Ghostbusters

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For other uses, see Ghostbusters (disambiguation).

Ghostbusters (sometimes written Ghost Busters) is a 1984 sci-fi comedy film about three parapsychologists who are fired from Columbia University in New York, and start up their own business investigating and eliminating ghosts.

It was followed by a sequel, Ghostbusters II (1989), and two cartoon series, The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters.

The films sparked the catchphrases, "Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!", and "I ain't 'fraid of no ghosts", both from the hit theme song written and performed by Ray Parker Jr. Parker's video performance of the song was a hit for MTV, containing many snippets of the film which flowed well with the lyrics, along with quick cameos of various celebrities answering "Ghostbusters!" to the oft-repeated "Who you gonna call?" and special footage of the four Ghostbusters, in costume and character, joining in the singing.

In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Ghostbusters the 44th greatest comedy film of all time. In 2005, IGN voted Ghostbusters the greatest comedy ever.

Taglines:

They're Here To Save The World.
Coming To Save The World This Summer.
We're Ready To Believe You.
Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!
The supernatural spectacular.
They ain't afraid of no ghost.
The world's most successful comedy.

1 Plot
- 1.1 Gozer the Gozerian
- 1.2 The Ghostbusters arrive
2 Franchise history
3 Cast
4 See also
5 External links

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Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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Gozer the Gozerian

Gozer the Gozerian, also known as Gozer the Destructor, Volguus Zildrohar, and The Traveler is a fictional Sumerian god who is the major supernatural enemy in the film, Ghostbusters. The character's name may have been an in-joke, as gozer in Hebrew means "surgeon who performs circumcisions". (In the actual Sumerian religion a somewhat similar deity is known as Tiamat.) According to other sources, the name "Gozer" is from a documented haunting that came to the attention of Dan Aykroyd, but this is unsubstantiated.

Gozer has two dog-like minions called Zuul ("The Gatekeeper") and Vinz Clortho ("The Keymaster"). Gozer the Traveller appears in one of his pre-chosen forms. During the movie Vinz Clortho speaking through Louis Tully claimed that: During the rectification of the Vuldronaii the Traveller came as a large, moving Torb. Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the McKetrick supplicants they chose a new form for him--that of a giant Sloar. Many Shubs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Sloar that day, I can tell you.

After World War I, an insane surgeon named Ivo Shandor, leader of a secret apocalyptic cult, designed a massive apartment building in New York City (55 Central Park West) specifically to gather PKE (psychokinetic energy) that would power a portal that would let Gozer and his minions enter the world and destroy it.

By 1984, the building had gathered enough energy to pull Zuul and Vinz Clortho through: the two planned to possess suitable humans to open the portal on top of the building to let Gozer through. Because of this (according to Dr. Spengler's reading), the PKE in the surrounding area in 1984 was a few thousand times normal. As a by-product, numerous ghosts were revived and became active throughout the city as they waited to join their new master.

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The Ghostbusters arrive

Unfortunately for Gozer, events interfere. Three unemployed parapsychology professors start a business called Ghostbusters, a spectral investigation and removal service armed with technology of their own design that can track down and capture supernatural entities with unprecedented ease.

At first, their clients are few and far between, and the Ghostbusters have to depend on their individual talents to keep the business alive: Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) is a scientific genius, Dr. Raymond "Ray" Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) is an expert on paranormal history and metallurgy, and Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), although in some ways a charlatan, has charm and business savvy. Although he initially comes off as a bit of a goof and sleaze, Venkman eventually finds a (subtly) heroic side to himself when he learns that Gozer and his minions are haunting the apartment of Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), a client who has become the object of his lustful (and possibly deeper) intentions.

The business eventually teeters on the verge of bankruptcy until one night, a desperate call comes in from the Sedgewick Hotel about a ghost that needs to be removed quickly and quietly. Although the Ghostbusters have no practical experience and their equipment is barely tested, they successfully catch the ghost after a destructively clumsy hunt.

Soon, business picks up dramatically and the company becomes a household name, due not only to the Ghostbusters building a reputation for themselves, but also due to an initially unexplained increase in supernatural activity. The Ghostbusters add a fourth member to their team, the blue-collar Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) to deal with the rapidly increasing workload. The company captures so many ghosts that the scientists become concerned about the capacity of their custom-built containment grid. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent to the Ghostbusters that the spike in paranormal events means they are headed toward a climactic confrontation with Gozer.

