[jonogunn]

Funny cause Egon could have at any point sent a video or picture to Ray as proof

[Chicken, He Clucked]

I think the whole point of Egon being out on his own was a meta-comment on the real life rift between Ramis and Murray, surely? If it could happen to them, it could happen with Egon and Ray I guess. You have to just go with that. What is less convincing was Ray's reasoning didn't fit his character and I'm hoping there's a way to smooth out the phone conversation in an edit.

I don't know why they didn't make the rift more of a passive thing, or at least have Ray detail a Venkman - Spengler rift because that at least would have fit with their characters. Maybe too on the nose given the real life situation.

[Alphagaia]

Funny cause Egon could have at any point sent a video or picture to Ray as proof

Which is why I think he acted more erratic than he actually was. To make sure only his life was on the line.

[groschopf]

The OGB’s weren’t in the movie enough, the trailers never showed their faces and while the audience reception was high I just don’t think “Ghostbusting” on its own is a strong enough concept to get people to the theatres and have a big zeitgeist film that does 300+ million domestic. They want those characters, those actors. Dan and Ivan and the studio have always had this dumb notion that people don’t want to see them busting ghosts anymore. Yes we do! Murray looked awesome at the Scream Awards all decked out in gear back in the day.

This was never going to be Ghostbusters III. From the word go, Jason Reitman talked about seeing a girl in a field, not the OGs. I would have liked a flashback scene (I thought that's what that spatial reality tool showing the eras of Ecto-1 was for), but this film really did focus on Phoebe and company as telegraphed by Jason multiple times.

Jesus, a lot of people hated the 4th Indiana Jones film and it still did major business.

What "worked" for Indy 4 making bank isn't replicable since that same movie became the cautionary tale about bringing aging actors back to beloved roles decades down the line. Fool the moviegoing public once...

I don't know why they didn't make the rift more of a passive thing, or at least have Ray detail a Venkman - Spengler rift because that at least would have fit with their characters. Maybe too on the nose given the real life situation.

You're probably right about it being too on the nose. It might be the case that making the film a metaphor for the Murray/Ramis feud was a deal breaker for getting Murray to appear. And the studio likely didn't want the funniest Ghostbuster to be the guy that has the unfunny rift with another beloved and now dead character.

[starang11]

This was never going to be Ghostbusters III. From the word go, Jason Reitman talked about seeing a girl in a field, not the OGs.

I think if anything he created more trouble than necessary by over-explaining things. The idea that the GBs basically put themselves out of business makes sense, and them naturally going their separate ways and losing touch (without the business to keep them together) would have made sense too, there doesn't need to be any hard feelings involved or any other details given.

So yeah, maybe Egon was the only one who still kept the torch burning, he relocated and took some of the equipment to check out the Shandor mine, and things got out of hand too fast for him to contact the guys. Of course Ray is skeptical when some kid calls him asking questions, maybe he even thinks she's doing a book report on them or something, but it didn't need to be one big info dump. Phoebe drops the bombshell about Egon's death and the ghost sightings then the call gets disconnected.

[timeware]

While I liked the scene another approach they could have taken was Grooberson calling Ray while he's running from the Terror dog. He drops his phone during the chase and Ray sees the terror dog on video. Then they could have had an angled close up shot where we see the mini pufts on the roomba running over Groobersons phone. Ray looks up Groobersons last location just as Phoebe begins to call him.

It would have been a fun scene seeing Rays phone in the book store start ringing off the hook when Gozer gets freed even showing him leave the store to get the guys.

[RichardLess]

Long rant alert.

I’m just going to tell the truth as I see it. I know a lot of people will disagree, but whatever.


Ghostbusters to most people is Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd Ernie Hudson & Harold Ramis. If you make an Indiana Jones movie without Harrison Ford, guess what? People aren’t as interested. I’ve always thought the mistake people make about this franchise is thinking it’s the concept. I don’t. It’s part of it, sure. But it’s the characters. Same way Men in Black is Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. Look what happened when they replaced them. No one showed up.

The OGB’s weren’t in the movie enough, the trailers never showed their faces and while the audience reception was high I just don’t think “Ghostbusting” on its own is a strong enough concept to get people to the theatres and have a big zeitgeist film that does 300+ million domestic. They want those characters, those actors. Dan and Ivan and the studio have always had this dumb notion that people don’t want to see them busting ghosts anymore. Yes we do! Murray looked awesome at the Scream Awards all decked out in gear back in the day.

