History Film / Ghostbusters1984

** Despite his attitude and the fact that he's essentially the personification of government overreach in America, Peck, as the head of environmental safety, is entirely right to be concerned about people using unregulated and potentially dangerous equipment. Even the Ghostbusters admit their tech isn't exactly safe. Peck loses points because he's clearly biased in his attempts to have the Ghostbusters shut down, and he sails right over the line when he shuts off the containment unit despite all warnings.

'''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!\\

* ItsPersonal: Venkman alludes to this while the guys are busting Slimer.
-->'''Venkman:''' Maybe now you'll never slime someone with a ''positron collider,'' huh?!

** Dean Yeager is unnecessarily caustic when kicking the future Ghostbusters out of their university, but he's right that they hadn't provided any confirmation of any of their theories, and we've already seen that Venkman's EstablishingCharacterMoment gives ample reason for the administrator to want the group off-campus ("Your methods are sloppy" is particularly salient. We see Venkman ignore a promising result in his psychic test in order to keep flirting with the pretty, blond coed).

'''Dana''': ''("Did he really just say that?!" look)''

* TooDumbToLive: Ray denies being a god when Gozer questions him, and as a result, he and his friends are almost killed.

* UnitConfusion: According to Venkman, he "whacked Donna with 300cc of Thorazine." It's obvious that cc's, aka cubic centimeters, was chosen just to sound more medical, but while injected medicine is commonly measured in cubic centimeters, 300cc is about half a Starbucks venti, and is a simply ''ridiculous'' amount to be carrying, much less ''injecting'' into someone. In fact, it would be impossible to inject that much fluid at once into a healthy body without causing serious health issues.

* WidescreenShot: 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, it's not even noticeable unless you've seen the widescreen cut.

[[folder:#-D]]

[[folder:E-I]]

* FreezeFrameBonus: While Dana is unpacking her groceries during the kitchen scene, there is a pack of Stay-Puft marshmallows in one of the bags.

[[folder:J-O]]

[[folder:P-Z]]

-->'''Peter:''' ''Nobody'' steps on a church in my town!\\

-->'''Peter:''' I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it! LET'S DO IT!

** The following year there was ''Ghostbusters: The Supernatural Spectacular'' by Richard Mueller. An AdaptationExpansion adding [[DeletedScene Deleted Scenes]] and character backstories.

** Vinz Klortho rattles of the history of his sect in a serious of allusions to bizarre and bloody events. What the hell was the "Rectification of the Vuldranai?" or the "Third Reconciliation of the Last of the Meketrex Supplicants"?

* {{Novelization}}: It got two of them:

* TrustMeImAnX: "Back off, man, I'm a scientist."

* AmbiguousGender: Gozer appears female when "she" first comes in, 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.

(Funny because two doors down from the NYC building ''is'' a church.)

* NoodleIncident: Several, including that time Egon attempted to drill a hole in his head ("That would've worked if you hadn't stopped me.") and the "VENKMAN BURN IN HELL" graffiti we see at the start of the movie.

* ArbitrarySkepticism: {{Played with}}. While Peter is certainly a believer in the paranormal, he has a bit more practical sense than Ray and Egon, who are willing to believe ''anything'' is supernaturally-related. "Right, [[SarcasmMode no human being would]] ''[[SarcasmMode ever]]'' [[SarcasmMode stack books like this]]."[[note]]Seeing as the pile is about 1-2 feet taller than any of them? Probably not.[[/note]]

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: While Walter Peck does raise legitimate issues about what the Ghostbusters are up to and how much they look like con-artists, the whole business with his Cease-and-Desist order is another matter entirely. He gets the court order far too quickly--seemingly within a day or two of his meeting with Venkman, when it should take far longer--and uses it to barge into the Ghostbusters' place of business and demand everything be turned off immediately (over the protest of the electrician he brought with him, no less), when in reality the Ghostbusters would have been given a few months to challenge the order as well as get their business in order, and someone like Peck in particular could not and should not have the authority to force them to do so--he is with the EPA, not the FBI.
** In addition, an NYPD Captain would not be going along to help enforce the shutdown order and ensure the Ghostbusters comply. NYPD Captains are considered senior management and are generally in command of precincts. In reality, a uniformed officer with the rank of Sergeant or below would be present.

