Movie Review - Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters (1984)

Starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, and Ernie Hudson

Directed by Ivan Reitman 

***Ghostbusters is being re-released in select theaters for one daily show only on Thursday evenings in October.***

Without a doubt, 1984's Ghostbusters still remains a classic flick from my childhood.  Certain movies just maintain that nostalgic feeling and this is one of them.  At a certain point, your mind may get clouded by these thoughts and allow yourself to overlook what some may perceive as flaws, but that's what nostalgia does to you.  And that's not a bad thing.

With all this talk about a third film being added to the series, it's completely obvious that without Bill Murray (who is apparently the lone holdout on the movie's progress), the best part of the series would be missing.  Murray's parapsychologist Peter Venkman is one of those characters that is iconic to me.  Full of wry, witty, and dry humor, I found myself chuckling (or at the very least smiling) after nearly every single line reading of his.  His interactions with his ghostbusting partners Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) are priceless and coupling that with his flirtatious attempts to bed Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver as a customer who needs the help of the paranormal experts), Venkman is comedic genius.

That certainly isn't meant to belittle Aykroyd, Ramis, and Weaver who, along with Rick Moranis as the geek living next door to Dana and Annie Potts as the overworked and sassy Ghostbusters' secretary, provide ample reason to watch.  In fact, with the exception of Ernie Hudson as newly hired Ghostbuster #4 Winston -- a character who is given nothing to do and adds nothing to the plot whatsoever in terms of either comedy or purpose -- Ghostbusters is filled with characters you'd desire to see again.

Despite moving at a rather rapid pace, the film's conclusion does seem a little anti-climactic to me and feels like a jumbled mess at moments.  For that reason, Ghostbusters doesn't quite make it into The Personal Canon despite the fact that I did enjoy taking this nostalgia trip with the gang on the big screen again.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+