4k-UHD/Movie Review: Ghostbusters Afterlife

 

When comparing this movie to the 2016 female-led Ghostbusters movie, the line from Batman Forever, "Your entrance was good--his was better", comes to mind. While I think the 2016 movie gets unfairly ragged on, this is how an updated Ghostbusters movie should be done.

This movie, unlike the other one, is a direct continuation of the 1984 original movie and the 1989 sequel and has a ton of easter eggs that tie into things from both of those movies. The basic storyline is that Egon packed up all of the Ghostbusters equipment and moved from NY to Summerville Oklahoma. This caused a rift with the other Ghostbusters that was really never repaired. We find out that Egon did have a family, including his daughter Callie (played by Carrie Coon) and grandchildren Phoebe (played by McKenna Grace) and Trevor (played by Finn Wolfhard). Upon Egon's death, the family moves to his farm in Summerville and the rest of the story plays out from there. I will not spoil anything about the rest of the plot, but it is directly tied to the original movie and there are many parallels to that story. Where the original movie was more of a straight comedy with some action, this one is more of a dramedy with a lot of action spaced throughout.

For those who get the 4k set, the movie looks and sounds wonderful in the UHD format. The movie has a ton of great special effects that are a mix of CGI and practical that looks seamless even in UHD, and there is a lot of great cinematography. The UHD disc has the movie and about 15 minutes worth of preview trailers that play before the movie. Then, there is a regular Blu-Ray disc that has the movie and the rest of the extras on it. These include several making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, a discussion of the impact of the original movie by Ivan Reitman, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray, a featurette on the various easter eggs in the movie to tie back to the original films, and a single deleted scene.

Overall, the movie is very, very good, and a perfect sequel to the original movies. It was written and directed by Jason Reitman, who is the son of the director of the original movie, and he made a wise choice to bring back as many of the creators of the original movie as he could. The movie does include all of the living cast members from the original movies (aside from Rick Moranis who had retired from acting) in either cameo or extended cameo roles. And, the movie was able to include Harold Ramis, who of course passed away in 2014, in a couple of different ways, one of which worked well and the other which was a bit corny but did have some emotional punch. The bulk of the story involved the new characters. McKenna Grace (who is best known for her roles in the movie Gifted and the series Designated Survivor and Young Sheldon) was really the star of the movie, but all of the cast members, both main and supporting, did a great job. Paul Rudd was awesome as a teacher at the elementary school in Summerville who was not really interested in teaching, Logan Kim was equally awesome as Podcast, and Celeste O'Connor did a very good job as Lucky Domingo). The rest of the supporting cast included Oliva Wilde, Josh Gad, Bokeem Woodbine, and J.K. Simmons in a small role. Not only does the movie provide a lot of nostalgia for those of us who were kids when the original movie came out, but it tells a good story of its own. There are mid and post-credits scenes, one that plays for comedic effect and the other that sets up the possibility of further movies. If you are a fan of the original movie this is a must-watch.

DVD/Movie Review: Ghostbusters 2

 

The original Ghostbusters, made in 1984 is widely considered to be one of the greatest comedies of all time. The second movie is set five years after the first movie, to match up with a 1989 release date, to reveal that the Ghostbusters did not exactly become heroes after saving the city. They were left with a massive cleanup bill, they did not get any clients, and were relegated to appearing at kid's birthday parties, running a bookstore, and in the case of Venkman, hosting a crazy talk show. It is revealed that Dana broke up with Venkman, got married, and then divorced, and is raising a baby as a single mother while working at a museum restoring artwork. Of course, a new evil threat awakens to threaten not only the team, but the city and the world, and the Ghostbusters get pressed back into service.

The movie is definitely not as good as the original. That said, it is not as bad as some make it out to be. There are definitely some corny parts to it (like Bobby Brown's cameo), and most of Peter MacNicol's role, but it does keep a lot of the same humor and charm of the first movie. It brings back the entire cast including Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and Rick Moranis (giving the last two more expanded roles than they had in the first movie).

For those who get the stand-alone DVD that was released in 2006, the only extras are the inclusion of a couple of episodes of the Ghostbusters animated series. Nothing specific to the movie itself. Of course, it is now available in Blu-Ray and in 4kUHD, so those may have better extras, but on the DVD release, there was nothing to write home about.

Overall, the movie is good, but as I said above, not as good as the original movie. Even so, it does have a good, uplifting, message and even with some of the eye rolling moments, it is still worth watching.

Blu-Ray Review: Ghostbusters (2009 25th Anniversary release)

 

Ghostbusters is the iconic 1984 comedy starring Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts, and Rick Moranis (the last two in supporting roles). The idea is that a group of scientists (Ramis, Murray, and Akroyd) is convinced that ghosts are real (which is established fairly early on in the movie) and can be captured and stored. They end up purchasing a fire station and selling their services as Ghostbusters. Of course, by the end of the movie, there is a threat not only to New York City as a whole but to the world if the Ghostbusters do not stop it.

Chances are, anyone reading this by now has seen the movie at least once. For the handful who may not have, it is definitely an adult comedy. It has a lot of swearing and some sexually suggestive material (but no nudity). It is extremely funny with jokes that you may miss the first time around. Even with a large ensemble cast all of the actors get at least some good material, and pretty much every character gets at least one memorable line.

The movie has been released multiple times on DVD and Blu-Ray. If you end up with the 25th-anniversary set, it carries over all of the making-of and behind-the-scenes material from the DVD release and includes the commentary track with the director Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis, and one of the producers. The big addition to this set is a "Slimer" mode, which is a picture-in-picture viewing of the movie that has a ton of material including interviews with cast members and pop-up facts about the movie. There is also a preview of the video game that was released at the same time, and a feature on restoration of the Ecto-1 car. All in all, a bunch of good material for those who like going through the bonus material.

It is one of the best comedies not only of the 1980s but of all time. Even though it looks like a movie that was made in the 1980s, the story holds up even though it is now almost 40 years old. If you have not yet bought it on disc, you may want to get the 4K version, but if you are a fan of physical media it is worth picking up.