Friday, May 27, 2011

Ghostbusters (1984) "We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!"

“I don't have to take this abuse from you, I've got hundreds of people dying to abuse me.” -Peter
Well, I won’t abuse you! I was not sure if I would like this movie, but I actually did! I assumed that a movie about four men starting a business to catch ghosts and having to save their doubting city in the end might be kinda dull, but it turned out to be humorous and had enough action to keep me watching. Basically, three scientists get fired from their job, so they start their own ghost-catching business, at the exact same time that a giant spike in ghostly activity occurs because a demon that is supposed to end the world is on its way. They become very popular, hire a fourth member, and save the day from a giant marshmallow monster.


This movie had a great soundtrack, and the theme song did not leave my head the rest of the day. The characters also had great chemistry together, playing well off of each other’s oddities. Peter, the flawed, calm, woman-chasing character whose non-genuine traits bothered me(Bill Murray) was contrasted by the child-like Raymond (Dan Aykroyd) and the intelligent, knowledge-seeking Egon (Harold Ramis). They were really a cute trio, especially in scenes like the one where they are running in unison through the streets with these comedic serious faces and their ghost zappers. The two less than positive aspects that I can remember are minor, but did stick out to me. First, their car’s siren was really annoying! Then, some of the special effects were noticeably added to the movie. This is a product of the technology of the time, but seams were still present between the real actors and animated parts.



Most importantly, I learned quite a bit from this movie. To list some new knowledge I have acquired: eggs can foam, ghosts that can fly through walls can eat and keep solid food, ghosts do not necessarily haunt people but will use little, irritating, sneaky, pestering methods such as rearranging library books, when a person is possessed, they put on more make-up, ghosts are comparable to Twinkies, and “if someone asks if you are a god, you say, ‘yes’!" Oh, and do not forget that the three main groups of people on earth are Christians, Jews, and punks; it was very nice to see them all coming together to worry about their lives. I have learned more personally about myself, too. Not only do I want a fireman’s pole in my house to slide down, but I firmly believe that it should rain marshmallows, and if I am going to be killed by a ghost, I hope it is a giant, smiling marshmallow man. I did not realize that there were so many things I did not know, so I am certainly glad I watched this film!












This movie is definitely worth watching and not just for the life lessons and education value! It is clearly a movie made in the past based on the quality, but this does not really matter because the humor and those characters, who stay true to themselves no matter what is staring back at them, come out on top.

Oh…and for those of you who think all dogs are cute….there are some ugly dogs in this movie…really ugly, ugly demon dogs!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyRqR56aCKc

1 comment:

Vladigogo said...

One of my favorite films from the 80s. And Ghostbusters 3 is in the works.