I’ve said this before but if Sony would’ve hit that sweet spot, circa 2009-2012, had all the original cast back & a decent enough movie? Huge hit. Huge. Jesus, a lot of people hated the 4th Indiana Jones film and it still did major business. Now based on what I’ve heard of Ghostbusters Alive Again, I’m happy they never made it. Venkman as a ghost was a stupid, dumb, shark jumping idea.


If they make a 4th film and focus on these new characters, which I liked, I think it’ll be the same thing. Give people the original GB’s in substantial roles. That’s how you pass a torch.

Is the film doing well despite the pandemic? Yes. But I think more could’ve been done.

I’m amazed at how many people are excited for the new Spider-Man movie. Do you know why they are excited? It’s not because it’s just any old Spider-Man film. No. Actors they know and are familiar with are coming back for one last ride. Tobey and Andrew will appear with Tom Holland(and Andrews’s Spider-Man franchise isn’t even well regarded! Yet people still want to see it!)

As much as I enjoyed the new movie it kept annoying me how Jason kept on giving the same old “this is for the fans” speech. You know what most the fans wanted? The original actors having more than 5 minute cameos. I want to see what they are up to, outside of ghost busting. And I don’t buy for a second that you couldn’t fit that into this movie. Infact I think it would’ve vastly improved this movie because the way the guys fit in now feels shoe horned and unearned. I want to see Ray getting the band back together. Seeing Winston’s best moment relegated to an after credits stinger was not a good choice.

The movie frustrates me because there is a potential GREAT movie in there. They had the tools and the talent. I mean how do you not end this movie with the Ecto 1 all cleaned up and sparkling, busting out of the firehouse at night, turning that corner in an homage to the first movies first bust? You have Ray, Peter and Winston just sitting around. The alarm goes off. Ray:”It’s a call!” They look at each other with knowing glances. Cut to the fire house doors opening and the Ecto 1, new white paint job, blaring the siren and lights, speeding out into the night to new adventures…fade out. “For Harold”…

Now that’s an ending. People leave the theatre energized and happy.

I think there's a very important caveat to be made here. Most people think Ghostbusters is Bill Murray. A casual audience just wants Bill Murray. Bill Murray is very, very, very clearly not interested. It's a miracle we got what we did.

Joe Public is not going to be psyched about Dan and Ernie for two hours any more then they would be psyched about jusC3PO and R2D2 for two hours. As much as we love all of that original cast, they're all bit parts next to conscience
believe more contemporary cinema goers (outside of the hardcore fanbase) turned out for Paul Rudd and Finn Wolfhard than any of the original cast. They were the right choice to lean on in the marketing to appeal to a young audience in 2021.

I’m not sure I agree with that. I think the idea of those actors together is the selling point, not each individually. Think of it like the Avengers. Bill Murray as Venkman is Tony Stark. He’s the most popular character, people love him. But they still want to see the Avengers together.

Whether or not Bill is interested, I don’t know if that’s true anymore. I think he would’ve done the movie if the part was bigger. I don’t feel like he sleep walked through it like his embarrassing GB16 performance where he couldn’t even be bothered to stand up. He promoted the movie, went to the premiere, did the Vanity Fair piece. I think he would’ve done more. Maybe not the lead role, but definitely a supporting role.

And yeah I agree Paul Rudd is definitely a star and it was smart to focus on him for the marketing. Paul Rudd was a terrific addition to the franchise and I hope we see him in a jump suit before long. That’s another mistake I think the movie made. I think the movie works better emotionally if Callie and NOT Paul Rudd is still in the terror dog possession at the end. And selfishly I just really wanted Paul Rudd’s character—a fan—to put on proton pack and live the dream. They could’ve even had a thing where he geeks out a bit too hard over Venkman kind of like Agent Colson and Captain America in the first Avengers movie(gotta bring everything full circle back to the Avengers lol)

Finn Wolfhard? Not so much. This movie did itself no favours casting him and I thought he brought not a lot to the role. I would’ve liked to see someone like Tom Holland or Timothy Chamalet in that role. Someone without that 1980s nostalgia baggage that seemed to set so many critics against the movie. They really could’ve avoided so much of that annoying “Strangers Things” rip off talk by casting someone else and it would be one thing if he worked as well as Logan Kim & Mckenna Grace. But those two steal the movie. Finn just feel like a non entity

I didn’t see the movie with an audience so I cant say how people reacted but I thought Finn Wolfhard came across a little flat

[gerard55]

Theres so much going on with scenes of the mini pufts im still noticing new things on a crappy bootleg, just tonight noticed one is using his hat as a frisbee, it lands on the grill one goes to get it and gets set alight. First i've noticed the hat being thrown at all, i just thought the minipuft on the grill ran onto it for no reason.