** Almost subverted. Originally his job interview was to depict Winston as being overqualified, while the team would have basically taken anyone.

* BrickJoke: Ray has a rather underwhelming plan to catch the first ghost seen in the movie, shouting simply, "Get her!" Venkman chastises him for it. In the end, when confronting Gozer, Venkman suddenly shouts, "Go get her, Ray!"

'''Peter''': [[SarcasmMode Why worry?]] [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong Each of us is carrying an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back.]]
* EroticDream: Ray has one where he imagines a ghost girl giving him...um, moral support. [[spoiler: This was originally part of a DeletedScene where Ray and Winston are on a case at a haunted fort where the ghost girl had been greeting other male visitors.]]

* EvilSoundsDeep: Say it with me: '''"There is no Dana, only ''Zuul.''"'''

** Despite his attitude and the fact that he's essentially the personification of government overreach in America, Peck, as the head of environmental safety, is entirely right to be concerned about people using unregulated and potentially dangerous equipment. Even the Ghostbusters admit their tech isn't exactly safe. Peck loses points because he's clearly biased in his attempts to have the Ghostbusters shut down, and he sails right over the line when he shuts off the containment unit despite being explicitly told by its ''designers'' that it will explode without power, and furthermore by the [=ConEd=] technician (the closest thing Peck has to an expert) who says that he [[IgnoredExpert recognizes just enough of the hardware to know he doesn't feel comfortable screwing with it]].
** Dean Yeager is unnecessarily caustic when kicking the future Ghostbusters out of their university, but he's right that they hadn't provided any confirmation of any of their theories, and we've already seen that Venkman's EstablishingCharacterMoment gives ample reason for the administrator to want the group off-campus ("Your methods are sloppy" is particularly salient. We see Venkman ignore a promising result in his psychic test in order to keep flirting with the pretty, blonde coed).

* NeverRecycleABuilding: 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.

** Nestle Crunch, Nabisco Wheat Thins, Sunshine Cheez-Its, Oscar Meyer, Budweiser, Bud Light, and Hostess Twinkies are all prominently displayed in Dana's and the 'Busters' kitchens. Miller High Life gets an actual ShoutOut when Venkman triumphantly says, "It's Miller Time!" when they think they have easily dispatched with Gozer.[[note]]The last is a bit ambiguous, or was at least less blatant, given the time of production: By the '80s, the ForcedMeme was in the "ironic usage" stage of its arc, becoming a common ObligatoryJoke along the lines of "We win, let's go get drunk".[[/note]]

** This may be more a case of ProperlyParanoid given that Venkman has [=PhDs=] in Psychology and Parapsychology, and he works in a profession where running into someone who is possessed and dangerous is a rather realistic possibility.
** See UnitConfusion for the real problems with that bit of dialogue.

** On the other hand, Egon does correctly calculate the cost of interest on the family home Ray re-mortgages. Nineteen percent at a flat rate multiplied over five years is indeed $95,000, and as a side benefit reveals to the audience that the total value of Ray's third mortgage was exactly $100,000.

* ButtMonkey: The male ESP test student who gets zapped whether his answers are wrong or almost exactly right, [[ExactWords especially when he guesses a couple of wavy lines when there are three of them.]]

** Louis doesn't have very good luck throughout the movie, and most of the people who show up to his party seem to be clients rather than friends.
** Louis outright says he invited clients rather than friends because it allows him to write the party off as a business expense. It appears the man's life revolves entirely around tax law.

'''Peter''': [[SarcasmMode Why worry?]] [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong Each of us is carrying an unlicensed nuclear reactor on his back.]]

In 2014, plans for a ContinuityReboot were announced, directed by Creator/PaulFeig. For more details, see the ''Film/Ghostbusters2016'' page. As publicity for the 2016 version, the first film was re-released in theaters with a "behind the scene" sneak peek of the new film. In January 2019, a sequel to the second film, ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'', was formally announced, due to release in 2021.

* {{Novelization}}: It got two of them.

