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Ghostbusters is a 1984 sci-fi comedy film about three eccentric New York City parapsychologists. After they are fired from a university, they start their own business investigating and capturing ghosts.
It was followed by a sequel, Ghostbusters II (1989), and two animated television series, The Real Ghostbusters (later Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters) and Extreme Ghostbusters. According to actor Dan Aykroyd, an all computer-generated imagery (CGI) sequel (Ghostbusters III) has been confirmed for future production, with Bill Murray to provide voice talent.[1]
Ghostbusters was released in the United States on June 8, 1984, starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson. The film grossed approximately USD$240 million in the U.S. and over $50 million abroad during its theatrical run, more than the second "Indiana Jones" installment, making it easily the most successful film of that year, and the most successful comedy of the 1980s.
In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Ghostbusters the 44th greatest comedy film of all time. The American Film Institute ranked it 28th in its list of the top 100 comedies of all time (in their "AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs" list).[2] In 2005, IGN voted Ghostbusters the greatest comedy ever.[3] In 2006, Bravo ranked Ghostbusters 76 on their "100 Funniest Movies" list.[4]
Three misfit parapsychology professors are booted out of their cushy jobs at New York City's Columbia University.[5]Despite their relative lack of funding, they start an enterprise called Ghostbusters, a spectral investigation and removal service. One of the men has a plan to catch and contain supernatural entities, though it has never been properly tested. Undeterred, they obtain a former fire station as a base and begin advertising on local television.
At first, their clients are few and far between, and the Ghostbusters have to depend on their individual talents to keep the business alive: Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) is a scientific genius, Dr. Raymond "Ray" Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) is an expert on paranormal history and metallurgy, and Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) has charm and business savvy, although he is in some ways a charlatan. Although he initially comes off as a bit of a goof and sleaze, Venkman eventually finds a subtly heroic side to himself when he learns that a creature called "Zuul" is haunting the apartment of Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), a client who has become the object of his lustful (and possibly deeper) intentions.
The business is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy until one night, when Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), the Ghostbusters' personal secretary, answers a desperate call from the Sedgewick Hotel about a ghost that needs to be removed quickly and quietly. Although the Ghostbusters have no practical experience and their equipment has never been tested, they successfully catch the ghost after a destructively clumsy hunt.
Business soon picks up dramatically and the company becomes a household name, partially due to an unexplained increase in supernatural activity. The Ghostbusters add a fourth member to their team, the blue-collar Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), to deal with the rapidly increasing workload. The company captures so many ghosts that the scientists become concerned about the capacity of their ghost-containment facility. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent to the Ghostbusters that the spike in paranormal events means they are headed toward a climactic confrontation with an entity called "Gozer", whose presence was implied by bizarre occurrences such as the demonic "Zuul" appearing in Dana Barrett's apartment.
Gozer's minion entities Zuul (the Gatekeeper) and Vinz Clortho (the Keymaster) soon begin seeking human hosts. Zuul is easily able to possess Dana Barrett in her apartment and Vinz Clortho (in his native form as a horned "Terror Dog") chases down Louis Tully (Rick Moranis), a nerdy accountant who lives down the hall. Dana/Zuul gets a visit from Venkman, and she/it tries to seduce him. He realizes something is up (Dana rejected his earlier advances) and sedates Zuul with a large dose of thorazine. The possessed accountant Tully is eventually brought to Ghostbusters HQ by the police and examined by Egon. He claims to be Keymaster to Gozer and appears as a horned entity on Egon's infrared scanner. It is determined that Dana and Louis must never meet, as the "Keymaster" and "Gatekeeper" would literally open the gates of Hell. Vinz Clortho remains rather passive, waiting for a "sign" that Gozer will come.
An overzealous EPA inspector, Walter Peck (William Atherton), arrives and starts asking questions. Initially brushed off by Venkman, Peck angrily returns with a court order to shut down the ghost containment facility, although he is warned that it will bring dire consequences. A Con Edison worker shuts the grid down, and all the captured ghosts immediately burst forth in a fantastic explosion. A massive number of supernatural events spark chaos throughout the city as long-dead spirits run wild, terrorizing the populace. Peck accuses the Ghostbusters of causing the explosion due to their own negligence and has them arrested. Meanwhile, Louis Tully/Vinz Clortho wanders off during the mayhem, mumbling to himself that the eruption of the containment grid was the omen he was waiting for.
