Mad Science takes on occult terror, and wins, hilariously, in this, the greatest Lovecraftian comedy of the 1980's, which went on to spawn a popular franchise.Ghostbusters (1984)Three parapsychology professors (earnest, forthright, and curious Dr. Raymond Stantz, sarcastic schemer Dr. Peter Venkman, and detached academic Dr. Egon Spengler) are fired from their positions at Columbia University in New York City. Facing dire prospects in finding new collegiate employment, Venkman has a brainstorm: go professional. In their last investigation they devised a method of actually capturing and containing ghosts. They set up Ghostbusters, a company providing scientific exorcisms. At first business is slow, but then the number of ghosts in New York City starts increasing exponentially.The Ghostbusters soon become household names, and become so busy they recruit a fourth team member, Naïve Newcomer and token black guy Winston Zeddemore, but they realize that the surge in ghosts is portentous. Investigations show that phenomena are centered on the apartment of Peter's love interest Dana Barrett, which was designed by a cult from the early 20th century to attract spirits.Before they can act, petty bureaucrat Walter Peck shuts down the Ghostbusters' containment unit, releasing all the ghosts they had trapped and inadvertently unleashing Armageddon in the form of Gozer, an ancient Sumerian deity.Ghostbusters II (1989)Less than five years later, the City of New York somehow decided the events of the first film were all just a publicity stunt and sued the heroes, who went bankrupt and have gone on to more mundane jobs: Ray and Winston are performing as Ghostbusters in uniform for birthday parties, Peter is a cable TV host discussing the paranormal, and Egon is doing sociology research. But then the ghosts start returning, and soon the Ghostbusters are back in business. Top of their list is investigating a strange river of slime in an abandoned subway tunnel that seems to thrive on negative emotions and produce new ghost hauntings.Meanwhile, at the museum where Dana works, her boss becomes a Renfield for the ghost of Vigo the Carpathian, an ancient tyrant trapped in a painting. Vigo has Dana's infant son Oscar kidnapped, intending to take over the child's body. note As a side note, The Renfield in question actually went on to play Renfield for real in Mel Brooks' spoof Dracula: Dead and Loving It.When the Ghostbusters finally figure things out and arrive on scene, the museum is cocooned by the slime they were investigating and maintained as a physical manifestation of the negative emotions of New Yorkers. To counter this, the Ghostbusters animate the Statue of Liberty. Cue final confrontation.One of the defining elements of the movies (and the rest of the franchise as a whole) is that the characters examine the paranormal with the scientific method and combat it with technology, rather than other similar stories where the characters have to combat the supernatural with magic or more arbitrary urban legends. Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis (who play Ray and Egon, respectively) were responsible for the premise and original script, Aykroyd himself being an avid believer in the paranormal while Ramis has admitted to being a skeptic. As such, in addition to the excellent comedy and memorable characters Ghostbusters has been found to appeal to skeptics.Expanded UniverseThe films produced a popular Animated AdaptationThe Real Ghostbusters in 1986, which had its own Spin-Off, Extreme Ghostbusters in 1997. In 2009, a video game adaptation was released, written and performed by the original casts, that acts as a third story. Go to the pages on the individual works, or the page on the entire franchise, for more information on these and other Ghostbusters projects.Ray Parker Jr., who performed the film's iconic Theme Tune, was sued by Huey Lewis over the similarity of the melody to that of "I Want a New Drug".A third movie has been rumored for some time and (according to Dan Aykroyd) a script has been written by The Office US writers, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, with his and Harold Ramis' oversight. According to Ivan Reitman, this script has been sent to Murray and they are waiting for him to read it, since the studio won't let the film go ahead unless Murray is in it — or not, as it was announced that production on the third film was to start in Spring 2012, with or without Murray's involvement. It was officially announced later that year that Murray is in fact not going to return, and … ugh, just see this page for more information.But for now…WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
Big Bad: Gozer in 1, Vigo the Carpathian in 2 and Ivo Shandor in the video game.
Big Damn Heroes: Invoked in the first film; as part of their deal with the Mayor to stop what's happening, Venkman manages to wrangle a huge police/National Guard escort for Ecto-1 as if it was the presidential limo or something, thus making the Ghostbusters look like The Cavalry to the assembled hordes waiting on for Judgment Day on the streets. Venkman himself milks the moment (and the crowd) for all it's worth.
In the second movie, the Ghostbusters arriving via skylight to stop Oscar being turned into a new host body for Vigo the Carpathian.
Butt Monkey: Louis Tully, also Ray Stantz to a lesser extent.
First movie only: the boy involved in Peter's "negative reinforcement on ESP" test.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Ray and especially Peter, who both have Ph.Ds, in Physics and Parapsychology/Psychology respectively. Both are extremely childish and, especially in Peter's case, fairly unprofessional.
