Staunton, Virginia - 1987/88. Ben was the lanky one. a smart dude too. curly hair 2 inches off his head the first one of us to need prescription glasses. he was a natural Egon. Miles, he was the good looking social kid - he played the field. he was perfect for Peter Venkman. and Adrien, well, he was like the only black kid in our preschool, and he was the best Winston anyone could have asked for. i was the sensitive kid with the babyfat face, and man i had the heart to bust some ghosts. i was Ray Stantz. looking back on it, this was the most accurate casting job any four and five year-olds could do. it was picture perfect. we even had the uniforms and everything.i've been a mega-fan-nerd for most of my life on this earth. when i watch the Ghostbusters films now, i realize how insanely brilliant the original film is. it holds up so well 25 years later. the humor, the chemistry, the built-in-your-garage-to-save-the-world nature of the story, the natural balance of so many ingredients that make up a wonderful film - it's all there. it is a classic New York movie. one of the first things i did after moving to New York was to visit almost every Ghostbusters location i could find. it's no small task.
when i was a wee one, i always thought the sequel was great (what kid wouldn't love MORE Ghostbusters??) - however as a slightly older guy, i see what a watered-down disappointment it kinda was. after the original Ghostbusters took off with the kiddies, they went and made Ghostbusters II - a kids movie with a bland story and way too many effects shots. there are a few redeeming qualities (a great sequence at the beginning of the film featuring a burnt out Ray and Winston driving to a kid's birthday party in a filthy broken-down Ecto-1 and getting booed out of the party... and hey - the soundtrack has that AWESOME Bobby Brown number that still makes me dance) and they make it enjoyable for the occasional viewing but... for the most part though, they dropped the ball.
the script was weak, the gang was too clean; they lost so many of their quirks and they lost that raunchy humor. the guys quit cursing, quit smoking, quit screwing up so royally, and they became semi-responsible adults. and they battled purple mood slime and a mentally ill medieval dude named Vigo. Bummer.
i've heard that none of the guys were particularly proud of that movie - especially Bill Murray, who just moved on after being bummed at the final product. and i'm glad Murray hung up the suit. the guy went on to become an accomplished actor and appeared in some really great films (Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, Lost in Translation, Coffee and Cigarettes - to name a few). i'm also grateful that Aykroyd and Ramis never continued the Ghostbusters adventures without him. if Aykroyd was the heart and Ramis was the brains, then Murray was certainly the face of the Ghostbusters. i would have been totally content with just the original Ghostbusters in my movie collection forever. how could they top that?
but hey, the original cast reunites for a Ghostbusters video game? from Atari? i'm no gamer, but that perked my ears up. and the video game trailers actually look cool! there had been talk of a Ghostbusters 3 film, but it always sounded like a complete nightmare. Ghostbusters in Hell? Ghostbusters with Ben Stiller? say it ain't so. but last fall, amidst all the video game talk, Murray gave some of the first interviews regarding a third Ghostbusters film that actually sounded promising to me. they had just brought the writers for The Office on board. and if the writing was right, Murray was in.
lately there's been more and more talk about Ghostbusters 3. Aykroyd, Ramis, Hudson, and Murray have all chimed in. Dan Aykroyd just did a few very recent interviews, and it sounds like it will actually happen. i don't wanna get any hopes up though. any hardcore Ghostbusters nerd is a little nervous. will it be the Ghostbusters follow-up we've been waiting for? will it live up to the first film? it's will it redeem the franchise after that crap sequel? will it make us pull out our jumpsuits and grab our neutrona wands? stay tuned...
May 19, 2009 - Dan Aykroyd talks to L.A. Times HERE
May 23, 2009 - Dan Aykroyd talks to The Guardian HERE
Ghostbusters - Original Trailer (1984) - the best. ever.
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