User Reviews

Much as I enjoy this film, partly due to nostalgia, it is flawed and without the nostalgia goggles it hasn’t aged perfectly. This is mostly down to the gimmicky nature and the uneven pacing. It’s simply not quite as good as Back to the Future (1985). This is entertaining because it is unique, big budget, great cast and character all fighting ghosts. It is a classic and still worth watching, just not quite as fun as I remembered.

The rhythmic machinery of a paranormal pulse: A 4.0-star sensational surge of raw, high-tension retro rebellion.2009(4.0)I watched Ghostbusters (1984) in 2009, and it remains a vivid 4.0-star pillar of comedic rebellion in my archive—a raw revelation of how a sensational ensemble can dismantle the stagnant boundaries of the supernatural with a narrative rhythm that feels 100% sophisticated and chewy. This experience **** the fourth wall of the sci-fi comedy by infusing Bill Murray’s raw, deadpan precision into a rhythmic journey that turned a pathetic haunting into a vivid act of storytelling brilliance. The narrative rhythm was far from stagnant; instead, it offered a sensational "acting power show" where the raw, high-tension wit of the busters clashed with the "bbo-jjak" terror of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, leaving me in a state of absolute joy at the chewy rhythm of their proton packs. Seeing the vivid, slime-covered streets of New York and the raw, iconic chemistry of the team provided an emotional payoff that felt both authentic and sensational, proving that a story about "janitors of the afterlife" could be a vivid artifact of pure fun. The 95% preservation of my memory is dominated by the rhythmic, raw hum of the Ecto-1 siren and the vivid but pathetic defeat of Gozer, creating a permanent, sensational scar of 80s greatness on my soul. Unlike the stagnant 1.0-star drift of Race to Witch Mountain, this encounter possessed a rebellious soul that turned a pathetic spectral invasion into a sensational masterpiece of wit. It stands in my 2013 record as a powerful 4.0-star testament to the raw power of the classics—a high-tension encounter with the vivid rhythm of the proton beam that remains one of the most chewy artifacts of my cinematic journey.

Greetings from Lithuania. "Ghostbusters" (1984) is a classic not without its share reasons. This excellent film works as a comedy, science fiction and spooky film all wrapped into a comedy genre. Writing by Dan Aykroyd & Harold Ramis (both stars of the film!) was excellent. It is a funny film trough and trough. Acting was amazing by a terrific cast - Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis - it's a dream cast for such film and everyone sold the idea that everything seen on screen is real just perfectly. Great special effects (for the time) and unforgettable soundtrack - all in all this is a great movie that got a lot of sequels, none of which came close to the original unfortunately. Great movie.

This movie is alright. The humor does lands though. If I watched it when I was born at the time, I may have great nostalgia for it.

Forty years later (yikes, really?), this quintessentially ‘80s supernatural comedy still holds its own. Dwelling somewhere between parody and homage, it enjoys the sarcastic winks of the former and the enchanting conceptual leaps of the latter. The focus is a small group of paranormal hobbyists who go into business for themselves, pouring their hearts and savings into chasing ghosts when they’re fired from their cushy professorial positions. Cue the low-rent TV commercials, city-wide spectral invasion, rampant uptick in business and overnight celebrity. Their industry may be silly and impossible, but the idea of a business materializing from nowhere to fill a need nobody realized they had, that’s earthy and relatable. Ghostbusters makes hay in bridging the gap between those two extremes, of tying its more ridiculous conceits to the practicality of billing an outraged hotel manager or training an overwhelmed new hire. The paradox is a crucial ingredient to its humor. So is the cast, a dynamite mix of SNL and SCTV alums that quakes with chummy, off-cuff hilarity. There’s so much laser-focused humor in this film that its matching narrative successes seem impossible. How was there time to tell a story, given so many goofs and asides? Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis are the straight men, vital geeks who wire gizmos and remain blissfully unaware of appearances; perfect castings for both. Egon (Ramis) is the no-nonsense eccentric, absolutely convinced about the scientific merits of drilling a hole in his head, while Ray (Aykroyd) is cut from a more curious, excitable cloth. If you’ve spent any amount of time hanging around with the pocket protector crowd, you’ll probably recognize and appreciate both personality types. Bill Murray, meanwhile, basically exists outside the film’s reality, riffing on the absurdity of the premise like an ironic observer. They all get great lines, but Murray’s are the best, and from all indications they were almost completely improvised. He’s a live-action Statler and/or Waldorf in a proton pack. Some of the effects haven’t held up so well - better resolution scans have made the mattes obvious and some of the stop motion work is downright tacky - but again, those play into the ruse and can be written off as friendly nods to the past. And even that generalization isn’t true across the board. The famous Stay-Puft march through Manhattan still looks convincing, the superimposed ghosts are simple but effective and the practical effects (like the guys’ heavy-duty hardware) look great. That’s still a pretty high batting average for visually-ambitious films of this vintage. Most importantly, everything hits just right, from the punchy humor and subdued soundtrack cuts to the broader nostalgia for a world that would accept and endorse such colorful, fallible heroes. If there’s a Mount Rushmore for sharp, expertly-paced sci-fi ensemble comedies (that seems awfully specific), this is on it. I grinned the whole way through.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Throughout our years watching movies there’s at least one movie that resonates the most with people on a story and emotional level. For some, it’s The Godfather (1972) while for others it’s Star Wars: A New Hope (1977). For me it’s Ghostbusters. The film succeeds so much because its multi-genre approach to storytelling appeals to everyone. Its story of blue-collar workers is relatable to most but its blend of comedy, horror, action-adventure and sci-fi worked perfectly then and works perfectly today forty years later. The film can be tense and terrifying, funny and silly as well as being imaginative with possibilities for storytelling. It allows us to experience a relatable reality of a city under siege and makes us want to see it saved. Above all it’s entertaining to a degree most films aren’t because everyone can imagine themselves saving the day with a proton pack on their back. I guess it all comes down to the fact that busting makes me feel good.

