Ghostbusters: Answer the Call [Blu-ray] [2016]

The Ghostbusters reboot was always going to be facing an uphill battle, even before it was announced that the new leads would all be female, sparking a flame war. The original film, and even its less successful sequel, are now considered classics and many people grew up watching them over and over. Make no mistake, the original film is excellent, with solid jokes, great performances, memorable visuals, and some really strong elements of horror. However, chances are it can't live up to the lofty image of perfection most fans have in their heads, because quite frankly, I'm not sure any movie is as good as many people remember that film being. So this reboot was already up against impossible standards before the first trailer was even released. For me, I walked in with a different standard, based on the more recent films of writer/director Paul Feig and lead actors Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, which I have largely adored. Based on that standard, the film was a bit of a disappointment. I laughed a whole lot less than I expected to and the plot never felt like it hit a good pace, wildly jumping from moment to moment. Most of the characters were just not particularly interesting, relying too much on stereotypes and leaving a talented cast without much to work with. The cameos from the original team of Ghostbusters were even more perplexing BY far, the highlights were the performances of Chris Hemsworth, who was funnier than he has ever been, and Kate McKinnon, the film's MVP. McKinnon constantly gave her scenes an energy that made the film temporarily come alive and she easily had the biggest laughs. At times, she felt like she belonged in a different film, but that film looked a whole lot better than the one she was stuck in, so I didn't mind. In the end, I found the film to be decent, but not up to the standards of what we should expect from a cast and crew with such talent. It didn't deserve the hatred of angry sexists and purists, nor did it deserve the praise of critics scared of being lumped in with that crowd. The reason this gets 4 stars instead of 5 is the presentation. This is just a fantastic package and it's the main reason that I ended up caving in and purchasing it. The artwork on the steel book is excellent and this is one of the first releases to include 4K, 3D, Blu-ray, and digital all together. It has been frustrating trying to decide what to do about other releases where buying both the 3D and 4K versions can set you back upwards of $70, so this was much appreciated. Also, while I haven't been able to sit down and watch the entire cut, what I've seen of the extended version is actually a noticeably more entertaining experience. I completely understand having to edit down a film for pacing and cohesion and understand that studios also prefer a shorter film that can be shown more times a day in the theatre, but this is a case where it seems as though much of the humor I expected was cut out in favor of a somewhat mediocre plot. As I write this, the version I'm reviewing is listed as clearance at $19.99. All I can say is that if you're on the fence, debating the purchase, do it. Any doubts you might have because the film wasn't as good as you'd hoped will likely be overcome by a truly superb presentation.

Okay. Ghostbusters 2016. I'll get my bias out of the way immediately: I'm a huge Ghostbusters fan, the kind of fan that owns every release, built a proton pack, and dreams of owning an Ecto-1 one day. I've been waiting for Ghostbusters 3 for years; I always dreamed of sitting in the theater and seeing that title on the screen. However, after Harold Ramis passed away I knew that was never going to happen, and if it did, it wouldn't be what I wanted. I accepted that, and took GB: The Video Game as the final story of the 1984 group. Fast forward to GB2016. So much press over the gender-swap, I just can't deal with it. I'll put it this way: if you don't like women, yeah you won't like this movie. That said, this is a decent comedy from good people. I trusted Paul Feig, Katie Dippold... Melissa and Kristen. I was willing to accept seeing a new take on the story, just as I've read a novel and the various comics from other artists. In the end, the movie is okay. It did make me laugh, but it was also very disappointing. Sure, it's hard for me to be objective, but that's why this is my opinion. I've seen it about 6 times, and it doesn't hold up to repeat viewings like the original. The jokes are very 'now', there's not much smart humor and the type of jokes you see in comedies today are exactly what you see here. That's where the replay-ability comes from: there's no depth. You see the movie once and laugh, you're done. You can come back in a few years and enjoy it again, but it's more like "Oh yeah, hahaha, that was funny." Also, as much as I loved seeing the references, they really slowed the movie down. Mostly everyone you expect shows up, and some of them just slow the movie to a halt. Feig stated that the only way he knew how to make this movie funny was to reboot it, ignore the timeline of the original so that ghosts appear for the first time. My problem is that he then referenced the first movie so many times and on top of that, the concept of ghosts appearing for the first time doesn't even play out. One final note, and I have to say this... Don't hate this movie because it stars women, please, that's just wrong. However, do be critical of the lies surrounding it's production. This story could have easily been told the same way and connecting it to the same universe with these characters as children or relatives of the original 'busters, but Feig said he wanted these women to build the business themselves instead of being handed it. I'll leave you with this rebuttal: everyone in this production was handed an iconic brand on a silver platter, did any of them actually create it?

