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Dr. Ray Stanz: Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night?Mad Science takes on occult terror and wins hilariously in the greatest Lovecraftian comedy of the 1980s, which went on to spawn a popular franchise.One of the defining elements of the movies (and the rest of the franchise as a whole) is that the characters examine the paranormal with the scientific method and combat it with technology, rather than other similar stories where the characters have to combat the supernatural with magic or more arbitrary urban legends. Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis (who play Ray and Egon, respectively) were responsible for the premise and original script, Aykroyd himself being an avid believer in the paranormal while Ramis admitted to being more of a skeptic. As such, in addition to the excellent comedy and memorable characters Ghostbusters has been found to appeal to skeptics.Ghostbusters (1984)Three parapsychology professors (earnest, forthright, and curious Dr. Raymond Stantz, sarcastic schemer Dr. Peter Venkman, and detached academic Dr. Egon Spengler) are fired from their positions at Columbia University in New York City. Facing dire prospects in finding new collegiate employment, Venkman has a brainstorm: go professional. In their last investigation they devised a method of actually capturing and containing ghosts. They set up Ghostbusters, a company providing scientific exorcisms. At first business is slow, but then the number of ghosts in New York City starts increasing exponentially.The Ghostbusters soon become household names, and become so busy they recruit a fourth team member, Naïve Newcomer and token black guy Winston Zeddemore, but they realize that the surge in ghosts is portentous. Investigations show that phenomena are centered on the apartment of Peter's love interest Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), which was designed by a cult from the early 20th century to attract spirits.Before they can act, petty bureaucrat Walter Peck shuts down the Ghostbusters' containment unit, releasing all the ghosts they had trapped and inadvertently unleashing Armageddon in the form of Gozer, an ancient Sumerian deity.Ghostbusters II (1989)Less than five years later, the City of New York somehow decided the events of the first film were all just a publicity stunt and sued the heroes, who went bankrupt and have gone on to more mundane jobs: Ray owns an occult bookstore, Winston (along with Ray) performs in his Ghostbusters uniform for birthday parties, Peter is a cable TV host discussing the paranormal, and Egon is doing sociology research. But then the ghosts start returning, and soon the Ghostbusters are back in business. Top of their list is investigating a strange river of slime in an abandoned subway tunnel that seems to thrive on negative emotions and produce new ghost hauntings.Meanwhile, at the museum where Dana works, her boss becomes a Renfield for the ghost of Vigo the Carpathian, an ancient tyrant trapped in a painting. Vigo has Dana's infant son Oscar kidnapped, intending to take over the child's body. note When the Ghostbusters finally figure things out and arrive on scene, the museum is cocooned by the slime they were investigating and maintained as a physical manifestation of the negative emotions of New Yorkers.A third movie had been stuck in Development Hell for more than a decade. Aykroyd was gung-ho about the prospect and told anyone who'd listen that he had a script all ready to go; on the other hand, Murray was decidedly more skeptical after the Executive Meddling on the second film. Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009) was touted in some circles as a spiritual sequel, with so many returning cast members, being set in the same continuity as the movies and having been written by Aykroyd and Ramis. The prospect of a third movie with the original leads evaporated completely with Ramis' sudden death.In spite of Ramis' unfortunate demise, the movies led to the formation of a larger expanded universe.In 2014, plans for a Continuity Reboot were announced, directed by Paul Feig. For more details, see the Ghostbusters (2016) page.WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic?
Dr. Peter Venkman: Have you or your family ever seen a spook, spectre or ghost?
Ray: If the answer is "yes," then don't wait another minute. Pick up the phone and call the professionals...
All three: GHOSTBUSTERS!
Ray: Our courteous and efficient staff is on call 24 hours a day to serve all your supernatural elimination needs.
All Three: WE'RE READY TO BELIEVE YOU!
Dr. Egon Spengler: Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic?
Dr. Peter Venkman: Have you or your family ever seen a spook, spectre or ghost?
Ray: If the answer is "yes," then don't wait another minute. Pick up the phone and call the professionals...
