Ghostbusters
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| Ghostbusters | |
|---|---|
 Ghostbusters movie poster |
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| Directed by | Ivan Reitman |
| Produced by | Bernie Brillstein Ivan Reitman |
| Written by | Dan Aykroyd Harold Ramis |
| Starring | Bill Murray Dan Aykroyd Sigourney Weaver Harold Ramis |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Cinematography | László Kovács |
| Editing by | David E. Blewitt Sheldon Kahn |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 8, 1984 |
| Running time | 107 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30,000,000 |
| Followed by | Ghostbusters II |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Ghostbusters is a 1984 sci-fi comedy film about three eccentric New York City parapsychologists. After they are fired from a university, they start their own business investigating and capturing ghosts.
It was followed by a sequel, Ghostbusters II (1989), and two animated television series, The Real Ghostbusters (later Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters) and Extreme Ghostbusters. According to actor Dan Aykroyd, an all computer-generated imagery (CGI) sequel (Ghostbusters III) has been confirmed for future production, with Bill Murray to provide voice talent.[1]
Ghostbusters was released in the United States on June 8, 1984, starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson. The film grossed approximately USD$240 million in the U.S. and over $50 million abroad during its theatrical run, more than the second "Indiana Jones" installment, making it easily the most successful film of that year, and the most successful comedy of the 1980s.
In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Ghostbusters the 44th greatest comedy film of all time. The American Film Institute ranked it 28th in its list of the top 100 comedies of all time (in their "AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs" list).[2] In 2005, IGN voted Ghostbusters the greatest comedy ever.[3] In 2006, Bravo's ranked Ghostbusters 76 on their "100 Funniest Movies" list.[4]
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[edit] Plot
Three misfit parapsychology professors are booted out of their cushy jobs at New York City's Columbia University. Despite their relative lack of funding, they start an enterprise called Ghostbusters, a spectral investigation and removal service. One of the men has a plan to catch and contain supernatural entities, though it has never been properly tested. Undeterred, they obtain a former fire station as a base and begin advertising on local television.
At first, their clients are few and far between, and the Ghostbusters have to depend on their individual talents to keep the business alive: Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) is a scientific genius, Dr. Raymond "Ray" Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) is an expert on paranormal history and metallurgy, and Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) has charm and business savvy, although he is in some ways a charlatan. Although he initially comes off as a bit of a goof and sleaze, Venkman eventually finds a subtly heroic side to himself when he learns that a creature called "Zuul" is haunting the apartment of Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), a client who has become the object of his lustful (and possibly deeper) intentions.
The business is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy until one night, when Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), the Ghostbusters' personal secretary, answers a desperate call from the Sedgewick Hotel about a ghost that needs to be removed quickly and quietly. Although the Ghostbusters have no practical experience and their equipment has never been tested, they successfully catch the ghost after a destructively clumsy hunt. The "unlicensed nuclear accelerators" they use to subdue their spectral foes do very real damage to property, but no one seems to mind too much.
Soon, business picks up dramatically and the company becomes a household name, due not only to the Ghostbusters building a reputation for themselves, but also due to an unexplained increase in supernatural activity. The Ghostbusters add a fourth member to their team, the blue-collar Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), to deal with the rapidly increasing workload. The company captures so many ghosts that the scientists become concerned about the capacity of their ghost-containment facility. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent to the Ghostbusters that the spike in paranormal events means they are headed toward a climactic confrontation with an entity called "Gozer", whose presence was implied by bizarre occurrences such as the demonic "Zuul" appearing in Dana Barrett's apartment.
Gozer's minion entities Zuul (the Gatekeeper) and Vinz Clortho (the Keymaster) soon begin seeking human hosts. Zuul is easily able to possess Dana Barret in her apartment and Vinz Clortho -- in his native form as a horned "Terror Dog" chases down Louis Tully (Rick Moranis), a nerdy accountant who lives down the hall. Dana/Zuul gets a visit from Venkman, and she/it tries to seduce him. He realizes something is up (Dana rejected his earlier advances) and sedates Zuul with drugs. The possessed accountant Tully is eventually brought to Ghostbuster's HQ by the Police and examined by Egon. He claims to be Keymaster to Gozer and appears as a horned entity on Egon's scanner. It is determined that Dana and Louis must never meet, as the "Keymaster" and "Gatekeeper" would literally open the gates of Hell. Vinz Clortho remains rather passive, waiting for a "sign" that Gozer will come.
