Top 100 Movies of Ghostbusters, wherein we at THiNC. watch one hundred of the “Best Movies of All Time” in order to eat our peas, and attempt to learn something we might not of otherwise. And I’m pretty excited because – of course – Ghostbusters!
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Top 100 Movies of All Time Ghostbusters Overview
First things first – this movie is a who’s who of the 80’s. Bill Murray as Venkman, Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz, Harold Ramis as Egon, Rick Moranis as Louis Tully, and… obviously, Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett. I mean?!? What an enormous cast. Just turning the movie on is like meeting old friends all over again.
The movie kicks off with Venkman, Ray, and Egon investigating a paranormal sighting at the New York Public Library. But, after they have no actionable way to catch the ghost they find in the library, they find out that they have been removed from their professorships at the university. Soon though, they have figured out a solution to their problem for containing the incorporeal. And with that, we have our heroes’ business venture solidified. Soon after purchasing an abandoned firehouse, they are visited Dana, a woman with a ghost problem in her apartment. But Venkman and his extraordinarily obvious advances are turned down by Dana…
Later, the Ghostbusters successfully remove a ghost named Slimer from the Sedgewick Hotel. Afterwards though, Egon warns the group… “NEVER” cross the energy streams of their proton packs, as it could invert the entirety of the cosmos. Depositing Slimer into their new ecto-containment unit inside the firehouse, they successfully rid the world of its first ghost. But suddenly ghosts begin popping up all throughout the city, and as a result, the trio become globally famous for their efforts. Needing more help, the Ghostbusters bring in Winston Zeddemore.
Every movie requires an arch nemesis, and this one finds theirs in a character named Walter Peck. Walter Peck (William Atherton – of Real Genius fame, and Die Hard 1 and 2 fame), is an Environmental Protection Agency inspector, and he is extraordinarily suspicious of the Ghostbuster’s ghost containment unit. As one would be! hahaha. And, as the demand for ecto-storage going through the roof, their storage space decreasing, Egon begins to warn the group that their waste management solution is almost full. Meanwhile, Venkman learns that Zuul was a demigod who was a servant to Gozer the Gozerian (come on, this is brilliant stuff), who was sort of a shapeshifting god o’ destruction. After Dana’s conversation with Venkman, she returns home only to be possessed by Zuul, while Louis, her neighbor is possessed by the Keymaster. Got it? Dana/Zuul is the Gate Keeper… and Louis is the Keymaster. Perfect. Obviously the duo needs to remain separated and the Ghostbusters do so. “I find her interesting because she’s a client and because she sleeps above her covers. Four feet above her covers!”
Things begin going sideways when Peck returns with the police and city workers to shut down the containment unit and arrest the Ghostbusters. Well, yeah, that goes about as well as can be expected because the power shutdown causes an explosion that frees all the ghosts that had previously been captured. So… bad? Yeah, BAD! In the melee of the confusion, the Keymaster escapes, and he makes his way back to his apartment building to join the Gatekeeper. Back in jail, where Ray and Egon are, they reveal that Dana’s building, which was built and designed by Ivo Shandor, who, happened to be a Gozer sycophant and worshiper. Basically the building is one big massive antenna of spiritual and ectoplasmic energy for summoning Gozer and bringing about the apocalypse. With it clear that the end of the world is coming, the Ghostbusters convince the mayor to let them out of prison in order to attempt to save the day.
The Ghostbusters team head up to Dana’s building’s roof where they are met by Dana and Louis as Zuul and Vinz Clortho (Gatekeeper and Keymaster), who open the gate between dimensions and then turn into demonic hell hounds. Gozer, appearing in a female form, attacks the Ghostbusters, and then disappears when attacked by the team. Zuul then informs them to choose their destructor… that the next thought that enters their minds would be the form that he will take. Ray says that he couldn’t help it, but he thought of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man who begins stomping its way through the city. Which is when Egon tells the team that they have no way to destroy the menace without crossing the streams. After crossing the streams they were successful in destroying Gozer’s chosen menace, and were able to banish him back through the gateway. After rescuing Dana and Louis from the chaos, they are welcomed by the city as heroes.
Thoughts On the Ghostbusters
I mean, come on. Ghostbusters is a brilliant movie. It’s a fantastic idea in its simplicity. Guys hunt ghosts, things go horribly wrong, they save the day. Better yet, their McGuffin has an in built limitation… that they can’t cross the streams. But it is that simple limitation that ultimately saves the day. NEVER EVER USE THIS HAND GRENADE AS IT WILL END THE WORLD. Oh, we are all going to die… maybe we should try the “never use grenade”… huh. hahaha. The brilliance of the movie was in its simplicity, and its space to convey the humor of Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray. Here is an insane scenario… begin. Humor us. Hahah.
Probably the only drawback for this movie today is the really awful special effects. But hell, I’d rather these cartoony/infantile special effects than modern day MCU special effects, that’s for sure. But I’m sure I’m in the minority here and will attempt to keep my thoughts to myself on this front.
Ghostbusters, though, sat in this glorious space of a comedic renaissance. Movies like Spies Like Us, Meatballs, Caddieshack, Stripes, Goonies, Gremlins, Beetlejuice, Planes Trains and Automobiles, and the like. Just infantile ideas that allow the leads to wax eloquent in the bizarre scenarios they find themselves in. Today, that sort of comedy just doesn’t work anymore. We prefer our heroes to drop a funny line within the chaotic situation that they are in, and move on. I think. But I will never give up my hold on these glory days of brilliantly funny mines of hilarity and strange circumstances. So, would Ghostbusters be on my top 100 list? Well, yeah, of course it would be. Wouldn’t it be on yours?
Edited by: CY