While watching the final battl though this question came to mind, when Gozer isn't about the Terror Dogs operate independently, yet when Gozers taking a beating they just seem to stand back and do nothing. Obviously this also happened in the first movie and presumably the reason was that with animatronics they were very limited in what they could do. With cg however there are far more options available. So not really sure as to what the reason was behind this, i'm guessing that seeing as Gozer needs the terror dogs around to take physical form it sort of means that if she gets wrangled they also feel the effect as their "power" for lack of a better term is mostly going to maintain her physical form?

[Alphagaia]

While I like the Mini Pufts as a contained scene. You could have cut them from the movie and lost nothing save for the end fight that could just as easily been done with a terror dog.

[mrmichaelt]

While I like the Mini Pufts as a contained scene. You could have cut them from the movie and lost nothing save for the end fight that could just as easily been done with a terror dog.

I would have liked to see them wreck havoc in town during the montage.

[robbritton]

I think there's a very important caveat to be made here. Most people think Ghostbusters is Bill Murray. A casual audience just wants Bill Murray. Bill Murray is very, very, very clearly not interested. It's a miracle we got what we did.

Joe Public is not going to be psyched about Dan and Ernie for two hours any more then they would be psyched about jusC3PO and R2D2 for two hours. As much as we love all of that original cast, they're all bit parts next to conscience
believe more contemporary cinema goers (outside of the hardcore fanbase) turned out for Paul Rudd and Finn Wolfhard than any of the original cast. They were the right choice to lean on in the marketing to appeal to a young audience in 2021.

I’m not sure I agree with that. I think the idea of those actors together is the selling point, not each individually. Think of it like the Avengers. Bill Murray as Venkman is Tony Stark. He’s the most popular character, people love him. But they still want to see the Avengers together.

Whether or not Bill is interested, I don’t know if that’s true anymore. I think he would’ve done the movie if the part was bigger. I don’t feel like he sleep walked through it like his embarrassing GB16 performance where he couldn’t even be bothered to stand up. He promoted the movie, went to the premiere, did the Vanity Fair piece. I think he would’ve done more. Maybe not the lead role, but definitely a supporting role.

And yeah I agree Paul Rudd is definitely a star and it was smart to focus on him for the marketing. Paul Rudd was a terrific addition to the franchise and I hope we see him in a jump suit before long. That’s another mistake I think the movie made. I think the movie works better emotionally if Callie and NOT Paul Rudd is still in the terror dog possession at the end. And selfishly I just really wanted Paul Rudd’s character—a fan—to put on proton pack and live the dream. They could’ve even had a thing where he geeks out a bit too hard over Venkman kind of like Agent Colson and Captain America in the first Avengers movie(gotta bring everything full circle back to the Avengers lol)

Finn Wolfhard? Not so much. This movie did itself no favours casting him and I thought he brought not a lot to the role. I would’ve liked to see someone like Tom Holland or Timothy Chamalet in that role. Someone without that 1980s nostalgia baggage that seemed to set so many critics against the movie. They really could’ve avoided so much of that annoying “Strangers Things” rip off talk by casting someone else and it would be one thing if he worked as well as Logan Kim & Mckenna Grace. But those two steal the movie. Finn just feel like a non entity

I didn’t see the movie with an audience so I cant say how people reacted but I thought Finn Wolfhard came across a little flat

I never said they used Finn Wolford well in the film, just that he was smart casting to attract the attention of a young audience in 2021. My 14 year old niece couldn't care less about any of the other cast members, but she and her friends would walk over hot coals for at least three of the Stranger Things cast. Paul Rudd pulls in the little kids and the OGBs pull in us old idiots. Since we were all going anyway, they never really needed to convince us in quite the same way.

The actual Trevor character was absolutely a bit of a bust, mind. No argument there whatsoever. I'd hope as a result of this one McKenna Grace and Logan Kim will be big draws in the future - they were both excellent and deserve big things.