An overzealous EPA inspector, Walter Peck, orders the grid deactivated, against the advice of the Ghostbusters and a ConEd electrician-- causing the spontaneous explosive release of all of the captured ghosts. The main result of the containment grid being shut down was a widespread haunting that immediately sparks chaos throughout the city. Peck then has the Ghostbusters arrested for violating environmental laws. Eventually the Mayor of New York calls for the Ghostbusters to be brought to him. (It is here that Reginald VelJohnson plays a brief cameo as a jail guard.) The Ghostbusters are brought to City Hall. Peck is also there and tries to convince the Mayor that the Ghostbusters are staging a massive illusion - a "light show." However the department heads at the meeting all dispute Peck's claims, and with Venkman coming into his own as a skilled persuader, the Ghostbusters convince the Mayor to let them deal with the crisis.

Image:StayPuft.jpg The Ghostbusters leave to confront Gozer as he emerges from the portal on top of Shandor's building. After an initial skirmish, Gozer demands that Ghostbusters choose the form the Destructor would take. Ray Stantz reflexively chooses an innocuous corporate mascot, the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. The result is the bizarre sight of a giant marshmallow man in a sailor suit with an inane smile stomping through New York toward the building. The Ghostbusters eventually stop the god by crossing their proton pack streams as they fired at the portal. This creates total protonic reversal which in turn causes an explosion that apparently closes the portal and destroys (or at least neutralizes) Gozer and his minions, returning the possessed humans to normal.

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Franchise history

Image:Ghostbusters.png The concept was inspired by Aykroyd's own fascination with the paranormal, and was conceived by Aykroyd as a vehicle for himself and friend and fellow Saturday Night Live alum John Belushi. The original story as written by Aykroyd was much more ambitious -- and unfocused -- than what would be eventually filmed; in Aykroyd's original vision, a group of Ghostbusters would travel through time, space and other dimensions taking on huge ghosts. Also the ghostbusters wore S.W.A.T.-like outfits and used wands instead of proton packs to fight the ghosts.

Aykroyd pitched the story to director/producer Ivan Reitman, who liked the basic idea but immediately saw the budgetary impossibilities demanded by Aykroyd's first draft. At Reitman's suggestion, the story was given a major overhaul, eventually evolving into the final screenplay which Aykroyd and Ramis hammered out over the course of a few months in a Martha's Vineyard bomb shelter. Aykroyd and Ramis initially wrote the script with roles written especially for Belushi, Eddie Murphy and John Candy. However Belushi passed away during the writing of the screenplay, and neither Murphy nor Candy could commit to the movie due to prior conflicts, so Aykroyd and Ramis shifted some of these changes around and polished a basic, yet sci-fi oriented screenplay for their final draft. In addition to Aykroyd's high-concept basic premise and Ramis' skill at grounding the fantastic elements with a realistic setting, the film benefits from Bill Murray's semi-improvisational performance as Peter Venkman, the character initially intended for Belushi (who had died of a drug overdose while Aykroyd and Ramis were still working on the script). The extent of Murray's improvisation while delivering his lines varies wildly with every re-telling of the making of the film; some say he never even read the script, and improvised so much he deserves a writing credit, while others insist that he only improvised a few lines, and used his deadpan comic delivery to make scripted lines seem spontaneous.

Among the featured New York locations were Columbia University, the New York Public Library, the still active Hook & Ladder 8, Central Park West, Tavern on the Green in Central Park, Lincoln Center, inside a defunct New York jail and various street locations for the montages. The interior of the firehouse was done in LA's Fire Station 23, the basement of the Library was substituted by an LA library, the Biltmore Hotel in LA served as the lobby and entrance for the Sedgewick Hotel, while the other locations were on sound stages. At the Oscar ceremony following the September 11 2001 attacks, clips were screened from various films that were associated with New York - Ghostbusters featured in the montage.

Gozer's temple was the biggest and most expensive set ever to be constructed at that timeTemplate:Fact. In order to properly light it and create the physical effects for the set, other stages needed to be shut down and all their power diverted over to the set. The hallway sets for the Sedgewick Hotel were originally built for the movie Rich and Famous in 1981 and patterned after the Algonquin Hotel in New York City, where Reitman originally wanted to do the hotel bust. The Biltmore was chosen because the large lobby allowed for a tracking shot of the Ghostbusters in complete gear for the first time. Dana Barrett and Louis Tully's apartments were constructed across two stages and were actually on the other side of their doors in the hallway, an unusual move in filmmaking.

A problem arose during filming when it was discovered that a show was produced in 1975 by Filmation for CBS called The Ghost Busters, starring Larry Storch and Forrest Tucker. Columbia Pictures prepared a list of alternative names for the event that the rights could not be secured. During the filming of the crowd for the final battle, the extras were all chanting "Ghostbusters", reportedly inspiring the producers to insist the studio buy rights to use the name.

