Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters Film Review

Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters

11/7/2016

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With today’s release of the rebooted Ghostbusters, let’s go back to the original that started it all.

Director:

Ivan Reitman

Writers:

Dan Aykroyd
Harold Ramis

Cast:

Bill Murray as Peter Venkman
Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stants
Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler
Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore
Sigourney Weaver as Dana Weaver
Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz
Rick Moranis as Louis Tully

Length:

approx. 105 min

Genre:

Supernatural Comedy

Now I’m not going to pussy foot around here, the original Ghostbusters is one of the greatest films ever. There are two points to prove this, firstly the movie itself is memorable, funny, smart and ahead of its time.

We all know the plot so I won’t waste your time there, though if you are one of the very few who’ve never seen Ghostbusters I want you to stop whatever you are doing right now, feel terrible, maybe even punish yourself, watch it, thank me and then come back.

When Dan Aykroyd wrote the first screenplay it was nothing like what we finally saw in the cinemas, it was more about our four heroes fighting ghosts in hell and other dimensions with wands.

It wasn’t until Ivan Reitman told him it would be financially impossible, that he teamed up with Harold Ramis and gave us what we have now. The choice of actors was a stroke of genius. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis all brought Ghostbusters to life with their performances but personally it was Bill Murray’s Dr Venkman deadpan delivery that I love the most.

The visual effects were brilliant, mind blowing and cutting edge for the time and still hold up today, hell I think they look more believable than some of the films released these days. The soundtrack was pure 80’s pop, new wave, synthpop and early R&B or as I like to say, 80’s cheese, but worked.

Now on to my second point to why the original Ghostbusters is one of the greatest films ever made, the franchise it spawned is massive and I think it’s one of the largest to come from a single movie (of course Star Wars is the biggest, I think this is a far second).

It took Columbia Pictures 5 years to convince Aykroyd, Ramis and Reitman to do the sequel and in that time there had already been the kids TV series The Real Ghostbusters which ran for 7 seasons with 140 episodes, two toy lines for the movie and the TV show, and two comics being published.

So of course Ghostbusters II was done and remarkably with the full cast coming back (remarkable since Bill Murray despises sequels, but more on that later), while the second was itself great, it would never surpass the original.

Since then there has always been talk around Hollywood of a third film. This time Aykroyd, Ramis and Reitman were all go, it was Murray’s hatred to follow ups that kept the idea always at the planning stage with a basic script done, several times.

It wasn’t until 2009 that we finally got the sequel we deserved in the form of a third person shooter simply called Ghostbusters The Video Game, the game’s story was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, featured the original cast’s voices and likeness and continued the story, effectively becoming the 3rd film as confirmed by Dan Aykroyd.

But of course this wasn’t the only game to have been made since 1984 there have been 15 others spanning from time of the first film all the way up 2014 and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is another one coming out soon with the new Ghostbusters out today.

I mentioned between the movies there was a toy line, again that wasn’t the only one, seems every couple of years they bring out another set based on both motion pictures, the comics (again there have been a lot), the game and everything else.

Recently Lego acquired the rights to produce Ghostbuster sets, currently there is Ecto-1 the car, and the easily recognisable Ghostbusters firehouse (anyone who loves me and wants to know what I want for Christmas, here’s your hint). As you can see, all this and more all came from one little 105-minute film.

Still with me? Awesomesauce, the reason I’m doing this is because of the new reboot which came out here in the UK today and I’m seeing this evening with Mags.

Now to level with you, I’m not excited for it, not because it’s an all-female lead as I’ve been accused of, it’s due to how much I love the original, its sequel, both the TV series, the games, the toys and even creating my own ghost busting Lego as a child, I have many amazing memories and here’s Hollywood remaking yet another classic story because a) they want to make a quick buck and b) they’ve run out of ideas.

But it’s not the fault of the cast and crew of this new film, nor is it the writers and producers of the first one. The only person I can lay this blame onto is Bill Murray, his hatred of sequels and his shooting down every idea of a 3rd movie since the early 90’s.

So in saying that, I will enter the cinema tonight with an open mind, no hate in my heart and will judge this reboot on its own merit and try not to hold it up to the original.

10/10

Written by Dan… Of course I was gonna give it a 10, this is a film I've loved from my childhood!

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