Ghostbusters 2 (1989)

Bill Murray Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis take up their proton packs once more to battle the forcesof evil in Manhattan! After waging a war on slime that cost New York City millions the Ghostbusters find themselves out of business until an ancient tyrant preparing a return to the Earthly domain through his portrait at the Manhattan Museum of Modern Art sets his sights on Dana Barrett's baby as the new home for his wicked soul! With the help of the Museum's possessed curator he plans to turn New York into a really scary place to live! Now only the Ghostbusters can save New York City by turning paranormal pest control into an art form!Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 043396141230 Manufacturer No: 14123 Product Description

One of the best sequels ever

this film was more creppy than the original in so many elements: the slime was growing when people were p*ssed off. the scoleri brothers were scarier than slimer the song monologue when the ghostbusters were in the nuthouse Vigo the painting shows up more than Gozer in part one. Though there are punchlines that people might repeat such as the "sometimes s**t happens", it could've work better as a comedy like the original. Anyway, this is the only sequel i watch during my senior year because there were somethings that made me freaked out. I have the entire soundtrack and I get crazed on the sequel whenever I'm scared or in a jolly mode. This if the first movie you should see on Halloween then the original and so forth. October 9, 2008

THE PROTON PACK IS NOT A TOY.

I was just a little kid when this came out in the theater. I was too young to see the original in theaters, but by the time of the sequel (five years later) I, with millions of other kids, was a complete fanatic. I waited with bated breath for this thing to come out back in the summer of 1989... I watched my taped-off-TV copy of the original ten times a day in preperation... etc.
I could never not like this second offering, but even at the age of six, I was somewhat confused at some of the elements in Ghostbusters 2. (I deep analyzed every detail then, even more than I'm about to do now..) Stylistically, the movie falls way short of the first. This is odd, because all the same people were involved, who made the first movie so unique. From director Ivan Reitman, all the way down to that guy who played the mayor. Even the concept for the second script had a great idea, that just seems somewhat mishandled in the production. This could have easily been on par with the original, but a few things make it lack. The music for instance is pretty cheesy. Theres this goopy generic piano stuff thats all over the place, like Reitman just picked up some rights for it on the cheap. The quirky score for the first is nowhere to be found.
The first twenty minutes of the movie waste way too much time trying to show how all the characters went their own seperate ways after the battle with Gozer in the first. These sideplots date the movie (mention of the world ending on new years 1989...feh..)and are pretty much useless to the overall story. Also to many shots are taken at the fact that in 1989, Ghostbusters had become such a huge franchise for kids. Like the line "The proton pack is not a toy". I had a toy proton pack. It was cool. The scene where Ray and Winston sing for a bunch of kids was somewhat pointless, and since its right at the beginning of the movie, the whole vibe is cheapened right off the bat. Also, whats with Winston shaving the mustache? He was such a bad ass in the first movie, and he's pretty goofy in this outing. Did he just not dig the mustache anymore? maybe,, but I think that Ivan Reitman wanted him to resemble the cartoon version more. And maybe to be a little less tough looking. For the kids.
Also, Annie Potts' Janine was made to look more like the cartoon version. Although, she must have taken some sexy pills, because she's way hotter this time around, and it works for her. The cartoon Janine was originally a cross between Annie Potts' original likeness and I think, Cyndi Lauper. Cartoon Janine was kinda trashy at first (japanese animation values) Around the third season, the cartoon changed her image completely, to the the big round glasses and the bright long red hair, making the cartoon Janine a lot more conservative looking. Annie Potts took this new cartoon likeness and floozed it up quite a bit. I crack up when she seduces Rick Moranis later in the film. Still, this is just another crack at the franchise itself, although one that worked well.
Anyway, I guess it doesn't really matter now. I still think that there should be a third one. The first Ghostbusters may easily be my favorite movie of all time, but the second one is just a somewhat ok attempt to keep the ball going... even though it never went any further. The first installment is timeless and will be enjoyed for generations to come, but this one may not live on past the memories of some us perpetually six year old fans from the summer of 1989. Bobby Brown On Our Own! What what!!! October 8, 2008

Not as original as the first, but that would be hard to do.

However, they did get the same cast which is 1/2 the battle as far as a sequel goes. I think that terminator 3 suffered severely for lack of original cast. Too, bad because I really liked that storyline. Ghostbusters should have made a third movie, but not now because it's too late, Unless it's a really good script. October 7, 2008

Cartoon

Ghostbusters II is both an insult to the original and to the audience sitting through it. The film has none of the charm that made the original work and the effects are ATROCIOUS. The music is absolutely lousy and the plot makes the original look like The Merchant of Venice. First off, the characters are less serious in their intentions and more drawn from a comic strip. The success of the original and the cartoons series must have had a push in this. Rick Moranis is wasted from being a real person in the original (that might be a stretching description) to a poor sap delivering some of the worst one-liners in history. Harold Ramis is a parody of himself in the original, remember how humorless he was? Even Sigourney Weaver doesn't carry any sort of context with her character this time around. A movie like this must mix the elements of comedy and horror effectively, Ghostbusters II doesn't. It tries too hard to be funny without letting situations build themselves up as in the first. Even Venkman's delivery is totally off. Overall, a total waste. Just watch Ghostbusters again and don't even both with this one. The message in particular is both too pacifist like that year's The Abyss (a far superior film) and too simple for any audience outside of fourth grade. October 5, 2008

Underrated follow-up!

Five years after the events of the amazing four battling the forces of Gozar, The foursome Peter (Bill Murray), Ray (Dan Ackroyd), Egon (Harold Ramis) and Winston (Ernie Hudson) are out of business, doing kids parties and other jobs on their hands. Dana Barron (Sigourney Weaver) has a child now and works at a museum now, but unfortunately a new painting has arrived featuring legendary renissance warrior/sorcerer Viggo (Wilhem Von Hemburg) and it's cursed especially a river of slime underneath the city of New York that causes evil spirits. One day the four fellows are arrested for violating their restraining order as they must prove themselves in court that they are not frauds but when two evil spirits intterupt the trail, they now convience the judge that their restraining order to be off and back to business of being Ghostbusters. Reunited with Louis Tully (Rick Moranis) and Janine (Annie Potts), the incredible four must stop the forces of evil on New Year's eve before Vigo can possess Dana's child and take over the world.

Very entertaining and underrated sequel! Sure it doesn't have any of the sheer brilliance or excellence that made the first movie a classic but this is still an exciting sequel with good laughs. The creature effects and special effects are done by Industrial Light and Magic, i think they are well done effects including on the Scareli Brothers sequence in the court. The acting is good and the storyline isn't too bad, the film offers a couple of appearences by Cheech Marin and Ben Stein and this is worth another look.

This DVD offers great picture and sound but a lack of extras as the only extras is filmographies of crew and stars and trailers to this and other Sony releases. "Ghostbusters 3" is coming soon for real, i can't hardly wait. September 17, 2008

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