An overzealous EPA inspector, Walter Peck (William Atherton), arrives and starts asking questions. He eventually leaves, only to return with a court order to shut down the ghost containment facility. Egon warns of dire consequences should the containment grid be deactivated, but Peck doesn't believe him and orders a utility worker to shut off the power. All the captured ghosts immediately burst forth in a fantastic explosion, and a massive number of supernatural events spark chaos throughout the city (the walls of a police precinct begin to bleed, ghosts run amok, etc.). Peck accuses the Ghostbusters of causing the explosion due to their own negligence and has them arrested. Louis Tully/Vinz Clortho, wanders off during the mayhem, and disappears into the city, convinced that this is the sign he was seeking.
While the Ghostbusters are in jail, they examine the blueprints of Dana Barret's apartment building. Ray explains to the other three Ghostbusters (and the cell's numerous other inmates) that the structure was "a huge, super-conductive antenna designed and built expressly for the purpose of pulling in and concentrating spiritual turbulence." Egon elaborates further by telling them how Doctor Ivo Shandor created a secret society post-World War One to worship the Sumerian god Gozer, and how they conducted rituals on the rooftop of the apartment building with the intention of bringing about the end of the world. The events they've been witnessing indicate that it may actually happen.
Eventually, the Mayor of New York (played by David Margulies (later identified as 'Leonard Clotch' in the tie-in novelization by Richard Mueller as a reference to real world New York Mayor Ed Koch) summons the Ghostbusters from jail and they are brought to City Hall. Peck is there and makes a series of baseless accusations that the Ghostbusters are con artists staging a massive illusion using hypnotic gases and staging a "light show". However, none of the department heads at the meeting are able to support Peck's claims, and with Venkman persuading the politicos, the Ghostbusters convince the Mayor to let them deal with the crisis.
The "Gatekeeper" (Zuul/Dana Barret) and "Keymaster" (Vinz Clortho/Louis Tully) finally meet, embrace, and take the form of two giant horned creatures (terror dogs), which open a magic gate to another dimension atop their art deco-style apartment building. The Ghostbusters climb to the top of the skyscraper to confront Gozer as it emerges from the portal, in the form of a haunting young woman. After a scary initial skirmish, Gozer demands that the Ghostbusters choose the next form of the 'Destructor'. It will then use that form to destroy them, as it did to the Sumerians. While the other Ghostbusters deliberately clear their minds and think of nothing, Ray reflexively chooses a seemingly innocuous corporate mascot, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. A giant sailor-suited marshmallow man with an insane smile instantly appears, and tramples everything in his path. The Ghostbusters attack Mister Stay Puft (Gozer) with their particle accelerators, but it only makes the creature angry and it begins climbing the building to get them.
Egon suddenly realizes that "the door swings both ways" and suggests that the Ghostbusters cross their proton pack streams as they fire at the portal - although Egon himself had informed them earlier that that is a likely fatal move. He does assure them that there is a very slim chance that they could survive. The plan succeeds in causing "total protonic reversal", destroying the gate and removing Gozer and its minions. The explosion generated by the event incinerates Mister Stay Puft, raining molten marshmallow down onto the roof of the skyscraper and the street below (humorously, Walter Peck is watching and gets covered in marshmallow).
As the city settles moments after the explosion, the Ghostbusters pull themselves from the wreckage. Peter is notably quiet with the likely implication that Dana (in Terror Dog form) was killed during the explosion. However, this fear is put to rest when the team sees signs of life and frees both Dana and Louis (Rick Moranis) from the petrified shells of what were once the Terror Dogs. The Ghostbusters and the no-longer-possessed apartment dwellers exit the building to massive applause from the crowd, who cheer them on as Peter shares a passionate kiss with Dana. The team loads their equipment up into Ecto-1 and everyone, excluding Louis, departs in the car, followed closely by a running and cheering crowd. The scene fades on a newly released Slimer screaming as he approaches the camera.