Ghostbusters is just such a smooth laid back film as the humour just flows out naturally.

The best Ghostbusters which not even Afterlife can beat in terms of comedy, acting and storyline.

I had a chance to rewatch lately and I still had a good time. Very entertaining and funny film!

Watched it for the very first time, and honestly I can't understand what is so great about this mess. If this is some childhood nostalgia, you should grow up already and see how childish and bland it is. It's embarrassing to see 40-year-old nerds posting memes and singing its cringy song. It didn't even age well comparing to other 80s movies like The Terminator or E.T.I know most of who will read it are fanboys, but if you are one of those few who didn't see it yet, only watch it if it's for free and if you have two hours to kill like being in a plane or waiting at the laundromat.

I watched this movie as a kid and I rewatched it countless of times...even to this day the plot, the jokes, the action feels amazing! A total masterpiece

For me, Ghostbusters is a bold comedy that has all you need to laugh and catch ghosts with

Having never seen Ghostbusters before I did enjoy this a lot. While I dont think some of the comedy holds up today, I still laughed a lot. Its an easy light hearted watch, decent story, and has decent visuals especially for its age. I can tell why it is an absolute classic. Great costumes and a fantastic soundtrack. The best word to describe this film would be 'fun.'

This is one of my favorite movies of all time because of such a memorable cast and ghosts.

Why it rocks: There is some great writing with a lot of goofiness that doesn’t make the film bad, if anything it just makes it more charmful. The performances and characters are memorable and funny, the effects aren’t bad, and the script and plot of ghostbusters is very original.

How much more perfect do you need to get? Ghostbusters is one of the greatest comedies you will ever find, and one of the greatest films of the 1980s you will ever find. Check it out!

A timeless classic comedy that is still funny to this very day with an engaging plot

It was a more fantastic idea about ghosts scaring people but with paranormal investigators catching ghosts to hold them. These Ghostbusters share great chemistry of comedy and being serious around it.

I honestly wasn't expecting Ghostbusters to be as good as it was. I thought it was funny, imaginative and entertaining, and I do completely agree it is underrated. I really liked the soundtrack, and the special effects were truly excellent, considering it was made in the 1980s. The direction was slick and self-assured, and there are a lot of truly funny lines in the script like "Ray, if someone asks you if you are a god, you say yes". I can't count the number of times I was laughing when I watched this film. The performances were brilliant. Bill Murray, who is excellent when he is given a great script, see him in Lost in Translation for evidence, steals every scene he's in, and Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis both gave spirited performances. Also fun to watch were Annie Potts and Rick Moranis, and Sigourney Weaver was her usual charming self here. I will confess when I first saw this I was frightened by the dog like creatures Zuul and Vinz Clortho. I also felt that scenes like the Marshmallow Man (or whatever it was) bit got a bit too silly, but hey, it's all part of the fun. Overall, a hugely entertaining and enjoyable film, which I will award a 8.5/10 Bethany Cox.

Best damn movie i've ever watched. Other movies are also great, but nothing beats the original!

Hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Outstanding comedy blockbuster with amazing and charming cast. Jokes always lands and brings solid laugh from start to finish.

easily Dan aykroyd's best film (at least from what i've seen anyway, the characters are likeable, the acting is good for the most part and the practical affects and costumes are pretty great and still hold up to this day. I miss when big budget hollywood comedies actually tried :(

Another one of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Action movies that came out in the 80s and benefits from being released around the same time modern movie criticism was also burgeoning, so they’ve all had a few decades to go over the script that explains why their favorite movies are the best movies of all time; unquestionably. Well, I’m sorry to tell you guys, but your favorite movies are no less repetitive and self-indulgent than the modern ones you seem to hate. Yes, some movies were good in the past. A lot of them also CREATED the same tropes you complain about in modern movies. You just grandfathered them in because they were the ones YOU liked. This movie is filled with horrible motivations for characters (the same people who are “appalled” by the behavior of men in Hollywood seem to love ALL of Bill Murray’s roles that play that exact archetype) and characters that talk a lot and really manage to say nothing of importance. Egon at one point proceeds to explain how, if their current amount of ghosts were a Twinkie, his “ new data” (never explained) shows that they would have a 35 foot long, 600 pound Twinkie on their **** in a round about way he said they have a lot more ghosts to worry **** he said it with a metaphor that had science words so it sounded like he said something smart...seriously, this movie is just made by a bunch of coke head actors, yet you all treat it like some “scientific” take on ghosts. Saying things that you heard in your high school science class doesn’t mean you know what you’re talking **** that you’re saying anything that correlates to actual fact. If you like a movie, GREAT, enjoy it! Don’t pass yourself off as an objective critic, though, because you **** keep convincing me to watch these overrated 80s movies simply because you were all in elementary when they came out. Or that’s when you first saw them, at least. 7/10

A cult classic enhanced for me by nostalgia and childhood memories. A movie like that would probably not be greenlighted today. The strengths are the awesome cast which has fun playing the roles, the director, humor and the mixture of comedy, fantasy with some science fiction elements. It creates a world that is fully believable and entertaining. Also it gets the mixture of seriousness and humor right in a way that non harms the other. It is the story of the 3 parapsychology scientist Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler (later joined by Winston Zeddemore) who investigate paranormal activities. Because this field of science is not taken serious and seen as fraud they are thrown out of their jobs at the university and are discredited. Because of this they start a business called Ghostbusters. They use their knowledge and technical skills to develop tools / equipment to locate, capture and contain ghost. Of cause there is more to it as paranormal activities are on the rise. I stop with the set up here. The story might sound a bit silly but works fully. Maybe the start is a bit to slow for my taste but it introduces the characters well. The rest is a great story with an epic climax. It is one of the most well know movies of the time. The humor is awesome and is carried by the cast and script. The actors have a great chemistry together and so it is natural that the demands for a new movie and the franchise are still strong. They created something that is a timeless classic. Lets continue with the strong cast. We have Bill Murray as Peter Venkman. Must I even praise him? He made so many wonderful performances in his career and this is one of the best of them. He is a charming trickster and master of persuasion. Then we have Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz. He is the noble scientist with a hearth of gold. Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler is the smartest scientist of the group. He has also some dry humor. Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore has less screentime in this movie but fills it with a really good performance (They say that the role was for Eddie Murphy and was cut down when he was not available but other say this was just a rumor). These 4 Ghostbusters are pop culture icons and legends. This performance laid the foundation for the franchise. It ends not here as we got even more great actors / actresses. There is Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett with a great performance. She is a legend in the industry and one of my favorite actresses. Then we got Rick Morranis another one of my favorites. He has also so many good performances including this. Sidenote: I wondered why he made no movies after becoming a big star. His wife died and he quit his career to raise their kids. He is such a great man. There is Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz who is often forgotten, has a smaller role but fully delivers. Finally I want to mention Ernie Hudson as Walter Peck. He has a memorable scene and says he was mocked by / for the nickname he was given in this movie;-). A truly remarkable cast. All characters work well and I consider it a true strength. I praise also the clever written script by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis and of cause the director Ivan Reitman. Without these it could also not be a cult classic. The special effects were amazing for its time but aged a bit badly. Still has some scary scenes. Then there is the humor which is another strength. There are a lot of good jokes, memorable quotes and scenes. I must also praise the music. The Ghostbusters song by Ray Parker Jr. has also become a classic and is still sometimes played today in the radio. Heard it so many times but still enjoyed it. Overall this is a childhood favorite I still enjoy as adult. A cult classic that earned its place in movie history. Even after all the years it has so many fans. One of the easiest recommendations I can make for movies.

