Ghostbusters II (1989) (25th Anniversary Edition) (Blu-ray Review)
Directed By: Ivan Reitman
Starring: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver
Rated: PG/Region A/2:40/1080p (of a 4K Scan)/Number of Discs 1
Available from Sony Pictures
Five years after New York’s finest parapsychologists save Manhattan from the Goze, it seems that the city is being overwhelmed by “mood slime,” and the possessed painting of 16th century sorcerer. Now it’s up to the guys in gray to bring out the best of the Big Apple before it’s too late.
By the time the world finally got a sequel to Ghostbusters with 1989’s Ghostbusters II, it was widely loved with it’s very own line of just about everything. You just knew a new movie had to be made and you just knew it would make a lot of money regardless of whatever the plot was. The thing is, a lot of the people from the original didn’t really want to make another one. If you break things down, the star of these movies, Bill Murray, doesn’t like sequels. Thus one reason we’ve yet to see another one of these since this one. But why there are some things you could point at as being weaker than the original, but this is in NO way “bad”. So, from a storyline side of things, everything that was soo right and good in the lives of our characters have since fallen apart since the first film. Peter and Dana split, she got married, and now has a kid that some weirdo who lives in a painting wants to take over and become reborn through. It’s somewhat sad to see what everyone’s lives has become. But, there’s still fun to be had, it IS Ghostbusters after all. And it can be a lot of fun at times watching these guys fight slime and crawl their way back to the top. But, it does have some flaws..
The film isn’t nearly as strong or well written as the original. I think there is times when we get slime for slime’s sake and random ghost and ghouls for no real reason, other than just to have them there. I think the bells and whistles at times seems to almost take the forefront over the cast and with the same strong cast as before back, that’s a crime really. Sure, the plot isn’t as good or as fun, but there was a lot of fun that could have still been had with the characters. We DO have a lot of fun, but not near as much as we could have had due to them being wasted here and there. All that being taken into consideration, it’s still a fun movie. And it’s still a good movie. It’s just that where you could call the original a GREAT film, you can only really call this one GOOD and that’s about it. So, you can kinda see where at the time people were a bit let down, but enough time has passed now that you can still get some satisfaction and look at it all the more favorable than you could have before when it hit the world in 1989. So, while a little flawed, you still have some cool stuff here that you can have a lot of fun with. PLUS, we have Bill f’n Murray! How can you not enjoy a film with him? You can also enjoy the transfer, which is as strong as the original’s just released as well. Great detail and colors for a great movie. People have waited for this one on Blu-ray and they won’t at all be let-down by what they get.
- NEW! Time Is But A Window: Ghostbusters II and Beyond – Roundtable Discussion with Director Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd (Part 2)
- NEW! Deleted Scenes
- NEW! “On Our Own” Music Video – Bobby Brown
