Ghost Busters (1984)

Director:

Ivan Reitman

Writers:

Dan Aykroyd (written by) and
Harold Ramis (written by)

Release Date:

8 June 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Here To Save The World Again [re-release]

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Ghostbuster | Ghost | Apartment | New York City | University

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 6 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Dec. 3	5:30 PM	AMC
Fri. Dec. 4	3:00 PM	AMC

Cast

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 Zeddmore
David Margulies	...	Mayor
Steven Tash	...	Male Student
Jennifer Runyon	...	Female Student
Slavitza Jovan	...	Gozer
Michael Ensign	...	Hotel Manager
Alice Drummond	...	Librarian
Jordan Charney	...	Dean Yager

Also Known As:

Ghost Busters (UK)
Ghostbusters (USA) (alternative spelling)
Os Caça-Fantasmas (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
S.O.S. fantômes (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Els caçafantasmes (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Ghost Busters (Norway) [no]
Ghostbusters (Greece) [el]
Ghostbusters - Acchiappafantasmi (Italy) [it]
Ghostbusters - Die Geisterjäger (West Germany) [de]
Ghostbusters - Gli acchiappafantasmi (Italy) (TV title) [it]
Ghostbusters - haamujengi (Finland) [fi]
Ghostbusters - spökligan (Sweden) [sv]
Hayalet avcilari (Turkey: Turkish title) (video title) [tr]
Het bovennatuurlijke superspektakel (Netherlands) [nl]
Isterivaci duhova (Serbia) [sr]
Krotitelé duchu (Czechoslovakia) [cs]
Los cazafantasmas (Spain) [es]
Pogromcy duchów (Poland) [pl]
Szellemirtók (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | South Korea:12 | Brazil:Livre | Portugal:M/6 | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | New Zealand:PG | Australia:M (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Ireland:PG | Italy:T | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

55 Central Park West, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Black Rhino Productions

Trivia:

Voted number 28 in channel 4's (UK) "Greatest Family Films".

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Venkman tells Egon he has Dana "whacked up with 300cc" of Thorazine, a relaxant and anti-psychotic. "300 milligrams" would be more correct, as proper and vital practice is to describe dosage by weight, not volume. Besides, "300cc" is almost one-third of a liter of solution, certainly not doable given the circumstances but certainly fatal to Dana had it been so (demonic possession notwithstanding), if not diluted with sterile saline down from the standard 25mg/cc vials. That being said, 300mg Thorazine all at a single administration is exceedingly high even for severely disturbed patients.

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.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988)

Soundtrack:

SAVIN' THE DAY

A genuinely good time.

Entertaining mix of laughs and scares in this memorable hit from the 1980's that became an addition to pop culture in the process. Three scientists / researchers (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis) are kicked out of a university and decide to start their own business: catching and incarcerating a variety of ghosts and demons that are haunting NYC.

It doesn't get better than this, folks. It has all the right ingredients: good laughs (many of them deadpan one-liners spoken by Murray), good cast, good special effects, and a good pace. Maybe not totally politically correct in its inclusion of a "token black Ghostbuster" (Ernie Hudson), although the sequel is actually more politically incorrect -- watch the scene (in the sequel) with Winston (Hudson) and the phantom subway train and you'll see what I mean.

Also launched veteran actor William Atherton on a long, endless streak of playing pompous, vain, white-collar jerks; his character, EPA rep Walter Peck, has got to be the first instance of an environmentalist being portrayed as a villain that I've seen.

One of the 1980's best comedies; I give it ten out of ten.