Today’s film that I am reviewing is one that you can watch in the YouTube video. It is a Ghostbusters film, but it isn’t the reboot. Just to let you know, I did review the 2016 reboot, and you can read that review here. By the way, I liked it, and don’t think it was worth the hate it received before it was released. It is not as good as a film as the 1984 Ghostbusters (like you didn’t figure that out).
Okay, so this is a time to talk about Ghostbusters in general. I think one of the reasons why we keep watching movies is that we want to see something new, but at the same see something that is familiar to them. I remember the summer that Ghostbusters was released, as it probably sold itself with its logo alone. Then we watched the film, and we thought that not only was it filled with great special effects and action, it was extremely funny.
Most people consider the original Ghostbusters to be one of the funniest films of all time, but I believe that none of us know why. Most of the dialogue feels like Bill Murray ad-libbed it, and the science-fiction setup was very new at the time as it mixed humor with horror, which was rare at the time.
Ghostbusters II, which came out five years later, was a success, but the issue is that the plot of it was pretty much identical to the first one. It was an interesting premise with the Ghostbusters out of work after saving the city and essentially killing their business, but that was about it.
There was always pressure to bring about a Ghostbusters 3, but it never really worked out. I can see why, but I have heard rumors of scripts, with one of them where Bill Murray’s character would actually play a ghost.
One would think that even before the reboot, there would have been a whole slough of Ghostbusters movies with the original cast. Perhaps the whole thing about Ghostbusters is maybe there is nothing more you can do with it. Both films were about ghosts appearing in New York City, then the discovery that all the ghosts are from one source. Then the Ghostbusters mount up for their big case and bring an end to the big bad.
It is pretty much the plot of Ghostbusters the reboot, and ever since the Ghostbusters came out, there has been very little deviation from this formula. The only exception to this was the Ghostbusters animated series, also known as The Real Ghostbusters, which I recommend watching if you are willing to forgive some of its dated material.
What is really interesting is that the Ghostbusters actually had a reunion around 2009. Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd, the original writers and two of the original busters, came up with a video game based on the quartet. What you see in the YouTube video is essentially the cutscenes and some of the action of this game.
Yes, this is a game, so you will see a lot of action in the three or so hours of this film. Since this is a game, you will see more action of people walking around than you would see in most movies. I remember playing this game on the Wii about five years ago, and I remember having fun.
The thing about the game is that you play a new recruit of the Ghostbusters, and instead of doing this game from a first-person point of view all the time, you see your character in the cutscenes. This main character has a habit of not speaking and looks pretty…ordinary, I guess.
The good part of this game is that it there is a very convoluted plotline, which is often the weakness of Ghostbusters. That, and the villains are pretty one-dimensional. In this case, the villain is Ivo Shandor, who was the architect of the “Spook Central” from the first film. It was a good idea to bring him in as a villain, and there are a lot of great action set-pieces to visit.
The problem with it is the beginning is more of the same. It starts with the group seeing Slimer at the Sedgewick Hotel as well as meeting Mr. Stay Puft. Then they go to the New York Public Library to meet that one ghosty librarian.
Anyway, if you thinking that you like Ghostbusters, and you want to see the final reunion of these actors before the passing of Ramis, check it out. However, I watched it all the way through and didn’t really laugh a lot.
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