Discuss Ghostbusters: Afterlife, released on November 19, 2021 and directed by Jason Reitman.
#4960408
Discover the past. Save the future.
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Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Release Date: November 19, 2021 (November 17 advance screenings and a bunch of times before that)
Studio: Sony Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Bron Studios, Ghostcorps
Director: Jason Reitman
MPAA Rating: PG -13 (for supernatural action and some suggestive references)
Screenwriters: Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman
Starring: Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, Bokeem Woodbine, with appearances by Annie Potts, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver
Runtime: 124 minutes

Plot Summary: When a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind.

Related Links:
Ghostbusters.com
Ghostbusters on Twitter
Ghostbusters on instagram
Ghostbusters on facebook
RedSpecial, deadderek, Kingpin and 3 others liked this
#4960410
waited until enough people had seen the movie before asking this question:

When are the good times to go to the bathroom during the movie? I never seem to make it through a movie without a bathroom break. Also, I hear of a post credit scene if this is true are the credits long enough that you have time to pee between the start of the credits and the scene?
Alphagaia liked this
#4960414
Coover5 wrote: November 18th, 2021, 10:10 pm waited until enough people had seen the movie before asking this question:

When are the good times to go to the bathroom during the movie? I never seem to make it through a movie without a bathroom break. Also, I hear of a post credit scene if this is true are the credits long enough that you have time to pee between the start of the credits and the scene?
Man. If there ever was a time that I could recollect (and I just walked out of the movie 30 minutes ago) it is probably near the beginning of the movie just as phoebe and her family are arriving to Summerville, driving around and seeing the sights. Maybe also more towards the middle of the film when Phoebe asked what kind of a scientist her grandfather was. It’s ever so slightly slow at that point.

How fast can you pee? Lol.
#4960419
I really enjoyed it, but a few things to nitpick

I know phoebe called ray to talk to him about what Elgin had planned, but I would have liked a little back story of the older ghostbusters getting back together instead of just showing up in a field - didn’t everyone think that was just a bit random, that they just……showed up?

So what Easter eggs did we see?

I picked out symmetrical book stacking, phoebe shining the headlight in her mum’s eyes like who did to Peter. Obviously all original music was in there. The marshmallow covered podcast. Just to name a few

Moderator note: Posts merged
Lenny T mosca liked this
#4960420
I'm under the assumption no spoiler tags are needed? Jason effing killed this movie.

While true it is heavy on nolstagic filming there's a reason the way he filmed the way he filmed. Stay for the end credit's. Both of them, and the repeated plot points end up syncing up. Yeah, if you can't hold the water i'd say go at the very start when it cuts to the kid's moving out. You don't want to miss the opening.

How many of us nearly balled when Dan started talking to Egon? This isn't a movie for critics looking for something new. Yeah, i'm looking forward to seeing what Winston does with the company. If you like Goonies this had a very Goonies vibe to it. We need more mini pufts!

I will also be flabbergasted if Afterlife doesn't get certified fresh. Opening on a weekday with a 95% positive audiance score with 250 Plus reviews climbing over the critic score. Not a bad start, and yes i'm aware it could very well change.
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#4960423
I liked it overall, it was a well made film. However, I was underwhelmed by the story. The new characters were great, and they did a great job recreating the props and music. I think it has the potential for a great sequel.

Obviously it’s canon, but I’m not sure if I’m going to consider it canon personally.

I’ll expand on my thoughts more later.
#4960425
Overall I thought the movie was amazing. It served as a fitting end and yet left the door open for more stories.

I could see a future movie or series where Winston starts the business back up and is the CEO of ghostbusters and brining on a group of new recruits. Ray could fit the role of the teams research guru at the occult store.

That aside it did feel like there was a lot left on the cutting room floor.

There was stuff from the trailer that never showed up like Mr.grubersob saying "I think we opened the gates of hell"

Also we never got to see the Sentinal Terror Dog. We got the toy version as a build a figure as part of the plasma series figures.

