Ghostbusters II

Ghostbusters II is a 1989 science fiction comedy film produced and directed by Ivan Reitman. It is the sequel to the 1984 film Ghostbusters and follows the further adventures of a group of parapsychologists and their organization which combats paranormal activities. The film was a box office success despite mixed reviews.

Plot

After being initially hailed as heroes for saving New York City from Gozer five years earlier, the Ghostbusters were sued by numerous city and state agencies for the property damage. A judge issued a restraining order barring them from investigating the supernatural, forcing them out of business. Ray Stantz owns an occult bookstore and co-operates with Winston Zeddemore as unpopular children's entertainers; Egon Spengler works in a laboratory conducting experiments into human emotion; Peter Venkman hosts a little-watched pseudo-psychic television show named "World of the Psychic"; and Dana Barrett works at the Manhattan Museum of Art restoring paintings and raising her infant son Oscar at a new apartment, having broken from Peter under acrimonious circumstances. After an incident in which Oscar's baby carriage is controlled by an unseen supernatural force and drawn to a busy junction on First Avenue, Dana turns to the Ghostbusters for help, prompting an awkward reunion of herself and Peter. Meanwhile, Dr. Janosz Poha — Dana's colleague at the art gallery — is brainwashed by the spirit of Vigo the Carpathian, a seventeenth-century tyrant trapped in a painting (based on the self portrait by artist Adam Zaff) in the gallery. Vigo orders Janosz to locate a child that Vigo can possess, thus gaining physical form upon the approaching New Year.

The Ghostbusters' investigation leads them to conclude that the supernatural presence originates from under the city streets, prompting them to illegally excavate First Avenue at the point where the baby carriage stopped. Lowered underneath, Ray discovers a river of pink slime filling an abandoned subway line. Attacked by the slime after obtaining a sample, Ray accidentally causes a blackout, and the Ghostbusters are arrested. At their trial they are defended poorly by Louis Tully (who acts as their lawyer in repaying them for having saved him in the earlier film) and found guilty. However, the judge's angry outburst at sentencing prompts the slime sample presented as evidence to release the ghosts of two murdering brothers whom the judge had previously sentenced to death by electric chair. Thereafter the Ghostbusters imprison the ghosts in exchange for the dismissal of all charges and the rescinding of the restraining order; having done so, they recommence their former business.

After the slime invades Dana's apartment, seemingly to abduct Oscar, she seeks refuge with Peter, and the two begin to renew their relationship. Investigating the slime and the history of the painting of Vigo, the Ghostbusters discover that the slime reacts both to positive and negative emotions and even "dances" to music, but suspect that it has been generated by the bad attitudes of New Yorkers. While Peter and Dana have dinner together and Louis and Janine attend to Oscar (becoming enamoured in the process), Egon, Ray, and Winston explore the underground river of slime, which they trace to the museum. The Ghostbusters go to the mayor with their suspicions, but are dismissed; whereupon his scheming assistant attempts to have them committed to a psychiatric hospital. As they are committed, a spirit resembling a Mary Poppins-like version of Janosz kidnaps Oscar, prompting Dana to break into the museum by herself; whereupon the museum is covered by impenetrable slime.

New Year's Eve sees a sudden increase of supernatural activity as the slime, rapidly increasing in volume in the subway line, rises through the ground and onto the surface of the city, causing a demon invading Washington Square Park; a fur coat returning to life to attack its owner; a film monster bursting out of a movie screen at a cinema; and the arrival of the Titanic and its long-deceased passengers and crew in the harbor. Realizing the truth of the situation after having spent the night talking to the ghost of former mayor Fiorello La Guardia, the present mayor fires his assistant and has the Ghostbusters released, whereupon they approach the museum. Their initial attempts to enter are unsuccessful, the wave of negativity that has generated it proving too powerful to penetrate it with their proton packs. Determining that they need a symbol of equally-powerful positivity to break through the slime, the Ghostbusters use positively-charged mood slime from their slime blowers, an adapted NES Advantage Controller, and a remix of "Higher and Higher" to animate the Statue of Liberty and pilot it through the streets of New York, using its torch to break through the museum's ceiling to attack Vigo and Janosz.

Janosz is defeated; but Vigo immobilizes the Ghostbusters and attempts a transfer into Oscar's body, whereupon a chorus of "Auld Lang Syne" from outside the building weakens him sufficiently to free the Ghostbusters and return him to the painting. Vigo momentarily possesses Ray; whereupon the other Ghostbusters attack him with a combination of proton streams and positively charged mood slime. Louis, dressed in full Ghostbusters attire, attacks the weakened slime barrier around the building with a proton stream of his own. This combination destroys Vigo and changes the painting to a likeness of the four Ghostbusters surrounding baby Oscar. The movie ends with the Ghostbusters receiving a standing ovation from the crowd and, at a later ceremony to restore the Statue, the Key to the City from the mayor.