All three: GHOSTBUSTERS!
Ray: Our courteous and efficient staff is on call 24 hours a day to serve all your supernatural elimination needs.
All Three: WE'RE READY TO BELIEVE YOU!
— The 3 founding Ghostbusters in their first TV ad.
"Venkman! What happened, are you okay?" "...he troped me.":
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Ghostbusters General
- Admiring the Abomination: Ray and Egon are regularly enthralled or intellectually intrigued by the pandimensional beings they deal with, which contrasts with the deadpan or mundane approaches from Peter and Winston.
- Aerith and Bob: To some degree. Our main characters include Winston, Peter, Ray, Louis, Dana, Janine... and Egon. While Egon is an actual name of Teutonic origin (meaning "formidable" or "mighty with a sword"), it sounds a little bit out of place surrounded by more common names.
- The cast has this, too! Ernie, Bill, Dan, Rick, Harold, Annie... and Sigourney.
- Always Chaotic Evil: Apparently all spirits capable of interacting with the physical plane are malicious or at least mischievous. The least harmful ghosts the 'busters encounter are only benign until someone gets their attention, like the library ghost. This makes indiscriminately locking them up in the containment system more justifiable.
- Ambiguously Jewish: Egon, Janine and Louis. The cartoon runs with this, giving Egon a Jewish Mother who feeds the boys soup when they get sick.
- Ammunition Backpack: The Proton Packs probably count, since all the particle accelerating takes place in the Pack.
- Author Appeal: Aykroyd's fascination with ghosts and the supernatural is well known. Thus leading to the dream sequence
- Autobots, Rock Out!!: Their theme music alone is good enough for this trope.
- Awesome Backpack: The proton packs.
- Bad Bad Acting: In the Ghostbusters' TV ads. In the first film, Peter, Ray and especially Egon read their lines in a very stilted manner. In the second film, Janine and Louis do this in their new commercials.
- Badass Boast:
Ray: Two in the box!Egon: Ready to go!Peter: We be fastAll: And they be slow!
- "Who you gonna call?"
- "We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!"
- In the first movie, when they confront Gozer: "Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown!"
- The franchise's motto is used for this in the second movie during the courtroom scene: "Sometimes, shit happens, someone has to deal with it, and who you gonna call?"
- They get two after busting the Scoleri brothers.
- Also in the second film, after exiting the courtroom: "We're the best, we're the beautiful, we're the only Ghostbusters!"
- Badass Crew: A crew of Badass Bookworms.
- Berserk Button: Slimer really doesn't take well to being called ugly...
- Big Applesauce: Considered one of the quintessential New York City films. The last line of the first film summarizes it perfectly:Winston: I LOVE THIS TOWN!!!
- Big Bad: Gozer in 1, Vigo the Carpathian in 2 and Ivo Shandor in the video game.
- Big Damn Heroes: In the second movie, the Ghostbusters arriving via skylight to stop Oscar being turned into a new host body for Vigo the Carpathian.
- Big Eater: Uh, Slimer. (Called "the Green Ghost" in the first movie and was officially named "Peanut", but given the name "Slimer" in the cartoon and the credits of the second.) The cast thought of him as the ghost of John Belushi.
- Bowdlerise: In reverse. In the 80s, commercials for the first movie ended with Venkman saying "We came, we saw, we kicked it's a—" cut to logo. Now on just about any cable channel allows him to say 'ass'.
- Trailers for the 30th Anniversary keep this, certainly as an homage to the earlier censoring.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Ray and especially Peter, who both have Ph.Ds, in Physics and Parapsychology/Psychology respectively. Both are extremely childish and, especially in Peter's case, fairly unprofessional.
- Butt Monkey: Several.
- Louis Tully, who has doors shut in his face, doors locking him out, and other comical misfortune.
- Ray Stantz, because he's a goof.
- Walter Peck, hereafter known as "dickless".
- The student involved in the ESP test that was repeatedly shocked.
- Built With LEGO: In 2014, six years after LEGO Rock Band featured the theme song, an official LEGO set was approved via LEGO Cusoo, featuring Egon, Venkman, Ray, Winston, the Ecto-1, and Slimer.
