Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II home video releases on various formats

Phelous takes a look at different home video releases of Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II (including some very obscure formats):



I just thought you guys would like to see this if you're into Ghostbusters, home video formats, or both.

 

I don't wanna be mean, but that guy's voice.

Anyway...all these obscure formats but no DVD version. I mean, honestly who cares, I just find it to be an odd omission.

 

It's not being mean when the person is doing an affected voice.

God help me, I'm tired of these Youtube "personalities" who feel they have to be wacky and weird. They're just annoying as crap and their affectations make it impossible for me to sit through their potentially worthwhile observations...

 

What do you mean no DVD version? DVD is one of the formats he mentions and shows.

 

Ah ok. I had skimmed through the video and missed it.

Yeah, that's why I skimmed. I just couldn't sit through the whole thing.

 

I dont see whats so great about ghostbusters....... I didnt care for the first or 2nd one!!!

 

I only made it through about 5 seconds of that video before turning it off.
I love Ghostbusters, but no way am I going to listen to that fruitcake for 20+ minutes.

 

On one hand, I understand why these Youtube people emphasize "shtick": it's hard to stand out among all the YT competitors.

Also, the nature of the medium puts a higher premium on presentation. People don't really want to sit through 10 minutes of dry discussion.

But still, I find it tough to swallow these over the top YT videos. I guess they might "grab attention" off the bat, but they're so annoying that I can't stick with them...

 

I LIKE the guy. And I can't always watch his stuff.

 

I picked up this DVD set years ago, and it is awesome. The movies are remastered, and it comes with a nice 30 page book of behind-the-scenes photos and info. Probably out of print now, but if you can find it, I recommend it.

 

What he doesn't mention is that the initial DVD version of Ghostbusters 2 was the first time it was presented in its OAR.

 

I'm kind of surprised he didn't mention that, now that you reminded me! I remember thinking the movie looked weird on VHS back when it was first released and I couldn't pinpoint why exactly. The reason was the botched aspect ratio combined with the pan-and-scan.

 

I believe there was a letterbox laserdisc back in the early 1990s, years before DVD.

 

You are correct! I assume it was in the proper aspect ratio...

LaserDisc Database - Ghostbusters 2 [50166]

 

IMDB says 2.35:1 is the original.

Ghostbusters II (1989) - Technical Specifications - IMDb

 

D'oh! I should've checked that against the laserdisc specs. Thanks!

 

That's the one I have. Its pretty good, but I was reading old reviews and apparently they removed a couple special features from earlier editions. Video commentary, original trailers. Nothing earth shattering but even apart from that I think I need to upgrade to the blu-ray one of these days. If anyone here has the blu's, how are the special features on those?

 

From the Ghostbusters fansite Spook Central:

Ghostbusters

Special Features

• Who You Gonna Call: A Ghostbusters Retrospective - interview with Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd, hosted by Geoff Boucher (Part 1)
• Ray Parker, Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" Music Video
• Alternate TV Version Takes:
  1. What A Knockabout of Pure Fun That Was! (02a)
  2. Oh No! (04a)
  3. Removal of Egon's "Oh ****" (06a)
  4. I Have Seen Stuff That Will Turn You White! (08a)
  5. I'll Sue Your Funny Face (03a)
  6. Wally Wick (07a)
  (the last two are shown out of order; the numbers in parenthesis refer to the video playlist numbers on the Deleted Scenes page)
• Gallery 1988 Fan Art Poster Gallery (31 images; 16 unique pieces of art)
• Fake Theatrical Trailer
  They used the trailer audio and replaced the video with footage from the movie. Since Peter's "I'm the chairman of the largest paranormal removal company in America" line was from a deleted scene, Sony had to substitute other footage for it, which is the most telling giveaway that this is fake. Sony also flipped the "Dana looking at camera" shot; and after "Smoking!", an unused(?) crowd shot is replaced with a different crowd shot and a Gozer close-up. That the look of the trailer matches the "remastered" movie is the other big giveaway that this is fake. A comparison video can be found on the Spook Central Facebook page. The original can be found in its most complete and proper form on the Criterion Collection laserdisc, but can also be found without the "coming soon to a theatre near you" end card on the GB2 1999 DVD (letterbox) and the GB1 1999 DVD (fullscreen).
• Most of the Special Features from the 2009 Blu-Ray (see below for what's missing)
• Most of the Special Features from the 1999 DVD (see below for what's missing)
• The Story of Ghostbusters 1 & 2 Book (double feature sets only)