[edit] Cast
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[edit] History
The concept was inspired by Aykroyd's own fascination with the paranormal, and it was conceived by Aykroyd as a vehicle for himself and friend and fellow Saturday Night Live alum John Belushi.[5] The original story as written by Aykroyd was much more ambitious—and unfocused—than what would be eventually filmed; in Aykroyd's original vision, a group of Ghostbusters would travel through time, space and other dimensions taking on huge ghosts (of which the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man was just one of many). Also, the Ghostbusters wore S.W.A.T.-like outfits and used wands instead of Proton Packs to fight the ghosts.
Aykroyd pitched his story to director / producer Ivan Reitman, who liked the basic idea but immediately saw the budgetary impossibilities demanded by Aykroyd's first draft. At Reitman's suggestion, the story was given a major overhaul, eventually evolving into the final screenplay which Aykroyd and Ramis hammered out over the course of a few months in a Martha's Vineyard bomb shelter (according to Ramis on the DVD Commentary Track for the movie). Aykroyd and Ramis initially wrote the script with roles written especially for Belushi, Eddie Murphy and John Candy. However, Belushi died due to a drug overdose during the writing of the screenplay, and neither Murphy nor Candy could commit to the movie due to prior engagements, so Aykroyd and Ramis shifted some of these changes around and polished a basic, yet sci-fi oriented screenplay for their final draft. (It has been rumoured that Slimer was jokingly referred to as "the ghost of John Belushi" on set.)
In addition to Aykroyd's high-concept basic premise and Ramis' skill at grounding the fantastic elements with a realistic setting, the film benefits from Bill Murray's semi-improvisational performance as Peter Venkman, the character initially intended for Belushi. The extent of Murray's improvisation while delivering his lines varies wildly with every re-telling of the making of the film; some say he never even read the script, and improvised so much he deserves a writing credit, while others insist that he only improvised a few lines, and used his deadpan comic delivery to make scripted lines seem spontaneous.
With the first DVD release of the film on the 15th anniversary of the original theatrical release, many original concepts of the film were revealed, based on the storyboard artwork: Louis Tully was originally to be a conservative man in a business suit played by comedian John Candy, but Candy was unable to commit to the role. The role was taken by Rick Moranis, portraying Louis as a geek. Gozer was originally going to appear in the form of a man in a suit, wearing a necktie, revealed to be the form of Ivo Shandor and played by Paul Reubens.[6]
The Proton Pack's Particle Throwers were originally portrayed as wands worn on each arm. Winston Zeddemore was written with Eddie Murphy in mind, but he had to decline the role as he was filming Beverly Hills Cop at the same time. When Murphy had the role, Zeddemore was going to be hired much earlier in the film, and would accompany the trio on their hunt for Slimer at the hotel and be slimed in place of Peter Venkman. When Ernie Hudson took over it was decided that he be brought in later to indicate how the Ghostbusters were struggling to keep up with the outbreak of ghosts.
Gozer's temple was the biggest and most expensive set ever to be constructed at that time.[citation needed] In order to properly light it and create the physical effects for the set, other stages needed to be shut down and all their power diverted over to the set. The hallway sets for the Sedgewick Hotel were originally built for the movie Rich and Famous in 1981 and patterned after the Algonquin Hotel in New York City, where Reitman originally wanted to do the hotel bust. The Biltmore Hotel was chosen because the large lobby allowed for a tracking shot of the Ghostbusters in complete gear for the first time. Dana Barrett and Louis Tully's apartments were constructed across two stages and were actually on the other side of their doors in the hallway, an unusual move in filmmaking.
A problem arose during filming when it was discovered that a show was produced in 1975 by Filmation for CBS called The Ghost Busters, starring Larry Storch and Forrest Tucker. (It should be noted that this show's title is written as two words instead of one word like the 1984 movie.) Columbia Pictures prepared a list of alternative names just in case the rights could not be secured. But during the filming of the crowd for the final battle, the extras were all chanting "Ghostbusters", which inspired the producers to insist that the studio buy the rights to the name.