- The Series also features in LEGO Dimensions, with the Level Pack including a condensed version of the first film as a playable level.
- Casual Danger Dialog: Egon is a master of this, usually as a way of flatly commenting that he's scared out of his mind despite being overly calm and talking plainly.Venkman: Okay, Ray's gone bye-bye. Egon, what've you got left?
Spengler: Sorry, Venkman, but I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.
- He manages Casual Danger Laughter in 2. Ray and Peter laugh nervously while waiting for the Scolari Brothers to strike, and Egon chimes in with a monotone "Ha. Ha ha."
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Despite being a major character in both movies, Dana Barret almost never shows up in spin-offs, being absent from both The Real Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters: The Video Game and the IDW Ghostbusters comic book. She may get a brief mention, if she's lucky.
- Complete Immortality: Almost all ghosts that are not at least a Class 7 are this, which is why they get trapped and sent into the containment unit.
- Cool Car: The Ecto-1, a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance, refurbished and tricked out with Science!
- And based on Ray's mention of it needed new brake pads, it has a front disk brake conversion, too.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Don't cross the streams. It would be bad.
- Destructive Saviour: The Ghostbusters are very effective at capturing ghosts, but their primary weapons, the proton packs, are terribly inaccurate and burn through whatever they hit when they miss (which is often). That's not even getting into the larger threats, which tend to end up leveling city blocks before the Ghostbusters stop them. Gozer blew up the top few floors of a high rise building as a consequence of stopping her.Venkman: Yeah... we can do more damage that way.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Why yes, yes they do right before arming the proton packs.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Oh yes. Gozer the Gozerian gets beaten by crossing the streams. They also fight what are expressly described as "Deity" ghosts in the game.
- Eccentric Exterminator: The ghostbusters are an odd bunch of mad scientists.
- Extranormal Prison: Their containment unit holds all the ghosts they capture.
- Fan Film: Has inspired a whole slew of fan films based on the idea of Ghostbusters becoming a franchise business and organized in other cities. This includes Freddy Vs. Ghostbusters, The Denver Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters SLC.
- Fantastic Science: Two of the three original characters, Ray and Egon, are legitimate paranormal researchers that channel their knowledge into the business of "paranormal investigations and eliminations." Peter for his part is both a psychologist and parapsychologist, so he contributes the human relations and Only Sane Man elements.
- First Name Basis: The Mayor and the Archbishop of New York have this with each other. The Mayor is taken aback when Peter tries to invoke this with him as well.
- Forbidden Chekhov's Gun: Crossing the streams. They are warned never to do it, and it becomes their Finishing Move.
- For Science!: Generally the reason why Egon runs oddball experiments.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Ray is sanguine, Peter is choleric, Egon is melancholic, Winston is phlegmatic.
- Freudian Trio: Peter as The Kirk, Egon as The Spock, and Ray as The McCoy.
- Funny Background Event: After blowing up the poor housemaid's cart, while they stand around talking, you can see her trying to spritz out the fires they started with a bottle of cleaner.
- During the cutscenes in the video game, The Rookie can be seen reacting to the situations in humorous ways, especially when Mr. Stay Puft first appears.
- During the Kitschy Local Commercial, you can see Egon continuously looking down at the marks he's supposed to stand on.
- Which was an actual mistake made by Harold Ramis, who agreed to keep doing it for subsequent takes when everyone agreed it fit Egon's character.
- When Peter is informing the hotel manager about the cost of their operation, Egon is subtly flashing him hand signals about how much to charge; this can usually only be seen in widescreen presentations, as other cuts tend to crop out Egon from the frame.
- When they're investigating the library ghost, Ray freezes and says "Listen! Do you smell something?" Behind him, Peter draws back, then rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
- Gate Guardian: Zuul (who looks like a large demonic dog) is the Gate Keeper of the dimensional portal that Gozer the Gozerian arrives through. Its (her?) counterpart, Vinz Clortho, The Keymaster, also looks like a giant demon dog.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: Has several of these moments. Arguably the best known one was in the first movie there was that part when a woman is half asleep on her couch. Suddenly she hears strange sounds from the fridge and she says very blatantly, "Oh shit!"
