VHS : Ghostbusters [1984]

Rating: - Still funny
This film is comedy gold...still classic and funny and also fresh!!! The script is so sharp and dry and the characters totally lovable!! Loved it when I was a kid BUT love it more now.

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Rating: - Ghostbusters
'Ghostbusters' is an ironic, tongue in cheek comedy from the eighties and although the effects look dated, the humour and fun has not. Bill Murray has some great lines and performs them in his usual dead pan way and Rick Moranis is as gawky and geeky as he is in all his films. The plot is pretty silly, but considering it's not trying to be too serious it's best to suspend disbelief and sit back and enjoy the fun. This film spawned many spin offs, from a cartoon, a sequel and a host of toys (which I loved playing with as a kid!) and you can see why, some of the characters are iconic looking back (The Stay Paft marshmallow man and slimer to name two). A good, fun film that should keep you watching and entertained and makes you want to watch the slightly darker Ghostbusters 2. Worth a viewing if you haven't seen it before and a trip down memory lane for those of us that have.

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Rating: - WHO ARE YOU GONNA CALL?
The first thing that needs to be said is that Ghostbusters (1984) is possibly the funniest film ever. That's quite the bold statement to make but with good cause. This film holds up probably more than any other comedy in existence. You know how there are those movies that you see that are hysterical the first few times you see them? This one just keeps on coming. I remember when I was a kid, I wore our copy of Ghostbusters out. At the time, I watched it constantly never realizing what it truly was. I hadn't yet caught on to a lot of the humor. I noticed that I hadn't seen the film for forever and a day so I bought it and last night I put it in my DVD player and oh my God...I just about died with laughter.

This movie has something for everyone. Director Ivan Reitman said that he found a comedic formula for films...it works as follows: There's the brain, the heart, and the mouth. Ghostbusters scored with all of them. As the brain of the bunch, Egon Spengler's (Harold Ramis also co-wrote it) use of witty humor is hilarious. If you have the right mind set, almost everything Spengler says is laugh out loud funny. At the heart of the Ghostbusters is Dan Aykroyd's (Who created the idea for the film) lovable fool, Ray Stantz. Ray has a tenacity for saying simple minded things and using very little logic and yet somehow the man got a P.H.D. (Probably through studying habits, despite ignorance.) There's a line that he says involving a smell in the beginning of the movie that I am chuckling at just thinking about it. This of course leaves Bill Murray (He was nominated for a Gloden Globe) as the sarcastic Peter Venkman (The mouth of the beast.) Peter is likely the one that gets the most laughs because he, being the mouth that he is, never stops making fun of everything. It's like Rodney Dangerfield in the party scene in Caddyshack but a whole lot funnier and continues the rest of the movie. The film also produces some laughter out of the minor characters as well. The scatological humor toward the end of the film between Rick Moranis (In a role intended for John Candy) and Sigourney Weaver is quite laughter inducing. Ernie Hudson in one of his first big roles has a few good lines as the other Ghostbuster, Winston Zeddmore (The only one who's not a doctor) and William Atherton of Die Hard fame plays the ultimate annoyance as Walter Peck. Not to be forgotten in the mix is Annie Potts as Janine who has some rather memorable humorous lines, for instance the one I've written to summarize the movie. Numerous other well known faces are seen on screen too, which includes John Belushi (Or rather his continuation of the character Bluto, from Animal House) as the principal image used for the now famous 'Disgusting Blob,' Slimer. Like any good comic will tell you, good comedy is generally about setting up the other guys around you. Well, it just so happens that the characters all work well with each other to set the great comedic moments staged in this film.

Not to be forgotten however in all the funny one liners and set ups is the overall film. Ghostbusters was nominated for numerous awards including Oscars for best song (Courtesy of Ray Parker Jr.) and special effects, which are now slightly dated but possibly work even better with the wacky style being consistent with the rest of the movie. Along with Parker, there are numerous other great songs including a song by The Bus Boys that climbed charts and a rather creepy seeming song (But works well) by Mick Smiley. Another thing that should not be forgotten is the horror elements of the film. Though purposely outrageous, the effects do serve as some potential scare moments. Among the most frightening involve stop motion animated puppets called Terror Dogs. Though the scares are few, they do work fairly well (They had me convinced as a youngster) bringing enough threat to the ghosts that haunt New York City. The story itself is interesting as well, involving some intriguing mythology of Sommeria among other countries.