Ghostbusters was released in the United States on June 8, 1984, starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson, and grossed approx. $240 million in the US and over $50 million abroad during its theatrical run, more than the second "Indiana Jones" installment, making it easily the most successful film of that year, and the most successful comedy of the 1980s. A video game based on the movie was released by Activision for the Atari gaming system and a number of 1980s home computers, and West End Games released Ghostbusters: A Frightfully Cheerful Roleplaying Game. Upon the release of Ghostbusters II, they released an updated "Ghostbusters International" roleplaying game, including an adventure module very loosely based on the second movie.

A song used for the movie, also called "Ghostbusters" was a hit for Ray Parker Jr.. The music video produced for this song, which featured cameos from a number of film and TV stars, is considered one of the key productions of the early music video era. Huey Lewis and the News sued Parker Jr. for plagiarism, citing that Parker Jr. ripped off the main beat from the The News "I Want a New Drug." Ironically, Lewis was approached to compose the main theme song for the movie, but he had to decline due to his work on the soundtrack for Back to the Future.

In 1989, Ghostbusters II was released to mixed reviews, featuring the return of the main cast and a new villain. The second film's storyline was nearly identical to the first, with Venkman again acting flippant until he gradually re-charms Dana, and the Ghostbusters again struggling to keep their business afloat in a city skeptical of the supernatural despite the previous obvious evidence until business picks up again thanks to the rise of another demonic/ghostly ruler from ancient times, as well as a river of pink goo below the city that seemed to be the living embodiment of hate and bad feelings. The movie also gave us the return of meek, mild-mannered accountant Louis Tully (Rick Moranis), who was introduced into the cartoon the following season.

Aykroyd and Ramis struggled for years to get started on a third Ghostbusters film, but were unable to come up with a script that could meet their own satisfaction. The possibility of a third film grew even more complicated as Murray's interest in reprising his role waned over the years, and Aykroyd finally admitted that a third film would probably never happen. At one stage Aykroyd had a working script, and Murray agreed to reprise a bit part, but Columbia would not get on board due to the cost. This quandary was parodied in an episode of The Critic, in which Jay Sherman was asked to write a script for a film called "Ghost-Chasers 3," which was a bomb. In a November 2005 interview with In Focus magazine, Ramis talks about the un-produced Ghostbusters 3 script. [1]

In the 1995 Casper movie, Aykroyd makes a cameo as his Ghostbusting character Dr. Ray Stantz, who fails at ridding the haunted mansion of Casper and his uncles, stating "Who you gonna call? Someone else."

In 2004, 88MPH Studios began releasing their "Ghostbusters: Legion" limited comic book series, which retconned the Ghostbusters' world to 6 months after the first movie and pushed the timeline up 20 years to present time. 88MPH Owner and Operator Sebastien Clavet still has plans to release an ongoing series, but difficult public opinion following delays in the initial comic series mean it is unknown if he will be able to carry on his dream.

A popular cartoon on Nickelodeon, Danny Phantom, is very similar to Ghostbusters in the fact that the main character's parents are also ghost hunters and use ghost hunting weapons. Occasionally, it references Ghostbusters in some way or features similar concepts, such as the manner in which the Fenton Thermos releases captured ghosts in the Ghost Zone (much like the Ghostbusters' containment grid).

Another cartoon show on Cartoon Network, Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, recently featured an episode in which one of the feature characters, "Blue", caught a cold. Blue is rather ghost shaped himself, and when he came down with the cold he turned white. That very evening, some other feature characters had just watched a scary late night TV show about a ghost that looked remarkably like Blue with a cold. Numerous parodies of some memorable "Ghostbusters" moments follow, including: Blue orbiting a chandelier, characters getting slimed by Blue when ever he sneezed, and a character with a one syllable vocabulary being asked who to call to deal with the problem replying in a way to indicate they were shouting 'Ghostbusters!' as per the theme song by Ray Parker Jr. The response was, "Nah, they've been out of business for years."

The film spawned a theme park special effects show at Universal Studios Florida which closed sometime in 2000 to make way for Twister: Ride it Out! The Ghostbusters were also featured in a lyp-synching dance show featuring Beetlejuice on the steps of the New York Public Library facade at the park after the attraction closed. The GBs were all new and "extreme" versions in the show, save for the Zeddemore character. The Ecto-1 was used to drive them around the park, and was often used in the park's annual "Macy's Holiday Parade".The show, Ecto-1, and all other Ghostbuster trademarks were discontinued in 2005 when Universal failed to renew the rights for theme park use. Currently, the Ghostbuster Firehouse can still be seen near Twister, without its GB logo and "Engine 988" ribbon. A "paranormal investigator" ectching on a nearby doorway hints at the old show.

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