Ghostbusters
4/4
Starring: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Annie Potts, Rick Moranis
Rated PG for Scary Action/Violence, Language and Some Crude Humor (I guess)
The version of "Ghostbusters" that was shown to audiences starting on June 8th, 1984, was radically different from what it was originally envisioned. The original premise had Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as Ghost Busters, but after John Belushi died and Eddie Murphy turned it down, the whole script was rewritten (for the record, Murphy's role was Winston Zeddmore, and it would have been hugely expanded upon if he had signed on). Then in the original rough draft, the film would have taken place in the future and there would have been teams of Ghost Busters like there are firemen and paramedics, but as written, the film would have cost $300 million in 1984 dollars. That's nearly $640 million in today's dollars, which is more than twice to price of "Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End" (the most expensive film ever made as of yet).
Ordinarily, this kind of constant and drastic change for a movie can spell doom for the project ("Gigli" was a black comedy that was completely revamped as a light-hearted romantic comedy by the studio when the nation's inexplicable interest in Bennifer's engagement whipped into a fervor). Fortunately, that doesn't happen here. This movie is a classic. Not only is it consistently funny time and time again (and the jokes have lost none of their punch after nearly 30 years), it's also genuinely creepy.
Three parasychology professors are working at an unnamed university (it's actually Columbia University, but they demanded that they not be named in any way in the film) in New York City. They are uber-nerd Ray Stantz (Aykroyd), humorless Egon Spengler (Ramis) and smartass Peter Venkman (Murray). Stantz and Spengler are obsessed with their work, while Venkman is probably doing it so he can get paid to screw around. After their are unceremoniously fired from the university, they go into business for themselves. With technology developed by Egon, they are able to catch ghosts and store them in a containment facility. One of their first customers, a lovely musician named Dana Barrett (Weaver), comes to them with a unique problem: her eggs jumped out of their shells and started cooking on her counter, and her refrigerator has become a portal into another dimension. The Ghostbusters are on the case, but Dana's curious situation is just a small piece of a much bigger problem that may end up destroying the world.
This is an example of pitch perfect casting. Before Bill Murray began to work with indie-film king (who's really the town fool) Wes Anderson and believed that he could act, he was one of the funniest and most popular comedians working in Hollywood. Murry makes a great smart aleck, and his talent at being hilariously obnoxious is used to good effect here. Venkman is annoying, yes, but only to the characters. To the audience, he's hysterical. Dan Aykroyd, who can act, is perfect as the nerdy Ray. He believes that everyone is as knowledgeable and as interested in his gobbledegook as he is. He makes Mother, the character he would play 8 years later in the criminally underrated "Sneakers," look like a chick magnet. Harold Ramis is very funny as the deadpan Egon. For the most part, he's incapable of any human emotion other than being serious, although Ramis (who had no intention of taking the part that he wrote until he realized he was the only one who could do it) always makes him interesting. Annie Potts is great as the sarcastic secretary, Janine, and Rick Moranis is his usual socially awkward self as Dana's neighbor, Louis Tulley (John Candy was offered the role, but he turned it down after they rejected his ideas for the character).
Ivan Reitman was the mainstream comedy director of the 80's and 90's, including the three comedies that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger ("Twins," "Kindergarten Cop" and "Junior"). Reitman's work is that of all the great comedy directors. He sets the stage so the funnymen can do their things. But Reitman does two important things that make "Ghostbusters" not just a good movie, but a great one. First, he flawlessly mixes a lighthearted comedy with some genuinely creepy material. It's a delicate balance, but Reitman pulls it off. Second, he includes lots of special effects and while they are the focus of some scenes, they never camouflage the characters or the story. Many filmmakers would have tripped up on both qualities (the latter one afflicts many special effects movies these days), but not Ivan Reitman.
One of the things that makes this movie what it is its timelessness. The jokes are character-based. There's little topical humor that wouldn't fly after a significant passage of time. There are no obvious in-jokes or pop culture references that will fly over the heads of everyone who wasn't in the target audience when this movie was released (myself included). "Ghostbusters" stands completely on its own, and it will be successful for years to come.