To begin, I was one of those rallying hard against this reboot. NOT, as some did, over gender-swapping, but simply due to such lackluster efforts that choose classics to remake and are nothing more than a way to pull at nostalgia with little to no respect for the source material. Off the top of my head, the only ones I'd call excellent in the past decade are Fright Night & Dawn of the Dead; they did it right at modernizing with the necessary changes that would bring without coming off as cash-grabs. In the "I can deal with it," category fell The Thing prequel and Total Recall, largely because I liked seeing what TC could bring to the table without all the camp (still love the original, however). So, I went into Ghostbusters with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. It's not great, and a good portion of the laughs actually come from outside the actual Ghostbusters in Chris Hemsworth, whose first appearance in the film actually made me laugh hard enough that I choked on a chip. As I watched this on cable, my son came down and was enthralled, which led me to introducing him to the original movie, and he's become, at almost 4 years old, all about Ghostbusters. I'll give credit to this film; it led to that interest, and we've since watched the original twice and are working our way through the Real Ghostbusters cartoon now. It's a better movie than what I would have believed, and I'm glad we watched it. With his birthday a month away, we decided to take advantage of a sale at Best Buy, and picked this up, as well as the original two movies in a 3/$20 sale. Very good bargain! For those who want a true sequel to the original films, hunt down Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which was on PS3 or XBox360. Written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, and featuring all the likenesses and voices of all the original cast, it was made in response to the cry for more Ghostbusters when the actors realized they just couldn't work out a schedule to make it happen.

I remained skeptically hopeful about the movie until I saw it, despite the public outcry before the movie came out. It was an abysmal failure. This could have been great, where the team was the daughters of the original team or somehow related or even a pass the torch to the new hires. Instead of ghost busters trapping and storing the ghosts, they shoot them with guns? and that whole gun licking thing... was that supposed to be sexy or show a love of guns, blech. The most non nonsensical was adding a dance number where the main ghost can for some reason mind control everyone but the four women GBs with no explanation. And the sexist and reverse sexist and racial stereotype jokes were not funny they were offensive. i.e. "the power of patty compels you" and the exorcist thing was one of the worst and Chris Hemsworth showing the women all he can propose for logos are big boobs was sexist and pathetic. Paul Feig should get out of the movie business, he's done. The female cast may work again or it may kill their careers too, they can be funny, but not in these roles. The worst thing the movie did... was attack its fans and call anyone that disagreed with the movie misogynists and racists when they were just as bad, yet trying to claim they were PC. I have blu-rays of the original 2 movies and will watch them over and over, but never this drivel.

Ghostbusters receives the Atmos treatment for its UHD release, and it's a winner. Though not a huge step up from the 1080p and 3D release's fantastic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, it offers notable improvements and an even fuller, richer, more detailed and lifelike presentation. Clarity seems boosted to the point that very subtle atmospherics that weren't as prominent on the other track are more so here, not over amplified but certainly much more refined and complimentary to the experience. Background equipment humming in Abby's lab is a great example. Musical delivery is fantastic, with pinpoint clarity throughout the range and a seamlessly wide and totally immersive placement around the stage. The listener practically feels directly in the middle of the orchestra, recording studio, or concert venue. With regard to the latter, the Hard Rock concert that plays a prominent role in the film springs to life with insanely aggressive musical elements which eventually give way to one of the most dynamic sonic moments in the movie. The ghostly apparition sweeps and swoops through the stage with ridiculously impressive precision in its broadest movements and the most subtle support elements alike. Bass is amazingly potent and deep and the proton pack gunfire is ridiculously fun in delivery, zapping with a tangible weight and seeming to come from all over the stage. The climactic battle segments are a lot of fun, too, yielding, again, momentous bass and information that blends seamlessly and emanates from and travels through every inch of the stage, including above. The overhead channels engage frequently and while every element is not enhanced by them, the combination of necessary discrete effects and more broadly complimenting sound detail from atop is most welcome. Rounded out by faultlessly reproduced dialogue, this is a fantastic Atmos track and a reference presentation for the format's capabilities.

