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| The Ghostbusters movie poster, with the iconic (I suppose) emblem, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters#mediaviewer/File:Ghostbusters_cover.png, fair use and/or public domain claimed |
Greetings All:
Thirty years ago, a great movie became a part of our culture. That movie would be Ghostbusters. The other night it happened to be on TV and while I was only interested in the next day's weather, you guessed it, I got sucked in and watched it to the end.
Well, "sucked in" is not exactly accurate. I equate sucked in to seeing something for the first time and being drawn to watching it. When this has happened to me in the past, I usually wish I could get that time back.
Not so with this flick.
No, Ghostbusters is a classic comedy. It is a film that still delights a generation later. Oh sure, the special effects aren't so special in this day and age. And it's not exactly high brow entertainment. What it is, at least to me, it a great film.
For those of you not familiar with it, here's the story in a nushell: Three scientists get fired from their sweet university gig and select a career path a bit off the beaten path. They become ghost hunters in New York City. In the process, they cross paths with a bureaucrat from the EPA and things go really bad really fast. The ending is expected but still enjoyable. The cast of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis are fantastic as the Ghostbusters. The rest of the cast is terrific and it's just a fun film. My college friends and I still reference some of the more famous lines of the film. It's either a tribute to the cultural significance of this film, our lameness or perhaps a bit of both.
I did not realize that Ghostbusters almost never came to be. It was originally written for John Belushi who tragically died, thus creating a void. The film was shot and produced under a brutally short schedule. This was done to meet the ever-important summer movie release date. I'm glad they made it for this movie was my favorite of the summer of 1984. Come to think of it, it's still one of my favorite summer movies.
I have a few links below to some history of the film and if you're a fan, it's worth checking out. The "suits" in Hollywood were not terribly hip on making it and some people took some very big risks to pull it off. Harold Ramis jumped aboard after 20 minutes of hearing the pitch. I guess he knew a good thing when he saw it.
The film could have bombed. Hollywood could have said, "That's it! No more comedies that require this many special effects. No more ghost movies!" But Ghostbusters did not bomb. It blew up. It took the world by storm and still is living happily ever after on cable TV and on DVDs across America.
If you haven't watched it for a while, do yourself a favor and check it out. It's like catching up with a old friend and having a good laugh. With all that is going on in the world, that is time well spent.
Here's to Ghostbusters, a great summer film and great film of all time.
Be well my friends,
Jeno
Sources:
http://www.ghostbusters.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters
http://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/ghostbusters-making-of
http://www.runleiarun.com/ghostbusters/chapter0.shtml
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