Ghostbusters

Rating:
Summary: PERFECT! PERFECT! PERFECT!
Review: Reviewing this movie is like reviewing Shakespeare. This film sets the standard for films forever after. I don't think it won an Oscar, being beat out by Amadeus and Gandhi, if I recollect correctly. They don't have an award for comedy films, do they? If they don't, they should. Comedy's tradition is as old, and is as noble, and is as Grecian as tragedy's tradition, and you feel good when you are done. Moreover, humor can sometimes teach truth in a way that steely seriousness can't.

I think the appeal of Ghostbusters is threefold.

First, this film cuts across genres. It it's a sci-fi-fantasy-comedy-horror-action-adventure. This means that there is something for everyone here. Few films can keep up-examples are the horror-fantasy-musical "Rocky Horror Picture Show," or the sci-fi-action-adventure-roamnce "Buckaroo Banzai." When it is done well, it is absolutely fabulous, being a cinematic hero sandwich, with a little bit of everything on the bread for everyone.

Secondly, the irony. These ex-Saturday Night Livers know their craft, and work their witchcraft well in this film. You start out seeing three university professors getting expulsed, and their funding cut, then you end up seeing a giant marshmallow man being set on fire, and finally exploding. It is much like a comedic "Heart of Darkness." The slow unraveling of reality is the key to the film.

Thirdly, the characterizations. Egon is the brains. Ray is the heart, and fundamentally naive the one. Veckman is the class clown. Dana is the love interest. And Lewis is the nerd. I think every stereotype is here, except the fat character, and the masculine female whose father wanted a son, so hje raised her as one. But I digress.

Moreover, the characters interact with one another on camera in a way similar to off-camera interaction. They play the character in a rather subtle manner so that you are pulled into the cinematic illusion. Theses aren't superhero Supermen or Doc Savages who have the answers at their fingertips. They are regular men, which is to say that they are "Everyman." And this is the key to the tension-you know they have good hearts and they are screwing up their courage, but you are not sure if they are able to stop the Gozarian.

Yes, these are stereotypes, but these top-notch actors being the breath of life to what would normally be flat and shallow characters. You rally behind this rag-tag group of superhero-scientists as they fight the ultimate evil of Gozer the Gozarian.

There is an honorable mention: the catharsis. We are scared of the dark, and have good reason due to crime, and the fact that many carnivores and predators are nocturnal. But we have this inborn fear of ghosts and demons and evil sprits that cuts across cultures and religions. This film provides a way to laugh at that fear, and in a sense gives up hope that we can stop these marshmallow goliaths, weather they lurk in the Id, or just under the bed.

This is a great film, and I wish that they could make more like it! It has a good heart, and strong messages about teamwork, the value of science, the value of humor in the workplace, and it also advocates a loose spirituality. No, it is not my particular denomination, but a small something is better than nothing!

The DVD is everything you would ever want-animated menus, deleted scenes, and director commentary. I found the early drafts of ghosts and the "Ghostbusters" logo to be interesting, and the early starboards were the icing on the cake! The trivia subtitles are also killer. Yes, I am one of those who like to know about all the trivia and trifles of a film.

Rating:
Summary: More bad discs, apparently
Review: What a fantastic movie. I was so pysched to watch Ghostbusters again since it's been probably 10 years since I last watched it. It was on sale, so I picked it up and sat down tonight to play homage to Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis. I stuck the disc in my DVD player, popcorn and blanket ready, cat curled up on the sofa, patiently waiting for access to my lap. I wanted to watch the special features first, but I couldn't get ANY of them to work. I kept getting a disc error. Finally, after several frustrating minutes, I was able to get the movie to play. I settled down and just when I got in the heart of the movie (about half-way through), the disc just stopped playing. I tried and tried to get it to play again, with no luck. I remembered seeing on this site that several other people had the same problem, so here I am, warning others that apparently, there really IS a bad batch of Ghostbusters DVD's out there. So if you plan on purchasing this fantastic movie, be prepared. You may have to make several runs back and forth to the retailer in order to obtain a working copy. None of this has diminished the quality of the movie, but I sure was upset I didn't get to experience it right away.

Rating:
Summary: Cheesy and outdated.
Review: Even though it came out in 1984, I only recently saw Ghostbusters for the first time just two weeks ago, and all I can say is that, although, it may have seemed pretty cool when it first came out, it isn't a classic, it doesn't stand the test of time and it really seems like an atypical, outdated '80s flic to me (like "The Breakfast Club," "Police Academy," "The A-Team" T.V. series, etc.).

The actors themselves aren't exactly Hollywood's greatest. Included is the overrated, non-versatile Bill Murray who seems to only play one type of role: A non-chalant "I don't care" type of actor which I thought didn't fit in well with Ghostbusters, it being a sci-fi drama-action flic.

The special effects were okay for its time but the movie doesn't provide an iota of suspense and it doesn't compensate for its lack of scariness except for the mediocre action scenes. I might have enjoyed it a LITTLE more had I seen it when it first came out when I was a teenager as I was more impressionable. But how other reviewers can rate this outdated flic more than 3 stars is beyond me. It's just not very good.

While I don't regret seeing this movie for the first time ever two weeks ago, it's certainly not a movie that I desire to see in the near or far future.