- Not to mention the fairly obvious symbolism of the key and the gate.
- "Bustin' makes me feel good"... Oh.
- Ghostly Goals: Usually of the highly destructive variety.
- Harmless Villain: Vigo becomes this in the Ghostbusters video game. The best he can do is insult you and try and make you feel uncomfortable.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Venkman.Venkman: "Type somethin', will ya? We're payin' ya for this stuff. And don't stare at me, ya got the bug-eyes. " (pauses) "Janine, sorry about the bug-eyes thing, I'll be in my office."
- Just in Time: As the Busters realize they are broke and about to go out of business, Janine gets a phone call.Janine: Hello, Ghostbusters. Yes, of course they're serious. You do? You have?... WE GOT ONE!
- Leitmotif: The Ghostbusters have one when they're going around the city outside of work.
- Licensed Pinball Tables: For a franchise ripe with licensing potential, it took 30 years before an official Pinball table was released. And even then, Ghostbusters Pinball was made by digitally retheming an existing game, Gottlieb's Haunted House.
- There are also rumors that The Party Zone was intended to be a Ghostbusters pinball game, but was changed when a licensing deal could not be reached.
- Lovable Coward: For all his charm and bravado, Peter Venkman is not the bravest of men. With a few exceptions any acts of heroism on his part will usually be very very reluctant ones. That said, he will step up to the plate if necessary; he just won't be very happy about it.
- Mad Scientist: Mostly Egon, but a little bit in Ray as well. Capitalism and a general sense of the good of mankind steers this towards positive and constructive directions.Peter: Egon, this reminds me of the time you tried to drill a hole through your head. Do you remember that?
- At the end of the first movie, after rescuing Louis, he asks him if he'd like to donate a sample of his brain tissue, which Louis, still dazed, agrees to.
- Magic Versus Science: Ghosts and gods vs scientists with nuclear accelerators; the scientists win.
- Mascot Villain: Slimer is a partial example. He starts off as a Starter Villain in the first movie, but by the time he became a true mascot in the animated adaptations he became the Team Pet and sidekick. A more fitting (in and out of universe) example is the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man, or rather, Gozer the Gozerian, who took the form of the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man in a bid to start The End of the World as We Know It.
- The Merch: In-universe examples. In the first film's credits, there are kids waving Ghostbuster logo t-shirts. Ghostbusters II has the gang offer branded thermal mugs and balloons in their commercial.
- Monochrome Apparition: Most of the human-esque ghosts are depicted in one colour.
- Muggles Do It Better: the title characters are Science Heroes who take on ghosts and extraplanar creatures. Furthermore, they are able to because they are able to study them scientifically and develop effective weapons that are relatively easy to use.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ray gets this a lot.
- He chooses Gozer's destructive form as Stay Puft.Peter: Did you choose anything?!
Egon:: No.
Peter: Did you?!
Winston: My mind's a total blank.
Peter: I didn't choose anything! [Beat, then everybody looks at Ray]
- Knocking out all the lights in New York in the sequel. Ray is quite the klutz.
- Later, when they're about to call the final battle a victory, he looks into the painting and gets possessed by Vigo.
- Venkman's antagonism towards Peck accelerates the closure. The clash was probably going to happen anyway, but Peter makes it a personal feud.
- He chooses Gozer's destructive form as Stay Puft.
- Night-Vision Goggles: A slightly modified set of actual night vision goggles is made to be the "ecto goggles" and part of the Ghostbusting gear, supposedly allowing them to see ghosts who have turned themselves invisible. It's seen on everyone in the first movie, used memorably by Ray in the hotel and seen briefly a few times in the second movie. The game makes it into a major gameplay mechanic in tracking down ghosts.
- Non-Action Guy: Rick Moranis' character, Louis. Though he does take a level in badass in the second movie.
