Ghostbusters

Recently the film "The Wizard of Oz" was re-released in an IMAX/3D version celebrating 74 years since its release in 1939. It was only re-released for a very limited run and I was able to view it and felt amazed that it was that old. Well, "Ghostbusters" has now been re-released for a week run celebrating 30 years since its release in 1984. This truly isn't as ancient as Oz, but, is it me, or is it difficult to phathom that it has been 30 years?

Three odd-ball scientists, Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr. Raymond Stantz(Dan Aykroyd) and Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) get kicked out of their cushy positions at a New York City university where they studied parapsychology. They decide to set up shop in an old firehouse and go into business for themselves as Ghostbusters, trapping pesky ghosts, spirits, haunts and poltergeists for money. They wisecrack their way through the city and finally land a big job from a tenant, Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) claiming there are ghosts in her apartment. This, in turn, leads to something big and they stumble upon a gateway to another dimension, one that will release untold evil upon the city. The Ghostbusters are then called on to save the Big Apple.

Others to round out the cast are Rick Moranis as Louis Tully, a nerdy neighbor of Dana's, Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz, the Ghostbusters' secretary, William Atherton as Walter Peck, a rep from the EPA, Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddmore, assisting the Ghostbusters and David Margulies as Mayor.

This was directed with rollicking good fun by veteran Ivan Reitman ("Meatballs" '79, "Stripes" '81, "Twins" '88, "Ghostbusters II" '89, "Kindergarten Cop" '90, "Dave" '93, "Junior" '94, "Six Days Seven Nights" '98, "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" '06, "No Strings Attached" '11, "Draft Day" '14) plus others. Obviously Reitman works well with Murray since he used Murray early on in his career, so when he was casting for this, one of the scientists just had to be Murray, and proved that it was the right choice. This guy knows comedy, but he can work in a more subtle type comedy as well, such as "Draft Day" which was incredibly solid. This was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis with input from Rick Moranis even though he wasn't credited. The best thing about the writing is the timing and continuity. For being a wacky comedy, this just flowed well from one scene to the next.
I gotta say, 30 years have not been kind to these amazing comedians, because one can see Murray and Aykroyd in recent films, and they don't even look like the same people after watching this. It is amazing what three decades can do to someone.

As aforementioned, this is only out for a week re-release, so if you want to see this-- again, then you'll have to put something else on the back burner lest you miss this funny little slice of the 1980's that you can totally escape into.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                               Rated: PG                                   105mins.