Ghostbusters (1984)

Three former parapsychology professors set up shop as a unique ghost removal service.

Director:

Ivan Reitman

Writers:

Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis

Stars:

Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Murray	...	Dr. Peter Venkman
Dan Aykroyd	...	Dr. Raymond Stantz
Sigourney Weaver	...	Dana Barrett
Harold Ramis	...	Dr. Egon Spengler
Rick Moranis	...	Louis Tully
Annie Potts	...	Janine Melnitz
William Atherton	...	Walter Peck
Ernie Hudson	...	Winston Zeddemore
David Margulies	...	Mayor
Steven Tash	...	Male Student
Jennifer Runyon	...	Female Student
Slavitza Jovan	...	Gozer
Michael Ensign	...	Hotel Manager
Alice Drummond	...	Librarian
Jordan Charney	...	Dean Yeager

Storyline

Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler work at Columbia University. where they delve into the paranormal and fiddle with many unethical experiments on their students. As they are kicked out of the University, they really understand the paranormal and go into business for themselves. Under the new snazzy business name of 'Ghostbusters', and living in the old firehouse building they work out of, they are called to rid New York City of paranormal phenomenon at everyone's whim. - for a price. They make national press as the media reports the Ghostbusters are the cause of it all. Thrown in jail by the EPA, the mayor takes a chance and calls on them to help save the city. Unbeknownst to all, a long dead Gozer worshiper (Evo Shandor) erected a downtown apartment building which is the cause of all the paranormal activity. They find out the building could resurrect the ancient Hittite god, Gozer, and bring an end to all of humanity. Who are you gonna call to stop this terrible ...

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Plot Keywords:

ghost | ghostbuster | university | paranormal | scientist | 

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Taglines:

The supernatural spectacular.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Fantasy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Columbia Pictures MySpace.com

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 June 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ghostbusters

Filming Locations:

Lincoln Center, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,612,564, 10 June 1984, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$238,632,124

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$291,632,124

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Delphi Films, Black Rhino Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Storyboarded but never shot included:

• A scene with Egon testing the proton pack, which is charged by being plugged in. The pack melts the plug.
• A model's mink coat comes to life on a runway. Note that this scene does happen in Ghostbusters II (1989) to a woman on the street.

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Goofs

(at around 22 mins) When Venkman vaults over his office partition to meet Dana, a crewman's legs can be seen moving behind the file cabinets to the left.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dr. Peter Venkman: All right, I'm gonna turn over the next card. Concentrate... I want you to tell me what you think it is.

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Crazy Credits

Opening titles give the name of the movie as "Ghost Busters" (two words). But in nearly all media/ads and even packaging/casing for home video releases, it is spelled as "Ghostbusters" (one word).

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Alternate Versions

In addition to the legendary change from Stantz calling Walter Peck "dickless" to "Wally Wick," numerous other scenes were shot in alternate, broadcast-friendly versions for television. As the Ghostbusters emerge from the Sedgewick ballroom after catching the green ghost (Slimer) Venkman's "We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!" line was changed to "What a knockabout of pure fun that was!" Venkman's claim in the mayor's office that Walter Peck "has no dick" was changed to call him "some kind of rodent, I don't know which," Zeddmore's claim to have seen "stuff" rather than "sh*t" that'll turn you white, and Egon's later outburst of "sh*t" at the Keymaster's disappearance was changed to a milder "oh, no!"

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Connections

Referenced in Not Another Heist Movie (2010)

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Soundtracks

Hot Night
Written by Diane Warren and The Doctor
Produced by Jack White and Robbie Buchanan
Performed by Laura Branigan
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp. by arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

"who ya gonna call......?"

Ghostbusters was an incredibly huge smash hit on its original release back in `84 and its not hard to see why - its a funny , exciting and imaginative thrill ride. There is a lot to like about ghostbusters , like bill Murrays constant and always funny wise cracks, the films constant shift from a light hearted comedy to intense ghost busting thriller and of course , the technically flawless attack of the marsh mallow man that is probably one of my favorite parts of this film.

In this day and age of computer generated fx wizardry the completely analogue special effects still look great ( especially the stay puft marsh mallow man , its rampage through the city looks incredibly real ! ) and the film it self is still better and more imaginative than a lot of event movies you will find in a cinema near you today .

And to top it all off Ghostbusters is one of the few films out there that actually had worthy TV spin off that was the "real Ghostbusters", a cartoon that i loved as a kid.

Ghostbusters is a film that truly deserves its iconic status.

The screen dwellers mark (out of 5 ) : * * * *