Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver

Fired from their university research jobs, Drs. Venkman, Stantz, and Spengler promptly set up shop as parapsychologists specializing in psychic phenomena and soon they're ridding Manhattan of bizarre ...( read more  read more... )apparitions. But the talents of these spirit exterminators--Ghostbusters--are severely tested when beautiful Dana Barrett and her nerdy neighbor become possessed by demons living in their building.

Flixster Users

81% liked it

750,592 ratings

Critics

93% liked it

45 critics

PG, 1 hr. 47 min.

Directed by: Ivan Reitman

Release Date: June 1, 1984

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: June 29, 1999

Get It:

Stats: 38,976 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Your Rating



clear rating

Flixster Reviews (38,976)


  • October 10, 2006
    Where would we be without "Ghostbusters"? It's a comedy classic on so many levels.
  • November 3, 2009
    I grew up with this classic, it was huge on release and I loved it (it scared me too haha) the effects still hold up today and make modern movies look poor..stil.
    Again another near perfect classic 80's flick.
  • September 24, 2009
    Ghostbusters is an excellent 80?s comedy classic and I love it.
  • August 31, 2009
    Among many things that are bad after revisiting them, this is not one of them. Still one of my all time favorites.
  • August 29, 2009
    Is there any moviegoer in this day and age who HASN'T heard of Ghostbusters? It's so well loved, it's one of the rare franchises to gain wide acceptance based on just two films (well, alright, there are a couple of cartoons but they don't appear to be in the same continuity as th...( read more)e films. Bring on the third film!) It has inspired many a video game too and as of posting this review, my copy of the video game has yet to arrive.the latest looks to be the most faithful yet, since the original cast reunite to voice their characters.

    I want to say right off that I know of the original script ideas for this film and I'm really glad they were rejected. The original conception involved the Ghostbusters traveling through time, space and other dimensions and using wands to fight ghosts. I can accept the far-out, wacky things on something like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but Ghostbusters benefits from being set in the modern day, on our planet. Similar to the Back To The Future trilogy, one of the films key charms is having fantastical science but not making the audience feel stupid while maintaining the idea that it could be possible to do this (though definitely not something that should be done at home. Unless you're a Mythbuster and I don't see Jamie and Adam going for this one just yet).
    Though, one idea I was sad to see go was the original idea for Gozer ("played" by Slavitza Jovan, a model. Her voice was dubbed over by Patti Edwards and was the worst aspect of the film in my opinion. The term "Narm" comes to mind when I think of the voice...). Gozer was originally supposed to resemble an ordinary looking man played by Paul Reubens.
    ... Why exactly did this not happen?! The potential for more laughs was right there! Play him as serious as possible, give him some great lines, how hard could it be?! What might have been, eh...

    Anyway, one of the other great ingredients of the film is the contrasting personalities of the characters. Dan Akroyd's Ray Stantz is like a wide-eyed optimistic child (he just loves that fireman's pole!); Harold Ramis plays Egon Spengler as stoic, scientific-minded and serious (but it's always a joy to see him smile. And I loved the ad-libbed line about the attempt he made to drill a hole in his skull "That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me"); for the role of Winston Zeddemore, Ernie Hudson steps in to portray him as an outsider slowly seeping into a new world and essentially being the audience surrogate (and a damn good one at that); and of course, as smarmy almost car salesman-like Peter Venkman, Bill Murray takes on the role and it fits like a glove (although this is both a blessing and a curse as he would be typecast into similar roles for sometime. But then, if you are going to write one of these roles, you should get the best and Bill is without equal). Throw in Annie Potts as sarcastic secretary supreme Janine, Sigourney Weaver as the lovely Dana and Rick Moranis as lonely accountant Louis and you have an all star tour de force.