#ReleaseTheRietmanCut
Kingpin, SpaceBallz liked this
#4960426
Sav C wrote: November 18th, 2021, 11:15 pm I liked it overall, it was a well made film. However, I was underwhelmed by the story. The new characters were great, and they did a great job recreating the props and music. I think it has the potential for a great sequel.

Obviously it’s canon, but I’m not sure if I’m going to consider it canon personally.

I’ll expand on my thoughts more later.
Please tell me you knew about the end credits. People started leaving after the Venkman stuff.
Sav C liked this
#4960428
The best way I can describe this film is it’s the biggest fan film EVER. lol.

Heavy on the fan service? Oh hell yeah. Heavy on the Easter eggs? You bet your sweet bippy. I enjoyed it, but I felt it was missing so much. The first flick was truly lightning in a bottle: all the right people making the right film at the right time. It can’t be recaptured.

The first and second acts were much more fleshed out and dynamic. The third act felt like it lacked so much and felt rushed for me. Gozer, again, wasn’t given its due. I would have loved to seen a greater threat from the demigod by showing more of its true power. And the Boys in Gray … they were together on screen for only a handful of minutes!

The prologue had me on pins and needles with an older Egon escaping danger with a freshly-trapped terror dog.

McKenna Grace and Logan Kim truly stole the show. Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd were great as well.

I hope a director’s cut is planned, because it felt like so much was chopped off, especially with Phoebe’s shift from skeptic to believer. One minute she flat out said “I don’t believe in ghosts,” then after seeing the chess pieces move in her room she then calmly tells Podcast later “oh, my grandfather visited me last night.” It would have been crucial to SEE her transform to a believer to accept her growth as a character.

Also, kind of anticlimactic the way the OGs are introduced. But that’s enough of my ranting. I think this deserves another viewing to truly take it all in again.
Sav C, deadderek, Wafflerobot and 3 others liked this
#4960430
Same with mine, but that's expected on a week night at four PM. However the parking lot was crowded when we walked out so i'm assuming things picked up. I mean it is Thursday.

I'm not going to lie I felt it could have been longer. I Only had a few nitpicks but it was just a fun movie.

I would say I predicted about 75% of it. The row of seats I was sitting in I thought my low laughing would get annoying with every easter egg I recognized but there were at least three to four people I could hear saying, crunch bar, twinkie! Book stacking!
Sav C, Kingpin liked this
#4960431
I alluded to as much in the regular thread:

I loved Phoebe. I thought she was a great character, and that Grace truly embodied the spirit of Ramis' performance while also bringing something new to the table. So much of the humor in the movie for me isn't one-liners, it's just the way she inhabits the role, which is thrilling and entertaining.

I was glad to see the movie make fun of its own nature a little (the best example of this that comes to mind is Trevor's flashlight going out when he finds the car for the first time). As far as it being funny, it was lighthearted and jokey enough for me even if it isn't the kind of comedy the original movie is.

For the first two-thirds, I felt the film walked the line pretty well on nostalgia. As I think anyone who's seen my posts knows (and I am operating under the assumption it's okay to mention this here as long as it doesn't derail the thread), I am a fan of the 2016 movie, but among the complaints I hear I agree on, it's very reference-heavy in a way that gets old, and I thought, aside from the score (which I still think is good!), this one had more restraint.

However, then the third act rolls around, and that's where most of my major problems lie. I love Ghostbusters as much as anyone else on this board -- I'm just on the end of a whirlwind trip to Los Angeles I was officially invited on just over 24 hours before I was seeing the film, which I took exclusively to attend the premiere -- but while I always felt it was inevitable there would be more Ghostbusters, I had no idea what form that would take, nor have I thought a reunion movie seemed like an especially viable idea in roughly the last 21 years (even moreso during the last seven following Harold's passing). I've seen Blues Brothers 2000. Ghostbusters would not be Ghostbusters without Dan's eccentricities or creative vision, but Hellbent sounded like it had similar issues.