- Noodle Incident
- Mentioned in the first film is that time Egon tried to drill a hole in his head. This is an actual procedure, called 'trepanation', which is sometimes claimed to confer psychic powers. "That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me." (Which was allegedly a Throw It In from Harold Ramis.)
- Not Quite Dead: Justified since this is a franchise about ghosts. Also notable in the account of Vigo's death.Ray Stantz: He didn't die of old age, either. He was poisoned, stabbed, shot, hung, stretched, disemboweled, drawn and quartered.
Peter: Ouch.
Ray: There was a prophecy. Just before his head died, his last words were "Death is but a door. Time is but a window. I'll be back."
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: The worst kind of nonbelievers.
- Walter Peck from the first movie ignores the very real paranormal phenomenon around him in favor of his insistence that it's all a scam. His actions in service of this belief directly trigger Gozer's arrival. Then he blames everyone but himself and has them arrested.
- Hardemeyer takes this role in the sequel. He has the Ghostbusters committed to avoid bad press for the mayor.
- Peck is back as the city official appointed as a liaison between the Ghostbusters and the mayor in the video game.
- Oddly Small Organization: The scientific ghost-fighting security agency for the entire New York area is three (later four) men in an old firehouse. Franchise rights are briefly discussed but nothing ever comes of it in the films.
- One-Winged Angel: Ghosts who take human form as a disguise are usually provoked into taking monstrous forms.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: In the series, "ghost" seems to be a catch-all term for incorporeal creatures, including both the spirits of the dead and extraplanar creatures that were never "alive" to begin with.
- Paranormal Investigation: Although they're more like a decontamination crew than detectives or investigators.
- Photoprotoneutron Torpedo: Proton packs, which are "positron colliders" (or sometimes "unlicensed nuclear accelerators") that shoot particles from "neutrona wands".
- Puny Humans: Inverted in that Science Hero mortals scientifically learned about the nature of the supernatural, ranging from simple ghosts to gods, develop practical and easy to use weapons against it and totally clean its clock!
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Ghostbusters themselves; a cynical scientist, a mad scientist, a goof scientist, and someone looking for a steady paycheck.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Lenny the Mayor fills this role to some extent in the first two movies. He's a rather cynical politician whose public image and chances of re-election / further political office are never far from mind, and is as reasonably skeptical of the claims of apocalyptic supernatural phenomena as any reasonable person would be, but when suitably convinced of their claims ultimately proves to be a fairly staunch ally. However, it is suggested that between the first and second movies, he either had them publicly thrown under the bus, or didn't do much to stop it from happening.Ray: First of all, Mr. Mayor, it's a great pleasure to see you again. And we'd like to say that almost 50% of us voted for you in the last election.
Mayor: I appreciate that.
- By the time of the game, he seems to have been replaced with a more straightforward example of this trope; the current mayor got elected on a pro-Ghostbuster platform, and now has the city covering their collateral damage.
- Red Alert: Of the "Emergency Squad Scramble" variety, the first time a call comes in.
- Reed Richards Is Useless:
- Played with. On one hand the Ghostbusters do use their tech to make money for themselves, the game has established them as contractors to New York on the verge of franchising, and they obviously help people out with it, but the potential other uses for their tech goes ignorednote .
- In the cartoon, the Ghostbusters temporarily convert their gear to allow them to catch criminals for bounties, but the premise remains the same.
- Rent-a-Zilla: The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man by the villains, and The Statue of Liberty by the heroes.
- Romanticism vs. Enlightenment: Standing out from a lot of the occult horror genre movies of its time, Ghostbusters is very pro-Enlightenment-esque. MovieBob says it best in a Youtube episode of "Really That Good" on this movie at the 19:14 mark.
- Sassy Secretary: Janine "I've quit better jobs than this!" Melnitz, although it varies by production. In the first film, she is a no-nonsense girl who snaps at Peter while crushing on Egon. In the second film, she's paired off with Louis and becomes super-nerdy.
- Science Heroes: Three scientists and one academic student (Zeddemore, who gets a Doctorate later) face an ancient god with nothing but high technology equipment based on intensive scientific research of their supernatural opponents' nature, and totally kick their asses.