While the Ghostbusters are in jail, they examine the blueprints of Dana Barrett's apartment building. Ray explains that the structure is "a huge, super-conductive antenna designed and built expressly for the purpose of pulling in and concentrating spiritual turbulence." Egon elaborates further by telling them how an insane surgeon, Ivo Shandor, having deemed society "too sick to survive" after World War One, created a secret society worshipping the Sumerian god Gozer. The rituals performed were designed to bring about the end of the world, and it seems that it may very well occur in 1980s New York.
Eventually, the Mayor of New York (David Margulies) summons the Ghostbusters from jail in hopes that they can explain the various supernatural phenomena. Walter Peck makes a series of baseless accusations that the Ghostbusters are con artists; however, none of the department heads at the meeting are able to support Peck's claims, and with Venkman persuading the politicos, the Ghostbusters convince the Mayor to let them deal with the crisis.
The Ghostbusters, along with representatives of the New York Police and local army units quickly arrive at Dana's apartment building to a waiting crowd. The Ghostbusters collect their equipment and observe the building from street level, watching as the skies darken and the earth shakes beneath their feet. They wave at the adoring crowd before disappearing into the darkened apartment building.
The "Gatekeeper" (Zuul/Dana Barrett) and "Keymaster" (Vinz Clortho/Louis Tully) finally meet and take the form of Terror Dogs, which opens a magic gate to another dimension atop their art deco-style apartment building. The Ghostbusters climb to the top of the skyscraper to confront Gozer as it emerges from the portal in the form of a strange, lithe young woman. Upon finding that the Ghostbusters are mere mortals, Gozer gives them the opportunity to choose the form of their death. While the other Ghostbusters deliberately clear their minds and think of nothing, Ray reflexively chooses a seemingly innocuous corporate mascot, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. A giant sailor-suited marshmallow man instantly appears, trampling everything in his path. The Ghostbusters attack Mister Stay Puft with their particle accelerators, but this only makes the creature angry and it begins climbing the building.
Egon suddenly realizes that "the door swings both ways" and suggests that the Ghostbusters cross their proton pack streams as they fire at the portal - although Egon himself had informed them earlier that that is likely to be fatal. The plan succeeds in causing "total protonic reversal", destroying the gate and removing Gozer and its minions. The explosion generated by the event incinerates Mister Stay Puft, raining molten marshmallow down onto the roof of the skyscraper and the street below (including Walter Peck, the EPA man).
As the city settles moments after the explosion, the Ghostbusters pull themselves from the wreckage. Peter is notably quiet with the likely implication that Dana (in Terror Dog form) was killed during the explosion. However, this fear is put to rest when the team sees signs of life and frees both Dana and Louis from the petrified shells of what were once the Terror Dogs. The Ghostbusters and the no-longer-possessed apartment dwellers exit the building to massive applause from the crowd, who cheer them on as Peter shares a passionate kiss with Dana. The team loads their equipment up into Ecto-1 and everyone, excluding Louis, departs in the car, followed closely by a running and cheering crowd. The scene fades on a newly released Slimer screaming as he flies up to the camera.
The concept was inspired by Aykroyd's own fascination with the paranormal, and it was conceived by Aykroyd as a vehicle for himself and friend and fellow Saturday Night Live alum John Belushi.[6] The original story as written by Aykroyd was much more ambitious—and unfocused—than what would be eventually filmed; in Aykroyd's original vision, a group of Ghostbusters would travel through time, space and other dimensions taking on huge ghosts (of which the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man was just one of many). Also, the Ghostbusters wore S.W.A.T.-like outfits and used wands instead of Proton Packs to fight the ghosts.
Aykroyd pitched his story to director / producer Ivan Reitman, who liked the basic idea but immediately saw the budgetary impossibilities demanded by Aykroyd's first draft. At Reitman's suggestion, the story was given a major overhaul, eventually evolving into the final screenplay which Aykroyd and Ramis hammered out over the course of a few months in a Martha's Vineyard bomb shelter (according to Ramis on the DVD Commentary Track for the movie). Aykroyd and Ramis initially wrote the script with roles written especially for Belushi, Eddie Murphy and John Candy. However, Belushi died due to a drug overdose during the writing of the screenplay, and neither Murphy nor Candy could commit to the movie due to prior engagements, so Aykroyd and Ramis shifted some of these changes around and polished a basic, yet sci-fi oriented screenplay for their final draft. (It has been rumoured that Slimer was jokingly referred to as "the ghost of John Belushi" on set.)
