- Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) goofs around all the time, hits on his clients and undergraduate research subjects, and generally conducts himself like a "game-show host." Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) has both PhD training and the mind of a child, gleefully leaping at the chance to purchase a firestation and hearse with the money he got from mortgaging his family home. Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) "collects spores, molds, and fungus" as a hobby and seems to be the brains of the operation, even if those brains didn't think to test the unlicensed particle accelerators his colleagues carry on their backs. Winston Zeddmore (Ernie Hudson), despite accepting this job largely for its paycheck, is probably the most responsible member of the party just by virtue of not doing anything really stupid, although the same can be said of Brooklyn-accented secretary Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts). Meet the Ghostbusters.
- Before going into business for themselves, the three doctors worked at a university researching paranormal phenomena. One gathers that this was historically a very suspect field of research, but a humorous confrontation with a ghost at the New York Public Library seemed legitimate enough. Now the trio has formed the Ghostbusters, whose commercials proudly announce that "no job is too big, no fee is too big." Judging from the trouble these guys had roping an amorphous green ghost in a hotel ballroom, we're just guessing that the solution they offer is usually only slightly better than the problem. Nonetheless, they're sufficiently popular that Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) decides to phone them after a surprising kitchen encounter with self-frying eggs and a refrigerator gargoyle. The moment she allows Dr. Venkman to set foot in her apartment, you can almost hear her questioning her own sanity.
- But it turns out that Dana was right to call for help. Her apartment was constructed by an occult architect who intended for the entire building to serve as some great spirit conduit to permit the return of Gozer the Destructor, an ancient demon who "was very big in Sumeria." Now his devilish acolytes, who eventually take possession of both Dana and her nebbish accountant neighbor (Rick Moranis), are working to ensure Gozer's return, and only the Ghostbusters can stop them. Complicating the situation further is EPA representative Walter Peck (William Atherton), who wants the Ghostbusters' containment facility shut down until they can prove that they aren't doing anything illegal. The EPA is bad, New Yorkers are good, ghosts are real, "human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together...mass hysteria!" This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a giant marshmallow man.
- Asking whether Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters is the funniest movie to come out of the 1980's may be akin to whether Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle was the better baseball player. The point is, this is a brilliant comedy that has aged exceptionally well. The writing, the acting, the special and visual effects, the set designs, and even the catchy theme song are all completely perfect. The film mixes goofy, creepy, and funny in a way that no modern film would ever dare. Long-time fans like myself may find themselves wishing they owned a copy of the disappointingly fictional Tobin's Spirit Guide in order to find out more about the "giant Slor" or what caused the "Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947." Perhaps you think my nostalgic affection for this film from my childhood has colored my review? There's only one response to that: "Back off, man. I'm a scientist."
- With Larry King, Casey Kasem, and Reginald VelJohnson.