For the test screening of Ghostbusters, half of the ghost effects were missing, not yet having been completed by the production team. The audience response was still enthusiastic, and the ghost elements were completed for the official theatrical release shortly thereafter.
The film spawned a theme park special effects show at Universal Studios Florida. (The show closed some time in 1997 to make way for Twister: Ride it Out!) The Ghostbusters were also featured in a lip-synching dance show featuring Beetlejuice on the steps of the New York Public Library facade at the park after the attraction closed. The GBs were all new and "extreme" versions in the show, save for the Zeddemore character. Their Ecto-1 automobile was used to drive them around the park, and was often used in the park's annual "Macy's Holiday Parade". The show, Ecto-1, and all other Ghostbuster trademarks were discontinued in 2005 when Universal failed to renew the rights for theme park use. Currently, the Ghostbuster Firehouse can still be seen near Twister, without its GB logo and "Engine 89" ribbon. A "paranormal investigator" etching on a nearby doorway hints at the old show.
With the recent 80s nostalgia craze, Ghostbusters has made a quiet return. In 2004, 88MPH Studios began releasing their "Legion" limited series, which retconned the Ghostbusters' world to six months after the first movie and pushed the timeline up twenty years to present time. The owner and operator of 88MPH, Sebastien Clavet, still has plans to release an ongoing series, but the public's interest following production issues and delays in the initial comic series (including a continuing, lengthy, ongoing delay of the hardcover Legion collection) mean it is unknown if he will be able to carry on his dream.
NECA released a line of action figures based on the first movie but only produced a series of ghost characters, as Bill Murray refused the rights to use his facial likeness. Their first and only series included Gozer, Slimer (or Onionhead), the Terror Dogs Vinz Clortho and Zuul, and a massive Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, contrasting the diminutive figure that was in the original figure line. Ertl released a die-cast 1/25 scale Ectomobile, also known as Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters' main transportation. iBooks published the novel Ghostbusters: The Return by Sholly Fisch. And Rubies' Costumes has produced a Ghostbusters Halloween costume, consisting of a one-piece jumpsuit with logos and an inflatable Proton Pack.
For the history of the Ghostbusters III project, see Ghostbusters III.
[edit] Background of Gozer
Gozer the Gozerian, also known as Gozer the Destructor, Volguus Zildrohar, and The Traveler, is a fictional Sumerian shapeshifting god who is the major supernatural enemy in Ghostbusters. According to other sources, the name "Gozer" is from a documented haunting that came to the attention of Dan Aykroyd, but this is unsubstantiated.
Gozer has two dog-like minions (like beings would later be referred to in the cartoon show as "Terror-Dogs") called Zuul ("The Gatekeeper") and Vinz Clortho ("The Keymaster"). Gozer the Traveler appears in one of its pre-chosen forms. Speaking through Louis Tully (played by Rick Moranis), Vinz Clortho claimed that:
| “ | During the rectification of the Vuldronaii the Traveler came as a large, moving Torb. Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the Meketrex supplicants they chose a new form for him—that of a giant Sloar. Many Shubs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Sloar that day, I can tell you. | ” |
After World War I, an insane surgeon named Ivo Shandor, leader of a secret apocalyptic cult, designed a ziggurat disguised as a massive apartment building in New York City (55 Central Park West) for the specific purpose of gathering psychokinetic energy (PKE) that would power a portal that would allow Gozer and its minions to enter the world and destroy it.
By 1984, the building had gathered enough energy to pull Zuul and Vinz Clortho through: the two planned to possess suitable humans to open the portal on top of the building to let Gozer through. Because of this (according to Dr. Spengler's reading), the PKE in the surrounding area in 1984 was a few thousand times greater than normal. As a by-product, numerous ghosts were 'revived' and became active throughout the city as they waited to join their new master.