In addition to Aykroyd's high-concept basic premise and Ramis' skill at grounding the fantastic elements with a realistic setting, the film benefits from Bill Murray's semi-improvisational performance as Peter Venkman, the character initially intended for Belushi. The extent of Murray's improvisation while delivering his lines varies wildly with every re-telling of the making of the film; some say he never even read the script, and improvised so much he deserves a writing credit, while others insist that he only improvised a few lines, and used his deadpan comic delivery to make scripted lines seem spontaneous.
With the first DVD release of the film on the 15th anniversary of the original theatrical release, many original concepts of the film were revealed, based on the storyboard artwork: Louis Tully was originally to be a conservative man in a business suit played by comedian John Candy, but Candy was unable to commit to the role. The role was taken by Rick Moranis, portraying Louis as a geek. Gozer was originally going to appear in the form of Ivo Shandor as a slender, unremarkable man in a suit played by Paul Reubens.[7] In the end, the role was played by Yugoslavian model Slavitza Jovan, whose Eastern European accent (later dubbed by Paddi Edwards) caused "choose and perish" to sound like "Jews and berries".
The proton packs' particle throwers were originally portrayed as wands worn on each arm. Winston Zeddemore was written with Eddie Murphy in mind, but he had to decline the role as he was filming Beverly Hills Cop at the same time. When Murphy had the role, Zeddemore was going to be hired much earlier in the film, and would accompany the trio on their hunt for Slimer at the hotel and be slimed in place of Peter Venkman. When Ernie Hudson took over, it was decided that he be brought in later to indicate how the Ghostbusters were struggling to keep up with the outbreak of ghosts.
Gozer's temple was the biggest and most expensive set ever to be constructed at that time. In order to properly light it and create the physical effects for the set, other stages needed to be shut down and all their power diverted over to the set. The hallway sets for the Sedgewick Hotel were originally built for the movie Rich and Famous in 1981 and patterned after the Algonquin Hotel in New York City, where Reitman originally wanted to do the hotel bust. The Biltmore Hotel was chosen because the large lobby allowed for a tracking shot of the Ghostbusters in complete gear for the first time. Dana Barrett and Louis Tully's apartments were constructed across two stages and were actually on the other side of their doors in the hallway, an unusual move in filmmaking.
A problem arose during filming when it was discovered that a show was produced in 1975 by Filmation for CBS called The Ghost Busters, starring Larry Storch and Forrest Tucker. (It should be noted that this show's title is written as two words instead of one word like the 1984 movie.) Columbia Pictures prepared a list of alternative names just in case the rights could not be secured, but during the filming of the crowd for the final battle, the extras were all chanting "Ghostbusters", which inspired the producers to insist that the studio buy the rights to the name.
For the test screening of Ghostbusters, half of the ghost effects were missing, not yet having been completed by the production team. The audience response was still enthusiastic, and the ghost elements were completed for the official theatrical release shortly thereafter.
The film spawned a theme park special effects show at Universal Studios Florida. (The show closed some time in 1997 to make way for Twister: Ride it Out!) The Ghostbusters were also featured in a lip-synching dance show featuring Beetlejuice on the steps of the New York Public Library facade at the park after the attraction closed. The GBs were all new and "extreme" versions in the show, save for the Zeddemore character. Their Ecto-1 automobile was used to drive them around the park, and was often used in the park's annual "Macy's Holiday Parade". The show, Ecto-1, and all other Ghostbuster trademarks were discontinued in 2005 when Universal failed to renew the rights for theme park use. Currently, the Ghostbuster Firehouse can still be seen near Twister, without its GB logo and "Engine 89" ribbon. A "paranormal investigator" etching on a nearby doorway hints at the old show.
With the recent 80s nostalgia craze, Ghostbusters has made a quiet return. In 2004, 88MPH Studios began releasing their "Legion" limited series, which retconned the Ghostbusters' world to six months after the first movie and pushed the timeline up twenty years to present time. The owner and operator of 88MPH, Sebastien Clavet, still has plans to release an ongoing series, but the public's interest following production issues and delays in the initial comic series (including a continuing, lengthy, ongoing delay of the hardcover Legion collection) mean it is unknown if he will be able to carry on his dream.
NECA released a line of action figures based on the first movie but only produced a series of ghost characters, as Bill Murray refused the rights to use his facial likeness. Their first and only series included Gozer, Slimer (or Onionhead), the Terror Dogs, Vinz Clortho, and a massive Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, contrasting the diminutive figure that was in the original figure line. Ertl released a die-cast 1/25 scale Ectomobile, also known as Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters' main transportation. iBooks published the novel Ghostbusters: The Return by Sholly Fisch snd Rubies' Costumes has produced a Ghostbusters Halloween costume, consisting of a one-piece jumpsuit with logos and an inflatable Proton Pack.
