There’s no question that the original Ghostbusters is the superior of this pair, though it’s certainly arguable that the Ghostbusters 2 at least manages to hold its own and certainly doesn’t, as some sequels do, degrade from the enjoyment of the original.
The original is one of those films that I’ve literally grown up with. Released in 1984 when I was all of nine years old, I’ve watched it several times a year more or less regularly since then. So it’s aged with me, never far from my mind and still acting as a source of quotes when I need a response to someone saying “Chris, I need to let you know about something…” (The proper response, of course, is, “What did you do, Ray?”)
While GBII contains a lot of the usual sequel contrivances (it’s once again Dana Barrett being harassed by the spooks) it does so in a very believable (so far as these things go) way and manages to bring something new to the characters beyond the usual rehashing of the first movie’s plot.
Originally posted on:
Chris Thilk