Mario’s Movie Musings (Anniversary Edition): Ghostbusters 1 & 2

We have a double anniversary post here in this Anniversary Edition of Movie Musings. Ghostbusters is 35 years old and Ghostbusters 2 is 30 years old (in hindsight, 1989 was an awesome year for movies). I’d rank the first movie in my top five, right behind Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Aliens, and Raiders of the Lost Ark (who are interchangeable as one, two, and three), and the original Star Wars.

Directed by the great Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and the late Harold Ramis, the Ghostbusters movies tell the story of three doctors specializing in paranormal phenomenon (and Winston, who really gets shortchanged as a character, especially in the first movie), who discover a ghost in the New York Public Library and decide to get into the business of containing ghosts. Of course, a bigger threat than ghosts would be right around corner. Just try not to think too hard about the bigger threat otherwise you’ll choose it’s form. Isn’t that right, Ray?

At least it wasn’t J. Edgar Hoover.

The first movie SCARED me as a little kid, and still gives me the creeps as an adult. Let’s be honest, even with the outdated special effects, those gargoyles are SCARY, and Gozer’s voice still sends chills up my spine.  But despite the horror elements, both movies are comedies at heart, especially the climax of the first movie (“You’re going to endanger our client, the nice lady who paid us in advance before she turned into a dog.”) and the court room scene from the second (pick any line from that), which are some of the most hilarious scenes in any comedy. 

Nightmare inducing for a kid… and somewhat for an adult.

All four actors; Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson, all have great chemistry with one another. You believe that the first three have been friends for a long time, while the fourth is slowly earning the trust of the first three. You see that trust building between Ray and Winston when they discuss Jesus and the Bible and how they might tie into their current gigs, and later when Winston yells at Ray for not admitting to being a god to Gozer. And that relationship bridges into the sequel, where Ray and Winston are doing kids parties as Ghostbusters rather than actually busting ghosts due to the legal fallout from the first movie.

And speaking of the sequel, while it doesn’t get the love of the first movie, the movie has a killer soundtrack and delivers just as many laughs as the first one. Although, it takes more of a family friendly tone with the addition of baby Oscar and Slimer being shown as more of a friendly ghost like in the Real Ghostbusters cartoon.

All in all, if you want a good night on the couch watching something mildly scary, give the Ghostbusters movies a watch. They ain’t afraid of no ghosts, so you shouldn’t be either.