Cast

• Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman
• Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Raymond Stantz
• Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett
• Harold Ramis as Dr. Egon Spengler
• Rick Moranis as Louis Tully
• Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore
• Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz
• Peter MacNicol as Dr. Janosz Poha
• Harris Yulin as Judge Stephen Wexler
• Janet Margolin as Prosecuting Attorney "Kitten"
• David Margulies as Mayor "Lenny"
• Kurt Fuller as Jack Hardemeyer
• William T. Deutschendorf and Hank J. Deutschendorf II as Baby Oscar
• Wilhelm von Homburg as Vigo the Carpathian
• Ivan Reitman as the voice of Slimer

Some notable cast members in the film include one of Bill Murray's siblings, Brian Doyle-Murray, who played the psychiatric doctor, Dan Aykroyd's niece, Karen Humber, who played one of the school children, and Ben Stein, who played a public works official for the mayor. Cheech Marin and Philip Baker Hall also appear in the movie, as the dock supervisor who sees the Titanic come in and as the city police chief, respectively. Bobby Brown also appears in this movie as the doorman to Gracie Mansion when the Ghostbusters go to see the mayor of New York City. In the scene he asks the Ghostbusters for a proton-pack for his younger brother. While the role of Vigo was played by Wilhelm von Homburg, all his lines were dubbed by Max von Sydow.

Development

After the success of the first film and the animated series, The Real Ghostbusters, Columbia Pictures pressured the producers to make a sequel.^[2] Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman were uncomfortable with this, as the original film was intended to be conclusive and they wished to work on other projects; but later agreed. ^[3]

Box office and reception

The sequel had what was, at the time, the biggest three-day opening weekend gross in history,^[4] a record that was broken one week later by Batman ($40,505,884).^[5] Despite the record-breaking opening, Ghostbusters II has received mixed reviews from critics.^[6] Based on 35 reviews, the film holds a 51% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 56% at Metacritic. Variety praised the film as having amusing visuals and a clever plot, while Nick Shager of Screengrab criticized the film, claiming that it "Effectively slimed everyone's fond memories of the original".^[7]

Home video release

The original Laserdisc and VHS versions of the film were made incorrectly: instead of being produced either in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 or panned and scanned at the aspect ratio of 1.33:1, the movie was panned and scanned in a 1.66:1 frame. Compared to the "proper" pan and scan version at 1.33:1, width is definitely gained on the edges, though very slightly. However, the DVD version was transferred and encoded at the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1.

Merchandise

A great deal of merchandise (such as coloring books) came out with the release of this film. As was the case with the Real Ghostbusters cartoon, the makers of this material may have wanted to avoid likeness fees and as a result, the main characters in these bear little resemblance to any other version of the characters.

Comic book adaptation

During this period, The Real Ghostbusters comic book produced by NOW Comics ran a three-part adaptation of the film, using the cartoon character designs instead of the likenesses of the actors. The overall story received minor alterations to run as a three-part series, and includes several scenes that were in the shooting script but were not included in the released movie.

Most notable is a scene set after their first visit at the museum (and Ray's first encounter with Vigo). In this scene, Ray is momentarily possessed while driving the Ecto-1A, and as a result tries to crash the car and kill the Ghostbusters. They soon bring Ray around to his senses after speeding through New York streets, and he apologizes, unable to account for his actions. They never connect it to Vigo since, while possessed, Ray never mentions him. The comic panels further reinforce the movie's scene where Ray is briefly hypnotized by Vigo (leading to him being chosen as a host at the end).

Novelization

In a novelization of the movie by Ed Naha, Hardemeyer rushes at the museum's slime shell, which engulfs him, and the book does not mention him again. In the ending credits of the film, he is shown in the crowd outside the museum, singing with them.

Video games

Sequel

Ghostbusters: The Video Game, taking place two years after the events of Ghostbusters II, was released in 2009.

Soundtrack and original score

Soundtrack

The film also features the original versions of "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr. and "Higher and Higher" by Jackie Wilson, though neither appears on the soundtrack album.

Score

The original score is by Randy Edelman. There is currently no official release of it, although there is a bootleg sourced from the DVD (and containing sound effects) with the following track list:

• Years Later
• Hi Peter
• Named After a Hot Dog Brand
• Vigo's Plan
• She's Twitching
• We're Back
• The Painting
• Refuge to Peter
• Oscar, Dana & Peter- The Museum
• Tuck in the Guts, We're The Ghostbusters
• Dates and Sewers
• Take off Your Clothes
• No Reservations
• Trip to the Asylum- Bring Me A Child
• Oscar's Walk on the Ledge
• The Museum
• Total Madness
• Big Ball-o-Yellow- The Symbol
• The Girl Can Walk
• A Fifth Ghostbuster
• The Boys Are Back
• Put Oscar Somewhere Safe
• Vigo
• Resolution- End Titles

References

External links

• Ghostbusters II at the Internet Movie Database
• Ghostbusters II at AllRovi
• Ghostbusters II at Rotten Tomatoes