Ghostbusters was released in 1984, and to this date remains one of my personal favourite films of all time. It’s sequel isn’t bad either, but no where near as good as the original. The film is about three New York scientists, Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) and Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) who after getting thrown out of their research positions at the university decide to go into business as Ghostbusters, or as it’s more technically put, Professional Paranormal Investigations and Eliminations.
Things don’t start off too well for the guys however, until a call comes in from the Sedgewick Hotel asking them to get rid of a ghost that has been up to mischief. The Ghostbusters turn up at the hotel, and track down the class 5 free roaming vapour, otherwise known as a Slimer! Venkman has a close encounter with said ghost (“he slimed me!“) before they finally manage to capture the ghost using some unlicensed particle accelerators (proton packs) and a custom designed ghost trap. They also end up destroying the hotel ballroom in the process. After this work picks up for the Ghostbusters, and they end up hiring a fourth member, Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), to help them out.
The main plot of the movie really centres around the haunting (and subsequent possession) of Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver). All the hauntings that the Ghostbusters are taking care of are actually the result of a massive psychic energy build up caused by Gozer the Gozarian, a prehistoric demon god, who just so happens to be trying to push it’s way into our reality via Dana’s fridge.
Unfortunately Dana, and her neighbour Louis Tully (Rick Moranis), end up becoming possessed by two spirits named Zuul (the gatekeeper) and Vinz Clortho (the keymaster). When the two meet up, they open a rift to allow Gozer through, and for their trouble get transformed into some freaky hell hound type creatures.
The Mayor of New York orders the Ghostbusters to get rid of Gozer, which takes them to the top of Dana’s apartment block for an ending climactic battle. Gozer combats their attack by getting the Ghostbusters to choose the form of their destruction. Unfortunately, Ray chooses the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, which appears as a massive giant monster hundred of feet tall. Egon suggests the only way to dispose of Gozer is to cross the proton pack streams, despite his warning earlier in the movie that this would be bad (Definition of bad: Imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light). Obviously, crossing the streams works, the day is saved and Dana and Louis are returned to their human forms.
The film has aged very well. There’s not much in the way of excruciatingly bad fashion, the effects still look quite good, and it is still hilarious. Well, I think it is anyway!
Warning: Declaration of Social_Walker_Comment::start_lvl(&$output, $depth, $args) should be compatible with Walker_Comment::start_lvl(&$output, $depth = 0, $args = Array) in /homepages/40/d211339488/htdocs/childofthe1980s/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/social/lib/social/walker/comment.php on line 18
Warning: Declaration of Social_Walker_Comment::end_lvl(&$output, $depth, $args) should be compatible with Walker_Comment::end_lvl(&$output, $depth = 0, $args = Array) in /homepages/40/d211339488/htdocs/childofthe1980s/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/social/lib/social/walker/comment.php on line 42
[…] years after the first Ghostbusters film, in 1989, the sequel was released. Reuniting us with all the characters from the first film, […]
[…] I first saw it at the pictures all those years ago Ghostbusters has long been one of my favourite films, so I was pretty excited when my Dad came home one day […]
[…] get to see him in films so much any more. He plays geeky or awkward characters (Louis Tully from Ghostbusters for example) so well, but there don’t seem to be many films made these days that require that […]
[…] a scene from the movie, and failing quite miserably. Â The also visit the fire house used as the Ghostbusters HQ in New York, which I particularly like since this is the one place described in the book where I […]
[…] Dukes of Hazzard, Battlestar Galactica, The Bionic Woman and Knight Rider, and even my fave film Ghostbusters is getting a lot of attention thanks to the new videogame, with rumours of a new film to follow […]
I caught a bit of this on Channel 5 tonight not having seen it for years -my it is good.
Which is a bit of a coincidence given who’s coming to see me tomorrow…..
I’ll have to try and remember to bring the Blu-ray along with me – I still never got round to checking if they have MST3Ked the commentary.
Good man.
The Ghostbusters cast: Where are they now?
http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/photos/ghostbusters-where-are-they-now–1319825868-slideshow/busters-photo-1319825119.html
Ghostbusters is back in the cinema!
http://cinemart-online.co.uk/2011/09/23/ghostbusters-re-release-kicks-off-28th-october/
Would be fun to see it on the big screen again, though I suspect I’ve missed any chance of seeing it now as it sounds like it was a Halloween thing.
Couple of friends saw it this week