I come to Ghostbusters both as a fan of the series, but also a fan of movies, and someone with a keen fascination with sequels. They're a tricky business: they need to evoke the things that made the original successful, but they really do need to be doing something new, and it really helps if there's a thematic idea behind it. What I found exciting about Ghostbusters: Afterlife when it was announced was the feeling like Jason might have a uniquely good one: working through the idea that his father created something special and meaningful and that he might take on that mantle, same as Phoebe. So, ultimately I found it pretty disappointing that Afterlife returns to the well of Zuul and Gozer, has Callie and Grooberson repeat the Gatekeeper/Keymaster stuff, and basically goes on plot autopilot for the last 20 minutes, after so successfully bringing a sense of freshness to things for the preceding 100.

The low point of this for me, sorry to say it, is the integration of the original Ghostbusters. Reitman is a very talented director, especially in his work with Diablo Cody (Young Adult is one of the sharpest comedies of the last decade), and he mostly acquits himself as an effects and action director, but the movie's climax is a real mess. In a moment where a bunch of intense ghost action is occurring, the movie grinds to a halt for their entrance. What is Gozer doing, just standing there while they say hello? It's also pretty underwhelming to have them basically repeat and riff on bits from the original, rather than coming up with new jokes.

However, what's most unfortunate about this scene is that it takes some of the focus away from Phoebe and her friends, who are the heroes of this new movie and deserve to be the primary factor in defeating Gozer. I think if the Ghostbusters had arrived with less momentum-killing conversation, and provided backup to these resourceful kids (most of the beats in the scene are fine even if the execution is bad, like Phoebe having re-lined up all of Egon's dominoes and Trevor figuring out to blast the tanks; I would have added Podcast using the ghost whistle to knock Grooberson out of his Terror Dog and given Lucky something better to do than be possessed), I could've forgiven the familiarity a bit more, but it feels like the movie shorting its best aspect.

Also, sorry, I absolutely, under no circumstances, for no reason, and in no context wanted to see a ghostly Harold on screen. It feels to me like the realization of so much (IMO) cringe artwork done in the wake of his passing. The pan across the guys should've just been to Phoebe, with Harold represented by some extra energy sparking, charging, and coloring her proton beam. The finale could've been Phoebe and Callie, understanding both each other and their grandfather/father, looking up at the stars, and if you absolutely had to have Harold in there visually, I'd have accepted some sort of Ghostbusters II-style reveal of his visage burned onto the barn or in the dirt where he buried the traps. Best I can grant is that the visual representation was solid, not a Rogue One monstrosity.

All in all, I like it more than II, because Phoebe gives the movie so much. But I really wish the ending had been massaged into something much different.
Sav C, Alphagaia, WhoaFoogles and 7 others liked this
#4960433
timeware wrote: November 18th, 2021, 11:38 pm Same with mine, but that's expected on a week night at four PM. However the parking lot was crowded when we walked out so i'm assuming things picked up. I mean it is Thursday.

I'm not going to lie I felt it could have been longer. I Only had a few nitpicks but it was just a fun movie.

I would say I predicted about 75% of it. The row of seats I was sitting in I thought my low laughing would get annoying with every easter egg I recognized but there were at least three to four people I could hear saying, crunch bar, twinkie! Book stacking!
Yeah, I saw symmetrical book stacking, the Crunch bar, there was the maid door hanger on Egon’s suit locker, the aura helmet that Louis wore … spores, molds and fungus. I’m kinda ticked they didn’t at least explain away the 1A.
#4960434
I give in an 8/10.

I liked the new characters. Lucky was kind of shoehorned into the film. They didn't give her much development or motivation for suddenly wanting to help them out.

Egon was basically in the entire movie, albeit as a ghost. That still counts in my book.

The car chase was a lot of fun. I'm not sure why a 15 year old is taking a driver's test, or why someone that failed a driver's test three times can suddenly drive like he's in a Fast & Furious movie - but I can suspend my disbelief given that it's a rural town with hardly any traffic.

Why Phoebe, a 12 year old in a Sheriff's jail, would call Ray and not her mother is beyond me. Maybe Lucky called their mom? Putting that aside, I liked the exposition that Ray provides, but I needed a bit more to explain why Ray wouldn't have believed Egon about another cataclysmic event.