Three parapsychology professors--earnest, forthright, and curious Dr. Raymond Stantz (Akyroyd), sarcastic schemer Dr. Peter Venkman (Creator/BillMurray), and detached academic Dr. Egon Spengler (Ramis)--have finally succeeded in discovering proof that ghosts exist! Unfortunately, they also discover that they have been fired from their positions at Columbia University in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity. Facing dire prospects in finding new collegiate employment, Venkman has a brainstorm: go professional as paranormal investigators and exterminators. 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, with cellist Dana Barrett (Creator/SigourneyWeaver)--who becomes Peter's LoveInterest--as their sole client. As they begin researching her case, the number of ghosts in New York City increases exponentially.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The Ghostbusters have their BigDamnHeroes moment, arriving to cheering crowds at Dana's apartment building. Cut to them dragging themselves and their heavy gear up twenty-one flights of stairs. There's a reason buildings weren't typically built past six stories before the invention of elevators.

* LikeRealityUnlessNoted: We are supposed to assume this world is like our own, excepting there is actual scientific, verifiable evidence of the paranormal ([[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement while the existence of such is a contentious issue in real-life]]). The fact that Egon has already built/bought a PKE meter suggests someone has detected the energy previously, however, their world appears to have the same amount of belief and skepticism as ours.

* SharedMassHallucination / ScoobyDooHoax: {{Discussed}} 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.
* ShoutOut: Several ''very'' subtle ones, best illustrated by the bleeding walls at the 53rd precinct. There is no 53rd precinct...outside of the early {{Buddy Cop|Show}} sitcom ''Series/Car54WhereAreYou''. The dynamic between Ray and Egon has numerous nods to the HamAndDeadpanDuo protagonists of the series (both {{Cloudcuckoolander}}s, in their own way), while the Ecto-1 and the scenes of it tearing through the streets of New York with siren blaring bear a strong resemblance to the namesake car 54. The bleeding walls mention itself is a shout-out to Film/TheAmityvilleHorror1979.

* WidescreenShot: 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 …
* WritersCannotDoMath: Egon describes the paranormal activity in the New York area as "a twinkie 35 feet long, weighing approximately 600 pounds". A 600-pound twinkie would only be 6.4 feet long, and a 35 foot long Twinkie would weigh approximately ''50 tons''.
* XRaySparks: Shown when the lightning strikes Dana and Louis atop Gozer's temple. Sparks briefly reveal their human skeletons, after they transform into Terror Dogs the sparks reveal the demonic monsters skeletons instead.
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: 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!"). Better yet, respected city officials like the City Fire Chief and the Archbishop of New York support the Ghostbusters' case with rational observations of the bizarre phenomena plaguing the city that defies any explanation other than the Busters' (while the Archbishop supports the Ghostbusters he states the rest of the clergy are still trying to reach a consensus). 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.

* ShackleSeatTrap: Dana's abduction by Zuul is facilitated by an armchair that sprouts actual, demonic arms to grab her.

* ShoutOut: Several ''very'' subtle ones, best illustrated by the bleeding walls at the 53rd precinct. There is no 53rd precinct...outside of the early {{Buddy Cop|Show}} sitcom ''Series/Car54WhereAreYou''. The dynamic between Ray and Egon has numerous nods to the HamAndDeadpanDuo protagonists of the series (both {{Cloudcuckoolander}}s, in their own way), while the Ecto-1 and the scenes of it tearing through the streets of New York with siren blaring bear a strong resemblance to the namesake car 54.

* SkepticNoLonger: Winston is just looking for a paycheck at first and seems unconvinced the supernatural even exists. He quickly comes to feel otherwise.

** The drab jumpsuit-wearing Ghostbusters strike quite a contrasting figure with the fancy guests of the Sedgwick hotel. When the Ghostbusters emerge covered in sweat and bearing the smoking ghost trap, the surrounding hotel staff and guests are visibly horrified.