Rating:
Summary: Deleted Scenes Don't Work
Review: I was very excited to get this DVD version of one of my favorite old movies, but when I popped it in I found the deleted scenes extra (and one of the other extra features - can't remember which) wouldn't work, neither on my DVD player nor on my computer... ok, bad disc I thought... So I exchanged it for another which has ended up having the exact same problem.

Someone mentioned having this problem in a November 29, 2001 review so I wonder if there's a "bad batch" out there that has some sort of corruption?

Otherwise, the menus are a little cheesy, but the film looks and sounds great, and I enjoyed the trivia subtitles feature while watching the movie - all sorts of new things to learn about this wonderful movie!

Rating:
Summary: The greatest movie ever made.
Review: I've been a fan of Ghostbusters since it first came out.It has been and always will be my favorite movie.This DVD is by far one of the best Ghostbusters items made.The interactivity menu is top notch and the faetures are by far some of the best of any dvd out there.I highly recomned this DVD.

Rating:
Summary: bustin' makes me feel good.
Review: However, the word "bust" isn't a verb. Anyhow, Ray Parker jr. song lyrics aside, this is my all time, numero uno, favorite film of all time. I was enchanted with it as a small child, I had the toys, all that stuff, i watched the movie daily, and such. I really just liked the ghosts and action and stuff. So anyhow, a few years have passed...about...12, and I still love this movie. I purchased the movie for nostaligia purposes, and it was good. I loved it. I love the commentary, I love seeing it in widescreen for the first time, I love the higher picture quality it brings.
As I have aged, I have also picked up on the humor much more than I had as a child, its all superb. Anyhow, from the sound of it, I must really, really, love this film. Why 4 stars? Because the Deleted Scenes segment doesnt play. Perhaps I just have a flawed DVD, but it was REALLY disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Really Awesome Cool DVD!
Review: Another one of my favorite all time classic movies with some of the best actor's and actresses. I love Bill Murray, Sigorney Weaver, and Dan Aykroyd are all amazing and funny. Other actor's and actresses include: Annie Potts, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, and Earnie Hudson. If you love any or all of these actor's it's a must see! Even if you have seen it you must get the DVD. It's got like a special 3-D menu of the city, great special effects. With also: storyboards, split-screen compare, production photos, drawings, deleted scenes, and much much more. It's a great movie, fun of comedy and a little bit of scary-ness. It's an awesome movie and another classic to add to your DVD collection :)

Rating:
Summary: Very intertaining
Review: When this movie came out it became an instant classic and while I am not sure if todays' sophisticated kids would enjoy it as much as I and my younger brothers did, it is a good solid comedy with a well written script and is very entertaining. Murray is just plain funny and enjoyable to watch, and here he has an on screen romance budding with Sigourney Weaver. I've noticed that any film with the name "Ramis" attached to it is good, and here he co writes and acts and the result is fun.
My favorite scene is when Murray shows up at Weaver's apartment to check it out for any "paranormal" indicators and he plays the part as if he doesn't really believe what it is he is doing, but the gig is a gig and he plays along. He goes to the piano and taps the keys playing some classic black and white horror movie notes and then looks seriously at Weaver saying "They hate it when you do that". Somehow he can play the part of playing the part and does it convincingly. Later in "The Man Who Knew Too Little", Murray takes this kind of role to an art form, playing a character playing a character well enough to pull off some serious laughs.
Ghostbusters is a strong recommendation and is sure to entertain.

Rating:
Summary: Funny and Scary!
Review: Ghostbsters is a very good movie and a great mixture of comedy and horror, I remember seeing this in the movie theater and really enjoying the funny jokes and gags and I also remember the scary scenes in Sigourney Weaver's character's apartment building, some of that stuff was creepy but most of the movie was very funny!

Rating:
Summary: Who ya gonna call?
Review: This is not a review of the movie, this is a review of the DVD. If you haven't seen or heard of Ghostbusters before, what are you waiting for?! It's an awesome movie! And this is one cool DVD. I never thought Ghostbusters would get such a lavish treatment for it's DVD release, but here it is.

First of all, the film looks so good! Compare it to your VHS copy and you'll see the difference. No more full-frame that cuts off half the picture or a muddy print where you can't see anything, this is in beautiful widescreen with sharp colors abound.

And the extras are fantastic. You've got the original theatrical trailer (along with bonus trailers of two other Bill Murray movies), and a few featurettes that are fairly interesting. One is by the special effects crew that worked on the film and they're very informative and seem like a bunch of fun people. You get two documentaries on the film with the actors themselves (one is a short piece that looks as though it was made as an ad for the film's original release, and one is a modern featurette with a weird Dan Aykroyd).

There's also a storyboard compare for those that are into that and production photograph gallery. The photos have a tendency to get a little boring and redundant as you flip through them but it's interesting seeing the monsters and logos that didn't make the cut.

The deleted scenes are really interesting too, although one can see why they were cut. There are a few gems in there though for the diehard fan. It's really amazing that these scenes were kept for 15 years or so since the films were released and are worth it for just that reason.

Last but not least, you've got production notes in subtitle format that can run the entire length of the movie and a commentary with Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman. Not only is this informative, it's done in a cool way, with silhouettes of them in a Mystery Science Theater way. It provides more of a level of fun that a commentary doesn't always have.

Final words: A stellar DVD for fans of the film.