Starring: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Annie Potts, Rick Moranis
Rated PG for Scary Action/Violence, Language and Some Crude Humor (I guess)
The version of "Ghostbusters" that was shown to audiences starting on June 8th, 1984, was radically different from what it was originally envisioned. The original premise had Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as Ghost Busters, but after John Belushi died and Eddie Murphy turned it down, the whole script was rewritten (for the record, Murphy's role was Winston Zeddmore, and it would have been hugely expanded upon if he had signed on). Then in the original rough draft, the film would have taken place in the future and there would have been teams of Ghost Busters like there are firemen and paramedics, but as written, the film would have cost $300 million in 1984 dollars. That's nearly $640 million in today's dollars, which is more than twice to price of "Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End" (the most expensive film ever made as of yet).
Ordinarily, this kind of constant and drastic change for a movie can spell doom for the project ("Gigli" was a black comedy that was completely revamped as a light-hearted romantic comedy by the studio when the nation's inexplicable interest in Bennifer's engagement whipped into a fervor). Fortunately, that doesn't happen here. This movie is a classic. Not only is it consistently funny time and time again (and the jokes have lost none of their punch after nearly 30 years), it's also genuinely creepy.
Three parasychology professors are working at an unnamed university (it's actually Columbia University, but they demanded that they not be named in any way in the film) in New York City. They are uber-nerd Ray Stantz (Aykroyd), humorless Egon Spengler (Ramis) and smartass Peter Venkman (Murray). Stantz and Spengler are obsessed with their work, while Venkman is probably doing it so he can get paid to screw around. After their are unceremoniously fired from the university, they go into business for themselves. With technology developed by Egon, they are able to catch ghosts and store them in a containment facility. One of their first customers, a lovely musician named Dana Barrett (Weaver), comes to them with a unique problem: her eggs jumped out of their shells and started cooking on her counter, and her refrigerator has become a portal into another dimension. The Ghostbusters are on the case, but Dana's curious situation is just a small piece of a much bigger problem that may end up destroying the world.
This is an example of pitch perfect casting. Before Bill Murray began to work with indie-film king (who's really the town fool) Wes Anderson and believed that he could act, he was one of the funniest and most popular comedians working in Hollywood. Murry makes a great smart aleck, and his talent at being hilariously obnoxious is used to good effect here. Venkman is annoying, yes, but only to the characters. To the audience, he's hysterical. Dan Aykroyd, who can act, is perfect as the nerdy Ray. He believes that everyone is as knowledgeable and as interested in his gobbledegook as he is. He makes Mother, the character he would play 8 years later in the criminally underrated "Sneakers," look like a chick magnet. Harold Ramis is very funny as the deadpan Egon. For the most part, he's incapable of any human emotion other than being serious, although Ramis (who had no intention of taking the part that he wrote until he realized he was the only one who could do it) always makes him interesting. Annie Potts is great as the sarcastic secretary, Janine, and Rick Moranis is his usual socially awkward self as Dana's neighbor, Louis Tulley (John Candy was offered the role, but he turned it down after they rejected his ideas for the character).
Ivan Reitman was the mainstream comedy director of the 80's and 90's, including the three comedies that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger ("Twins," "Kindergarten Cop" and "Junior"). Reitman's work is that of all the great comedy directors. He sets the stage so the funnymen can do their things. But Reitman does two important things that make "Ghostbusters" not just a good movie, but a great one. First, he flawlessly mixes a lighthearted comedy with some genuinely creepy material. It's a delicate balance, but Reitman pulls it off. Second, he includes lots of special effects and while they are the focus of some scenes, they never camouflage the characters or the story. Many filmmakers would have tripped up on both qualities (the latter one afflicts many special effects movies these days), but not Ivan Reitman.
One of the things that makes this movie what it is its timelessness. The jokes are character-based. There's little topical humor that wouldn't fly after a significant passage of time. There are no obvious in-jokes or pop culture references that will fly over the heads of everyone who wasn't in the target audience when this movie was released (myself included). "Ghostbusters" stands completely on its own, and it will be successful for years to come.
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