Ghostbusters 2

Rating:
Summary: Perfect!
Review: Ghostbusters 2 had to be the funniest, and without doubt the most electrifying movie ever made. The whole thing is extremely funny from start to end, providing the best wall to wall comedy ever. The information that they've stopped producing the video is criminal. All I can say is roll on the DVD version, whcih you'd be fools not to buy.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as Ghostbusters but still hilarious
Review: It was funny still but the horror part had a little too much in common with the first film.

Rating:
Summary: A GOOD BUT NOT AN EXCELLENT SEQUEL TO GHOSTBUSTERS
Review: I found GHOSTBUSTERS 2 to be too much of a rehash of the 1st film and here's why. Although BILL MURRY, DAN AKYROYD AND HAROLD RAMIS are great I just felt SIGOURNAY WEAVER'S character seemed to be out of place she was'nt like she had been in the first film and WEAVER seemed almost bored in this film too. I don't want to knock the film too hard there are a lot of still awsome special effects it's just that the story seems too weak as is the villian in this film who I'm not giving away but you'll see what I mean. I think if you liked GHOSTBUSTERS you'll like this film but probably not as much.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best sequels ever!
Review: When mother Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) realizes that her child has become the "chosen one" for a medieival destructor to enter present day New York City, she must call upon the four men she got to know earlier when she became a dog. But they've all gone their seperate ways! Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) is once again a scientist at the university. Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) has become a bookstore owner with books about, of course, paranormal activity. And goofball Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) has become a T.V. show host about the strange and unusual. But, in a court case, they must deam their proton backpacks once more! Get ready for this out of this world movie that is one of the best sequels ever made! Some people don't agree with me on this, but it IS one of the greatest sequels ever made. I have to end this review with saying one thing. Venkman : Okay, suck in the guts guys. We're the Ghostbusters.

Rating:
Summary: Tom Keogh...SHOVE IT!!
Review: OK, Tom's review is by far one of the worst that I have seen for this movie...I can't believe it was posted. He obviously is not a Ghostbuster fan, but if you are a fan of the first movie, you will definately love this flick. Ironically Dana Barrett(Sigorney Weever) is suckered in by the world of the supernatural again, and who else but the Ghostbusters to help her...and her baby, Oscar(yes, like the hotdog), out of a fix with Vigo the Carpathian. It's a great movie to sit down with the family and eat popcorn on a Friday night with or to sit and watch by yourself. Very entertaining, and the comedic chemistry of Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Akroyd, and Ernie Hudson add together to make one of the best films of the 89 year. Loads of fun! This one goes a little further, because it has a massive river of slime, and the bathtub tries to eat Dana and her baby. Great stuff. I hope you enjoy this movie as much as I have over the past few years that I have owned it. So, if you have a night with the family, make it a GB night. :^)

Rating:
Summary: 'Busting Makes Me Feel Good! (A lot Less In This Movie)
Review: One of the main problems with GHOSTBUSTERS II is that it came out five years too late and that everything from the first film was invalid. In the first film the Ghostbusters literally save New York City and were heroes. In the sequel, we find out that that they are prohibited from "ghostbusting" and owe the city a hefty bill for the destruction incurred at "spook central" (Dana Barrett's /Sigourney Weaver apartment building near Central Park from the first movie). In the sequel, they have to literally start from scratch to re-establish themselves along with a new Ghostbusters logo. The rest of the plot is interestingly inventive but not as thrilling or memorable as from the original Ghostbusters (who can forget Gozer, Zhule, the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man). The heroes have to stop an evil spirit from the 16th Century, Vigo the Carpathian (currently inhabiting a painting of his own image being restored at a museum by Dana Barrett). He wants to come back to life by taking over Dana Barrett's baby boy, Oscar while "enlisting" the aid of Dana's boss,Janosz (an annoying Peter MacNicol with a european accent). At the same time his evil presence is oozing pink ectoplasmic slime (the first movie had green slime) being fed by all the negative vibes in New York City. Also,as in the first movie, the antagonizer against the Ghostbusters business was a man from the EPA (which was hilariously original and inventive), in this film it's the the mayor's campaign manager (Kurt Fuller). GHOSTBUSTERS II's production values and special effects are excellent along with the chemistry and comraderie among the cast and characters. However, it feels like it could have been a preliminary draft of ideas for it's characters instead of a sequel (i.e. The Statue of Liberty compared to the Stay-Puft Marshmellow Man). The filmmakers should have taken out the "trying to re-establish themselves" plot from the script, and concentrate on a more inventive and earth-shattering storyline which is the point of any sequel. The hype on the first GHOSTBUSTERS poster states "Coming This Summer To Save The World" and the film lived up to that hype. GHOSTBUSTERS II did not have that kind of atmosphere. Lastly, as stated earlier, the film came out five years too late. To show what five year can do, in the first film, there was a catchy pop tune by Ray Parker, Jr. In this film, it is replaced by an unmemorable rap song...rap had become contemporary by the time the film was released.

Rating:
Summary: "Doe, Ray, Egon!"
Review: Five years after their last adventures, the Ghostbusters have all but broken up. Peter (Bill Murray) hosts a psychic talk show, Ray (Dan Akroyd) runs an occult bookstore (while doing kids parties with Winston on the side) and Egon (Harold Ramis) runs experiments with emotion in a lab. Dana Barrett, Peter's ex-girfriend (Sigourney Weaver) has married, divorced, and has had a baby, Oscar. They are all brought together again when the paranormal once again rears its ugly head, this time in the form of Vigo the Carpathian (a medieval magician preserved in a painting) and a sewer's worth of emotive slime, a slime that absorbed the negativity of New York City. Can they outwit the spooks and the cynics and save the day, again?

