Ghostbusters (1984) - Never bettered

‘Ghostbusters’ was one of those films where lightning just struck in all the right places and was – seemingly – impossible to recapture.  The story is so simple that it’s amazing no one ever tried to do it before – four men set up a business capturing ghosts.  End of.  It could have been awful.  I’m pleased to say it was perfect.

Recently, I’ve read that all sorts of actors were attached the to the project before the final cast was signed.  I don’t know what it would be like with anyone but Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson (oh, and Sigourney Weaver is along for the ride, too – no bad thing to also have ‘Ripley’ on the cast list).  They made a direct sequel which – sort of – worked (I liked it, but the popular consensus is that it was vastly inferior to its predecessor) and then a half remake/half reboot in 2016 (and the least said about that, the better).  Neither direct attempts, nor any half-baked rip-offs ever lived up to the original and I doubt any ever will.

Like I say, it’s first and (possibly main) selling point is its simplicity.  We get to know all major characters straight away and none require any lengthy plot explanations to ‘explain’ who they are and their various motivations.  The action (i.e. appearance of the ghosts) happens almost within the first quarter of an hour and this is probably as good a time as any to make mention of the special effects – they’re pretty fantastic, not just for 1984, but – believe it or not – basically stand up to scrutiny to this day (okay, so the ‘dogs’ look a little ‘stop motion,’ but apart from that…).

I could say that the uber-catchy theme song and subsequent cry of “Who you gonna’ call?” went some way to establish the film’s hold on popular culture, but, ultimately, it wouldn’t be anything without humour.  The cast are – as mentioned – perfect and play off each other like few ensembles can ever do.  Just as the special effects hole up today, so does the humour – effortlessly.

If you’re looking for comedy – look no further.  The fact that it’s – loosely – sci-fi is secondary to the charm of its stars.  In many of today’s films (and I’m thinking of the Marvel movies, mainly) many lament the lack of a ‘strong villain’ for our heroes to go up against.  Here, interestingly, there isn’t really one central bad-guy to fight.  I suppose you could argue that a pen-pushing civil servant who’s constantly trying to shut the Ghostbusters down is a ‘semi-baddie,’ but the ‘true’ nasty doesn’t really show up until the final act, but, that doesn’t really matter.  The film is perfect and will truly stand the test of time.  I can’t see today’s generation being any the less taken with its brilliance.

10/10 The Monty Python Knights of Camelot are currently looking for this