* SomethingElseAlsoRises: A subtle and easy-to-miss one. When possessed Dana and possessed Louis finally meet up, they share a passionate kiss before ascending to the rooftop. We later see the Ghostbusters arrive at the foot of the building, the sky darkens and they are nearly swallowed up by an earthquake; in other words, ''the earth moves''. Shortly afterward, Dana and Louis are shown lying on a ceremonial table on the rooftop, looking exhausted and Louis' belt is ripped apart.

* StatuesqueStunner: A relative example. The woman at Louis' party who agrees to dance with him to liven things up is somewhat striking and stands about a head taller than Louis (although he is a bit short, hence the relative part).

* StyrofoamRocks: 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.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The Ghostbusters have their BigDamnHeroes moment, arriving to cheering crowds at Dana's apartment building. Cut to them dragging themselves and their heavy gear up twenty-one flights of stairs. There's a reason buildings weren't built past six stories before the invention of elevators.
* SweetTooth: Egon has one, that he's apparently trying with limited success to overcome. After the library ghost, Peter teases him with a Nestle Crunch bar before giving it to him as a reward and telling him he's earned it. Later, Egon is seen eating a Twinkie and using it to describe the paranormal activity to Winston.

* TailorMadePrison: All of the ghosts who get captured get placed into the nuclear-powered Containment Unit. Instant Catastrophe? [[SealedEvilInACan Turn off the Unit.]]

-->"Personally, I preferred the university; they gave us money and facilities, we didn't have to produce anything! You've never been out of college, you don't know what it's like out there! I've worked in the private sector...they expect ''results''."

* ThoughtAversionFailure: During the climax, Gozer demands that the Ghostbusters think about the form it should take to destroy their world, and so they have to avoid thinking about anything. Ray instead thinks about the most harmless thing he can, bringing the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man into existence.

* TooDumbToLive: Ray denies being a god when Gozer questions him, as a result, he and his friends are almost killed.

** Egon is prone to these. He says "bad" when what he means is "catastrophic".

* UnitConfusion: According to Venkman, he "whacked Donna with 300cc of Thorazine". It's obvious that CC's, aka cubic centimeters, was chosen just to sound more medical, but while injected medicine is commonly measured in cubic centimeters, 300cc is about half a Starbuck venti, and is a simply ''ridiculous'' amount to be carrying, much less ''injecting'' in someone. In fact it would be impossible to inject that much fluids at once into a healthy body without causing serious health issues.

* WhamLine: "...I couldn't help it. ...it just popped in there..."
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The 'busters get their initial capital by mortgaging Ray's family house at an absurd interest rate. We never learn whether they earned enough money fast enough to save it from being foreclosed.

-->'''Dean Yeager:''' Doctor...Venkman. We believe the purpose of science is to serve mankind. You however seem to regard science as some kind of dodge...or hustle. Your theories are the worst kind of popular tripe, your methods are sloppy, and your conclusions are highly questionable! You are a poor scientist, Dr. Venkman.

** While in his female human form, the evil deity Gozer the Gozerian has red eyes.

* NeverMyFault: Walter Peck condemns the Ghostbusters for causing the explosion he himself had caused, in spite of the warnings from both them and the Con Edison technician.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In the climax, Ray screws up majorly twice - first by nearly getting his team zapped off the tower by confessing to not being a god and later Gozer tells the Ghostbusters to choose the form of the Destructor. Ray thinks of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man (whom he believes to be totally harmless), whereupon Gozer (reading Ray's mind) assumes the form of the Marshmallow Man and wreaks havoc.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: All hell breaks loose on New York City when {{Jerkass}} Walter Peck brings out the paperwork ordering the containment unit to be shut down, believing it to be a dire environmental hazard, thereby making sure the city needs to Ghostbusters to fix things in spite of his attempts to shut them down.
* NobleDemon: Vinz is the Keymaster charged with opening the gates of Armageddon, and he's pretty destructive in terror dog form. In Louis' body, however, he's fairly affable and curious about the world he finds himself in. He also seems to have a moral code, displayed when he encounters a horse in "slavery".

* TheNotSoHarmlessPunishment: 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.