Casual Danger Dialog: Egon is a master of this, usually as a way of flatly commenting that he's scared out of his mind despite being overly calm and talking plainly.
Venkman: Okay, Ray's gone bye-bye. Egon, what've you got left? Spengler: Sorry, Venkman, but I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.
He manages Casual Danger Laughter in 2. Ray and Peter laugh nervously while waiting for the Scolari Brothers to strike, and Egon chimes in with a monotone "Ha. Ha ha."
Complete Immortality: Almost all ghosts that are not at least a Class 7 are this, which is why they get trapped and sent into the containment unit.
Cool Car: The Ecto-1, a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance, refurbished and tricked out with Science!
And based on Ray's mention of it needed new brake pads, it has a front disk brake conversion, too.
Destructive Saviour: The Ghostbusters are very effective at capturing ghosts, but their primary weapons, the proton packs, are terribly inaccurate and burn through whatever they hit when they miss (which is often). That's not even getting into the larger threats, which tend to end up leveling city blocks before the Ghostbusters stop them. Gozer blew up the top few floors of a high rise building as a consequence of stopping her.
Divide by Zero: According to Egon, crossing the streams of the proton packs would cause and effect like this, resulting in "all life as you know it stopping instantaneously" and would cause "every molecule in your body to explode at the speed of light." However, to destroy Gozer in the first movie, they are forced to risk this by doing it on purpose. Fortunately, it pays off.
Fan Film: Has inspired a whole slew of fan films based on the idea of Ghostbusters becoming a franchise business and organized in other cities. This includes FreddyVs. Ghostbusters, The Denver Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters SLC.
Fantastic Science: Two of the three original characters, Ray and Egon, are legitimate paranormal researchers that channel their knowledge into the business of "paranormal investigations and eliminations." Peter for his part is both a psychologist and parapsychologist, so he contributes the human relations and Only Sane Man elements.
Peter (The Leader) He is the CEO, so to speak, of their company and takes charge during the in-the-field busting.
Ray (The Lancer): He is a kind optimist and true believer to contrast the cynical ladies man.
Egon (The Smart Guy) more so, he is much more socially aloof than the others
Winston (The Big Guy) He was hired to be extra muscle for the growing company although smarter than his teammates in the common sense area. The game mentions that he has since earned a PhD.)
The original idea was that Winston would be The Smart Guy and the Only Sane Man. This was dropped when the writers decided they needed a more "everyman" character to ground the three very, very eccentric principals.
Janine (The Chick as the only female of the group. Usually she's The Face and stays at the station finding clients and doing paperwork. On the occasions where Janine is forced to help directly, she's just as good as the guys).
Funny Background Event: After blowing up the poor housemaid's cart, while they stand around talking, you can see her trying to spritz out the fires they started with a bottle of cleaner.
During the cutscenes in the video game, The Rookie can be seen reacting to the situations in humorous ways, especially when Mr. Stay Puft first appears.
Venkman: "Type somethin', will ya? We're payin' ya for this stuff. And don't stare at me, ya got the bug-eyes. …" (pauses) "Janine, sorry about the bug-eyes thing, I'll be in my office."
Lovable Coward: For all his charm and bravado, Peter Venkman is not the bravest of men. With a few exceptions any acts of heroism on his part will usually be very very reluctant ones. That said, he will step up to the plate if necessary; he just won't be very happy about it.
Mad Scientist: Mostly Egon, but a little bit in Ray as well. Capitalism and a general sense of the good of mankind steers this towards positive and constructive directions.
Magic Versus Science: Ghosts and gods vs scientists with nuclear accelerators; the scientists win.
The Merch: In-universe examples. In the first film's credits, there are kids waving Ghostbuster logo t-shirts. Ghostbusters II has the gang offer branded thermal mugs and balloons in their commercial.
Peter: Did you choose anything?! Egon:: No. Peter: Did you?! Winston: My mind's a total blank. Peter: I didn't choose anything! [Beat, then everybody looks at Ray]
Knocking out all the lights in New York in the sequel. Ray is quite the klutz.
Later, when they're about to call the final battle a victory, he looks into the painting and gets possessed by Vigo.
Night Vision Goggles: A slightly modified set of actual night vision goggles is made to be the "ecto goggles" and part of the Ghostbusting gear, supposedly allowing them to see ghosts who have turned themselves invisible. It's seen on everyone in the first movie, used memorably by Ray in the hotel and seen briefly a few times in the second movie. The game makes it into a major gameplay mechanic in tracking down ghosts.
Mentioned in the first film is that time Egon tried to drill a hole in his head. This is an actual procedure, called 'trepanation', which is sometimes claimed to confer psychic powers. "That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me." (Which was allegedly a Throw It In from Harold Ramis.)
Not Quite Dead: Justified since this is a franchise about ghosts. Also notable in the account of Vigo's death.
