More than 30 years late, I finally saw the first Ghostbusters movie the other day. In my defense, it first came out three years before it was born, but still. I love horror movies. Especially horror-comedy. So I should have seen this before.
I was inspired to see it by the Nostalgia Critic's "Top 11 Things You Never Noticed in Ghostbusters."
The first thing I noticed is how short the film is. It's only an hour and a half long, which I think was standard in the 1980s and 1990s. I don't think (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) that the three-hour marathon movies became more common place until the 2000s, most notably with Tiantic. I know of a few westerns that came close to the three-hour mark (notably the 1958 movie The Big Country), but that's about it.
Personally, I don't think shorter movies are bad. In a two and a half or three hour movie, there will inevitably be parts that drag. Of course you need exposition, and of course there will be quiet moments while characters talk. That's necessary. It gives the audience a break and makes the action scenes more exciting. But you shouldn't be bored just because something isn't exploding in the background. Ghostbusters was one of a handful of movies that keep the audience engaged the entire time. More recent films I can thing of that do the same are The Guardians of the Galaxy and The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies.
This movie is hilarious. The writing is tight and the characters are sympathetic. I even found myself liking the bad guy! I can safely say Ghostbusters made it to the top of the short list of Bill Murray movies I can stand.
One of my favorite characters was the secretary, Janine Melnitz (played by Annie Potts). She's calm in the face of chaos, she takes no nonsense and she's not afraid to make her crush on Egan very obvious. All I could think was "that's me! That is so totally me!" If I like a guy, or even if I think he's cute, I don't flirt shyly and hope he picks up on it. I talk to him. I get up in his space. I make him realize I exist. I'm a friggin sledgehammer in the most awkward way possible. And it's very nice to see that represented in a movie. I'm not alone! (I am, however, still single. Don't take my advice.)
And poor Sigourney Weaver! Between aliens and ghosts, the woman can not catch a break.
The CGI effects were actually extremely innovative. I especially liked the librarian ghost and the proton-streams. The whole point of CGI is to make something that doesn't exist feel plausible, and this movie succeeded. Next time I'm in New York, I'll definitely be on the lookout for ghosts!
There were so many ways this film could have been a complete flop, but it ended up spawning a sequel, two animated cartoon series and a handful of videogames. That doesn't happen unless a film has done something right (and made money, of course). So, why has this movie stayed so popular for so long? I think it has a lot to do with what I said earlier about the characters and the writing. They suck you in. You begin thinking the whole scenario is believable, you want to be there and at the end of the movie you are still invested in the characters and want to see how things turned out.
If you haven't seen Ghostbusters, go check it out! It's definitely worth it. You don't even have to spend any money - you can borrow it for free at your local library like I did.
To see the review that inspired this post, visit channelawesome.com.
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