- Science Is Useless: Inverted; the Ghostbusters' scientific methods always prove to be the only effective way of dealing with the supernatural, and the only use for other schools of thought is to provide info on what they're dealing with.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Ghostbusters' containment grid in the first film and Vigo's portrait in the second are used to trap ghosts.
- Shown Their Work: The films are very, very thoroughly researched as side-effect of Aykroyd's own interest in the paranormal. For instance, Peter's treatment of the Zuul-possessed Dana is based on advice from exorcists and psychiatrists for dealing with cases of possession and DID, respectively (i.e. you are never supposed to let the other personality remain in control; this is why he keeps insisting on talking to "Dana", and tries to ignore Zuul). In addition, all of the books Egon and Ray mention actually exist.
- Signs of the End Times:
- Part IWinston Zeddmore: Do you remember something in the Bible about the last days, when the dead would rise from the grave?Ray Stantz: I remember Revelations 7:12. "And I looked as he opened the 6th seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake. And the sun became as black as sack cloth, and the moon became as blood."noteWinston Zeddmore: And the seas boiled and the skies fell.Ray Stantz: Judgment Day.Winston Zeddmore: Judgment Day.Ray Stantz: Every religion has its myth about the end of the world.Winston Zeddmore: Myth? Ray, has it ever occurred to you that maybe the reason we've been so busy lately is 'cause the dead have been rising from the grave?
- Part IIPeter Venkman: Or you could accept the fact that this city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.Mayor: What do you mean, biblical?Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament biblical, Mr. Mayor. Real wrath-of-God-type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming from the sky! Rivers and seas boiling!Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes! Volcanoes!Winston Zeddmore: The dead rising from the grave!Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!
- Played for Laughs after the firehouse blows up:Vinz Clortho: This is it! This is the sign!Janine: Yeah, it's a sign alright: "Going out of business".
- Part I
- Sliding Scale of Comedy and Horror: Straddles the line; the funniest moments and the scariest are often one and the same.
- Smarter Than You Look: Although Venkman comes off as a cynical slacker who doesn't seem to get the gist of things as times, it's obvious that he has just as much knowledge of the supernatural as Ray and Egon.
- Spiritual Successor: Dan Aykroyd's failed attempts to get Ghostbusters 3 done led to Evolution.
- Techno Babble: Brought to the point of art form: PKE valence. Focused, non-terminal repeating phantasm. Total protonic reversal.
- That Came Out Wrong: While Peter is checking her apartment, he goes to the bedroom. Dana, without considering the implications, says "Nothing ever happened in there." Peter quips, "What a crime." Dana realizes her mistake, but instead chooses to focus on Peter's atypical attitude for a scientist.
- After the interview with Dana Barrett:Peter Venkman: I'll take Miss Barret back to her apartment and check her out.[Dana Barret looks up confused]Peter Venkman: I'll go check out Miss Barret's apartment. OK?
- After the interview with Dana Barrett:
- Theme Tune: When there's something strange in the neighborhood Who You Gonna Call?? Ghostbusters!
- This Is Gonna Suck: In both films:
- I— When Walter Peck is about to shut off the containment system, the 'busters deliberately place themselves near the stairs so they can easily flee when all hell breaks loose. Also Venkman's later line "I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it!"
- II— In the courtroom, when the mood slime is about to explode, they slowly take cover under their table.
- Token Minority: Winston. He shows up midway through the first film and joins the Ghostbusters, being the only main black character in either film.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: One of the buildings of New York becomes the portal to a hell dimension and nobody seems to notice or care. (Though, given how New York is depicted in these films, this is perfectly "in-character".)
- Vanity License Plate: The Ectomobile has ECTO 1 on its tags.
- Weapons That Suck:
- Technically speaking, the real weapon the Busters use against the ghosts are their traps, which suck the ghosts in and hold them until deposited in the protection grid. All the proton packs are intended for is to snare ghosts in the proton stream and position them above the trap. That's also why Busters didn't need the proton packs to capture the jogging ghost; all they had to do is place the trap in his path and open it when he stepped over it.