[edit] Filming locations
- New York Public Library, Fifth Avenue - (library exterior)
- Los Angeles Central Library, Fifth and Hope Streets - (library basement interior)
- Columbia University
- 14 North Moore Street, Tribeca, NYC - (firestation exterior)
- Firestation No. 23, 225 East Fifth Street, downtown LA - (firestation interior)
- Millennium Biltmore Hotel, 506 South Grand Avenue, downtown LA - (Sedgwick Hotel)
- 55 Central Park West - (Dana's apartment building)
- Tavern on the Green, Central Park West - (Louis mauled by Gozer's dog-like creatures)
[edit] Catchphrases and popular music video
The first film sparked the catchphrases "Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!" or sometimes just "Who you gonna call?" and "I ain't 'fraid of no ghost(s)." Both came from the hit theme song written and performed by Ray Parker, Jr.
Parker wrote the song as a commercial jingle for the fictional company. The song was a huge hit and reached #1 for three weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, and was #1 for two weeks on its Black Singles chart. The song is available on Radio Disney's Kid Jams's CD.
The music video produced for the song is considered one of the key productions in the early music video era, and was a hit for MTV. Directed by Ivan Reitman (who directed the feature film), the video contains many snippets of the film which flowed well with the lyrics, along with cameo appearances of various celebrities answering "Ghostbusters!" to the oft-repeated "Who you gonna call?"
These cameos include: Chevy Chase, Irene Cara, John Candy, Nickolas Ashford, Melissa Gilbert, Jeffrey Tambor, George Wendt, Al Franken, Danny DeVito, Carly Simon, Peter Falk and Teri Garr. The video ends with special footage of the four Ghostbusters, in costume and character, dancing in Times Square behind Parker, joining in the singing.
The song earned Parker an Academy Awards nomination for "Best Song," losing to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" for the film The Woman In Red.
Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker, Jr. for plagiarism, citing that Parker stole the melody from "I Want a New Drug". Ironically, Lewis was approached to compose the main theme song for the movie, but he declined due to his work on the soundtrack for Back to the Future. It was later reported in 2001 that Lewis allegedly breached an agreement not to mention the original suit, doing so on VH1's Behind the Music [2].
Lindsey Buckingham was also approached to do the theme song based on his success with "Holiday Road" for the National Lampoon's Vacation films. He declined, reasoning that he had already done a successful soundtrack theme and did not want to be "known" as just a soundtrack artist. These comments were made on the promotional CD Lindsey Buckingham: In His Own Words.
In 2006, Bay Area Hyphy rapper Mistah FAB used the Ghostbusters theme background for his single Ghost Ride It to reflect the Ghost Ride trend.
In the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when the character of Spike learns of Buffy's intent to contact the government squad that had once captured him, he asks "So who you gonna call?" Buffy's response is to stare at him with raised eyebrows for a moment, before Spike scoffs and says "God, that line's never gonna be usable again, is it?"
[edit] Deleted/extended scenes
The following deleted/extended scenes can be viewed on the 15th and 20th anniversary DVD releases of Ghostbusters on DVD.
- An extended sequence featuring Dean Yeager at the University, revealing that Venkman had attempted to extend funding for the future Ghostbusters' department at a Regents' meeting with little success. (According to the book Making Ghostbusters, the Regents' meeting itself was included in an earlier draft of the script, but was ultimately replaced with Venkman's ESP experiment.)
- A deleted sequence between Venkman and Dana at her apartment, where he explains that he has a psychology degree and that he should stay the night.
- A deleted segment set before the Ghostbusters arrive at the Hotel Sedgewick. The sequence features a newlywed couple on their honeymoon night, which is quickly spoiled by the off-screen appearance of Slimer.
- An alternate segment of footage showing Janine at her desk handling calls as Winston fills in an application form.
- A deleted segment, showing two bums (played by Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd) walking through Central Park moments before Louis Tully and a Terror Dog rush past. (The Terror Dog is absent due to incomplete visual effects.) The bums argue about who would win a fight between a kung fu ninja and Chuck Wepner. (These two characters would eventually be included in Richard Mueller's 1989 novelization of the film, appearing not just in the park scene but also in several others, popping up in odd places to comment on the situation. They are identified by name as "Robert Learned Coombs" and "Harlan Bojay" in the book.)
