Great Science Fiction Comedy Film

Rating: 9/10 (6 September 2001)

Ghostbusters introduced a new way of making comedy films that few films since have properly duplicated; the art of mixing special effects with humor. Even the horrible special effects work, simply because the film uses them so effectively.
Bill Murray was the best choice for Peter Venkman, a person whose easy to dislike, but impossible to hate. Bill made Peter work, and made the romance between Peter and Dana Barrett believable.
Dan Aykroyd, who also co wrote the film, also made Ray Stantz work excellently, a man no one could hate, no matter how stupid he acted. I loved his speeches, which made the circumstances he was in funny and enjoyable.
Sigourney Weaver also made Dana Barrett a fun character who made her place in the movie by being sensible, not deliberately funny. The non-sense of Zuul, which she also played perfectly, also turned out to be great fun.
Harold Ramis, Dan's co-writer, gave Egon Spengler a great part as well. It was entertaining to see him serve as the straight man while everyone else were making so many jokes, yet still remain one of the funniest characters in the film.
Annie Potts receptionist/secretary also made the film fun; her perfect New York accent and her attitude made the part fun to watch.
Rick Moranis also made his role fun to watch; I have to respect an intelligent man who can play a moronic character so well, and Rick's character did great in the role.
And to ignore the great parts William Ackerman and Ernie Hudson gave to the film would be a great act of injustice; Ackerman was easy to hate, and willing to play the fool, to an extent, while Ernie did a wonderful job as the fourth Ghostbuster, giving some of his best lines in the film during the battle against Gozer.
I wish more films would take the example from Ghostbusters; the use of personality and good acting is far more important in a film than special effects, but special effects, when used properly, make a film excellent.