[jonogunn]

The more I come into the thread the more angry I become from reading all these great suggestions to improve the film. Oh what could have been…

[Kalonthar]

I'd have to know more about how Egon was before taking most of the equipment and disappearing to Summerville. I mean if I knew someone who was always dry and stoic like Egon for 10+ years I'd be a little bit taken aback if he started suddenly ranting and raving like a lunatic.

Unless we wanna throw in game canon and say he's been averaging 14 minutes of sleep a night for a while. Then I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't believe a word he said still, but it'd make sense why he's acting like it.

[Bison256]

Even if we consider the game canon, as I do. I think the 15 minutes of sleep thing was only a short term experiment.

[Chicken, He Clucked]

Some parts of the community going to great lengths to emphasise the videogame is no longer canon *cough* YesHaveSome podcast *cough* - I don’t really get it.

I suppose it ties in with other criticisms of Afterlife… if they're trying to expand the universe - why deliberately contradict the game instead of just leaving it ambiguous? Did Afterlife gain anything by contradicting it in this way when Shandor’s presence was kinda wasted.

Also - the game was written by the original writing team, so the current crew going hard on eradicating it from the timeline is a tough pill for me to swallow given I wasn’t blown away by everything Afterlife brought to the table. Or at least this cut of the movie.

[mrmichaelt]

Also - the game was written by the original writing team, so the current crew going hard on eradicating it from the timeline is a tough pill for me to swallow given I wasn’t blown away by everything Afterlife brought to the table. Or at least this cut of the movie.

Actually, Aykroyd and Ramis only consulted on the game's script and did a pass on dialogue (how much is unknown I believe). The main writers were really John Zuur Platten and Flint Dille despite what the credits say (with additional dialogue and story by Patrick Hegarty and John Melchior). Platten and Dille even pitched it originally as Gozer's wife being the main villain. But I digress.

But yeah, I noticed YHS has thing with the game on their Twitter. The way they're going about it is odd and confusing. Trolling for no reason? Is there an inside-joke I'm not aware of?

[starang11]

I wish I could find it (I can't remember if it was a video or written) but Ramis gave an interview after the game had been out for a while, where he sort of jokingly suggested that they weren't paid enough to really give the script that much time and attention, and bring it to the same level of quality as a movie (especially with it being much longer than a movie script). I enjoyed the game a lot and even fired it up again when Afterlife was first delayed, but I never put much stock into all the "it's the third movie" talk.

The actual Trevor character was absolutely a bit of a bust

I agree, but if he had more screen time or more interesting things to say or do, it might've pulled the focus from Phoebe even more. I still wonder if it was even necessary for her to have a sibling. Trevor and Lucky could've been the older kids at school who get caught up in the action sometime around the first Muncher appearance, and join up with her and Podcast.

[groschopf]

Much like Phoebe resetting the chess board after Egon's ghost knocked it over, this film was about resetting the franchise. I mean, 32 years elapsed between Ghostbusters II and Afterlife. That's easily an entire generation worth of time.

Finn might not have had a lot to do in the final cut of this film, and the OGs appearance was fleeting... but now that all this exposition has been established, it should clear the road for a bit more of an action-packed follow-up. With luck and decent ROI, we'll see more in this series.

[JonXCTrack]

Also - the game was written by the original writing team, so the current crew going hard on eradicating it from the timeline is a tough pill for me to swallow given I wasn’t blown away by everything Afterlife brought to the table. Or at least this cut of the movie.

Actually, Aykroyd and Ramis only consulted on the game's script and did a pass on dialogue (how much is unknown I believe). The main writers were really John Zuur Platten and Flint Dille despite what the credits say (with additional dialogue and story by Patrick Hegarty and John Melchior). Platten and Dille even pitched it originally as Gozer's wife being the main villain. But I digress.

But yeah, I noticed YHS has thing with the game on their Twitter. The way they're going about it is odd and confusing. Trolling for no reason? Is there an inside-joke I'm not aware of?

Gozer's wife? That's news to me. I seem to recall the original concept was "Who is Gozer going to call?" After losing to the Ghostbusters, Gozer was targeted by some other force and she turned to the Ghostbusters for help, only to betray them at the end.

As for YHS, I think they're all a bit full of themselves. Somehow they weasled their way into the good graces of Ghost Corp. and I think it has gone to their heads.

[Dr.D]

The less said about YHS the better.