- An extended sequence at the loading dock of City Hall (in reality a loading dock at the New York Municipal Building, a block away from City Hall), shortly before the Ghostbusters leave to fight Gozer. Janine Melnitz gives a coin to Egon Spengler, saying it is her lucky coin which she got from the World's Fair in Flushing Meadows. Egon replies that he may not be coming back, to which Janine says that he should keep it as she has another at home. This small plot point, while deleted from the movie, explains why Janine was at 550 Central Park West and was able to meet with Egon after the Ghostbusters had beaten Gozer.
- A deleted sequence as the Ghostbusters prepare their equipment outside of 550 Central Park West, featuring Winston offering the suggestion that they should head off to another country until the event blows over.
- A deleted sequence in which Walter Peck arrives outside the apartment building and demands that a policeman arrest the Ghostbusters. He then turns and watches as Mr. Stay Puft steps on the church. The shot of Peck looking up at Stay Puft and the church is all that remains of this scene in the final cut of the film.
- A deleted sequence set moments after the destruction of the portal atop the apartment building, depicting Stay Puft's sailor hat floating down and landing in the street.
- A deleted segment from Dana and Louis leaving the roof: Louis asks Dana "Did we?", to which she promptly replies, "No, Louis. No."
The following scenes do not appear on the DVD, but are on the Criterion LaserDisc edition of the film.
- A deleted segment showing the Ghostbusters descending the interior steps of Weaver Hall to their department offices, discussing winning the Nobel Prize.
- A deleted sequence set at fictional Fort Detmerring outside of New York, where Ray has a ghostly encounter. (A small section of this scene appears in the finished film as the 'Ray Dream Sequence' in the first montage.)
- A deleted scene where Louis (during his possession) encounters a group of muggers in a tunnel in Central Park.
[edit] Taglines
- They're Here To Save The World.
- Coming To Save The World This Summer.
- We're Ready To Believe You.
- Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!
- The supernatural spectacular.
- They ain't afraid of no ghost.
- The world's most successful comedy.
[edit] Computer and video games
There are 4 computer and video games about the Ghostbusters:
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- Ghostbusters (Activision video game), the 1985 Activision videogame.
- Ghostbusters II (video game), the 1989 Activision videogame.
- Ghostbusters (Sega video game), the 1990 Sega videogame.
- Ghostbusters (Xbox 360 video game), the 2007 ZootFly videogame (currently in the process of production).
Additionally, beatmania IIDX GOLD features the 'Ghostbusters' theme as a playable song.
[edit] Tie-in novelizations
There were two novelizations of the film published. The first, which came out around the same time the movie did, was written by Larry Milne and was 191 pages long. A second novelization, written by Richard Mueller, was released in 1985. It was 60 pages longer at 256 pages, and had the extended subtitle The Supernatural Experience. Both differ from the finished version of the first film in many aspects, containing scenes that ultimately did not make the cut, most notably the sequence set at Fort Detmerring, and Mueller's book in particular also containted a subplot involving the two homeless men played by Murray and Aykroyd in the deleted scene, who are identified as Harlan Bojay and Robert Learned Coombs.
[edit] Production problems
- A scarier version of the "Librarian Ghost" puppet was created, but it was rejected for being too scary. (The film has a PG rating for language and scary moments that are unsuitable for children under age 8, according to director Ivan Reitman and actor / writer Harold Ramis.) It was recycled and reused for the 1985 horror / comedy hit, Fright Night, also released by Columbia Pictures. Richard Edlund and his team did the special effects for both films back to back.
- In 1984, Harvey Comics, the copyright holders of Casper the Friendly Ghost, launched a lawsuit against Columbia Pictures for $52 million in damages on the grounds that the movie's logo was copied from their character. The case was dismissed in 1986. "There are only very limited ways to draw the figure of a cartoon ghost," said Judge Peter Leisure. (Time, November 10, 1986). Ironically, years later, Dan Aykroyd would perform a reprisal cameo as Ray Stantz (saying the line, "Who ya gonna call? Somebody else.") in the film adaptation of the character.