For the history of the Ghostbusters III project, see Ghostbusters III.
Gozer the Gozerian, also known as Gozer the Destructor, Volguus Zildrohar, The Traveller, is a fictional Sumerian shapeshifting god who is the major supernatural enemy in Ghostbusters. According to other sources, the name "Gozer" is from a documented haunting that came to the attention of Dan Aykroyd, but this is unsubstantiated. Another rumor is that the name comes from the Hebrew term for a doctor who performs circumcisions.
Gozer appears to be a shapeshifter, able to change form at will. Speaking through Louis Tully,Vinz Clortho claimed that:
After World War I, an insane surgeon named Ivo Shandor, leader of a secret apocalyptic cult, designed a ziggurat disguised as a massive apartment building in New York City (55 Central Park West) for the specific purpose of gathering psychokinetic energy (PKE) that would power a portal that would allow Gozer and its minions to enter the world and destroy it.
By 1984, the building had gathered enough energy to pull Zuul and Vinz Clortho through. The two planned to possess suitable humans to open the portal on top of the building to let Gozer through. Because of this, the PKE level in the surrounding area was a few thousand times greater than normal. As a byproduct, numerous ghosts were 'revived' and became active throughout the city as they waited to join their new master.
The first film sparked the catchphrases "Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!" and "I ain't 'fraid of no ghost(s)." Both came from the hit theme song written and performed by Ray Parker, Jr. The song was a huge hit, staying #1 for three weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and #1 for two weeks on the Black Singles chart. The song earned Parker an Academy Awards nomination for "Best Song."
The music video produced for the song is considered one of the key productions in the early music video era, and was a #1 MTV video. Directed by Ivan Reitman, and produced by Jeffrey Abelson, the video organically integrated footage of the film in a specially-designed, haunted house made entirely of neon for the music-video. The film footage was intercut with a humorous performance by Parker, and -- in a first for a music-video -- was further intercut with cameo appearances by various celebrities who joined in the call and response chorus, including Chevy Chase, Irene Cara, John Candy, Nickolas Ashford, Melissa Gilbert, Jeffrey Tambor, George Wendt, Al Franken, Danny DeVito, Carly Simon, Peter Falk and Teri Garr. The video ends with comical footage of the four Ghostbusters, in costume and character, dancing in Times Square behind Parker, joining in the singing.
Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker, Jr. for plagiarism, citing that Parker stole the melody from his 1983 song "I Want A New Drug". Ironically, Lewis was approached to compose the main theme song for the movie, but he declined due to his work on the soundtrack for Back to the Future. It was reported in 2001 that Lewis allegedly breached an agreement not to mention the original suit, doing so on VH1's Behind the Music [3]. Lindsey Buckingham was also approached to do the theme song based on his success with "Holiday Road" for the National Lampoon's Vacation films. He declined, reasoning that he did not want to be known as just a soundtrack artist.
In 2006, Bay Area Hyphy rapper Mistah FAB used the Ghostbusters theme background for his single Ghost Ride It to reflect the Ghost Ride trend.
In the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when the character of Spike learns of Buffy's intent to contact the government squad that had once captured him, he asks "So who you gonna call?" Buffy's response is to stare at him with raised eyebrows for a moment, before Spike scoffs and says "God, that line's never gonna be usable again, is it?"
Other quotes from the film have become popular as well, such as "The city, county and state of New York," "There is no Dana, only Zuul," and "Next time someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!"
The following deleted/extended scenes can be viewed on the 15th and 20th anniversary DVD releases of Ghostbusters on DVD.
The following scenes do not appear on the DVD, but are on the Criterion LaserDisc edition of the film.
There are 4 computer and video games about the Ghostbusters:
Additionally, beatmania IIDX GOLD features the 'Ghostbusters' theme as a playable song.
There were two novelizations of the film published. The first, which came out around the same time the movie did, was written by Larry Milne and was 191 pages long. A second novelization, written by Richard Mueller, was released in 1985. It was 60 pages longer at 256 pages, and had the extended subtitle The Supernatural Experience. Both differ from the finished version of the first film in many aspects, containing scenes that ultimately did not make the cut, most notably the sequence set at Fort Detmerring, and Mueller's book in particular also containted a subplot involving the two homeless men played by Murray and Aykroyd in the deleted scene, who are identified as Harlan Bojay and Robert Learned Coombs.