The Great Movie Re-Watch
Director:
Ivan Reitman
Writers:
Dan Aykroyd
Harold Ramis
Starring:
Bill Murray
Dan Aykroyd
Harold Ramis
Sigourney Weaver
Rick Moranis
Annie Potts
Ernie Hudson
Blurb:
Three former parapsychology professors set up shop as a unique ghost removal service.
Thoughts:
Bill Murray in Ghostbusters is hilarious. He’s dry and sarcastic and makes the movie. Reading more into the film, though, it sounds like he was a bit of a diva. He said he’d do the movie but never actually signed anything, so it was never a sure thing. He also took a lot of time away from Ernie Hudson, who took a pay cut to be in the film because he liked the role so much. So while I love Bill Murray’s character in the movie, I feel bad for the people who worked with him.
Ghostbusters is one of those films that a LOT of people have truckloads of nostalgia connected with it. Oddly enough, I don’t. It wasn’t one I got to watch much growing up, so while I think it’s great, I do feel like I get to look at it from a distance. It’s fun and entertaining, and unique. The closest modern equivalent, besides the reboot, would have to be This is the End. Even that’s a stretch, though. It’s crazy that no one tried to emulate it. That’s what Hollywood does, after all.
And now it’s time for Random Facts from the Wikipedia Article!
-The day before the deadline for Slimer’s puppets Richard Edlund, his creator, was informed they wanted it to look like John Belushi. Edlund took three grams of cocaine and believed Belushi’s ghost guided him in Slimer’s creation.
-Universal owned the rights to the name Ghostbusters because of a children’s show but allowed Columbia to buy the rights for $500,000 and 1% of the profits. Which, of course, never happened because movies never make a profit. This only happened, though, because one of the people originally attached to Ghostbusters became the head of Universal.
-One of the only things that made it through all versions of the script was the Marshmallow man. It sounds like it was Aykroyd’s favorite part, and the movie wouldn’t get made without it.
– Julia Roberts was considered for the role of Dana Barrett
And that’s the end of another edition of Random Facts from the Wikipedia Article!
It’s always interesting to know who potentially could have been cast. I can’t imagine anyone else in the role of Dana after seeing Sigourney Weaver. Likewise, I can’t imagine Eddie Murphy in the role of Winston.
Ghostbusters is a highly quotable, classic comedy that everyone should see at least once.
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