[edit] Production notes
- The soldiers seen towards the end of the movie belong to the 42nd Infantry (Rainbow) Division, as evidenced by their rainbow shoulder sleeve insignia. Since the end of World War II, the 42nd Infantry Division has been the largest element of the New York Army National Guard.
- In the January 2007 issue of Empire there was an article comparing Ghostbusters to Gremlins. Within the article were interviews from Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd, and Aykroyd confirmed that his favorite character in the film was Louis Tully, played by Rick Moranis. He said, "I could listen to his dialogue all day on my iPod".
- During the scene where Tully runs from the terror dog, he ends up at a restaurant. In that restaurant is a birthday party, and the girl with the pink bow is Deborah Gibson, several years before her first album.
- In the middle of the film's initial release, to keep interest going, Ivan Reitman had a trailer run, which was basically the commercial the Ghostbusters' use in the movie, but with the 555 number replaced with a 1-800 number, allowing people to call. They got a recorded message of Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd saying something to the effect of "Hi. We're out catching ghosts right now." They got 1,000 calls per hour, 24 hours a day, for six weeks. Their promotion was similar to that of a calling service offered by the production of The Empire Strikes Back.
- In the published annotated script for the movie, there's more romantic-type banter between Dr. Egon Spengler and and Dr. Venkman's "secretary," Janine Melnitz. While some of the dialogue remains in the finished movie, including a loving hug during the closing credits, Ghostbusters 2 seemed to drop that subplot with Janine's relationship for Louis Tully.
[edit] See also
- Ectomobile
- Ghostbusters II
- Ghostbusters III
- The Real Ghostbusters
- Extreme Ghostbusters
- Ghostbusters equipment
- Slimer
- Ghost
- Ghostbusters Building
[edit] References
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This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. It may be using the words or ideas of other publications in its text, without citing the source(s) of the information. Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. This article has been tagged since December 2006. (help) |
- ^ CISN Country - CISNFM. Retrieved on February 6, 2007.
- ^ AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs. American Film Institute. Retrieved on December 11, 2006.
- ^ Carle, Chris (2005-12-09). Top 25 Comedies of All-Time. IGN. Retrieved on December 11, 2006.
- ^ Cammorata, Nicole; Duffy, James. Bravo's 100 Funniest Films. The Boston Globe. Retrieved on December 11, 2006.
- ^ Shay, Don (1985). Making Ghostbusters, New York: New York Zoetrope. ISBN 0918432685
- ^ Proton Charging interview with Gozer actress, Slavitza Jovan. Retrieved on April 1, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Ghostbusters official site
- Ghostbusters at the Internet Movie Database
- NYGB Tourguide: Guide to the filming locations
- Ghostbusters Prop Archive
- Ghostbusters: Louisville Branch
- Proton Charging - Ghostbusters news website
- Spook Central - Ghostbusters info website
- Ghostbusters at Open Directory Project
| Ghostbusters | |
|---|---|
| Movies: | Ghostbusters | Ghostbusters II | Ghostbusters III |
| Television: | The Real Ghostbusters | Extreme Ghostbusters |
| Video Games: | Ghostbusters (Activision) | Ghostbusters II | Ghostbusters (Sega) | Ghostbusters (Xbox 360) |
| Technology: | Proton pack | Ectomobile | Ghostbusters equipment |
| Characters: | Peter Venkman | Egon Spengler | Ray Stantz | Winston Zeddemore | Janine Melnitz | Ivo Shandor |
| Ghosts: | Slimer | Stay Puft Marshmallow Man | Vigo the Carpathian | Scoleri Brothers | Samhain | Bogeyman |
| Misc: | Ghostbusters: Legion | Ghostbusters: The Return | Ghostbusters (role-playing game) | Filmation's Ghostbusters |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles lacking sources from December 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Ghostbusters | 1984 films | American films | Columbia Pictures films | Comedy science fiction films | English-language films | Fantasy-comedy films | Films directed by Ivan Reitman | New York City in fiction | Ghost films | Mad science | Fictional businesses
