Ghostbusters: 8/18/02 - 8/31/02

[slade]

Wow. I dropped the ball on this one. I was supposed to get this up over the weekend, but between the in-laws being in town and getting a new projector ( ) I completely forgot.

Sorry everyone!

Of course, you can really discuss it longer than just this week, so I'm thinking it will be okay to start it late. If not, feel free to PM me with your hate-mail.

Anyway, here's the usual speal:

This is a thread to discuss the technical and/or thematic merits of "Ghostbusters."

The purpose being to foster intelligent discussion of films without resorting to "It's a piece of crap." or "It's the greatest film ever." (And so that we all can gain a bit of a film education from everyone.)

We'll discuss a new film each week. Either Morticia or I will post the film in this forum in advance, and lock the topic until the first day of discussion.

Thanks everyone. We are excited and we hope this works (we're open to any ideas of how to make it better).

****SPOILER WARNING**** of course this entire thread is going to be full of spoilers.

[limacharliewhiskey]

It's been awhile since I've seen Ghostbusters, as I haven't picked up the DVD of this yet, but I do vividly remember how funny this film was. I was introduced to the comic team of Bill Murray and Harold Ramis in Stripes, and when they added Dan Ackroyd to the cast, it was just a perfect combination of funny guys who made this one of my favorite movies of the 1980s.

One thing that made this film more impressive than most other "ghost" stories was how they tried to logically explain all of the ghost-capturing devices. I never did find it too plausible on how they used their ghost-snaring stream devices (I forget what they were called), but somehow, in the context of the film, it didn't really matter. For some bizarre reason, it seemed more of a stretch of the imagination for some of the ghost-detection equipment, like in Poltergeist. But in Ghostbusters, I just seemed to accept whatever gadget or gizmo they presented.

Geez, after writing my opinion on this movie, I feel like buying the DVD now. One of the great comedies of the decade, only to be followed by Back to the Future the following year. The 1980s were a golden decade for films.

[C Roberts]

I watched this movie not long ago with a friend. He saw the DVD on my shelf and wanted to see it again.

Upon re-watching I noticed first that there is very little that actually "dates" this movie to the 80's. Other than seeing the stars much younger than they appear now. I'm talking more about the sets and backgrounds though. Even the special effects are as good as some movies that come out in theaters today, although obviously not up to par with Lucas's latest digital creations.

As a side note, I'm not sure if it mentions this on the DVD but an interesting fact is that the test Bill Murray is giving to the guy and girl at the start of the movie is a real test. However, its not a test to see if someone is psychic. The test is to see how many times someone will let you shock them with electricity before they leave. So while in the movie it looks as though Bill Murray is just shocking the guy and not the pretty girl (even when the guy guessed correctly). He was actually running that test right. ;-)

[Morticia]

OK, I had brian set us up for an extra week on Ghostbusters. Between slade's in-law issues ( ), my being away to visit Gomez's family, and the File being a little, well, light due to the summer frenzy.....

Carry on, you have till the end of the month!! Well, not that these threads ever get closed. But the official time has been extended.

I don't know what I'm rambling on about, really.

[Morticia]

Originally posted by limacharliewhis
It's been awhile since I've seen Ghostbusters, as I haven't picked up the DVD of this yet, but I do vividly remember how funny this film was. I was introduced to the comic team of Bill Murray and Harold Ramis in Stripes, and when they added Dan Ackroyd to the cast, it was just a perfect combination of funny guys who made this one of my favorite movies of the 1980s.

lima -- you really SHOULD pick up the DVD. The original intent (as stated in the booklet) was that Ghostbusters was to be a Dan Ackroyd/John Belushi vehicle, then Belushi died. Ackroyd rewrote the script, Ramis helping, and they added Bill Murray and Harold Ramis to the cast.

End of trivia!!

I enjoyed watching this again. It is fairly timeless, with only a few references to the 80s: a banner on a building announcing the date (1982), a reference to breakdancing, and the pop soundtrack, which isn't too intrusive. In other words, it ages well. The humor, the plot, even the special effects. (Well, with the possible exception of the dog statues running amok )

Themes
Good vs. Evil -- even when Evil comes in the guise of a Marshmallow man, here we have 4 regular guys (one making only 11,500 per year (!)) fighting an ancient god. Literally. These poor shmoes have no idea what they're up against, and they risk life and limb (and protons) to save the world.

[slade]

Interestingly, I actually watched Ghostbusters back on teh week that we were to discuss it. But, I was so underwhelmed that I didn't feel like saying anything about it.

The last time I watched this movie, I was a kid, and I thought it was great. But, this time, I just couldn't get into it. The comedy seemed dry. The characters were uninteresting characatures. The ghosts weren't even that interesting (except, of course, the possessed Weaver). As usual with these film class movies, I had a paper and pen handy, but just never felt inspired enough to even write anything down.

I guess, to be more specific, here are some of my complaints specific to the comedy (I'm choosing to pick on the comedy, since that is what this movie is supposed to be, right?). Much of it was very slapstick, which is fine, I guess, but doesn't work for me. For example, getting slimed, shocking the geeky kid but not the attractive woman, coming down the fire pole.

Then there was the "potty" humor, that, while funny when in elementary school, just doesn't do much for me now either. For example, "yes, it's true, the man has no dick."

And the rest of the humor didn't make me laugh much either. My wife walked in during teh end of the movie and watched for a few minutes. And, I actually did chuckle a little at something, that she obviously didn't find funny at all, and she remarked, "I think you're just reliving old memories Slade" and got up and left again.

Humor, like most of movies, I suppose, is highly subjective. But the humor in ghostbusters, while hilarious when I was in the 5th grade, just didn't do it for me, this time around.

[tqpix]

I loved this movie as a child. Slimer was my favorite.

I had the opportunity to watch this again several months back, but it's appeal it once had on me seemed to had decreased. However, the movie is still watchable.

Two things that really stand out:

1. The proton packs are the best weapons ever used in a movie--made me wish I had one in my possession
2. The Staypuff Marshmallow Man is the coolest villain ever; cute and dangerous at the same time!