The guys coming back at the end was nice, but I think the film would have benefitted from a short scene with Winston taking a phone call from a frantic Ray Stantz: "Mr. Zeddemore, there's a Ray Stantz on the line. He says he has some news about someone you used to work with....Egon Spengler? Do you want me to take a message?" "No, put him through." I get that they wanted the return of the OGBs to be a surprise, but since we already knew it was happening due to the toys and marketing, there was no need for the OGBs to just randomly show up.

Ivo Shandor is somehow still alive? We needed more explanation for that. Why even have him in it if he's going to get ripped in half by Gozer?

Why is there a second temple? Why build a temple on the rooftop of a Manhattan skyscraper if there already was one in Summerville? And why is there a pit of souls in Summerville, but not one in Manhattan?

I expected the Sentinel Terror Dog to be featured a bit more. They create this new form, and yet don't do anything to explain why it takes this form.

It's about time we saw the fictional insides of the proton pack. That was great.

Why did they Ghostbusters try and cross the streams to defeat Gozer? That isn't what they did to defeat Gozer the first time. They crossed the streams while firing at the gate, causing the particle flow to reverse and pull Gozer back into her temple, blow it up, and close the gate. All crossing the streams was going to do here is get everyone in the area killed.

How come none of the ghost traps smoked in this movie?

I was pleasantly surprised with CGI Egon at the end. It worked for me. I must admit that I teared up a bit. It didn't really make sense to me as to why he had to help Phoebe hold the wand though. She didn't struggle with it at all earlier in the film. I might have had Gozer do some ghost jiu jitsu and remove the pack from Phoebe and throw her to the ground. Then ghost Egon puts on the pack and joins the OGBs. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but if it were up to me, I would have tweaked a few things.

The Keymaster and Gatekeeper talking to each other in broad day light outside of the mine? Terrible. That scene should have been shot at night, or taken place inside of the mine itself. "I like your eyes?" Awful dialogue.

I'm OK with Gozer returning, but it may have been interesting for some other entity to have hijacked the well of souls. Ivo Shandor gets all giddy thinking he's finally going to meet Gozer, only to find something else, which promptly devours him.
#4960436
I left the theater feeling very disappointed. The CGI egon was a no for me. Seeing the original team back on screen was great until they really started talking, felt like i was watching a ghostbusters spoof. There were some good moments in this film, better than the reboot for sure but after 30+ years my expectations were very high.
Sav C, SpaceBallz liked this
#4960437
Ivo Shandor is somehow still alive? We needed more explanation for that. Why even have him in it if he's going to get ripped in half by Gozer?
On the bright side, if we want to try to work the game into the timeline of the movies, I can see why Gozer would do that to him, lol. Speaking of such things, I really look forward to the discussion on what happened after Ghostbusters 2 and trying to poinpoint the timeline of when business started to decline and Egon started going seemingly cuckoo and left everything behind.

Random thoughts:
I've seen people say the tip on the gunner seat neutrona wand not extending is a mistake, so I was looking out for that on my second showing of the film. Judging by it not only being unextended during the car chase, but as well as at the end, I believe it's just supposed to be like that for the gunner seat's pack and not actually a mistake.

As for easter eggs or references to the previous films, the two times I saw the movie I never kept in mind to look for the toaster from GB2. I do have to think the part where they wonder why Gozer would bother being in boring old Summerville and Podcast says he would have chosen someplace like Orlando is a callback to Peter saying how Vigo should have chosen someplace nicer like the San Fernando Valley.

I know some people aren't too fond of the whole ghost Egon thing and that's perfectly fine, but I loved it. I was not expecting them to use it the way they did and just getting one final bust with the 4 guys together was everything I needed to see right now. I did not think that was going to happen, so I absolutely adore being able to see that. I know I'm speaking hyperbole here, but that was just a perfect 10/10 film for me in every way. I loved it the first time I saw it. I loved it even more on my second viewing. And yes, I get teary eyed just writing about it here.
Sav C, Kingpin liked this
#4960438
For those of you who know about how long movies stay in the theater do we know if this should still be around by December 17th when Spider-Man: No Way Home is out?