I wasn't a hardcore fan of the original films. I only saw them on TV after the theatrical runs. But I found them entertaining enough to decide to buy them on disc. When this reboot came out, I was enough of a completist to want to see it too. The storyline was a bit weak in places, but switching to the female cast wasn't the disaster that many people have complained about. The performances were good. And, as best as I can recall, the humor didn't rely as much on "potty humor" as the original films. That may be either an advantage or not depending on your own point of view. With the advent of 4K UHD releases, the potential matrix of presentation features gets even bigger than before. You now have DVD, BluRay, 3D BluRay and now 4K UHD. Many films release separately for 3D BD (which almost always includes the 2D version, and often the DVD) and for 4K, but a few combine into a single release. This is one of those films. If you want the 3D version of the film, you have to buy the 4K release, even if you don't have a 4K player or TV. However, the 3D version is only available in regular HD. I have yet to see a 4K release for any film which combines 3D and 4K. (The 4K players probably don't support it.) The 3D disc contains no Bonus Features (not even Trailers or 2D BFs). All the BFs are on the 2D disc. These include 4 Deleted Scenes (about 9 minutes), 11 Extended/Altered Scenes (about 21 minutes), and various other Features running about 50 minutes. So if you like added features, this release has a good amount of non-fluff ones. I can't comment on the 4K disc/presentation or potential BFs since I don't have a 4K TV and thus couldn't play that disc.

As a child of the 80's I was furious to find out they decided to go with a remake instead of a third Ghostbusters film. I was even more upset when they cast Melissa McCarthy as lead since I normally can't stand her acting or films. She is the like the actors who portray Napoleon Dynamite or Steve Stiffler from American Pie in that every single role they play is exactly alike. As one dimension characters as you can get. But as my wife wanted to see it I gave it a chance. And you know what, it actually turned out to be a decent movie which surprised me a lot. DON'T get me wrong, their are some very cringe worthy moments and reverse sexism, and the brass balls of Bill Murray to cameo stings my heart as he was the one that held up Ghostbusters 3 so long it eventually got scrapped. But I digress... The rest of the cast was enjoyable and funny, and even McCarthy becomes likeable after a while. Almost every major actor/actress from the original cameos here. The story was surprisingly good, but you can tell it went through many re-writes as at time the flow of the movie is all over the map. This was the first ever movie we have watched in 4K and OH MY GOODNESS was that amazing. SO GLAD we got a new TV and Xbox One S to be able to watch 4K movies. The special effects were very well done for this film, and even the CGI doesn't look cheesy and over the top like I thought it might (not a knock on Ghostbusters as many modern films CGI looks so fake) It wasn't the best movie I have ever seen but it was far from the worst. It's nowhere near as good a movie as the original Ghostbusters, that is an all time untouchable classic. But this ended up being pretty good. Give it a try.

Well...you can watch this movie and not believe it is in anyway connected to the original...although at times there are nods to the original films...it actually feels like it's own movie....which in this case isn't a good thing. The special effects were awesome...the cast was certainly good enough but it would have been better if it had actually just been a continuation of the original....and maybe extended the Ghost Busters with a guy or two. They certainly take the time to sort of acknowledge the original cast and of course there are their cameos but not of their former characters which was a let down. I think the biggest problems with this movie is that the characters back stories are sort of blah, blah...and they tried to do more horror than comedy and none of it blended very well and the flow was missing. It felt jaggedly slapped together. I guess it is worth watching at least once but the originals(yeah, even Ghost busters II)are far, far superior. Even the Ghost Busters video game for home consoles that came out with the original actors reprising their roles as voice actors....felt like Ghost Busters III...We do hope they make more...the universe and stories to tell are definitely rich and diverse enough...but I hope they learn from their mistakes...this movie is only good enough if you are that bored or want to see what everyone was talking about. Glad We skipped it at the theater and now we own it in "STUNNING" 4K 3D......(grumble, grumble)