Blu-ray Review: Ghostbusters

If there is a list of movies that define many thirtysomethings childhoods then that list will always contain mainstays such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Ghostbusters. The 1984 action comedy is regarded as one of the finest geek movies ever made, a true classic of action, comedy and science fiction. The entire script is quotable and finds its lead actors (in particular Bill Murray) at the top of their game.

Disturbingly the 25 years since its theatrical release have passed by in the blink of an eye (I can still remember the first time the old lady ghost in the library scaring me out of my seat), and we finally have the long awaited Blu-ray release. More than just a catalogue reissue, Ghostbusters has a lot to live up to.

Usually with a review I detail the finer points of the plot before giving my own critique, pretty much review 101 material. But Ghostbusters is such a well known movie that such an exercise would be pointless. Everyone knows the plot of this film; three friends go into business busting ghosts. Another one joins, ghosts get busted and a few years later a not so well received sequel appears.

Ghostbusters is a pure 80s movie, filled with wit, charm and a spin off cartoon series. I love this movie, everyone my age loves this movie and it keeps getting better with age. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing, but all too often when we return to things that we hold so dearly from our childhood they aren’t quite as incredible as they were back then. Fortunately, Ghostbusters is part of the rare breed that can truly stand the test of time. A pure classic.

Audio Visual
So here we have it. A remastered version of Ghostbusters on Blu-ray, presented in 1080p encoded in MPEG4. Is it really what we want? Yes and no.
You have to approach the picture quality of Ghostbusters with a little perspective. The movie is 25 years old, and no amount of technical restoration wizardry is going to make it look like a blockbuster movie from 2009.

So with that in mind, Ghostbusters looks as good as it possibly could do on Blu-ray. The source print suffers incredibly from grain. From the opening shot to the final climax the movie is plagued with film grain, but this is pretty much all you can say that is negative about this transfer. The level of fidelity in the image is extremely high, and colours pop without being overkill.

There is no doubt about it, Sony have done a great job with this remaster. The special effects blend extremely well considering that many modern Hollywood movies show up shoddy effects work with a high def transfer. Ghostbusters looks great, provided you rein in your expectations.

Sonically we have a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack which is also very competent considering the source. The movie is very front speaker heavy, which does lead to a slightly imbalanced mix overall. But during key action scenes everything seems to spring into life, especially the Slimer sequence.
The track is definitely a great enhancement over the DVD release; you can certainly hear far more environmental audio than in previous home releases.
Explosions are suitably boomy, dialogue while sometimes slightly muffled at times is all perfectly balanced in the mix. As with the picture, the audio for Ghostbusters is extremely competent.

Bonus Features
25 year anniversary: check. Videogame to tie in with the release featuring the original cast: check.
Remaster of the movie with a load of new features? Check once again. And there really are a load of special features here.

Audio Commentary – Harold Ramis, Ivan Reitman and Joe Medjuck provide a lively and entertaining commentary to start off the special features. There is a lot of information divulged on this track covering all aspects of the filmmaking process. An extremely comprehensive commentary. Disappointed there’s nobody else on the commentary? Don’t be.

Slimer Mode – This is the finest feature on the entire disc. Slimer Mode is a picture in picture commentary track that features nonstop information from pretty much everyone involved with the movie (except the notoriously reclusive Bill Murray and now retired Rick Moranis).
You name the person, they are on here from the actors, the director, producer and a cavalcade of effects and production people. Even Blade Runner uber expert Paul M. Sammon puts in an appearance.

When the video isn’t playing (and that is a very rare event) pop up facts take up the slack. This is one of the finest features on any Blu-ray disc I have seen to date. Fans of the movie should check this track out right away.

Blu Wizard – Blu Wizard allows you to choose which of the discs comprehensive special features you want to watch while the movie is playing. When you reach the appropriate trigger point, seamless branching kicks in and displays the feature before putting you right back into the action again.
Just by looking at the list of features is daunting in itself. There is a lot here, choose wisely! Or just watch all of the features at the end of the movie like I did.

There featurettes are a mixture of old and new. The new stuff is all shot in HD, and begins with Ecto-1: Resurrecting the Classic Car. This is a showcase for taking the original Ghostbusters car and completely revamping it for the modern day. It’s very much a fluff PR piece but is enjoyable. It’s also backed up with a companion piece about the car choc full of stills and video.
Next up is a making of piece for the new Ghostbusters videogame, it maybe a promotional piece but it’s great to watch the original cast back together talking about this new addition to the franchise. The game looks pretty good too.
There is also a brief trailer for the game.

Scene Cemetary – Ten deleted scenes in terrible 480i quality which are mainly small extensions to existing scenes. They are great to watch but are very much cut for time features.

1984 Featurette – What you would these days call an EPK featurette, you forget how bad the voice overs for 80s featurettes are! This is a talking head piece, featuring some behind the scenes stuff with the cast but it’s just an extended commercial.

Cast & Crew Featurette – We spin forward to post Ghostbusters 2 where the cast and director talk about the making of the film. The comprehensive information overload continues, without repeating information.

SFX Team Featurette – Just as the name suggests, the visual effects team talk about various aspects of the movies special features. You also get some multi-angle shots and storyboard comparisons.

Summing Up
Ghostbusters is a classic movie that is still just as enjoyable on Blu-ray as it was 25 years ago in the Bournemouth ABC cinema. This new remaster is absolutely fantastic, it looks and sounds great and is crammed with bonus features that will keep the legions of Ghostbusters fans happy.

This is an essential purchase.

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Category: HD, Reviews