I'm facing the problem that three of my favorite franchises are returning within two months of each other: Ghostbusters, Spider-man (the Sam Raimi era elements) and Scream. Working with a tight budget (who isn't) I'd like to decide between seeing Ghostbusters or Spider-Man because I can't afford both.

At least if I skip Ghostbusters it would leave me the money to get some GB merchandise.
#4960441
I reeeeally liked the movie. People were like “it’s all callbacks!” or “it was exactly like the first movie even then going to jail”…but nahh. It all get so organic and natural. I really liked the characters except lucky trevor and especially podcast.

I really liked that they made it obvious to Phoebe that Egon was there. No subtle hint BS. And cgi Egon looked super realistic.
#4960445
It felt like a lot was left on the cutting room floor. Phoebe with a bowl of popcorn? I'm pretty sure Reitman shot the scene he's discussed before about seeing their girl with a proton pack letting loose in a corn field and making popcorn. JK Simmons being in there for a "split" second (solid pun, timeware!)? There was definitely more to that we didn't see. In general, I expected more about the mystery of the town, whether not not the cult of Gozer was still active, and what Shandor was there for. Now I really REALLY want to see what was trimmed from the film.

Loved the bit with Peter and Dana. Ghost Corps seems to want Winston to be the GBCU's Nick Fury by having vast resources and pulling a team together. Excellent cast. Mckenna and Logan are superb. I would have loved to have seen Carrie given more room to riff, because her energy is so great in interviews but not showcased here. Solid first two acts.

The complaints about lingering on equipment too long were overblown (as I've stated before, having the camera hang on a nuclear accelerator strapped to a kids back underscores the danger I felt as a young kid being handed power tools and construction implements). I also now feel that some of the critics complaining about this film treating the original with reverence while being too similar to it are incongruent, given how reverently the same people view the original film and how much the majority of this entry differs from it.

The easter eggs here work like they do in the IDW comics. If you recognize the "MAID please have this room made up as soon as possible" hanger from Columbia University in Egon's underground lab, you'll be delighted. But I doubt most people even noticed it.

I need to digest the film more. I've got sort of a Reichenbach Fall thing going on—meaning there was so much time to ideate and imagine what this film would be that I think I need to see it once, process it, and then see it again to really see it as it as instead of how I fanfic'ed it in my head.
Sav C, Kingpin liked this
#4960447
As I have mentioned earlier in the spoiler thread, I loved it. However I freely admit to the movie being far from perfect and having weaknesses.

The Bernstein score: wow, it felt like I was playing the video game again! It was VERY dominant.

Phoebe's call with Ray: All the Ray dialogue there felt like it was an emergency exposition in case Jason had to cut out all the OGB stuff before the finale due to runtime. Just cram all what happened since in three to four sentences. Ouch.

Sentinel terror dog: Uhm...it...exists? But it's never made clear why this is a special one.

Gozer: so I was hoping for another big baddie to replace Gozer, but getting it again was fine. However, it doesn't really do anything when it returns? It listens endlessly to Phoebe just showing up on her temple and cracking jokes...why would it do that?

The release of the ghosts in town: nothing really happens here? Looks like alot of it ended up on the cutting floor too?

Mini Pufts: sadly, all of their scenes could be seen in some trailer or spot before. Really, all of them. They should have been saved up. Also, they don't really do anything? And why they just plop up at the finale to sabotage Ecto is not explained.

Lack of GB2: No Ecto-1A, no slime blowers, no giga meter-except I missed all of that. That was one down for me personally as GB2 was my favorite back when I discovered Ghostbusters.

The OG busters in the finale: I hoped Jason would not just pull the trick of them showing up out of nowhere just in time. Fully suited up. Yeah, and their dialogue was a bit of lackluster. Some more wit please!