Where some films tend to only work a few times, Ghostbusters is consistent. Although, I've found movies such as CLUE, Dr. Strangelove or Airplane to be funnier at different times in my life, this one still makes me laugh even after seeing it hundreds of times. From the opening scares to the ending credits, it will almost surely reel you in. I've laughed harder at some moments in other films but it's rare that I find one that's funnier throughout. Even those films lose their edge after you see them a few times...this one just doesn't. If you haven't seen it, do so. You will almost certainly be glad you did. If you have seen it and didn't like it, try watching it again in a few years. It's almost sure to grow on you eventually. I dare anyone to sit through this movie and not laugh once, no matter how many times they've seen it. If you don't laugh, you're either trying really hard to hold back, have a very odd sense of humour or are dead! It's just that funny.I would easily rate this one a five out of five, placed among the classics. Believe it or not, I think that it belongs alongside Citizen Kane and Lawrence of Arabia. It also spawned an entertaining sequel in 1989. Enjoy!

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Rating: - "Tell him about the Twinkie..."
Ghostbusters - a seminal, feel good film from the eighties which a chart topping theme song, memorable characters and sets and deadpan humour.

I was only four when this film came out, and when I was little the theme song was one of my favaroites to dance to (I was four, so forgive me!) and didn't get round to seeing the movie until I was about thirteen, though I had watched the cartoons which were spawned as a result of this fantastic film.

I have to say that this film is a classic. It is a great saturday night, night in movie, with brilliant performances all round. Venkman (Bill Murray) is perfectly cast as the womanising Dr. whose mind is on dating the women, rather than conducting his experiments properly. Certainly, he has designs on "studying" them - just not in the scientific sense. (The early scene with the negative reinforcement on ESP ability and the cards is a classic) Venkman's preoccupation with chasing every woman he meets, apparently makes him a poor scientist, so he gets himself and his chums booted off campus. (Alas for Venkman he never gets his date with that hot blonde he was eyeballing at the start of the film!)

Eagon (Harold Ramis) and Stanz (Akroyd) are also typecast wonderfully. Ramis' is an exact opposite to Venkman, in the fact that he does not find women in the least bit interesting. Janelle is obviously flattered with Ramis' good looks, and flirts with him, but Eagon's deadplan reply to the question of "do you have any hobbies?" is "I collect spores, moulds and fungus." I laughed out loud! Akroyd is inspiring too as the sort of child like Ray, whose fascination with the pole at the firestation is his sole reason for wanting to buy the place (well, he did have three morgages on his house) and his gentle manner make him my favaroite character.

The film is also supported by brilliant actors like Signourney Weaver and Rick Moranis.

The story - in case you don't know is three scientists go into business for themselves, trapping ghosts. Their first job at an illustrious hotel is a success, and they emerge victorious and full of enthusiasm.

Then things get strange, and they get busy. Very busy. There's dogs in refrigerators and ghosts on every corner, and our heroes are becomming so busy that sleep is becoming an all to distant memory and they're hiring a fourth member. The EPA, Walter Peck - played here by a slimy as ever William Atherton (who also played an abnoxious reporter in Die Hard) decide the Ghostbusters must be put out of business and the containment unit shut down. Once the unit is shut down, literatly all hell breaks loose, and its up to the Ghostbusters to save the day - and the lives of millions of registered voters.

The special effects, though obviously dated now still look very good, especially the scene Stay Puft Marshmellow man. This film is vastly superior to its sequal, and is worth owning for its fuzzy, feel good eighties factor. Everyone on this film was obviously having a ball, and though their sequal wouldn't be the best, it was still nice to see those Ghostbusters back.

So, own a piece of eighties nostalgia, settle down, and remember if you hear strange noises in the middle of the night...who you going to call?

No, not the A-Team - GHOSTBUSTERS!!

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Rating: - a gem
ghostbusters is another example of a 1980s movie that hasnt faded as the years scraped the 80s of alot of its dignity,ghostbusters is a classic with a great sense of humour and a great sense of action,thrills and spills all delivered together to deliver what is essentially a family film with the odd moment of adult humour thrown in.
Bill murray and dan akyroyds rapport in this movie is great,one can just tell that they are great friends off the set and all the best lines fall to murray which is no surprise as dan co-wrote the movie,murray is an over zealous slacker scientist who causes problems for the city and also is wise cracking,akyroyd plays the more thought orientated scientist and usually the pawn to murrays exploits and harry ramis who was also co writer is the most scientific of them all,hell bent on bringing ghosts to a demise as easily as possible,sigourney weaver and rick moranis co star and all add to the films undisputed charm.The film also brought us iconic figures like the woman in the library,slimer and the excellent stay puft marshmallow man,its safe to say that the next generation will take to this film like bread to a ducks beak,but for the time being this is another 80s classic.