Review of Ghostbusters (1984) by Daniel P — 14 May 2015

You've seen it on TV, in bits and pieces. You've picked it up midway and watched to the end, and conversely, you've started it on a lazy afternoon and abandoned it to do something else. You've seen it drunk.

You've seen it at eleven in the morning, or three in the morning, or on a winter Saturday night when you'd be crazy to leave the house and pulled it out of your VHS collection, amazed that the tape hadn't flat-out broken down yet.

And now - thirty years later - you can see that there's a lot wrong with the film. It looks low-budget, even though it cost thirty million in the 80s, and the science is never explained, just hidden behind acronyms.

But the film remains a ton of fun, an old friend that's out there on the ledge of plausibility, using a script with a surprising number of second- and third-viewing jokes and a subtly brilliant performance by a cocky young Bill Murray.

The reception our heroes receive in the end is one of the most over-the-top, corniest 80s jubilations you'll ever see, right up there with Ferris Buehler's parade performance, but you're laughing and maybe, even though it's your living room, you're cheering along with the crowd.

Not your usual four-star rating, from me, but a film that makes you feel so good you'll forgive its every flaw, every darn time.