Walter Peck from the first movie ignores the very real paranormal phenomenon around him in favor of his insistence that it's all a scam. His actions in service of this belief directly trigger Gozer's arrival. Then he blames everyone but himself and has them arrested.
Hardemeyer takes this role in the sequel. He has the Ghostbusters committed to avoid bad press for the mayor.
Peck is back as the city official appointed as a liaison between the Ghostbusters and the mayor in the video game.
Occult Detective: This is essentially what the Ghostbusters are.
One-Winged Angel: Ghosts who take human form as a disguise are usually provoked into doing this.
Our Ghosts Are Different: In the series, "ghost" seems to be a catch-all term for incorporeal creatures, including both the spirits of the dead and extraplanar creatures that were never alive to begin with.
Photoprotoneutron Torpedo: Proton packs, which are "positron colliders" (or sometimes "unlicensed nuclear accelerators") that shoot particles from "neutrona wands".
Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Ghostbusters themselves; a cynical scientist, a mad scientist, a goof scientist, and someone looking for a steady paycheck.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Lenny the Mayor fills this role to some extent in the first two movies. He's a rather cynical politician whose public image and chances of re-election / further political office are never far from mind, and is as reasonably skeptical of the claims of apocalyptic supernatural phenomena as any reasonable person probably would be, but when suitably convinced of their claims ultimately proves to be a fairly staunch ally. However, it is suggested that between the first and second movies, he either had them publicly thrown under the bus, or didn't do much to stop it from happening.
By the time of the game, he seems to have been replaced with a more straightforward example of this trope; the current mayor got elected on a pro-Ghostbuster platform, and now has the city covering their collateral damage.
Red Alert: Of the "Emergency Squad Scramble" variety, the first time a call comes in.
Reed Richards Is Useless: Played with. On one hand the Ghostbusters do use their tech to make money for themselves, the game has established them as contractors to New York on the verge of franchising, and they obviously help people out with it, but the potential other uses for their tech goes ignored.
Rent A Zilla: The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man by the villains, and The Statue of Liberty by the heroes.
Sassy Secretary: Janine "I've quit better jobs than this!" Melnitz.
Science Is Bad: Inverted; the Ghostbusters' scientific methods always prove to be the only effective way of dealing with the supernatural, and the only use for other schools of thought is to provide info on what they're dealing with.
Sealed Evil in a Can: The Ghostbusters' containment grid in the first film and Vigo's portrait in the second.
Shown Their Work: The films are very, very thoroughly researched as side-effect of Aykroyd's own interest in the paranormal. For instance, Peter's treatment of the Zuul-possessed Dana is based on advice from exorcists and psychiatrists for dealing with cases of possession and DID, respectively (i.e. you are never supposed to let the other personality remain in control; this is why he keeps insisting on talking to "Dana", and tries to ignore Zuul). In addition, ''all' of the books Ego and Ray mention actually exist.
Winston Zeddmore: Do you remember something in the Bible about the last days, when the dead would rise from the grave?
Ray Stantz: I remember Revelations 7:12. "And I looked as he opened the 6th seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake. And the sun became as black as sack cloth, and the moon became as blood."
Winston Zeddmore: And the seas boiled and the skies fell.
Ray Stantz: Judgment Day.
Winston Zeddmore: Judgment Day.
Ray Stantz: Every religion has its myth about the end of the world.
Winston Zeddmore: Myth? Ray, has it ever occurred to you that maybe the reason we've been so busy lately is 'cause the dead have been rising from the grave?
Part II
Peter Venkman: Or you could accept the fact that this city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, biblical?
Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament biblical, Mr. Mayor. Real wrath-of-God-type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming from the sky! Rivers and seas boiling!
Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes! Volcanoes!
Smarter Than You Look: Although Venkman comes off as a cynical slacker who doesn't seem to get the gist of things as times, it's obvious that he has just as much knowledge of the supernatural as Ray and Egon.
Soul Jar: To a certain extent, the containment grid could be considered a very sciency version of one of these.
Spiritual Successor: Dan Akyroyd tries to have Ghostbusters III produced, but couldn't get his co-stars to join. Hence, Evolution was born.
Technobabble: Brought to the point of art form: PKE valence. Focused, non-terminal repeating phantasm. Total protonic reversal. And etc.
That Came Out Wrong: While Peter is checking her apartment, he goes to the bedroom. Dana, without considering the implications, says "Nothing ever happened in there." Peter quips, "What a crime." Dana realizes her mistake, but instead chooses to focus on Peter's atypical attitude for a scientist.
I— When Walter Peck is about to shut off the containment system, the 'busters deliberately place themselves near the stairs so they can easily flee when all hell breaks loose.
II— In the courtroom, when the mood slime is about to explode, they slowly take cover under their table.
