Amph Don't Cross The Streams! The Ghostbusters Franchise (Afterlife, Frozen Empire)

I'll say this about GB4, if Murray doesn't want to do anymore, I would be fine with that. He needed to be in a third film, but not for other films.

 

This is kind of touching.

 

“The Real Ghostbusters” Animated Series Slimes Amazon Prime Video!

Easily among my favorite animated series of all time.

 

All of those shows I generally consider "best" were in some ways stomping grounds of the writers/creators we liked later: Galaxy Rangers, Real Ghostbusters, Dungeons and Dragons...

 

Good news but it seems the only way to have the full series is still the imported blu-rays...

 

It says that Prime subscribers have access to over 100 episodes; but how many episodes were there in the entire series?

 

147 including the Slimer! episodes

 

What is a "syndicated" episode? Just a repeat? I don't recall if I liked the Slimer episodes; outside of the one (I think) where Janine dressed up as a Ghostbuster.

 

Season two ran weekdays in syndication, while season three aired on Saturday mornings on ABC. This was in 1987-88. Both were new.

 

I finally got around to watching Ghostbusters:Afterlife. Incoming hot take that a million people have already made! That was not a very good movie. The OG Ghostbusters movie was a hilarious unabashed comedy. Ghostbusters:Afterlife, by design, is not a comedy. It's a far more serious, sentimental movie with some comedic moments. Why would you make a sequel to a comedy and not make it the sequel a comedy? It's a bizarre choice.

Some might argue that the shift in tone is supposed to differentiate itself from the Ghostbusters 84 except that almost literally every five minutes the movie is throwing out a near fourth wall breaking reference that usually serves no in-universe purpose and is only there for the audience to say, "HEY!!! I REMEMBER THAT FROM THE FIRST MOVIE!!!" A demon sticking its arms threw a chair and trapping a character said chair, the teens finding a Twinkie in Ecto-1's glove compartment, the cop saying, "who you gonna call", the Stay Puff Marshmallow man, a character being covered in marshmallow, a.Slimer like ghost and the new Ghostbusters causing a bunch of destruction in an attempt to capture said ghost, a character putting on the colander that Rick Moranis wore, and the list goes on.

By the time the Afterlife gets to the third act they are straight up lifting plot points, whole lines of dialogue, even sets from the Ghostbusters 84.

Lastly Finn Wolfhard and Celeste O'Connor's characters have very little reason to be in this film. Finn's just there to fix up and drive Ecto-1 and I guess Celeste is there because they really wanted one black Ghostbuster in the movie. It kinda feels like you could take these two characters out of the film and it wouldn't change much.

 

I want the next installment: GBAOTC, where it's stilted romance with wooden dialogue that sets up a huge "mystery" that they never address the resolution to in any subsequent film.

 

I think we'll have to agree to disagree. Not only is Ghostbusters a comedy but it's often cited as one of the best comedy's of all time. I saw the original in the theater six times when I was eight years old and thought it was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen. I didn't think of it as a dry adventure movie. I will give you that it's not a traditional comedy in that it combines comedy, horror, and special effects spectacle but more than any of that it's a comedy. Ghostbusters frequently ends up on publications "best comedy's of all time lists". I don't think it ends up on best horror or best adventure movie lists and if it does it's likely not appearing on those list very often.

Getting back to Ghostbusters: Afterlife, there are few more things that don't add up.

Spoiler

Ray at one point says that the old Ghostbusters HQ is now a Starbucks but the post-credit scene clearly shows that it is very much an abandoned fire station which still has the containment unit in the basement. Even if it was briefly a Starbucks, the idea that the Ghostbuster kept the containment unit in the basement is ridiculous. But hey it's also ridiculous that they kept the containment unit in an abandoned fire station!

It also doesn't make any sense to me that Phoebe doesn't know who her grandfather was. She never googled her name? Who among us hasn't googled their own name to see what comes up? Considering how uncommon her last name is Phoebe would've immediately learned about her grandfather. And even if she didn't put two and two together and realize that she's related to this person that showed up on her google search she'd at least learn about the Ghostbusters. Also, Phoebe and Podcast say the don't know anything about the Ghostbusters because they weren't alive back then but the events that transpire in Ghostbusters 1 and 2 would be huge historical events. They'd know about those events just like they know about other historical events that happened before they were born. Kids born after 9/11 know about 9/11. Kids born after the the Stay Puff Marshmallow man and the Statue of Liberty came alive and started walking around NYC would know about those events too! Nobody talks about this in history class in the Ghostbusters universe?

I also didn't buy that the other Ghostbusters wouldn't believe Egon when

Spoiler

Egon told the rest of the Ghostbusters that the end of the world was coming. They saved the world twice but when Egon warned of another end of the world threat they didn't believe him? No way. I don't buy it. And if they didn't believe Egon why didn't Egon email them the ample amount of proof he found?

And then there's Egon's relationship with his family. He turns

Spoiler

his back on his family all in the name of protecting them from harm, and yet doesn't factor in the harm he did by turning his back on them? I don't feel like Egon would do that. I just don't like the idea that he would treat his family like that even if it was all to protect them.

 

I want the next GB installment to be an all female-centric one. That's bound to be extremely popular.

 

@Ahsoka's Tano Agree especially if they type cast to fit the original cast. That will work fabulously!

 

No offense, but I was being sarcastic.

Spoiler

I'm content with the cast how it is. I would like to see both Dana's and Jeanine's characters having more prominent roles in the sequel movie though.

 

The Containment Unit cannot be simply moved. Unlike in TRGB, where the ghosts could be removed safely, Egon clearly states that any disruption to the protection grid would be disastrous. As to what Ray said, we can take it as a lie, to keep it safe. Or a half truth.

Spengler is a common name. It's European. Also, you assume that she would be interested in Googling her name. She takes after Egon with her scientific curiosity, but also being different from your typical kid. Trevor might be more inclined, but that assumes that he might. It’s not a given.

As to the careers of the GB's being taught in school, it is doubtful. Maybe in college classes, especially in Manhattan. But not in elementary and high school. 9/11 is talked about thanks in part to the war that followed. The 80's incidents wouldn't be celebrated in the same way.

This was after the activity stopped. In the 80's, there had been massive spikes in PKE readings both times, yet he had none this time. The river of slime was gone. Afterwards, I believe he felt so ostracized by what happened ten years before his death, he didn’t think Ray would listen.

He was probably very aware. But given the work he was doing, I don't think he was around much to begin with. Callie appears to be old enough that they rarely spent time together, during the 80's. We know that he was living in the fire hall full time in both films. Peter didn't in the second film. Ray indicates that he wasn't anymore by the time Egon took the equipment and left.

Also, the POV is different. The film focuses on three generations of characters. The legacy characters are the same as we left them. The new characters would have to be different by design. Likewise, the tone would be different as well.

 

That's terrific news!

*hands over candy bar*

You've earned it.