I can see why some were disappointed by this movie. Though it has the same characters, actors, director (Ivan Reitman) and script writers (Akroyd and Ramis) as the first, it has a rather different feel. The films just a bit more colourful, there are a couple more gadgets and gizmos, and the fantasy element of the film is played more than the horror element. The minions of Gozer in the first film, for example, had some pretty scary moments (like when all the hands burst out of the chair and grabbed Dana Barrett). Here in the sequel, the main menace, Vigo, with his long locks and melodramatic voice, comes off more as comic relief than anything horrific (so too does his "minion" Janosh, the art curator). There is even a moment or two which could be considered cheesy in the sequel (i.e. the fake looking impaled heads during the ghost train scene).

The pace, too, is a lot quicker. In the first one, a lot of time was taken showing the Ghostbusters establishing their business, part of the fun was watching them develop, getting by with their tacky car, rundown office and financial and EPA troubles. Here, right after the court case with the electric chair ghosts, we are thrown into a montage where they are right back in business, with all the stuff they need, without much of an explanation. I'd also like an explanation as to why Louis and Jenine get together. I always saw Jenine getting together with Egon. Maybe Akroyd and Ramis thought this was funnier. I don't know.

It's still very entertaining though. I enjoyed it. There's plenty of funny moments in the film, (though nowhere near as many as the first) and it was nice to see how all the characters were getting on, be they major, minor, or slimer. The ghosts are just as well done here as in the first one (I quite enjoyed the surreal bathtub slime and the electric chair ghosts).

An enjoyable enough film, but I'd see the first movie (and maybe a couple of episodes from the cartoon) before seeing this one, just to get the feel for it.

Rating:
Summary: Carney Asada!
Review: Art Carney once again proves why he is king. A remarkable journey! Who you gonna Call? I call Art.

Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable =)
Review: It's light entertainment, and that at its' most lovable I think, very simple story by using a bit of childish-imagination, and good effects to create this second movie about Ghostbusters. To me this one couldn't have been better, actually, I don't know how much people who liked the first movie managed to expect from this one. The first one is no work of any genious, is it? It's just funny, unrealistic and that's all it tries to be it seems to me. There's nothing deep about these four ghosthunters in any of these two movies. Ghostbusters 2 is a good second, well worthy of five stars if you enjoyed the first one like I did.

Rating:
Summary: Far too light and tame to be a REAL sequel.
Review: A lot of the original magic is absent in this belated sequel. The storyline isn't up to much and is never taken full advantage of. One thing that is sorely missed is the wide, powerful score from the first film. The late Elmer Bernstein ducked out of scoring this one and (the awful) Randy Edelman took over. This could have been alright if he respected Bernstein's work but he used none of the themes from the original. It's all just light-hearted cues and dullness.

The plot takes a backseat to long character explanation and development. The Ghostbusters have been out of business since blowing up Central Park West. Which is total crap! The saved the world from the destruction of Gozer. Why the hell would they go out of business? A totally ridiculous story that does nothing but aggravate fans of the first. Who on earth thought of this?

Now the Ghostbusters are forbidden from performing public services. But a narrow-minded Judge wants to send them to jail for causing a massive blackout. Then, 2 ghosts show up and they bust them and before you can say 'Who ya gonna call?' they are back busting undead ass.

Something I find very stupid and annoying about the plot is that the aforementioned Judge and a City Attorney repeatedly say that they do not believe in ghosts. Obviously these guys have forgotten about the 200-foot marshmallow man and the evil voice of Gozer booming all over Manhattan Island.

And this time the villain isn't as scary as the Gozer. Now we have Vigo, a 14th century madman who wants to return to living form and has targeted Weaver's child as his host. He plans to do this before the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve 1989 or some baloney. For a film that has it's build-up and climax on New Year's Eve there is no mention Xmas whatsoever. And the ending with the hidden painting is REALLY corny.

Bill Murray was very open about his distaste for this film when it came out. He said it was pointless and he never really wanted to do it. The Ghostbusters franchise was taken in a much stronger direction with The Real Ghostbusters TV show. At with that they never went out of business for saving the world. Honestly, what stupidity!

However, it was thanks to the TV show that this movie was toned down a bit and more family-friendly. But the TV show and the first movie have something this film doesn't; atmosphere.

A scoop of trivia: In the montage with the Ghostbusters running all over New York after suddenly coming back into Business we see a clip of Ray driving like a maniac and Peter gives him a strange look. This scene was originally going to follow after the scene in which Ray is hypnotised by the painting of Vigo. The Ectomobile was supposed to crash into a tree in Central Park and we see a shot of the license plate fall off and Ray come out of his trance. But this entire scene was cut from the film and is only left in the montage.

Ghostbusters 2 is to Ghostbusters what MIIB was to MIB. A total repeat. Which makes the out-of-business/back-in-business plot even more retarded as we have to go through the establishments all over again instead of devoting that time to a stronger, better plot.

Filmed in Panavision the DVD is in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with good Dolby 5.1 sound. There are no extras other than a trailer.