- The one exception to this are the final villains at the end of both movies. This may be explained by the fact that unlike the vast majority of ghosts Vigo and Gozer are at least semi-corporeal and, as we saw with the maid cart while they where initially catching slimer, a tightly focused stream from a proton pack can be highly destructive. Other non-corporeal ghosts can be restrained by it or in the case of relatively weak ghosts scattered into ambient PKE (psycho kinetic energy) but it would be possible to destroy a corporeal entity assuming it isn't a god or superpowered with PKE.
- Weirdness Censor: Despite the rampant evidence to the contrary (as in, making this announcement during a mayoral meeting where everyone else in the room, including the mayor himself, is well aware of the supernatural crisis), Peck insists the Ghostbusters are frauds deluding people with chemicals and "a cheap, electronic light show." Indeed, Peck has zero evidence to back up his claims, having arbitrarily decided that they must be frauds. Had the case gone to court normally, the Ghostbusters would have won the case hands-down. In the second movie, several characters continue this attitude, which makes one wonder what they thought of the very public attack involving the very gigantic and very real Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and the very gooey remains he left behind.
- What the Hell, Hero?: "What did you do, Ray?"
- Who You Gonna Call?: If there's somethin' strange...in the neighborhood....who you gonna call? Trope NAMER!! If there's somethin' weird, and it don't look good, who you gonna call? Trope NAMER!!
- The Worf Barrage: The proton packs never work against the Big Bad, or at best are a mild annoyance, which force the team to resort to different strategies to beat them.
- Gozer dodged the first shot and just vanished the second time. Upon transforming into the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, getting shot did little more than knock him down and set him on fire, arguably making him even more dangerous.
- Vigo is briefly annoyed by the packs, brushing away the beams and paralyzing the team in the process. He has to be weakened by a Care-Bear Stare/Combined Energy Attack in the form of happy, singing New Yorkers, which was the only way they were able to enter the building anyway. The final barrage of mood slime and proton packs also seems to hinge largely on the former, though the packs do provide the final push that wins the day.
- The games introduce three major modifications (complete with a secondary fire mode) to the classic backpack and most of the ghosts have a weakness to one of them: basic particle stream, dark matter generator, slime blower and meson collider. The idea is if one ghost is shrugging off any one of your attacks you can switch them up.
- Above the Influence: In the first Ghostbusters, Venkman comes to visit Dana and finds she is possessed by Zuul, which makes her want to sleep with the Keymaster. He refuses, since she isn't in her right mind.Zuul/Dana: Do you want this body?'Venkman: Is this a trick question?—Zuul/Dana: I want you inside me.Venkman: *laughs* Go ahead — no, I can't. Sounds like you got at least two people in there already. Might be a little crowded.
- Absurdly Long Stairway: The Ghostbusters have to climb 20 flights of stairs for the confrontation with Gozer, due to the elevators being out of service.
- Adorable Abomination: Gozer, in his/her/its Stay Puft form.
- Vinz Clortho's childlike naiveté and enthusiasm for Gozer's coming makes him kinda lovable.
- Ambiguous Gender: Gozer appeared female when "she" first appeared, despite being referred to by male pronouns in texts used for research. The Keymaster did claim that Gozer could - and has - taken numerous forms in the past, so he/she could probably have looked like anything, male or female.Winston Zeddemore: I thought Gozer was a man!Dr. Egon Spengler: It's whatever it wants to be.
- Truth In Theology: Gozer, as a deity, would be a pure spirit, and would exist outside the mortal confines of sex or gender.
- Analogy Backfire: Peter tries to tell Ray that being fired from the university isn't so bad, because "Einstein did his greatest stuff while he was working as a patent clerk."Ray: Do you know how much a patent clerk earns?!Peter: No!
- Apocalypse How: Attempted. But where do you slot the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in the scale?
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Played with. While Peter is certainly a believer in the paranormal, he has a bit more practical sense than Ray and Egon, who are willing to believe anything is supernatural related. "Right, no human being would ever stack books like this."