[Davideverona]

The less said about YHS the better.

Why?

[mrmichaelt]

Gozer's wife? That's news to me. I seem to recall the original concept was "Who is Gozer going to call?" After losing to the Ghostbusters, Gozer was targeted by some other force and she turned to the Ghostbusters for help, only to betray them at the end.

Yeah, that's the one. Gozer's wife were among the gods out to punish Gozer for losing to a bunch of humans. Goes to the GBs for help but was really just using them to build an army to take back the throne, Goze reneges, and GBs defeat 'im. Sorry I forgot about the part with "all the gods" being the supposed villains.

EDIT: Mckenna posted bts photos of Bill lifting her up.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CXeGl4_Jazq/

[jonogunn]

With future sequels it’s gonna negate the video game as canon more and more. It’s best to change your minds about it and just see it as an alternate universe thing.

[Chicken, He Clucked]

For me it depends on the direction those sequels take… if they demonstrate similar issues to Afterlife, I will file the modern movie continuations alongside the videogame and IDW series as an alternate extension of the universe… it’s almost impossible for prime canon to exist at this point given the 30 year hiatus, even if the creators and community say otherwise. As a fan I’m not sure it matters much to me at this point so long as the franchise is alive and active.

Plus I still feel like the videogame has more in common with GB I & II than Afterlife. But we’re just starting out in this universe… there’s still time.

[Davideverona]

I said it before and I'll say it again: I have the feeling that the next Ghostbusters movie will be more like the Ghostbusters 3 we were waiting for than Afterlife.

They need Ray to fix and update the equipment, they need Winston to finance the grand reopening, they don't need Peter but maybe he'll show up.

[zeta otaku]

I said it before and I'll say it again: I have the feeling that the next Ghostbusters movie will be more like the Ghostbusters 3 we were waiting for than Afterlife.

They need Ray to fix and update the equipment, they need Winston to finance the grand reopening, they don't need Peter but maybe he'll show up.

Ray and Phoebe deal with the gear.

Winston handles the finances.

Peter? PR, advertising, and such. Keeps Venkman relevant without requiring Murray to come back if he doesn't want to.

[JonXCTrack]

I said it before and I'll say it again: I have the feeling that the next Ghostbusters movie will be more like the Ghostbusters 3 we were waiting for than Afterlife.

They need Ray to fix and update the equipment, they need Winston to finance the grand reopening, they don't need Peter but maybe he'll show up.

Ray and Phoebe deal with the gear.

Winston handles the finances.

Peter? PR, advertising, and such. Keeps Venkman relevant without requiring Murray to come back if he doesn't want to.

Agreed. But who among us wouldn't want to see Bill Murray's Peter Venkman teaching a college class? Bill could ad lib the entire scene and it would be the best part of the movie most likely.

[JonXCTrack]

Gozer's wife? That's news to me. I seem to recall the original concept was "Who is Gozer going to call?" After losing to the Ghostbusters, Gozer was targeted by some other force and she turned to the Ghostbusters for help, only to betray them at the end.

Yeah, that's the one. Gozer's wife were among the gods out to punish Gozer for losing to a bunch of humans. Goes to the GBs for help but was really just using them to build an army to take back the throne, Goze reneges, and GBs defeat 'im. Sorry I forgot about the part with "all the gods" being the supposed villains.

EDIT: Mckenna posted bts photos of Bill lifting her up.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CXeGl4_Jazq/

That actually sounded like a much more interesting story to me than the one we got. I love the video game, but the introduction of the mandala posed some questions we never got the answers to: 1) How was Gozer able to come back if the temple on Central Park West blew up? 2) What was the mandala doing in 1984? 3) Where was Shandor's ghost in 1984?

[timeware]

Ray and Phoebe deal with the gear.

Winston handles the finances.

Peter? PR, advertising, and such. Keeps Venkman relevant without requiring Murray to come back if he doesn't want to.

Agreed. But who among us wouldn't want to see Bill Murray's Peter Venkman teaching a college class? Bill could ad lib the entire scene and it would be the best part of the movie most likely.

While yes, I would like to see the entire OG team back we can really just do this with Winston. I would imagine if Venkman and Dana aren't married he would still be trying to Captain Kirk his way through the college girls.

[deadderek]

Most of us figured it out by now, but yes the 1A was converted. Ghostbusters 2 fans: time to let it go, it's not coming back.