** And again when Stay-Puft turns to face them with its maniacal grin …

* OneWingedAngel: Gozer, initially appearing in a female humanoid form, turns into a giant Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man for the second half of his fight with the Ghostbusters. Not the most menacing One-Winged Angel, but still a threat to the city.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Egon, of all people, tries to start a fistfight with Peck while dropping a PrecisionFStrike (although it may also be heard as him insulting his mother, considering the soundtrack censors it a bit) after Peck's stupidity causes a catastrophe and Peck blames it on the Ghostbusters.
* OutrankingYourJob: A subtle example - the police officer seen accompanying Walter Peck when he serves his Cease and Desist order wears captain's insignia. While Peck's ego and the Ghostbusters' celebrity status might explain the personal involvement of mid-to-upper-level NYPD management[[labelnote:*]]An NYPD captain would normally command an entire precinct[[/labelnote]] it still begs the question of why the captain is the ''only'' officer present.

* PersonalArcade: In the first night of the franchise, the guys' upper-level loft includes two arcade video games (''VideoGame/MissileCommand'' and ''Star Castle'') and a ''Pinball/StarGazer'' pinball machine next to the fireman's pole.
* PillarOfLight: Rises over the city when the ecto-containment unit explodes, releasing all of the ghosts trapped.

** As Dana walks in to ask for help Ray is working on the Ecto-1, which is unpainted. She and Peter leave to check out her apartment. After that scene, the three are eating Chinese with the last of the petty cash and speaking ''as if'' the Dana incident had only just happened and was a failure. Then they get their hotel call and the Ecto-1 is ready to roll - completely fixed and painted.
** Tully mentions before Dana's incident that he's having a party coming up in two weeks. He throws a party on the night Gozer arrives. In between, the Ghostbusters do a variety of jobs and become a major media sensation, seemingly spanning a few months at least. It's unclear if Tully's party is supposed to be the one he's talking about at the beginning of the film or a second one.

'''Venkman:''' ...let's show this [[EldritchAbomination prehistoric]] [[PrecisionFStrike bitch]] how we do things [[BigApplesauce downtown]].

** 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.

** Nestle Crunch, Nabisco Wheat Thins, Sunshine Cheez-Its, Oscar Meyer, Budweiser, Bud Light, and Hostess Twinkies are all prominently displayed in Dana's and the Busters' kitchens. Miller High Life gets an actual ShoutOut when Venkman triumphantly says, "It's Miller Time!" when they think they have easily dispatched with Gozer.[[note]]The last is a bit ambiguous, or was at least less blatant, given the time of production: By the 80s the ForcedMeme was in the "ironic usage" stage of its arc, becoming a common ObligatoryJoke along the lines of "We win, let's go get drunk".[[/note]]
** They initially wanted to use the Pillsbury Dough-boy as Gozer's final form but couldn't get the rights; Pillsbury didn't want their lovable mascot portrayed as a world-destroying villain. Thus was born the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
** And all the Coca-Cola products seen- Coke, Diet Coke, and Tab- are because, believe it or not, Coca-Cola actually owned Columbia at the time! (But unlike Creator/{{Sony}}'s current ownership, it was never referenced on theatrical movies or on video; the TV division (and subsequent acquisitions, such as Creator/MervGriffin Enterprises) ''did'' have the byline.)
* RaisedHandOfSurvival: During her possession, Dana Barrett is transformed into a dog demon after she and Louis Tully opened the portal for Gozer. After Gozer is destroyed the demon's charred, stone body is found. Her hand [[IronicEcho breaks out of the body]], showing that she's still alive inside it.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: Venkman is sometimes given the RonTheDeathEater treatment for using Thorazine to pacify a possessed Dana since it seems like he brought a powerful tranquilizer with him ''on a date''. While psychology is not a field of medicine, psychologists can indeed prescribe medication if they've gotten sufficient medical training (as for how he got it, Louis earlier mentioned a nearby pharmacy that delivers to the apartments).[[note]]This is not the case in real-world New York, but the larger point stands that a psychologist prescribing meds is far from impossible.[[/note]]
** This may be more a case of ProperlyParanoid given that Venkman has [=PhDs=] in Psychology and Parapsychology and works in a profession where running into someone who is possessed and dangerous is a rather realistic possibility.
** See UnitConfusion for the real problems with that bit of dialogue