Throw It In: There are varying accounts of how much of the final films were improvised, from a few select lines to a good majority of the films.
A definite example is the majority of Louis' party in the first film, which was not only one continuous take, but almost entirely improvised.
Token Minority: Winston. He shows up midway through the first film and joins the Ghostbusters. He then adds nothing to the plot for the rest of the first movie or the second one. He is the only black character in either film.
Technically speaking, the real weapon the Busters use against the ghosts are their traps, which suck the ghosts in and hold them until deposited in the protection grid. All the proton packs are intended for is to snare ghosts in the proton stream and position them above the trap. That's also why Busters didn't need the proton packs to capture the jogging ghost; all they had to do is place the trap in his path and open it when he stepped over it.
The one exception to this are the final villains at the end of both movies. This may be explained by the fact that unlike the vast majority of ghosts Vigo and Gozer are at least semi-corporeal and, as we saw with the maid cart while they where initially catching slimer, a tightly focused stream from a proton pack can be highly destructive. Other non-corporeal ghosts can be restrained by it or in the case of relatively weak ghosts scattered into ambient PKE (psycho kinetic energy) but it would be possible to destroy a corporeal entity assuming it isn't a god or superpowered with PKE.
Weirdness Censor: Despite the rampant evidence to the contrary, Peck insists the Ghostbusters are frauds deluding people with chemicals and "a cheap, electronic light show." Indeed, Peck has zero evidence to back up his claims, having arbitrarily decided that they must be frauds. Had the case gone to court normally, the Ghostbusters would have won the case hands-down. In the second movie, several characters continue this attitude, which makes one wonder what they thought of the very public attack involving the very gigantic and very real Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and the very gooey remains he left behind.
The Worf Barrage: The proton packs never work against the Big Bad, or at best are a mild annoyance, which force the team to resort to different strategies to beat them.
Gozer dodged the first shot and just vanished the second time. Upon transforming into the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, getting shot did little more than knock him down and set him on fire, arguably making him even more dangerous.
Vigo is briefly annoyed by the packs, brushing away the beams and paralyzing the team in the process. He has to be weakened by a Care Bear Stare/Combined Energy Attack in the form of happy, singing New Yorkers, which was the only way they were able to enter the building anyway. The final barrage of mood slime and proton packs also seems to hing largely on the former, though the packs do provide the final push that wins the day.
The games introduce three major modifications (complete with a secondary fire mode) to the classic backpack and most of the ghosts have a weakness to one of them: basic particle stream, dark matter generator, slime blower and meson collider. The idea is if one ghost is shrugging off any one of your attacks you can switch them up.
Ghostbusters
Above the Influence: In the first Ghostbusters, Venkman comes to visit Dana and finds she is possessed by Zuul, which makes her want to sleep with the Keymaster. He refuses, since she isn't in her right mind.
Zuul/Dana:Do you want this body?'
Venkman: Is this a trick question?
—
Zuul/Dana:I want you inside me.
Venkman: *laughs* Go ahead — no, I can't. Sounds like you got at least two people in there already. Might be a little crowded.
Ambiguous Gender: Gozer appeared female when "she" first appeared, despite being referred to by male pronouns in texts used for research. The Keymaster did claim that Gozer could - and has - taken numerous forms in the past, so he/she could probably have looked like anything, male or female.
The Alleged Car: Ecto-1 is an ancient ambulance/hearse that we're introduced to with Ray listing off the numerous things they'll have to fix. Remarkably, they do.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: "It's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man!" Ironically, Stay Puft was described as a '100 foot marshmallow man'.
Audience Surrogate: Winston is not PH.D scientist guy; he's an average joe looking for a steady paycheck.
Bathos: Evoked at the end of the first movie. The city is being destroyed by an evil god, yes, but it's in the form of a giant, smiling, sailor hat-wearing guy made of marshmallows.
Converging Stream Weapon: What you get when you cross the streams (besides a massive life-threatening explosion).
Cosmic Horror Comedy: This is a story about a doomsday cult deliberately building an Eldritch Location in order to perform bizarre rituals in order to summon an Eldritch Abomination, which was worshiped as a god in ancient Sumer, from another dimension to destroy the world. A team of paranormal investigators stumble onto the plot, and, well, you know the rest.
Crazy-Prepared: Venkman proves to have fast access to 300 cc's of Thorazine, which implies that he carries it around with him or can find it offscreen in less than a few minutes. 300 cc's is a lot. The novel clarifies this by implying that he found it in Dana's apartment. Which only raises the question of what Dana, a professional musician, is doing with more than half a pint of a prescription anti-psychotic normally not available in individual containers larger than an ounce or two.
Creator Cameo: Director Ivan Reitman provides the voices for Slimer and Zuul.
