I saw the original Ghostbusters in the eighties and liked it as much as you’d expect a seven-year-old to like it. I saw the second one in the theaters and liked it, too. I was also genuinely spooked by some of it. Those movies’ visual effects always overachieved.

Some aspects of the original GHOSTBUSTERS really haven’t aged well, like just how sleazy Venkman actually is (if he existed as that version of the character today, he’d get maced pretty quick I bet). But, overall, it’s still a stone cold classic.

I also really like GHOSTBUSTERS 2! It even has a whole meta angle that…

The article’s thesis nails it: This was never supposed to be a “franchise.” Sure, a cartoon spinoff aimed at kids is fine. But endless legacy sequels and a reboot? Ugh, no thanks. Particularly when most of them put the original up on some sacrosanct pedestal and complete miss the point? Bleh.

Hot take: I’ve held the belief for a while now, that I think 007 should end. There’s only so much they can do with James Bond (several times over), and it has proven doubly hard post-cold war.

And “What is this thing? I mean, it serves no useful purpose for there to be a bunch of chompy, crushy things in the middle of a hallway!”

It’s.... weird. The tone of the recent entries is reverent towards the Ghostbusters, which makes sense in a narrative wherein the guys became famous and lauded. But the actual narrative tells us that once the paranormal activity of the original films significantly diminished everyone started to forget the events of…

Fair point, but they washed out of academia and ended up in a schlubby, blue collar career as glorified exterminators. Sure, they were exterminating ghosts, but my point is just that the tone of the original Ghostbusters doesn’t seem at all compatible with the recent entries in the series.

Needed one for Galaxy Quest, at least.

Eh, they did try to do original streaming TV content on PSN with the adaptation of Powers, and they tried to have some sort of “pitch a TV show for PSN” contest, but all of that fizzled out in 2017, right before every other studio decided to have their own service. So they technically did tip a toe into that rabbit…

You make some good points. There’s a lot of bad improv. Good improv feels organic, so you can’t tell it from what is scripted. But bad improv draws attention to itself. You can tell they’re doing it. It’s why I can’t stand Joe Swanberg’s films, because he relies so heavily on improv for dialogue out of a misguided…

Me being the history nerd, always kinda wished they leaned more into history. The Titanic briefly shows up in 2 and I think that’s awesome.

There was a more recent game that was pretty decent - voice acting from the main cast (less said about Murray’s the better), story by Aykroyd, Ramis and others etc.

Ghostbusters was a slacker comedy that happened to feature ghosts.

I am in favor of a lot of things ending. Won’t happen because I understand that artistry and money are always at odds, but I’d be fine with many franchises reaching a logical stop point.

The Star Wars sequels were going great, then Rise of Skywalker happened.

The issue is with the first sentence. The Ghostbusters “franchise” is the problem

I’m always a bit mystified that people rarely credit Sigourney Weaver’s performance in Ghostbusters. Her acting elevated the movie, and the chemistry between her and Bill Murray created the heart of the story. IMHO, that’s the missing piece of the sequels - someone outside the primary quartet you actually cared about.

I think Ghostbusters *could* have become a real franchise if they’d cranked out more sequels in the late 80s and early 90s. Like Jurassic Park and Jaws, this one has a structural problem in that it’s only possible to remake the original with minor variations on the formula — there’s a super-ghost from another…

I saw the OG Ghostbusters late, at the movies on Halloween 1984. Great movie, one of my all-time favorites. Great song and even better music video. Great game for my C64 with software speech synthesis!

GTI was the first thing that came to mind too, But if he’s got access to charging electric may be the way to go... quick, great for the city