Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr. Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) have studied science all their lives. They have studied and worked, to the best of their abilities, to solve the world’s greatest mysteries, but have recently discovered a new, more spectacular way to pass the time. The three men, with the help of newcomer, Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), create a supernatural round-up service called the Ghostbusters. When Zuul, a powerful spirit enters their world and threatens New York City, the four Ghostbusters must work together to defeat the treacherous being. Can these ordinary men save the day, or will the spirits who have traveled to Earth reign supreme and rid the world of everything that stands in their way?
It’s the mid-80’s and a slew of comedic horror films are on their way. Films like Gremlins, Killer Klowns from Outer Space and Beetlejuice are just around the corner, implying, in one way or another, that Ivan Reitman’s Ghostbusters paved the way for what was to come. Knowing of the impeccably cheesy, but successful, films that were soon to hit theaters, one has to worry that Ghostbusters cannot possibly live up to the standard it set for the genre. Yet, even with the horrifically corny comedy, this film about four misfits fighting supernatural beings throughout New York solidifies itself as the quintessential horror comedy in the hearts of nearly everyone who has seen it. Through absurd comedy, mediocre CGI and a group of actors who get the job done in some asinine ways, Ghostbusters succeeds and envelops audiences in a world of sci-fi genius.
Bill Murray, considering the fact that he’s not the most talented actor, manages to fill the space on the screen and keep audiences engaged in the dialogue and the story. His cheeky wit and ability to feed off of the others’ energy pulls him to the forefront of Ghostbusters and solidifies him as the most important aspect of the film. Murray is surrounded by other talents that manage to do enough to keep pace with Murray’s prowess and present viewers with comedy and glimpses of sophistication.
Mixed in with the ensemble cast, Rick Moranis (Louis Tully) becomes one of the more entertaining personalities in the film. Tully is simple, idiotic and unassuming, nearly forcing viewers to feel for him and appreciate what Moranis is able to accomplish. His halfwitted facial expressions (which are impossible to ignore) become essential to the character and to the humor that exudes each of his scenes. The combination of Moranis and Murray--despite the fact that the two share very little screen time--are what make Ghostbusters successful and drive home the twisted and subtly raunchy humor.
CGI plays a pivotal role in Ghostbusters, as nearly the entire film depends on computer generated ghosts, demons and spirits. To accompany the CGI demons and demidogs? (that’s certainly not the technical term, but Strangers Things makes it seem appropriate), Reitman uses puppets, and a series of puppeteers, to bring the supernatural fauna to life. The graphics are far from perfect, but, considering it’s the early 80’s, head editor David E. Blewitt, Sheldon Kahn and the rest of the editing department are able to piece together, as fluidly as possible, the series of paranormal images.
Ghostbusters is often hyped as one of the better horror comedy films of all time, and it lives up to that hype. Even with mediocre acting and CGI, the film manages to deliver endless laughs and an appreciation of all of the work that went into the film. Murray and Moranis are the reason for many of the laughs and are able to feed off of the other actors. With all of the backstory and character development the story is brilliantly cohesive and appears to lack plot holes and errors of any sort. Ghostbusters is a fast-paced roller coaster of a film that provides fun for the entire family.
Directed by Ivan Reitman. Written by Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis & Rick Moranis. Starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
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