The Danza: Two throwaway examples in the first ten minutes: Alice Drummond has an opening-scene cameo as Alice the frightened librarian, and Jennifer Runyon as Jennifer, the test subject for whom Peter compromises the scientific method.
Venkman gets to play this along with Only Sane Man, in that he's continually snarking on his fellows' more outlandish ideas.
Dana Barrett shows shades of this when Peter compliments her on her cello playing:
Peter Venkman: You're the best one in your row.
Dana Barrett: Thank you. [beat] You're good; most people can't hear me with the whole orchestra playing.
Janine, upon seeing a police officer at the door:
"Dropping off or picking up?"
Dean Bitterman: Dean Yeager inadvertently starts the Ghostbusters by firing them from their cushy academic jobs.
Demonic Possession: Dana Barrett and Louis Tully by the Keymaster and the Gate Keeper. They turn into demon dogs.
Dope Slap: Peter Venkmann to Ray Stanz, and vice versa.
Dummied Out: Elmer Bernstein wrote a complete score for the film, parts of which in the final version got replaced by the songs from the soundtrack instead. Thus, several up-beat versions of the Ghostbusters Theme slipped into obscurity.
Eldritch Abomination: This is what Gozer was implied to be. Parodied with the final form Gozer takes, which is the cuddly and cute Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
Peter Venkman: Well there's something you don't see everyday.
Eldritch Location: Gozer's dimension, as glimpsed through the fridge portal.
Establishing Character Moment: Venkman is first shown giving an ESP test to two students in which a wrong answer is followed by an electric shock. Because one of his test subjects is an attractive female student, Venkman keeps zapping the other (male) subject regardless of who gets the right answer. This reveals Venkman as a Jerk Ass and a man who thinks with his groin. The sharp-eyed will note that the male test subject seems to be getting the answers right after complaining of the shock. Note the look on Venkman's face as he gets it right, and the look of horror on the subject's face as Venkman reaches for the button…
Everybody Smokes: Perhaps not everybody, but the amount of smoking in this movie (especially from the lead characters) would never happen in a modern Hollywood film unless it's a period piece.
Evil Makeover/Evil Is Sexy: When Dana gets possessed by Zuul she dresses in a more provacative manner.
Foreshadowing: In the scene where the eggs in Dana's groceries start cooking themselves while still in the box, a bag of Stay-Puft marshmallows can be seen right next to them. An advert for the marshmallows also shows up on the side of a nearby building during the scene in which the ghosts are released from the containment unit.
Fridge Horror: In-Universe example. Winston and Ray are driving back from their latest job, when the former asks: "Hey Ray? Do you remember something in the bible about how, in the last days, the dead would rise from the grave?"
Ray: Well, every civilization has it's own myth about the end of the world.
Winston: Myth? Ray, has it ever occurred to you that the reason we've been so busy lately is that the dead have been rising from the grave?
Also a literal example of Fridge Horror, when Dana first encounters Zuul.
Godzilla Threshold: It is incredibly important not to cross the streams but by the time Gozer is about to reincarnate and bring about the End of the World as We Know It they figure "what the heck?"
Have a Gay Old Time: An unusual example: "Somebody brought a cougar to a party and it went berserk."
Hoist by His Own Petard: The Ghostbusters had only just figured out the significance of Zuul, Gozer, Ivo Shandor, and Dana Barret's apartment building by the time of the final confrontation. Dana, their first customer, only came to them when she did because she saw their commercial on TV, and she only saw them on TV because it was on when she got home. It is implied that it was on when she got home because of paranormal activity in her apartment (along with the eggs and the doomfridge). If Zuul coulda just dialed it back on the poltergeisting, Gozer would have been triumphant. (To make it even more ironic, it is doubtful that anyone, Zuul, Gozer, or the heroes, even realized this.)
Hope Spot: For a moment, it looks like they've vaporized Gozer and all's good with the world. Then Egon chimes in with "Ray, this looks extraordinarily bad." Cue Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
I Am Not Spock: According to the DVD commentary, the first movie ruined William Atherton's life, what with random people yelling "Hey, dickless!" at him on the streets and all…
Zuul (in Dana's body): There is no Dana, only Zuul!
Peter: What a lovely singing voice you must have.
I Love This Town: Winston Zeddmore, covered in molten marshmallow, triumphantly shouts this line as a summation of the good time the audience had watching this kick-ass movie.
Ironic Echo: Near the end of the movie Venkman tells Ray to Get her!
It Was Here, I Swear: Dana sees a temple and terror dogs in her fridge. Later, she brings Peter to investigate:
Peter: (peeking inside) Oh, my God … Look at all the junk food!
Dana: Oh, dammit! Look, this wasn't here…
Peter: (holding a piece of bologna) You actually eat this?
Dana: Look, this wasn't here! There was nothing here! There was this … space! And there was a building or something with flames coming out of it, and there were creatures writhing around, and they were growling and snarling. And there were flames, and I heard a voice say "Zuul"! It was right here!
