.co.uk

Despite the vastly inferior special effects by today's standards, Ghostbusters really hasn't aged at all. No matter how many times you've seen it, you'll still want to watch it over and over again and laugh in admiration at the leading characters. This was a milestone in the genre of Sci-Fi Comedy and one of the most definitive movies of the 1980s.

Ghostbusters is actually a lot more intelligent than the title first suggests. It involves three parapsychology scholars (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis) who're kicked out of University for their unorthodox approach to research and then decide to go into business for themselves. They buy into an run-down fire station, refurbish an old ambulance, and walk around with (unlicensed) nuclear accelerators on their backs. After a slow start to business, the calls come flooding in from people reporting numerous sightings of paranormal activity within New York City; one of them is from Dana Barrett (the gorgeous Sigourney Weaver) who asks the guys to investigate a strange occurrence in her kitchen.

Venkman (Murray), the confident guy of the bunch, immediately takes a shine to Dana and decides to investigate her apartment for himself. Soon enough, he and team discover that the demonic figure inside her fridge is a demigod called "Zuul", which then possesses Venkman's love interest to the point that she starts to search for the "Keymaster" in order to open up the gateway to a new revelation of spirits.

Rather than attempting to convince the viewer that there really is paranormal presence within our everyday world, though, what's so great about Ghostbusters is that its unbelievable premise is handled specifically for laughs by director Reitman. You can't possibly take the sight of a 100-foot marshmallow man seriously, but it's damn well enjoyable seeing the guys fear for their lives and then blasting it to smithereens and covering what seems like the whole of New York City in sugary goodness.

This is very much a character-driven movie, with the main actors coming across as intelligent as well as extremely funny and likeable. It's great to Aykroyd and Ramis's characters really commit to studying the science behind the paranormal activities with their various hardware and then coming up with some form of logical conclusion. It doesn't matter if we don't believe their geeky logic as their dead seriousness all adds to the enjoyment of the movie. There are also great supporting roles from Weaver, Ernie Hudson (as the token black Ghostbuster), Rick Moranis (as the geeky neighbour to Dana), Annie Potts as receptionist Janine, and, of course, that green blob Slimer.

Bill Murray, for me, has to be the star of the show, though: He's sarcastic, witty and generally hilarious whenever he's given the screen time, spouting off memorable one-liners in response to every serious remark made by Aykroyd or Ramis (Stantz: "Symmetrical book stacking. Just like the Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947." Venkman: "You're right, no human being would stack books like this." ) Throughout the film, he seems completely at ease in his role, and manages to be funny without particularly trying. He just comes across as a naturally funny guy.

Ghostbusters is such a great film, an important film, and I'm not even ashamed to say that I still have great admiration for it today in my mid-twenties -- its appeal just never seems to wear thin. This was such a successful product of its time that a long-running cartoon show The Real Ghostbusters was developed for television soon after, and a movie sequel, Ghostbusters II, was released five years later in cinemas. Only the Ninja Turtles ever came close to topping my love for the franchise back in the 1980s (considering how much I loved the Ninja Turtles, interpret this as a good thing).

(C) Andy Carrington, 2009.