Ghostbusters
(1984) dir. Ivan Reitman
viewed: 12/24/07
Part of the ongoing exploration of films that my kids might like, we ended up watching Ghostbusters last night. I can’t remember the last time I saw it, but I’m willing to say that it’s been about 20 years. I somehow recall catching Ghostbusters II (1989) on tv or something whole or in parts over the years had perhaps begun to wonder if the movie would hold up after all this time.
It does, surprisingly well.
But frankly, a lot of that has to do with Bill Murray. He gets the best lines and manages to make them all sound as if he was making them up and ad-libbing the entire experience. Who knows? Maybe much of it was. While Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis who together wrote the script are also good, Bill Murray is just hilarious. Is this guy due for a lifetime achievement award already?
It’s funny, too. The 80’s-ness of the scenery, make-up, and costuming. And the pre-digital special effects, including some stop-motion animated demon dogs. And even the Ray Parker, Jr. theme song, with its catchy pop and ad jingle sensibilities, even that kind of works, too. Though, I don’t know if I need to hear it again for another couple of years.
The kids liked it. I think that they thought it would be scarier than it was. There was an amusing amount of cursing and a couple of things that might not have made it into the film if it were made today (God, I hope they do not re-make this). It’s a film of its time, and probably one of the better comedies of the 1980’s.