Peter: Well, I'm sorry, I'm just not getting any reading.
There's also a bit of a Take That in that scene, against Coca-Cola (there's a Coke can very visible in the fridge because they owned Columbia at the time (although movies never showed it, the TV logo had a Coca-Cola byline), which is lampshaded on the DVD commentary).
Jerkass Genie: Gozer. He puts it to those nearby to choose the form of the destroyer. It's size, however, is at his discretion.
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Walter Peck had a point being concerned about the environmental safety of the Ghostbusters' facility, considering Egon had parallel concerns of his own. However, Peck barging in with a court order, ordering the containment grid turned off despite the warnings of the Busters and the reticence of a Con Ed technician and arresting the Busters for the resulting explosion on spurious charges puts him beyond the pale.
Kitschy Local Commercial: The commercial the Ghostbusters put out. It has no music, the characters are wooden and it looks like it was shot for about 5 bucks.
Peter Venkman: Yeah, we can do more damage that way.
Long List: Ray's list of repairs the Cadillac needed and Egon's similar list of problems with their building.
Also, Peck's injunctions against the 'Busters.
And the list of paranormal beliefs during Winston's job interview.
Winston: If there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say.
Magnetic Plot Device: The reason New York is practically swimming in ghosts is because Dana Barret's high-rise apartment building is essentially a supernatural magnet. Ivo Shandor, the leader of a cult of Gozer worshipers, designed it specifically to give Gozer a doorway into our world. It also neatly explains just where the vast majority of the unleashed ghosts went, since the building used them as a power source.
Ms. Fanservice: Now we already know Dana Barret is physically attractive, but once she gets possessed by one of the Terror Dogs she becomes EVEN MORE smoking hot than she was.
Peter: Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown!
Naïve Newcomer: Subverted by Winston, who adjusts to his new job very quickly.
Never My Fault: Walter Peck condemns the Ghostbusters for causing the explosion he himself had caused, in spite of their warnings.
Never Recycle a Building: Even though it's a major deathtrap in the middle of New York City, the abandoned firehouse remains conveniently available until Venkman et al need a place of business.
The Not So Harmless Punishment: When Gozer demands that the Earth choose the shape of its destroyer, Ray immediately thinks of The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, being the one thing that he believes could not possibly ever hurt us. Unfortunately, that's not quite so.
Oh Crap: The look on Mr. Stay Puft's face when the Ghostbusters cross the streams.
Alternatively, the Ghostbusters's reaction to Stay-Puft
Precision F-Strike: The containment grid's shut down, and ghosts are streaming into the atmosphere in a pillar of blinding light. What drives home how bad the situation isn't the ensuing montage, or that a possessed man escapes in the crowd. It's that what's happening is enough to tip Egon over into angrily insulting Peck's mother.
Winston: Mr. Mayor, I was a lot like you, but since I joined up with these men I have seen shit that will turn you white!
Red Eyes, Take Warning: The terror-dogs have glowing red eyes, as does Louis when he's possessed by one of them.
Shared Mass Hallucination / Scooby-Doo Hoax: Invoked by Peck, who accuses the Ghostbusters of being frauds that use nerve gas to make people believe they're seeing ghosts, and then "put on a light show" to get rid of them.
Sissy Villain. Gozer was originally going to appear in the form of Ivo Shandor as a slender, unremarkable man in a suit played by Paul Reubens; but the role was played by Yugoslav model Slavitza Jovan.
"It's a girl."
"It's Gozer."
"I thought Gozer was a man."
"It's whatever it wants to be."
Snub by Omission: When Peter Venkman introduces his team at the library:
Roger Delacorte: I'm Roger Delacorte. Are you the men from the university?
Dr. Peter Venkman: Yes, I'm Dr. Venkman, Dr. Stantz, Egon…
Soundtrack Dissonance: The "monster movie"-style music that plays during Stay Puft Marshmallow Man's entrance is (intentionally?) Played for Laughs when juxtaposed with Mr. Stay Puft's smiling face. However, he does turn to face the Ghostbusters a few minutes later...
Styrofoam Rocks: At the end, when debris is falling from the top of the skyscraper, in one shot you can see a rock, which had supposedly tumbled from several hundred feet in the air, fall straight down and bounce off of a wooden police barrier.
Tailor-Made Prison: All of the ghosts who get captured get placed into the nuclear-powered Containment Unit. Instant Catastrophe? Turn off the Unit.
The Stinger: There's a post-credits scene set some time after the events of the movie, where Slimer is back in the same hotel we saw him in earlier in the movie, chowing down on trays of food. He stops, suddenly noticing the audience, then proceeds to charge at the audience, emitting a horrible wail.
This Cannot Be!: Ray's reaction at seeing the Stay-Puft monster.
