In the original Ghostbusters movie, three professors of the paranormal – one a complete sceptic, one an enthusiast, one a fountain of all knowledge on the subject – find out what happens when someone accidentally unleashes all the ghosts and suchlike in the world on New York City. It was funny, had a great cast, an upbeat soundtrack, didn’t take itself too seriously, and was basically a lot of fun. Kicked out of their college due to lack of any returns for the funding put into it, the three professors set up their own ghost-busting business. There is very little interest at first, but then more and more sightings and problematic ghostly beings turn up, bringing an increase in business. Eventually though it’s not simply about running a profitable business… it’s about preventing the end of the world as we know it.

Go on a few years and the ghostbusters, who of course became local heroes, have become old news and no-one cares anymore. Then strange things start happening around and under the streets of New York City, and the retired ghostbusters take it upon themselves to investigate. Written by Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis, the storyline has a strong satirical political undercurrent. Not as good as the first film but still enjoyable in its own way.

Director Ivan Reitman has a strong sense of the absurd and manages to create characters and situations that are often funny. He also seems to like a lot of goo all over the place, so much grossness is to be expected. There is a certain lack of subtlety but with the films being funny and fast-paced, that’s not a big problem.

The cast is superb, being largely the same in both films: Bill Murray as the cynical Dr Peter Venkman, enthusiastic Dr Raymond Stantz played by Dan Akroyd, and the geeky prof (Dr Egon Spengler) played to perfection by Harold Ramis. After a short time they need extra help so are joined by Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson). The balance of these four main characters is nearly perfect, which goes a long way to making the films enjoyable. Of the other characters, Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett, token love interest for Bill Murray’s character and unwitting host to a very nasty piece of work in the first film, and Rick Moranis as her goofy flatmate who wants to be a hero and nearly becomes one in the second film, are excellent.

The special effects are very good although by modern standards they do look a bit shaky at times. With some pretty good dialogue backing up the visual humour, the films manage to be funny on more than one level. While I wouldn’t call either film is amazingly brilliant, but the first is probably 4 maybe 5 stars, the second is 3 maybe 4.

With a box set such as this, of course, you would expect more than just the films, and this set delivers some extras. With the first film you have a film-maker’s commentary (sorry but I can never be bothered with these so I don’t know how good it is!), a featurette on the making of Ghostbusters (pretty standard stuff but a few entertaining moments), storyboards (relatively interesting if you like that sort of thing), and a photo gallery. Yeah… it’s not exactly inspiring, is it?

Of slightly more interest are the extras on the for the second film: 2 episodes from the “The Real Ghostbusters” animated children’s series (including the very first episode). In truth these are pretty terrible, but they were of some interest to me because I did remember having seen them (and even liking them) when I was a child. Which just goes to show how that you never have good taste when you’re young…

The DVDs are housed in an attractive (well okay, it’s meant to look like green slime but for all that it’s quite attractive!) case with the Ghostbusters logo on the font. You do get a “scrapbook” with the DVDs, which is actually much more interesting than the DVD extras. This features various snippets of information about the films, production notes, and short cast biographies. A worthwhile addition.

Overall I would recommend this set to anyone who liked but doesn’t already have the films./ The extras aren’t great (though I’m not a great fan of DVD extras as you probably already know), though the scrapbook was interesting. It only cost £7.99 on Amazon together with the Gremlins 1&2 DVD set, so it was good value. I’m going to give it 4 stars overall, because you get one very good and one pretty good film for a very reasonable price.

Film Details

Runtime: 105 mins (1) 108 mins (2)
Rating: PG (both films)

Quotes

Gozer: Are you a God?
Dr Ray Stantz: No.
Gozer: Then... DIE!

After the Ghostbusters have been electrocuted…

Winston Zeddemore: Ray, when someone asks you if you're a *God*, you say "YES"!

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Man at Elevator: What are you supposed to be, some kind of a cosmonaut?
Dr. Peter Venkman: No, we're exterminators. Someone saw a cockroach up on twelve.
Man at Elevator: That's gotta be some cockroach.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Bite your head off, man.
Dr Ray Stantz: [Entering elevator] Going up?
Man at Elevator: I'll take the next one.

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Dr. Egon Spengler: I feel like the floor of a taxi cab.

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Dr. Peter Venkman: I've been slimed.

(A line that has got it’s very own place in film history!)

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Dana Barrett: Do you want this body?
Dr. Peter Venkman: Is this a trick question?

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Egon: Venkman, get a stool sample.
Peter Venkman: Business, or personal?


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Egon: I'd like to run some gynecological tests on the mother.
Peter Venkman: Who wouldn't?

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Louis Tully: I think you guys are making a big mistake. I do mostly tax law and probate stuff occasionally. I got my law degree at night school.
Ray: Well, that's fine, Louis. We got arrested at night.

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See also: Top Ten Comedies


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD