Ghostbusters

(Redirected from Gozer the Gozerian)

Ghostbusters (sometimes written Ghost Busters) is a 1984 sci-fi comedy film about three parapsychologists who are fired from a New York City University, and start up their own business investigating and eliminating ghosts.

The concept was created by Dan Aykroyd as a vehicle for himself and friend and fellow Saturday Night Live alum John Belushi, much like Blues Brothers in 1980. The original concept was a group of Ghostbusters would travel through time, space and other dimensions taking on huge ghosts, but in 1983 that kind of movie would have cost over $700,000,000.

At the suggestion of director Ivan Reitman whom Aykroyd pitched the idea, the concept was tweaked and the screenplay co-written by Harold Ramis over the course of a few months in a Martha's Vineyard bombshelter.

Among the featured New York locations were Columbia University, the New York Public Library, still very much active Hook & Ladder 8, Central Park West, Tavern on the Green in Central Park, Lincoln Center, inside a defunct New York jail and various street locations for the montages. The interior of the firehouse was done in LA's Fire Station 23, the basement of the Library was substituted by a LA library, the Biltmore Hotel in LA served as the lobby and entrance for the Sedgewick Hotel, while the other locations were on sound stages.

Gozer's temple was the biggest and most expensive set ever to be constructed at that time. In order to properly light it and create the physical effects for the set, other stages needed to be shut down and all their power diverted over to the set. The hallway sets for the Sedgewick Hotel were originally built for the movie Rich and Famous in 1981 and patterned after the Algonquin Hotel in New York City, where Reitman originally wanted to do the hotel bust. The Biltmore was chosen because the large lobby allowed for a tracking shot of the Ghostbusters in complete gear for the first time. Dana Barrett and Louis Tully's apartments were constructed across two stages and were actually on the other side of their doors in the hallway, an unusual move in filmmaking.

A problem arouse during filming when it was discovered that a show was produced in 1975 by Filmation Associates for CBS called Ghostbusters, starring Larry Storch and Forrest Tucker (see the article The Ghost Busters). As a result, if Columbia could not secure the name alternate ones were made up and ready to be used. However, during the filming of the crowd for the final battle, the extras were all chanting "Ghostbusters" causing the producers to ensure the studio got the name. And they did. Ghostbusters was released in the United States on June 8, 1984, starring Bill Murray, Rick Moranis, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson, and grossed over $290 million worldwide during its theatrical run. A video game based on the movie was released by Activision for the Atari gaming system.

A song composed for the movie, also called "Ghostbusters" was a hit for Ray Parker Jr., and is now a staple at "1980s retro" parties, as well as Jekyll & Hyde's Halloween-themed restaurant in Manhattan.

Because of the popularity, an animated television series called "The Real Ghostbusters" was made by DIC Entertainment and ran from 1986-1991. At the same time, Filmation was making a cartoon called "Ghostbusters", known as The Original Ghostbusters, which was a revamp of their old show starring the characters' children. Despite rumors to the contrary, Columbia was allowed to use the name "Ghostbusters" for their cartoon, but they added "The Real" to it to stick it to Filmation. A popular toy line followed the success of the cartoon and was manufactured by Kenner.

In 1985, game publisher West End Games produced a Ghostbusters roleplaying game which later spawned a second edition called Ghostbusters, International. The Ghostbusters game was a revolutionary design, influencing countless other designs including Risus and Over the Edge, and winning the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1986.

By 1988, the popularity had grown and "Ghostbusters" entered the medium of comic books, published monthly by NOW Comics. To appeal to the growing child fanbase, the cartoon was stretched to an hour-long format which not only included the regular cartoon, but a spin-off of sorts with more cartoonish animation and where child favorite Slimer, the Ghostbusters' pet ghost, was the central focus. This was called Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters. In 1989, Ghostbusters II was released on June 16, featuring the return of the main cast and a new villain.

Ghostbusters slowly fazed out of the public eye after 1991 with the cancellation of the cartoon, the toys and the comics, but a revival of sorts was attempted in 1997 with the release of The Extreme Ghostbusters cartoon and related toy-line. Because DIC owned all the rights to "The Real Ghostbusters", new character designs were needed and a new group of younger Ghostbusters were tapped. The series flopped and was cancelled after its original 40 episodes.

With the current 80s nostalgia craze, Ghostbusters made a quiet return. In 2004, 88MPH Studios began releasing their "Legion" limited series, which retconned the Ghostbusters' world to 6 months after the first movie and pushed the timeline up 20 years to present time. The limited series will lead into an on-going series by the company. Neca released a series of action figures based off the first movie. Their first and so far only series included Gozer, Slimer (or Onionhead), the Terror Dogs Vinz Clortho and Zuul, and a massive Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, contrasting the diminutive figure that was in the original figure line. Ertl released a die-cast 1/25 scale Ectomobile, also known as Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters' main transportation. iBooks published a novel called "Ghostbusters: The Return by Sholly Fisch.

The main weapon of the Ghostbusters for the purposes of "busting" ghosts is the Proton Pack, which fires a positron ion stream that negates the negatively charged energy of a ghost, allowing it to be held. This is used in conjunction with a trap designed to hold ghosts and they also have a device called a PKE (Psycho Kinetic Energy) Meter that detects their presence. The final stop for all spooks is the Containment Unit located in the firehouse basement.

1 Cast
2 Memorable lines
3 Trivia
4 References to other movies
5 External links

Cast

Bill Murray (Dr. Peter Venkman)
Dan Aykroyd (Dr. Raymond Stantz)
Sigourney Weaver (Dana Barrett)
Harold Ramis (Dr. Egon Spengler)
Rick Moranis (Louis Tully)
Annie Potts (Janine Melnitz)
William Atherton (Walter J. Peck)
Ernie Hudson (Winston Zeddemore)
Jovan Slavitza (Gozer the Gozerian)

Memorable lines

Dana to Peter: "Are you really a scientist? You seem more like a game-show host."
Egon (referencing the Proton Pak): "Don't cross the streams!"
Winston (who is black) to the mayor (who is white): "Your honor, I've seen [stuff] that would turn you white!"
Dana: "I am the gatekeeper!" Louis: "I am the keymaster!"
Winston to Raymond, after the group is zapped by the evil goddess: "If someone asks you if you're a god, say 'YES'!"
Raymond: "(sigh of resignation) It's the Sta-Puft Marshmallow man!"
Ray Parker: "I ain't afraid of no ghosts!" (a catch phrase used beyond the film)

Trivia

A scene in which Ray and Winston busted a ghost at the fictional Fort Detmerring was cut from the movie. It was originally supposed to go between their end of the world conversation and their trip over the Manhattan Bridge back to the city.

Pornstar Ron Jeremy was one of the extras when the Containment unit blew. Take a gander at the extreme left of the screen when Ecto-1 pulls up in the chaos.

A powder blue station wagon can been seen in multiple exterior shots, obviously a production car.

A scene in which Dan Aykroyd & Bill Murray portrayed Central Park bums was filmed to go between Louis' chase with a Terror Dog but was ultimately cut out due to the flow of action and the possibility it might take the audience out of the movie to see two main stars in another role.

References to other movies

A deleted scene in Ghostbusters was suspected to have Joe Cuttone in it; he played the hotel manager (Lloyd) in The Blues Brothers.

External links

Wikiquote quotations related to:

Ghostbusters