Throat Light: Zuul's throat (in terror-dog form) emits a bright light when Dana sees it in her refrigerator.
The Tunguska Event: A throw-away line near the end has Ray telling Louis that he was part of the biggest crossover event since this, implying that it was a ghost thing.
Uncomfortable Elevator Moment: The scene wherein the Ghostbusters are heading up to the floor of their first real assignment. "Why worry? Each of us is wearing an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back." Cue the other two shuffling comedically away in the tight space.
Widescreen Shot: Ramis joked that he got cut out of most of the standard screen broadcast.
Particularly in the 4-shot where the Ghostbusters are walking and talking with the hotel manager. Cropping Ramis out of the shot leaves the manager neatly flanked by the other two, and since Ramis doesn't speak during the shot …
X-Ray Sparks: Shown when the lightning strikes Dana and Louis atop Gozer's temple.
You Have to Believe Me: Inverted; when they finally get to see the Mayor, despite the apparent lunacy of the things they're suggesting the Ghostbusters — while still stressing the urgency of the situation to him — nevertheless present their case in a fairly calm, reasonable and level-headed manner (even if they do succumb to the dramatic at one point: "Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!"). On the other hand Peck, who on the surface has the more rational case (that these people are conmen), nevertheless comes across as twitchy, touchy, a bit irrational and clearly nursing a grudge, prone to exploding into violence (albeit after being provoked by Venkman) and on the whole rather shifty and unreliable.
Your Mom: Egon's response to Walter Peck's blockheadedness.
Ghostbusters II
Asshole Victim: The Judge who launches into an extremely unprofessional and sadistic rant against the Ghostbusters after he initially finds them guilty — the bad karma this creates within the vicinity of the "mood slime" results in bringing back the Scolari Brothers, sibling criminals he tried and sentenced to death for murder. He is then forced to rescind the order to get the Ghostbusters to help him.
The Prosecutor (played by the late Janet Margolin) could also be considered this given her rude treatment of the main characters during the trial, which results in her getting hauled out upside down by the Scolari Brothers.
Venkman: We're the best … we're the beautiful … we're the only … Ghostbusters!
Beat Them at Their Own Game: The Ghostbusters are able to charge the slime with positive energy, making it an effective weapon against Vigo. And as a bonus, bring the Statue of Liberty to life to rally the New Yorkers.
Big Applesauce: Mocked at the end by Venkman, who asks why any being would want to return in 1980s New York, rather than sunny Southern California.
Big Blackout: Ray accidentally causes one in the second film.
Body Surf: Vigo's goal. He attempts to take over Oscar's body, but once foiled, he decides Ray works just as well. Cue sliming.
Bottomless Magazines: The slime blowers appear to have infinite ammunition. Possibly justified by the slime cultures being self-regenerating; this is even vaguely hinted at during the courtroom scene.
And what is the best way to overcome Brooklyn Rage? The spirit of goodwill brought on by New Years Eve and the spirit of patriotism as symbolized by the Statue of Liberty.
Card-Carrying Villain: Vigo the Carpathian: "Now is the dawning of the season of evil" and etc.
Care Bear Stare: The good slime is charged with positive feelings. It's harmful to evil ghosts and if turned on humans it turns them into love freaks.
The Cassandra: Milton Angland, the author who appears on Peter's show at the beginning of the second movie and predicted the world would end on New Year's Eve that year. That almost comes true, though nobody ever sees or speaks of him again.
Chekhov'sMusic: "Higher and Higher" in the second movie. Ray and Egon show us that the slime happens to really like Jackie Wilson's version of the song early on in the movie. A cover version is used later on in the movie to empower the slime, thus mobilizing Libby.
Chekhov's Gun: Egon is first seen in the movie conducting an experiment on whether negative emotions could have an impact on the surrounding environment. Enter "mood slime"… And then see the mood slime itself take control of a major landmark.
The evil stare that Vigo gives Ray plants the seed for Vigo to temporarily possess Ray towards the end of the film.
Combined Energy Attack: When the 'busters use the collective goodwill of New York to break through the slime shield on the museum.
Darker and Edgier/Sequel Escalation: The horror got ramped up, compared to the first one. It wasn't enough that Oscar was stolen away, for example - it had to be on a building ledge, at Venkman's apartment after they were attacked in their own home.
The spirits themselves were genuinely terrifying (the Ghost Train in particular), and then imagine what prolonged exposure to the Mood Slime does...
The Dreaded: Vigo's titles when he were alive included "Vigo the Cruel", "Vigo the Despised", "Vigo the Torturer", and "Vigo the Unholy".
Wasn't he also "Vigo the Butch"?
Dude, Where's My Respect?: The Ghostbusters saved the world, but five years later, they're thought of as "two-bit frauds and publicity hounds." They also apparently got shafted when it was time to clean up Gozer's mess. Ray and later Peter comment on this.
