I saw Ghostbusters. I have things to say.
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My introduction to Ghostbusters
In summer of 1984, I had a friend in the neighborhood^ named Kevin. He was a year or two older than me. We hung out together quite a bit. We were even on the same baseball team for a season or two. His dad was the kind barber who tried to fix my porcupine hair right before school pictures+.
His mom? She took me and my friend Kevin to see Ghostbusters.
Now, I don’t remember much about seeing it for the first time. I wound up watching it more times than I can count when it was on HBO – back in the days before you could just stream it whenever you wanted. All of those screenings kind of blur together. Except one scene – the one where the giant demon dog attacks Dana while she’s sitting in her chair.
I didn’t scream or anything like that. But I definitely jumped out of my seat. I also covered my eyes. I mean, that’s a normal reaction from an 8 year-old boy sitting in a dark theater when a beast from the pit of hell crashes up through the floor.
Right?
Even with that scene that almost made me pee my pants right there in the movie theater, I became a fan of these experts at supernatural elimination. But when I think back on things, it really wasn’t just because I enjoyed the movie. Much like my Star Wars obsession, my love for Ghostbusters was fueled by all of the extra-theatrical multimedia things.
Let me explain.
The magic of our Commodore 64
I don’t know if I’ve ever explained the magical experience of our family owning a Commodore 64. I learned how to code on that thing. OK, OK. “Learned” might be a little generous. And “code” probably isn’t very accurate, either. I basically copied programs I saw in books like my Star Wars Question & Answer Book About Computers. I did, however, learn how to change text colors. Somewhere along the way, I also learned how to tell my Commodore 64 to infinitely scroll a word or phrase down the TV screen.
It was heaven.
We had a few games for this computer system, but I don’t really remember most of their names. There was a text mystery game that involved typing commands to tell your character where to go, what to do, and who to talk to. I never got very far with it, honestly. I was more into the action games like Fort Apocalypse, where you flew a helicopter into these different caverns and rescued hostages. Or Raid Over Moscow, where you had to save the world from certain nuclear annihilation by the Soviets.
But one game ruled them all. And it’s burned in my memory forever.
That’s right.
GHOSTBUSTERS! (ahhahahahaha)
You opened a satellite office for professional paranormal investigations and elimination. You chose and customized your own Ectomobile. And then you started busting some ghosts.
I must say that although I really enjoyed the original 1984 Ghostbusters (as much as an 8 year-old could understand and enjoy it), I really began to love the whole franchise because of the video game.
Because…well…
All Ghostbusters all the time
Then there was The Real Ghostbusters, which made Saturday mornings a lot more fun. I never really got into their toy line, though. That was reserved for Star Wars, GI Joe, and Transformers (with a dash of He-Man, Voltron, and Thundercats thrown in for good measure).
Then Ghostbusters II hit the box office. I was really excited. Who wasn’t? I even bought the Ghostbusters II soundtrack. The main theme from Run DMC was near perfection to my 13 year-old ears. I played it everywhere. Even at Scout Summer Camp.
When I finally saw the movie? Well…it was…OK. I have to say that the whole Statue of Liberty thing was just a bit much for 13 year-old me.
Sorry if that’s a spoiler, y’all. But if it really is a spoiler for you, you’re probably better off having the ending spoiled. Really. It’s pretty corny.
I think it was enough of a stinker for me that it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth for the entire Ghostbusters franchise for quite some time. That’s probably the reason I didn’t really even bother watching Ghostbusters Answer the Call in 2016. I was happy enough just being nostalgic for the original Ghostbusters (and my C64 game). I never really gave that film a fair shake. That should probably be fixed at some point in the near future.
Sorry, Answer the Call cast and crew. I’ll make it up to you soon.
Oh yeah…Ghostbusters: Afterlife…
You probably thought I was going to write a review about Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Sorry if I disappointed you. I did see it recently. I liked it a lot more than Ghostbusters II. Didn’t quite like it as much as the original. But it was a fun movie. Don’t worry. I’m not going to give anything away here. But I will say that there’s a moment towards the end that made me all teary-eyed.
If you’re a Ghostbusters fan and you haven’t seen Afterlife yet, you probably should. I’m pretty sure you’ll like it more than the original sequel.
Unfortunately, I think they might have crossed the streams and gave too much away in the trailers. And that’s bad. Very bad. Like, total protonic reversal bad.
But then again, the trailers got me to go watch the movie. So what do I know?
Endnotes
^ Nope. I’m still not telling you where I lived.
+ Oh? You don’t know that story? I’ve told you that story before – a dozen years ago. So I guess I can forgive you if you don’t remember. Here’s the story (with a photo).
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