    Of course, even a great cast needs snappy dialogue to work with and this film is in no short supply. The entire scene in the mayor's office, the antics at the hotel, sharply written. Who could forget the infamous "Yes, it's true... this man has no dick" or what will happen to the city if Gozer is successful (my personal favourite possibility is the forty years of darkness). And I defy any of you not to laugh when Ray politely asks Gozer to leave New York.

    And the effects... they go unparalleled, even today. Slimer, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, the librarian ghost. CGI may be the new thing, but Ghostbusters makes most CGI films look pathetic in comparison (Chicken Little, Robots, that means you in particular).

    And no review of Ghostbusters would be complete without mentioning the theme song. Too damn catchy to ever leave your head. No matter how much you want it to go, it ain't going. But it's easy to learn and fun to sing.

    A staple of the 80's, it transcends time. I will love this film until the day I die. Now come on, sing it with me, bustin' makes me feel good!
  • November 7, 2009
    This is a funny movie with three of the funniest actors as lead characters!
  • November 7, 2009
    i don't remember if i've seen this or not lmao
  • November 3, 2009
    Excellent classic movie! One of my all time favourite. Stay Puft is the cutest ghost in the universe!
  • November 1, 2009
    "Next time somebody asks you if you're a god, you say 'YES!'"
  • October 31, 2009
    Like back to the future this is a timeless comedy classic. The acting is great, the story is substantial and the script is witty. There is not a lot I can say but it is an awesome movie.

Critic Reviews


October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

This movie is an exception to the general rule that big special effects can wreck a comedy. full review

View more Ghost Busters (Ghostbusters) reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • MorpheusOne
    July 5, 2009
    I actually heard that this movie, originally, was to star John Belushi in the role of Dr. Peter Venkman and that it was Mr Belushi's untimely demise that caused them to put a halt to the film, to give them time to find a replacement for him in that role, where they then could resume preproduction, which occurs before filming. This was in an interview with Harold Ramis and he went into some detail about how the script itself had to be rewritten to fit the actor to replace him, which was Bill Murray. The script, based on how it had to be rewritten to fit Bill Murray, inevitably would have been quite different if John Belushi had succeeded in playing the role of Dr. Venkman makes me wonder what this movie would have been like.

    I guess we will never know.
  • JonnyMac78
    December 3, 2008
    "Is this true?"
    "Yes, this man has no dick!"
  • SkywalkerJones
    September 17, 2008
    Kick ass movie,man.Ghostbusters forever.
  • jessecoli
    January 11, 2008
    "Nobody steps on a church in my town!"

    "Yes, have some."

    "Tell him about the Twinkie."
  • keymasterforzuul
    July 16, 2007
    That Was your whole plan Ray..."GET HER?!"
  • derrykidd
    March 29, 2007
    "I'm studying the effects of negative reinforcement on esp ability"

    "The effect? I'll tell you what the effect is, it's pissing me off!"

    "Well then maybe my theory is correct Mister!"
  • Keaven
    January 6, 2007
    "If someone asks if you are a God.. You say yes!"

    "So who wants to play Parcheesy? OK, who brought the Dog?"

    "Mother-puss-bucket!"

    "Yes, it's true... This man has no dick"

    We Came. We saw. We kicked its ass!


    And many more that currently escape me.
  • LadyGeekdom
    December 16, 2006
    "Lets split up"
    "Yeah, we can do more damage that way"
    Class.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Official Trailer

More Like This


Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Casper
    Casper (64%)
  • Back to the Future
    Back to the Future (67%)
  • Gremlins 2 - The New Batch
    Gremlins 2 - The New Batch (67%)
  • The Fifth Element
    The Fifth Element (33%)

Theater Showtimes & TV Listings


Ghost Busters (Ghostbusters) Trivia


  • "Who ya gonna call..."?  Answer »
  • Ray, when someone asks if you're a God, you say "Yes"! This line is from what classic film of the 80's  Answer »
  • Name the film that this audio clip comes from  Answer »
  • "If theres something strange in your neighbourhood... Who ya gunna call?"  Answer »

Most Popular Skin