Ghostbusters: Special Edition #75 (1984) [CC1181L]
The Equipment
LG Infinia 55LW5600 - Display
Pioneer Elite CLD 99 - LaserDisc
Pioneer SC-1223 - Receiver
Klipsch RC-3 II - Center
Klipsch RS-35 - Rears
Deftech Promonitor 1000 - Fronts
Sony SA-WM40 - 2xSubs
The Movie
Venkman, shorten your stream. I don't want my face burned off.......Ahh, Ghostbusters. The 1984 timeless classic that has been quoted more times than I can remember. In a nutshell, this movie is about 3 scientists....Dr. Raymond Stantz, Dr. Peter Venkman and Dr. Egon Spengler.... down on their luck at the local university who decide to go out on their own and into the supernatural business. The gamble pays big and they score with a successful business in busting ghosts and eradicating the undead from New York. About half way thorough they are joined by a fourth Ghostbuster, Winston Zeddemore, and the team is complete. The movie comes to a head at the end when they defeat Gozer the Gozarian and save New York. Who can forget the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man? Nobody I tell ya.
As the first installment in what is currently a 2 movie stint, this one kicks it off with a bang. The bar was set, where it remains, with this movie and is still entertaining to this day. There are more movies in the works, but at the moment all 4 original Ghostbusters are in 2 official movies.
The film was released in theaters on 5/8/84 and the Criterion Laserdisc was released in 1989. If you are planning on picking up the Criterion release of this fantastic movie you need to know there are two versions........the red banner (#75 CC1181L) and the blue banner (#75A CC1182L). This red banner release is a beautiful 2 disc release with gorgeous gatefold packaging. Criterion usually places the supplemental material at the end of each side to be viewed along with the movie and have their own chapter stops. Some may like this, while some may not. The blue banner release is pretty much a barebones movie only release, but still retains the great care in presentation.
This red banner release will be the one being discussed for review purposes. It's a two disc/four sided release with 45 chapter stops. Those being the following:
Disc 1/Side 1
1. Prologue and credits
2. Professor Venkman
3. Ghost in the stacks
4. "Ghostbusters" is born
5. Dana meets Zuul
6. The first customer
7. Checking out Dana's house
SUPPLEMENTARY SECTION
8. Special effects comparison
9. Deleted footage: the stairway
10. Storyboards: Side 1
11. Screenplay: Side 1
Disc 1/Side 2
12. "He slimed me."
13. "We came, we saw, we kicked its a**."
14. Ghost Fever Grips New York
15. At the water fountain
16. The 600-lb. Twinkle
17. The Terror Dogs
SUPPLEMENTARY SECTION
18. Special effects comparison: Ballroom
19. Storyboards: Side 2
20. Screenplay: Side 2
Disc 2/Side 1
21. Dana possessed
22. The Keymaster
23. Judgement day
24. The EPA shuts down the grid
25. Spirits terrorize New York
26. Ghostbusters in jail
27. The Keymaster meets the Gatekeeper
28. Meeting with the mayor
29. "Let's run some red lights!"
30. Thirty-five flights to Gozer
SUPPLEMENTARY SECTION
31. Deleted footage: Janine and Egon
32. Storyboards: Side 3
33. Screenplay: Side 3
Disc 2/Side 2
34. Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
35. Crossing the streams
36. Out the other side
SUPPLEMENTARY SECTIONS
37. The theatrical teaser
38. The original theatrical trailer
39. "Making of Ghostbusters" excerpts
40. Special effects
41. Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
42. Improvisation
43. Insider Notes
44. Storyboards: Sides 1-4
45. Complete screenplay
The Ratings
The Video
Criterion takes great care in providing great presentations on all of their physical format releases and this is no exception. The colors pop off the screen and the Proton Pack streams are shown with great clarity. Even though the tone of the film is on the dark side, there are still plenty of colors to contrast that. The tone is pretty much spot on and Slimer is green like he's supposed to be. To this day, Criterion is respected in the physical media market and this release keeps that bar high. Very good looking presentation.
9/10
The Audio
Dolby Surround is what the Proton Packs are bringing to the speakers on this one. There is plenty loud sound effects and great music throughout the film. All the voice acting was heard legibly and understood. The soundtrack is phenomenal to begin with and Criterion takes great care in bringing that home. Excellent.
9/10
Summary
What's left to say about this one. If you haven't seen it, go right now and do it! Sadly, Harold Ramis passed away on 2/24/14 so the prospect of an original lineup for a sequel are simply not there. The script for an original cast has floated around Hollywood for years but now it's simply to late. The movie itself is a timeless classic that should not be missed. If you don't have a LaserDisc player you're in luck.....it's been released on just about every format ever made, even Beta so go see it now. Who you gonna call? This LaserDisc set!
Overall: 9/10
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Though id have to agree with you alien, that's why I didn't upgrade when the first bluray came out. Pretty happy with the most recent release though.