The one thing about Ghostbusters I never really understood was adding Winston to the team. He kind of sticks out. Here you have three scientists walking around with proton accelerators and then… Winston. And we never see him go through any extensive training on how to operate the equipment. It can’t be as simple as throwing on the pack and going to work, can it? Don’t you think you’d have to be eased into it? Vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics to see what I mean…
I know I say this a lot, but I had a really hard time coming up with an idea for today’s comic. Lately, the ideas just aren’t there. It’s like scooping a frozen block of ice cream out of the back of my mind.
Thank goodness for Twitter. I can go online any time of the day or night and say “I have no idea what tomorrow’s comic is going to be about” and I’ll receive at least a half-dozen replies with suggestions.
That’s not to say I’m stealing ideas from readers. But they do provide valuable inspiration. I wouldn’t have come up with today’s comic if someone hadn’t reminded me that Ghostbusters came out on Blu ray yesterday. I had completely forgotten about it. Bill Murray’s acne scars, however? That’s vintage me.
Speaking of scary, let me tell you about my first encounter with Ghostbusters. I think I may have told this story before. So if you’ve heard it, bear with me.
The year was 1984 and I was 7 years-old. As a present for doing something good (I can’t remember what), my parents were going to surprise me with a special gift.
In my mind were visions of Go-Bots – or, dare I? – Transformers. Imagine my shock when my parents rolled up on a movie theater and said “Surprise! We’re going to see Ghostbusters!”
I’m 7 years-old. I haven’t seen any commercials for this movie. I barely know what movies are (we never really went to movies as a family). All I see on the marquee is “GHOST” and I freak out, convinced that the movie is terrifying and that my parents are playing a cruel, sadistic joke. I am crying in the back seat and BEGGING my parents not to take me to this movie.
Instead we ended up going to an educational toy store next to the theater and they bought me some Mad Libs. I remember clearly the disappointment on their faces. They tried to do something nice for me, something they thought I would love, and I turned it into an ugly mess.
It becomes ironic, then, that as an adult, Ghostbusters is probably one of my all-time favorite movies.
I don’t remember when I came around to appreciating Ghostbusters for what it is or when exactly I shed my irrational fear of the film. Probably after the Saturday morning cartoon version of it came out. But these days I watch it probably 5 times a year, easily. It’s infinitely quotable, fascinating conceptually and entertaining from start to finish. I can’t stress enough how much I love this movie.
That said… I’m kind of on the fence about buying the movie on Blu ray.
I have a funny relationship with Blu ray. Snobbish, in fact. I love my Blu ray player, but I resent having to buy old movies in the format – especially for $25 – $30 a pop. As such, I’ve developed all these rules about which Blu rays I pick up and which one’s I won’t.
If I already own the movie on DVD, chances are slim that I’ll buy it unless it’s something recent like Wall-E or Iron Man. I tend to snub older films because I actually think some of them look WORSE in the format.
If you don’t believe me, watch The French Connection on Blu ray sometime. They applied this kind of high-res grain to the film to make it look 1970’s gritty, but it comes off as manufactured and soulless. This coupled with the fact that if the movie wasn’t captured at least partially digitally, I’m convinced a Blu ray transfer won’t look good.
In other words, watching a film like Ghostbusters in the format for visual “Ooh’s!” and “Ahh’s!” is kind of like squeezing blood from a stone. There’s only so much a digital transfer is going to give you.
One might argue that, similar to how audiophiles listen to records on vinyl and not CD, there are certain advantages to watching older movies in an older format.
VHS and DVD do a better job of hiding some of the effects work in older films. The roto-scoping, the green screen… Blu ray drags everything out into the light. Sometimes you see more than you should.
This, perhaps, only makes sense to me. But it’s how I feel.
I know most of you guys are probably more excited about the Ghostbusters video game that also game out this week, but what’s your opinion of picking up the original film on Blu ray… or your opinion of Blu ray in general? Do you have any rules you follow? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
I just bought a copy of Ghostbusters on Blu ray!
Nope. Nuh-uh. Not watching it. Too scary.
Are you kidding? It's a comedy classic!
I'm not talking about the content!
Bill Murray's acne scars in hi-def? Too scary!
I agree that Blu-ray has it’s ups and downs. Some make a movie that is visually stunning just that much more so. However I feel most of those movies have to be digital to begin with in order to transfer so well. What broke me against Blu-ray (besides re-purchasing dvds for twice the amount I paid for them) was Batman the movie (1966) Cesar Romero’s pancake makeup covered mustache in high-def made the silly hokey movie I love unbearable to watch. The only reason I might purchase the blu-ray is if I think that the extra features are worth the cost.
My general rule for Blu-ray is if I already own the DVD, I’ll only buy it if I see it on sale somewhere. And since you mentioned the game as well, if you are a gamer in an shape or form you must purchase this game. It really is Ghostbusters 3 from design to presentation and it’s just kick ass to bust ghosts with all of the original gang. I’ve been having a blast with the game since I picked it up last night (however, I’ve heard the PC version is a bit buggy so be weary).
I follow a similar rule with blue ray. Films before the advent of the high definition cameras are fine on DVD. There are only so many neck wrinkles and errant hairs that I want to see in my “movie reality”. I have high definition eyes and can see that stuff on everyday people.
Blu-Ray just doesn’t seem that attractive to me right now. Beyond the little things like the higher price (I can get up to four regular DVDs for the price of the Blu-Ray), a bunch of special features on the regular DVDs not on Blu-Ray (Memento anyone?), and my lack of a player (I’ll get a PS3 eventually), I just don’t like how they look. High Definition is nice and everything, but it gives it all this strange, way-too-crisp look. Almost makes it all look like dusty CGI (yeah, I’ve got no good way to describe it).
