ghost Rider weapon and blasts Blackheart apart with hellfire, but the souls of San Venganza restore the demon quickly. Johnny then uses the Penance Stare, which is effective on the grounds that Blackheart now has one thousand souls, all of them corrupt, on which it may work. Ghost Rider then tosses Blackheart's comatose body aside, and reverts to his normal self. He is at first ashamed of his appearance before Roxanne, turning away and calling himself 'monster'. Until she reaches out to him and shows she isn't afraid of what Johnny has become.

Mephistopheles appears and gives him back his soul, offering to take back the curse of the Ghost Rider. This time, however, Johnny refuses, saying that he will use his power against Mephistopheles, and against all harm that comes to the innocent. Realizing he has been tricked and robbed of both a soul and the power, Mephistopheles vows to make Johnny pay, but Johnny in response recites his favorite saying: "You can't live in fear". Mephistopheles then disappears along with Blackheart's body, after briefly showing part of his half-hidden demonic form. Johnny and Roxanne share some parting words at the tree on which Johnny carved, "J&R FOREVER", at the beginning of the film. Roxanne then tells Johnny that he got his second chance just before sharing a final kiss with him. Johnny then rides away on his motorcycle, transforming into Ghost Rider just before the credits roll. The credits are accompanied by Spiderbait's cover of the song Ghost Riders in the Sky.

Cast:
Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze / Ghost Rider 
Eva Mendes as Roxanne Simpson 
Brett Cullen as Barton Blaze 
Wes Bentley as Blackheart 
Sam Elliott as Carter Slade / Caretaker 
Peter Fonda as Mephistopheles 
Donal Logue as Mack 
Matt Long as Young Johnny Blaze 
Raquel Alessi as Young Roxanne Simpson 
Daniel Frederiksen as Wallow (Water Demon) 
James Shaffer as Abigor (Wind Demon) 
Laurence Breuls as Gressil (Earth Demon) 

GOOD LINKS TO VISIT:

• Official site 
• Wikipedia Article