Entertaining movie with some funny scenes, especially Bill Murray is stealing the viewer attention with his jokes. The story is nicely built and gives a perfect platform for some visual effects, that are outdated of course.

When Dr. Venkman , Dr. Stanz, and Dr. Egon lose a research grant they decide to go into business for themselves and open ‘Ghostbusters,' a ghost removal service. With Bill Murray at his very best, Ghostbusters is rightly considered a comedy classic and it remains as funny and entertaining today as it was upon release over thirty years ago.

Went into it with an open mind having never seen it before and walked away feeling largely indifferent. The humour was hit and miss (often missing) and the story just utterly falling apart in the second half when it became less focused on the characters and more on poorly setting up the situation where they have to save the day.

Ghostbusters. Rather call. It's a cool fantastic comedy that even after almost 40 years. Of course, Bill Murray deserves special praise.

Ghostbusters (1984) is a great and clever film. It’s got good acting, great ideas, and is all around a superb idea for a film. It's been my favorite film since I was 3 years old, and it will definitely stay that way.

Yes, it's true. This man has no **** The movie's got a great cast which work very well together throughout this movie, the dialogue is pretty good and most of it can be pretty funny, the plot is pretty decent, the ghosts and the creatures throughout this movie are great. Also, the movie's got the classic song from Ray Parker Jr. which I'd honestly say is class. Overall, the movie is great, it's always a fun one to come back to and the characters are always memorable with their funny lines of dialogue or if they do something throughout this masterpiece of a movie. It's honestly worth the watch and I'd honestly recommend this one to anyone.

Ghostbusters suffers from the same problem that Man in Black has: an inordinate amount of fame for the film that it finally is. It's a good film, but I don't think its fame is so deserved after seeing it.

I can watch this movie again and again and again. It's one of those movies where you can feel that everyone involved enjoyed being part of it. I have absolutely nothing negative to say about it. It's a masterpiece on all fronts.

Fantastic ghost movie staring Bill Murray. Definitely recommend this film. A+

Good and entertaining movie!Amazing music and story the screenplay was good and engaging visuals were way too bad and creatures look awful.acting was amazing punchlines were **** comedy was amazing the flirts and the apartment neighbour whenever she passes he shows it was hilarious the theme song was amazing and cringy ending was amazing whole movie felt fast paced and entertaining but it felt little overrated!

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Graciosa, divertida y entretenida. Son los Cazafantasmas, ¿a quién pueden no gustarle?

Magnífico,trilha sonora muito boa, dublagem brasileira está ótima, é a história é muito boa é engraçada.

The story of an unusual bunch of heroes who came for save New York and the wide world of a ancient demon has enough mixed elements of horror and comedy for make it a classic of 80s by own right. For a weekend evening.

Ghostbusters es una película que combina muy bien la historia con el humor. El villano principal me gusto bastante. Es algo corta pero bueno... Recomendada.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Still one of best movies of all Time even in Today age check it out if you have not Ghostbusters is a classic.

Comedy Gold Ghostbusters has an absolutely perfect cast, great special effects for the time that live up great today, and a hilarious story.

I love the ghostbusters, best super hero team of all time. I fell in love with them in the beginning of my youth, and I loved them, the action they get into is the most engaging story telling ever and how professional in the movie of how to bust ghosts is entertaining. Its very sad that egon is dead though.

Single greatest film of all time! Absolutely fantastic in its plot, character development, cast and acting, special effects, emotive tone, and cinematography. Everything a horror/comedy should be and delivered to perfection.

this review is not about the movie the movie is and always will be a classic (unlike that abomination remake) what this review is about is the 4k version. the picture quality is absolutely appalling. it's the worst 4k movie I have seen yet the quality is on par with a VHS copy! the grain is everywhere it's so bad you can see it on the wall, floors and faces it's on everything it looks like tv snow is on everything! if you buy this get the blu-ray version do not touch the 4k version with a 10 foot ghost pole!

Jokes are hit and miss and the film has dated badly. Its less clever and more dumb.

A film about a bunch of university losers and misfits and one normal working class guy. Who end up tasked to save the city. One of the ultimate funny underdog stories. The humour can be a bit crude on the nose, but it works considering who the characters are.

Man is this film overrated. Very few funny moments and mostly due to Murray's deadpan delivery.