Ghostbusters (1984)

Ghostbusters was so great because it took the science fiction and fantasy part seriously (considering how Dan Aykroyd IRL is a strong believer in the paranormal this makes sense), so the humor was almost entirely from dialogue and the performance of the cast. It takes the simple concept of "people who start a ghost catching business" and adds things like multidimensional gods and giant killer corporate mascots. These are things you wouldn't expect from a comedy movie at the time. Apparently, Aykroyd's original draft of the story was almost entirely sci-fi action with little humor.The resulting story was dead serious, and rather terrifying. A woman becoming possessed by a demon just because of where her apartment is? Being transformed into a monster, then into stone while she was unwillingly in service to a dark god? That is scary, not funny. What MADE the movie funny was how the actors responded to the situation. They were just like normal people, put in an abnormal situation, and responded in line with their own personal character, which was mainly to crack jokes so they could handle the fear. It was just four guys, out of their depth, going in with a grin because backing down wasn't an option for them.Bill Murray just shows outstanding comedic timing in this one. He had me from the opening scene where he is shocking a male subject in an experiment while simultaneously trying to "get the girl" by convincing her she is psychic.What was 80s about it? Well, the triumph of the private sector over academeia - "I've worked in the private sector, they expect results", and the EPA contributing to the end of the world. Everybody could forget about Watergate, recessions, and nuclear war, and just laugh at the movies for a change. If you've never seen it I recommend it . The comedy is timeless.

Does anyone else find it strange that Dr. Peter Venkman, while on his first date with Dana, just happened to have on his person 300cc's of Thorazine? Dr. Venkman first arrives at Dana Barrett's apartment to find she has been imbued with the spirit of Gozer and now is calling herself the "Gate Keeper" and is awaiting the arrival of the "Key Master". There is a scene that shows her animal tendencies (floating above the bed, panting rapidly, deep and growling voice). Then the scene cuts away and returns to a phone call between Peter and Egon. Peter Venkman states that he injects her with the dosage during a phone call with Egon.So we have to assume, since Dr. Peter Venkman did not show up with a briefcase, medical bag, or any other piece of science kit or gear, that he showed up to Dana Barrett's apartment with a syringe filled with 300cc's of Thorazine in the breast pocket of his blazer.I could see a surgeon walking around with a set of scalpels or clamps in case he or she is called upon to perform an emergency appendectomy on the street or other minor surgeries in life or death situations, but Dr. Peter Venkman is a psychologist/parapsychologist. Walking around with a set of syringes filled with sedatives is just plain creepy.

First of all the casting for this movie is brilliant bill Murray as the sarcastic one Dan akroyd as the cheery one Harold ramis the smart one and Ernie Hudson as the one who only wants a check one and rick moranis who is an annoying neighbour for Sigourney weaver and the when he gets locked out sequences are classic and no one could ever forget the classic theme by Ray Parker Jr and this will forever be the best ghostbusters movie because the sequel didn't have the same impact as the first one it was still good though

3 would-be scientists working at the University are looking into the paranormal and testing students. They get kicked out of practice due to some slightly unethical tests (and the fact that everyone doubts their field of study and thinks they are nuts!) so they decide to go into business for themselves as "Ghostbusters". They create all manner of tools and gadgets in order to hunt for and trap ghosts, expanding their business and eventually recruiting help along the way too. Unbeknownst to anybody a long dead Sumerian deity called Dozer is attempting to make a come back and it's up to the Ghostbusters to put an end to the chaos and evil. This is one of my favorite films of all time and is a classic film which stands out as one of the best in the 80's. It is filled the rafters with great humour as well as scares and horror a plenty too. As a young boy I was memorized watching this and wanted to be a Ghostbuster! Watching this film back has never disappointing me and I usually find something new which I didn't catch on other viewings. The cast is fantastic and adds much to the success of the featuring Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, Sigourney Weaver all deliver excellent performances. Ivan Reitmen did an excellent job with the film as director balancing the effects with genuine dialogue acting, he let some of the actors improvise their own lines to brilliant effect. I reckon that Ackroyd and Ramis's script was already creative and hilarious but it's not often that you get a director who gives control to some of the stars to do what they do best when they aren't in feature films (most of the main stars were comedic stars on late night American TV shows). Some of the special effects look a little dated nowadays but not all of them, some still stand up as effective and as appealing as they were in the 80's when this was wowing audiences around the world. You have to remember this was before what we consider to be modern CGI so a lot of the effects you see are lessons learned from cinema over the years. As for music or a soundtrack, can you honestly say you've gone through life without hearing Ray Parker Jr's classic titular anthem?!The success of this film led to cartoons, comics, a sequel, a range of toys, and whole host of moments which still get referenced today. Family friendly, full of fun, great visuals and soundtrack, memorable to this day, I could write soo many great things about this but I'll end by saying that you really can't go wrong watching this great film!