Missing Special Features
(excludes Criterion Collection laserdisc special features, and video commentary from 1999 DVD)

• 2009 Blu-Ray: PlayStation 3 Ghostbusters Theme (can be downloaded from the 2009 Blu-ray page)
• 2009 Blu-Ray: Making of Ghostbusters: The Video Game featurette
• 2009 Blu-Ray: Ghostbusters: The Video Game "Atari Live/When Disaster Strikes" Trailer
• 1999 DVD: "Tricks & Trivia" subtitle track.
• 1999 DVD: All image galleries: Production Photos (288 images total), Conceptual Drawings (230 images total), Storyboards (361 images total).
• 1999 DVD: The original unaltered Ghostbusters theatrical trailer. (also on the GB2 1999 DVD)
• 1999 DVD: Screenplay text (was on DVD-ROM).

Ghostbusters II

Special Features

• Time Is But A Window: Ghostbusters II and Beyond - interview with Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd, hosted by Geoff Boucher (Part 2)
• Deleted Scenes:
  1. Dana's Curse - After discovering the hotspot in the road, Dana and Peter talk about the possibility of her being cursed and predisposed to supernatural phenomena.
  2. El Gato, The Cat - Dana chats with Peter in the courtroom before the trial. [contains one alternate take at the very start]
  3. Sewer Invitation - Ray, Egon, and Winston turn up at Peter's apartment to ask him to go down the sewers with them.
  4. Louis' Secret - Louis tries to zap Slimer in the firehouse lobby, and nearly fries Janine in the process.
  5. Peter's Concern - Peter and Ray talk to the mayor outside the museum. This is the original "tenth level of Hell" dialog spot.
  6. Jack Buys It - The Mayor's aide, Jack Hardemeyer, decides to remove the slime shell himself...which doesn't end well for him.
  7. Driving Miss Liberty - The guys argue in Lady Liberty' crown about the best route to take to the museum.
  (If put in the order they would have appeared in the film, according to the script, "Sewer Invitation" and "Louis' Secret" would be switched. Also, the beginning and end of "Jack Buys It" should be edited around "Peter's Concern".)
• Bobby Brown's "On Our Own" Music Video
• Theatrical Trailers: Teaser (1:06), Trailer #1 (2:26), Trailer #2 (2:32) (all 1920x1080 HD widescreen)
  NOTE: Teaser and Trailer #1 use the original footage and are in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, though Trailer #1 is missing the "Coming June 16th To A Theatre Near You." card at the end (it's on the GB1 & GB2 1999 DVDs). Trailer #2 is in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio and the original video has been replaced with footage taken from the remastered movie. This is evident not only by the aspect ratio, which is the same as the movie and different from the other two trailers, but by the look of the footage, which matches that of the movie - most notably the darkness of the River of Slime scene. This teaser has never been released on home video before, and I've personally never seen it before, so I don't know if any shots were replaced, as was the case with the trailer on the GB1 2014 Blu-ray.

Missing Special Features
(only GB2 movie-related features are listed) [my emphasis]

• 1999 DVD: Talent & Filmographies - brief biographies and filmographies of the film's main cast.

 

A followup video- Phelous takes a look at the different variations (and a few more formats, too!):

 

Both Ghostbusters were examples I used to use of how pan/scan forced you to compromise which actors got shown in the film:




There are some sad examples where you have four Ghostbusters on screen, and only three of them wound up in the pan/scan. Same thing with Star Wars: R2D2 always got cut out of the frame. I don't miss pan/scan.

There were some pretty bad versions of Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2 on home video in the 1980s and 1990s, but I think they only got it right in the last few years. There are some long stories about bad transfers that came out: the short version is that Sony used experimental HD equipment in the mid-to-late 1990s that didn't quite work. They finally gave up and used off-shelf equipment that everybody else used, and everything finally came together. (Notoriously, Spielberg hated the CE3K transfer, which delayed the HD release for years.)

 

And at last, here's the big boxed set everybody's been waiting for...



35th Anniversary Ghostbusters Steelbook Offers Content Collection of Biblical Proportions

2 hours of outtakes? Yikes...