So, some nitpicks, but the pros totally outweigh the cons. Podcast was hilarious, Phoebe amazing. It's a loveletter to Ghostbusters AND it's a loveletter to Harold Ramis' work and his Egon Spengler. *sobs*
Sav C, roigroigroig liked this
#4960448
If I get to jump in on the Hasbro proton pack i'm sure as hell going to try, but did I call the Mini Puft messing with the packs or did I call it? I really hope Hasbro has plans to launch the remote control trap but not so soon after the proton pack. My wallett can only handle so much. I hope our talented 3d artists here have plans on creating 3D files for the pack minis.
Kingpin liked this
#4960450
I loved the new. I thought McKenna Grace was fantastic and she was definitely the best thing about the film. I wanted more story beats around Phoebe (accepting ghosts felt too quick, using the fire pole without hesitation felt too quick - I just needed a bit more... mystery?) but I thought the character was a brilliant addition to the franchise. I have the same sense that everyone does that the finale was rushed and a rehash, but this one is clearly made for kids, and that's ok.

I hated how Bernstein the score was. If I can see the original scene the music plays over in my head, I can't concentrate on the new one! I think I'm probably in a minority on that one, mind.

It's a shame Paul Rudd was taken out of commision in the third act, as the comedy slipped at his loss. Logan Kim and McKenna Grace did great work, but everyone else seemed to have missed the comedy memo.

The OGBs showing up... Well, it's what it was always going to be, wasn't it? A bit phoned in and more for nostalgia's sake than real narrative necessity. (That said, I LOVED Bill and Sigourney's scene. I guess because Bill loves Sigourney and actually wanted to be there for that shot, but that bit really worked and made me laugh.) The issues with the rules of crossing the streams are irritating and the providence of the proton packs required a lot of mental gymnastics - to whit, they must arrive in Summerville, go to the mine, find the three remaining packs, remove them, make them wearable again and only THEN head to the farm (Ray is explicit on the phone that Egon took all the equipment when he left). What's really frustrating about that is that sequence of events describes a race against time that would have added tension if it was actually on the screen!

Oh, and editors, if you're going to add a stinger, make sure you edit out dialogue that directly contradicts it earlier in the film. There is no way on earth Ray Stantz or Egon Spengler left a loaded containment unit in the basement of a Starbucks! I guess you can say it was concreted away or something, but that still requires mental gymnastics that just editing that line out would remove.

And don't put literally every ghost in the trailer! Honestly!

BUT BUT BUT I did really enjoy watching it, and I think my son is going to adore it, which is half the point of this one. I wish there'd been more plot and less plot holes, but it's a film released in 2021 so I'm fairly used to that kind of thing. McKenna Grace's comedy wink is one of the comic highlights of the whole series and she stands equally with Harold Ramis and Kate McKinnon in the breakout strange scientist GB world.

I can live with the niggles, and on balance I truly liked it. It's the least of the four movies for me, but then I was always there for the laughs primarily, and that isn't so much this one's business, and that's ok. I'd love to have some more that do something new, so I'll keep my fingers crossed it does the business.

Just next time, someone get Erik Burnham in, yeah?
Ecto24601, starang11, JamesB922 and 4 others liked this
#4960453
Ecto24601 wrote: November 19th, 2021, 1:02 am* Lack of GB2: No Ecto-1A, no slime blowers, no giga meter-except I missed all of that. That was one down for me personally as GB2 was my favorite back when I discovered Ghostbusters.


The Gigameter makes a quick appearance right after Egons ghost shines the lamp on his degrees. The gigameter is right below the degrees
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#4960454
Coover5 wrote: November 19th, 2021, 12:15 am For those of you who know about how long movies stay in the theater do we know if this should still be around by December 17th when Spider-Man: No Way Home is out?

I'm facing the problem that three of my favorite franchises are returning within two months of each other: Ghostbusters, Spider-man (the Sam Raimi era elements) and Scream. Working with a tight budget (who isn't) I'd like to decide between seeing Ghostbusters or Spider-Man because I can't afford both.

At least if I skip Ghostbusters it would leave me the money to get some GB merchandise.
The weird thing about that is Sony's next name title is next week with that Resident Evil movie then in December with Spider-Man. Idk, I would guess they keep Afterlife in theaters until Christmas?
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