Example: I was watching Transformers Blu-Ray in Blockbuster the other day, and at first I thought it was a cuscene for a video game (albeit a really nice cutscene). The way the characters were moving in front of the background, it didn’t seem natural. And that’s from a movie that Blu-Ray was practically designed for.
Oh, wow, the game finally came out? Cool! :)`
I know what you mean about the pros and cons of high def; my hubby got me the Matrix trilogy on Blu-Ray for my birthday, and while overall it looked awesome, in the scene where Neo’s mouth sealed shut I actually noticed the make-up a little bit, rather than it looking totally real like it did to me in the theater and on DVD. I can imagine in movies with less elaborate effects that they would be even more obvious, so yeah, I completely understand how you feel.
I haven’t seen Ghostbusters in ages, though every now and then something reminds me of it and I think how I’d like to see it again. I think you’ve finally nudged me into doing so 🙂
When I click the buttons to view the previous comics, none of them show up. Just the news posts associated with them. Is anyone else having that trouble? I’m on FF3
Plater,
I’m having the exact same problem as you and, what’s worse, I can’t seem to make any changes from the admin area.
This last upgrade to WordPress 2.8 has really fouled things up for me.
I love the Blu-Ray format. I find it to be a great addition to the Entertainment market simply because of the drastic improvements and the near quantum leap this format made from DVD. I can remember my father purchasing a VHS player when they first arrived on the scene and how awesome it was going to be to watch movies at the comfort of our own home. I was I kid I didn’t care about quality; but VHS tapes had obvious clarity issues. Anywho; I purchased my first Blu-Ray player last year and I haven’t looked back since.
I did purchase Ghostbusters on BD and I was a bit disappointed at the quality. It does look good, especially in the sound and the flesh tones; however, I judge it by the “Patton” rule. Patton is a wonderful movie by itself but if anyone has watched it on Blu-Ray then you would judge any “older” movie by this one. It is wonderful remastered, the sound is great and it is quite clear (i.e. no grain). If a movie that was made in 1970 can look as good as Patton does then companies shouldn’t have a problem recreating original quality If you haven’t seen the movie on Blu-Ray then I have simply one thing to say…….. go to blockbuster and rent it.
Yeah, from what I’ve read on the GB Blu Ray it’s not great, guess it looks REALLY grainy, may want to skip it, especially if you have the DVD already. As a side note, are you much of a gamer Tom? Because the game really worth playing, it`s basicly GhostBusters 3 seeing as it was written by Akroyd and Ramis, check it out if you can.
as far as blue ray transfers go, since the early 80’s movies have actually been filmed at a higher resolution that even blue ray provides. this is because of the size of movie screens, anything that isn’t super high quality seems streched and blurry. when videos were put on tapes or dvds (and even with blue ray) the signal is shrunk to fit the media. so if the studio “upconverts” an exisiting copy blue ray won’t look good like you imagine, but if they “downconvert” the original film, it will still look better. best thing to do is convince a friend to buy it and see if its clear or not
I’m still waiting for BluRay to drop in price.
I should own Ghostbusters, because it’s one of my all time favorites as well. The only problem is that it seems the only way to get it is to buy the two pack that includes the sequel. Every time I happen to spot GB I get all excited until I remember the second one is attached, too. It’s ridiculous, but it just seems to hang me up every time.
While I agree that some movies look iffy in HD, it makes a huge difference in others. The Road Warrior for instance is so clear and crisp, that watching the “original theatrical trailer” in the extras is almost laughable. The difference is extraordinary! However, I felt that (sorry Tom!) Iron Man had a grainy weird look to it, and that should look like one of the best HD movies ever.
I love blu-ray anyway, and though most people don’t think it’s worth it, I feel like the difference between BD and DVD is as huge as DVD and VHS!
When Ghostbusters came out, I was 4 and my parents wouldn’t let me see it with my older cousins, fearing it would eternally scar me.
I only plucked up enough courage to see it at after the age of 12, but didn’t really “get it” until seeing it for the 10th time when I was about 21.
I love it so much that I quoted it in my thesis in a chapter on the pros and cons of privatisation…
(100 points for anyone who can guess the quote!)
I’d be interested in seeing the Blu-Ray version of GB, but alas, I don’t yet have a player for it.
I think a lot of people are missing out on another avenue of BD technology, though. All the emphasis is on high-def and remastered quality, but like a lot of people are saying, there’s only so much you can do with older films. What I think should be more focused on is the space. BD has the capacity to store tons more information, and if the high-def content isn’t that spectacular, why not use all that space for better purposes? Namely, bonus features.
Cram everything you can think of in there. Deleted scenes, featurettes, retrospectives, cast interviews, outtakes, storyboards, behind-the-scenes footage, trivia games, and anything else you can sweep out from under the rug. One of the things I look for in DVD’s is the bonus feature proportion, and the thought of having as much bonus content on a disc as the move itself takes up just makes me tingle.
It does.
My basic rule on Blu-Ray is this: if I own it on DVD, I don’t bother buying Blu. If I don’t own it, or I only own it on VHS, and a Blu-Ray version is available or forthcoming, that’s what I buy. This has meant that I’ve plunked extra money on things I knew wouldn’t really benefit from hi-def, such as Expelled and George Carlin: It’s Bad For Ya, but it does work out in most cases. In the case of David Gilmour: Remember That Night, the Blu-Ray actually ended up being cheaper.