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Ghostbusters 2Rating:
Release Date: 11 December, 2001 Retail Price: $14.95 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Complete Cast (14 total) |
Ghostbusters 2 Reviews
"What are we supposed to do, stick our heads in the toilet?"
Imagine for a moment that in 1944 MGM decided to make a sequel to "The Wizard of Oz". They managed to reunite the entire original cast: Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Frank Morgan and Billie Burke. The production values were as high as in the first film, and Victor Fleming once again provided capable direction. There was only one problem: the script was deeply flawed and far inferior to that of the previous film.
For those of us who remember the original "Ghostbusters" as an all-time classic from our childhoods, "Ghostbusters 2" is the precise equivalent of that hypothetical "Oz" sequel. For an hour and forty minutes we get to see the characters from one of our favorite movies, played by the same actors, in another movie. The only problem is that it isn't a *good* movie.
Never mind that "Ghostbusters 2" is painfully derivative of its predecessor, or that it's far less well structured, or that Randy Edelman's score can't hold a candle to Elmer Bernstein's for the first film. The most serious problem with "Ghostbusters 2" is the depiction of Winston Zeddemore as played by Ernie Hudson.
A character who climaxed his role in the biggest motion picture hit of 1984 by demonstrating his willingness to sacrifice his life to save New York, and who then delivered the best movie curtain line of all time, is now reduced to standing in the path of a insubstantial "ghost train" as it runs "through" him, wailing like the ghost of Stepin Fetchit. By what stretch of the imagination did Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and/or Ivan Reitman think this scene was funny or appropriate for the movie screens of America in the year of grace 1989? (At least "Zeddemore" is spelled correctly in the closing credits this time...)
As a child I avoided seeing "Ghostbusters 2". I knew it would probably be painful to watch, given my love of the first film, and I was right. As an adult I can now derive some degree of enjoyment from the film. I love the characters, and I love seeing them again. But if you ever find a DVD of "The Wizard of Oz 2" that has dropped in from a parallel dimension, and it includes a blackface sequence for Bert Lahr... you know who not to call.
Distinguished yet Forgotten Valor
If the global conquest of earth by the forces of Evil hung in the balance and could be tipped in the favor for the good of all mankind by these three sorry looking men of distinguished yet long forgotten valor - let's just say that I hope you know some really good prayers. It could end up being a hot time in the old town tonight.
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