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| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
link to the most popular dvd movies. |
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“Ghostbusters
I & II : Double Feature Gift Set“
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Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Comedy |
| Video: |
2.35:1 Anamorphic
Widescreen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
5.1 |
| Languages |
English,
French, Spanish |
| Subtitles |
English,
French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai and any other
language imaginable! |
| Length |
Approximately
200 minutes |
| Rating |
PG |
| Release Date |
8/2/05 |
| Studio |
Columbia
Tristar Home Entertainment |
| Commentary:
|
Ivan Reitman,
Harold Ramis and Joe Medjuck |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
“1984 Featurette”, “Cast
& Crew Featurette” |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
None |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
“Spook Central”
deleted scenes with “Play All” option |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Two episodes
from “The Real Ghostbusters”-“Citizen Ghost” and “Partners in
Slime”, “Storyboards”, “Conceptual Drawings”, “Special Effects”
|
| Cast
and Crew: |
Bill Murray,
Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Annie
Potts, Ernie Hudson |
| Written
By: |
Dan Aykroyd
and Harold Ramis (& Rick Moranis-uncredited) |
| Produced
By: |
Ivan Reitman
and Joe Medjuck |
| Directed
By: |
Ivan Reitman
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| Music:
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Elmer Bernstein
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| The
Review: |
There’s an afterlife for previously
released DVDs. It’s called the double dip. Sony Home Video
has re-released “Ghostbusters” and “Ghostbusters II” in a
boxed set. If you missed it the first time around, Peter Venkman
(Murray), Ray Stantz (Aykroyd), Egon Spengler (Ramis) and
Winston Zeddmore (Hudson) face the evil Gozer an his/her attempt
to take over the world from the great beyond. Gozer begins
by bringing all sorts of nasty ghosts back from the great
beyond. Unfortuantely, Dana Barrett (Weaver) lives in a building
designed by a madman devoted to the cult of Gozer and, as
a result, she faces the demons and ghosts in her apartment.
When Venkman and company are ousted out of the university
department they’ve been “hiding” in carrying out bogus and
real studies into the paranormal (bogus for Venkman the real
deal for Stantz and Spengler), they go into the ghost busting
business. It’s just in time for Venkman to try and romance
Dana and the guys to discover that something really nasty
is brewing in New York. ***
A classic comedy that finally brought
together members of “Saturday Night Live” and “SCTV”, “Ghostbusters”
is still a delightfully over-the-top comedy. The sequel although
less endearing and less funny still has its moments. The Ghostbusters
are ruined by lawsuits from the city of New York and driven
out of business. Venkman has a cable psychic show, Stantz
has a bookstore devoted to the occult while Spengler is doing
research. When Dana and her baby are threatened by a new nasty
Lord Viggo, she calls on her old friends to help her out.
Although bolder than the original film, “Ghostbusters II”
can’t possibly match the first film for sheer originality.
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| Image
and Sound: |
It appears
that Sony has used the same original digital masters for this
reissue; I can’t see any difference between these newly reissued
versions and the previous ones in terms of image quality. While
the film has been remastered for this new release, to me it
appears that the same exact masters were used. Colors are striking
and flesh tones accurately rendered when compared to the original
film. This new edition is haunted by some minor issues with
grain and digital defects but, on the whole, both films look
pleasing and sound delightful. This edition uses a high definition
transfer of the film. The sound is the same as well; it was
bold and powerful on the original DVD release and is equally
so here as well. |
| The
Extras: |
The bad
news first; the extras are exactly the same as the previous
edition on “Ghostbusters”. Even the interactive menu (which
was marvelous to begin with) is exactly the same as the previous
edition. We get the original 1984 featurette as well as the
retrospective “Cast & Crew” featurette which were both on
the previous edition. We also get the same “SFX Team Featurette”
as well. All three are very good (even the vintage 1984 original).
In the special effects section you can do a multi-angle comparison
before & after as well as see the conceptual drawings from
the early Eco-Mobile Interior to the “Pencil Terror Dog” concept
drawings. There’s also quite a few production photos. ***
”Ghostbusters
II” was originally released in a bare bones edition featuring
both a widescreen and full screen edition. This edition features
only the widescreen (no big loss) plus two episodes of the
animated TV show “The Real Ghostbusters”. The first episode
takes place right after the first movie ends so it does expand
on the original film. The animation is crummy for the cartoon
show and the voice acting is not all that special. ---
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| Commentary:
|
Gone is
the onscreen commentary (which, to be honest, I never watched
more than a few minutes of because, well, it was distracting.
It was like having someone talking about the movie sitting in
front of you and blocking your view) but we still have the audio
portion of that commentary (which was available on the previous
edition as well). Reitman, Ramis and producer Joe Medjuck do
a great job of discussing the various changes throughout production
and the challenges they faced during production of the film.
Ramis reveals that John Candy was originally going to play the
role that Rick Moranis does in the film. Candy couldn’t figure
out how to play the role and make it interesting so he passed
and Moranis who was patiently waiting for Candy to turn it down
jumped in. There’s also a collectable scrapbook for the films.
|
| Final
Words: |
Although
not an essential reissue, this is worth picking up if you haven’t
purchased the previous edition. The image quality is slightly
better here but it appears as if it is drawn from exactly the
same source. The extras for “Ghostbuster” are less but “Ghostbusters
II” gets two episodes of the TV series. Sadly, “Ghostbusters
II” does not get the upgrade it deserves which is too bad. This
isn’t an essential purchase but if you don’t have “Ghostbusters”
and have waited to pick it up, this is worthwhile having. |
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