This file was generated 2002-06-09 04:23 GMT. This movie's information hasn't changed since 2001-09-03.
Ghostbusters is definitely a summer movie. It has the right blend of special effects, comedy, cheesy romance and explosions to fit right in. I was nine when it came out, and I remember going just as nuts for it as everybody else. Now, as a moderately jaded watcher of too many movies, I'm a little disappointed. I can still enjoy the performances by Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, but the rest of the movie lays fairly flat. The special effects are less than inspiring in these days of digital everything, and the claymation looks particularly lame. High points include the Elmer Bernstein score and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
Did you recognize the hotel manager? Michael Ensign has small parts in WarGames and All of Me. The EPA bureaucrat was played by William Atherton, who went on to play the corrupt professor in Real Genius and the obnoxious reporter in Die Hard and Die Hard 2. Reginald VelJohnson has a bit part as a jail guard in Ghostbusters, but he later played Al Powell in the first two Die Hards.
The Ghostbusters disc does two things I've never seen before. First, one of the subtitle tracks is used somewhat like a production commentary. It details locations, casting decisions, and other trivia. Two of the subtitle tracks appear identical to me so far, but their use is exceedingly clever: giving silhouettes to producer-director Ivan Reitman, associate producer Joe Medjuck, and writer-star Harold Ramis, the three commentators on the commentary track. It bears some resemblance to "Mystery Science Theater 3000", although it's certainly not as funny. The commentators take advantage of the device and occasionally point things out. Maybe it's just my player, but occasionally the silhouettes drop out for a frame or so, revealing the movie underneath. The effect is somewhat disconcerting, but may be invisible on other players.
The extras don't stop with the subtitle tracks. The disc has two featurettes, one from the movie's release and one from 1999 looking back on the phenomenon of the film. There are also a boatload of deleted scenes. This is the first time I've seen a disc make use of DVD's multi-angle capability, but it's only used to show a few big special effects scenes before and after they added the effects. These would probably be better demonstrated with a simple split-screen instead.
See the IMDB information on Ghostbusters's DVD or compare prices at DVD Price Search.