Emotion Eater: Vigo feeds on anger in order to stregthen himself. The Ghostbusters counter this by bringing the Statue of Liberty to life to inspire the spirit of patriotism in the New Yorkers.
Extra Strength Masquerade: The giant demonic marshmallow man and plague of ghosts from five years ago everyone remembers and even had physical evidence of was all the world's most elaborate hoax. Obviously.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Hey Egon, how's school? I bet those science chicks really dig that large cranium of yours?
Dr. Egon Spengler: I think they're more interested in my Epididymis…
Flat Earth Atheist: The number of people in the movie who claim not to believe in the supernatural a mere five years after a prehistoric deity marched through downtown Manhattan is staggering.
Foreshadowing: The psychic predicting the end of the world at the beginning of the movie.
When Vigo is brainwashing Janosz, his portrait changes to shows the old subway tunnel with mood slime flowing down the support pillars.
A couple when the ghosts swarm New York in the movie. The Titanic finally reaches New York, and the mayor is visited (and berated by) the late Mayor LaGuardia.
History Marches On: When the Titanic is shown arriving in port, it has a huge hole in the prow.
Hoist by His Own Petard: The Ghostbusters use a positively-charged version of Vigo's slime to animate the Statue of Liberty, which allows them to bypass the slime barrier surrounding the Manhattan Museum of Modern Art. The slime blowers are then key to incapacitating Janosz and the possessed Ray without hurting them. When Vigo is forced back into the painting, the slime blowers are the only weapon that visibly hurt him.
Jerkass: Egon with his hilariously cruel experiments, including fooling a couple into thinking they are there for marriage counseling and watching them from behind a two-way mirror, then making them wait for hours and slowly pushing up the temperature.
Large Ham: The judge, especially during his "BURNED AT THE STAKE!!!!" rant.
Magic Skirt: The prosecuting attorney is lifted by her leg by a ghost, but her skirt stays up the entire time. (The novelisation of the movie says that she was struggling to keep her skirt from rolling over.)
&&The updated Ghostbusters sign with the ghost giving the "two" sign. The movie revolved around their comeback after five years of inactivity, so a redesigned logo might seem fitting. It was also their second run as ecto-exterminators. Furthermore, the "two" sign is better known as the V Sign, "V for Victory," from World War II. So the logo is the Ghostbusters' Take That to the authorities that shut them down after the first movie. The fact that it is holding up two fingers is coincidental (at least from the story point of view). Combining these two, V is the Roman numeral for 5.
Peter Venkman: 105 years old, he hung in there, didn't he?
Ray: He didn't die of old age, either. He was poisoned, stabbed, shot, hung, stretched, disembowled, drawn and quartered.
Peter Venkman: Ouch.
Real-Life Relative: Ivan Reitman's son and future director Jason Reitman plays the boy at the birthday party in the beginning who tells Ray "My dad says you guys are full of crap", and Jason's sister plays the girl with the puppy in Egon's experiment.
The Renfield: Janosz, who was played by Peter MacNicol, who also played the Renfield in Dracula: Dead And Loving It.
Sequel Reset: Peter and Dana have split up, only to rekindle their relationship. The Ghostbusters were sued out of business, only to get it going once again. They are interfered with by an Obstructive Bureaucrat until the Mayor asks for their help. It's these things that hurt the otherwise enjoyable Ghostbusters II.
Sinister Subway: Home to an Afterlife Express, which is a Call Back to an offhand comment in the first film, when a reporter informs viewers that his grandmother used to tell ghost stories about a spectral locomotive.
As another example of Shown Their Work, in searching for the source of the supernatural energy spike which caused little Oscar's runaway Baby Carriage at the start of the movie, the Ghostbusters discover the fictional Van Horne station filled by the river of slime. This is a reference to Beach's Pneumatic Railway which was built beneath Broadway and later shut down by Boss Tweed, and the movie depiction even resembles some of Beach's designs with its tile walls and mosaic frescoes. (Interestingly, while the Manhattan Museum of Art was also fictional, the building used for its facade, the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House near Battery Park, is within a mile of the original tunnel's location.)
Ray: I'm afraid the vibrations would shake her to pieces. We should have padded her feet …
Theme Tune Cameo: Ray and Winston try to sing the GB theme song at a birthday party for "ungrateful yuppie larvae", but sadly, they're shouted down by their cries for He-Man.
You Have to Believe Me: A certain amount of this helps Hardemeyer in getting the Ghostbusters committed, and in the psychiatrist not believing a word they said. Even Dana, despite the slime covering them, doesn't seem to respond well.
, as it was announced that production on the third film was to start in Spring 2012, with or without Murray's involvement. It was officially announced later that year that Murray is in fact not going to return, and … ugh, just see this page for more information.But for now…WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
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