- The Alleged Car: Ecto-1 is an ancient ambulance/hearse that we're introduced to with Ray listing off the numerous things they'll have to fix. Remarkably, they do.Ray: Everybody can relax, I found the car. Needs some suspension work and shocks and brakes, brake pads, lining, steering box, transmission, rear-end...Peter: How much?Ray: Only $4800.*Venkman looks shocked*Ray: Maybe new rings, also mufflers, a little wiring...
- $4800 was quite a hefty sum for an old beater that needed a lot of work back in 1984. It's the equivalent to about $11000 in 2015.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoesWinston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together mass hysteria!
- Art Deco: Dana's apartment building, as pointed out by Egon. In Real Life, however, it's shorter and doesn't have the spire at the top, where the climax takes placethe spire was made using a scale model.
- Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: "Get ready get ready GET HER!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!!"
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: "It's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man." Ironically, Stay Puft was described as a '100 foot marshmallow man'.
- Audience Surrogate: Unlike the others, Winston doesn't have a Ph.D. in anything; he's just an average Joe looking for a steady paycheck.
- Bathos: Evoked at the end of the first movie. The city is being destroyed by an evil god, yes, but it's in the form of a giant, smiling, sailor hat-wearing guy made of marshmallows.
- Beautiful Condemned Building: Despite its numerous flaws, Ray falls in love with the old firehouse.
- Blasphemous Boast: Averted (and lampshaded).Winston Zeddemore: When someone asks you if you're a god, YOU SAY YES!
- Bloody Horror: During the scene in the mayor's office where people are describing the weird events going on in New York City, one man says "The walls in the 53rd Precinct were bleeding."
- Brand X: Stay Puft Marshmallows.
- Brick Joke: Ray has a rather underwhelming plan to catch the first ghost seen in the movie.Ray: Ready GET HER!
- This is brought back near the end of the movie when the protagonists come face to face with the film's Big Bad.Peter: Whatever it is, it has to get by us!Ray: Right.Peter: GO GET HER, RAY!
- This is brought back near the end of the movie when the protagonists come face to face with the film's Big Bad.
- The Cameo: The music video for the titular theme features many recognizable faces, like Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Danny DeVito.
- The film itself features cameos from the likes of Ron Jeremy, Reginald Vel Johnson (Carl Winslow), Larry King, Casey Kasem, Roger Grimsby, Joe Franklin, and even Ivan Reitman, the director (as the voice of Zuul/Slimer).
- Captain Obvious:Ray Stantz: Hey, where do these stairs go?Peter Venkman: They go up.
- Contrived Coincidence: The three get fired and form a ghost-busting business just as a malevolent god-entity intends to enter our world. If they'd been kicked out of their college just a few weeks earlier, they would have gone out of business. Oh, and New York would have become the epicenter of the apocalypse.
- Converging-Stream Weapon: What you get when you cross the streams (besides a massive life-threatening explosion).
- Cosmic Horror Comedy: This is a story about a doomsday cult deliberately building an Eldritch Location in order to perform bizarre rituals in order to summon an Eldritch Abomination, which was worshiped as a god in ancient Sumer, from another dimension to destroy the world. A team of paranormal investigators stumble onto the plot, and, well, you know the rest.
- Crazy-Prepared: Venkman proves to have fast access to 300 cc's of Thorazine, which implies that he carries it around with him or can find it offscreen in less than a few minutes. 300 cc's is a lot.
- Creator Cameo: Director Ivan Reitman provides the voices for Slimer and Zuul. Producer Joe Medjuck crosses in front of the camera in the library.
- Deadpan Snarker:
- Venkman gets to play this along with Only Sane Man, in that he's continually snarking on his fellows' more outlandish ideas.
- Dana Barrett shows shades of this when Peter compliments her on her cello playing:Peter Venkman: You're the best one in your row.Dana Barrett: Thank you. [beat] You're good; most people can't hear me with the whole orchestra playing.
- Janine, upon seeing a police officer at the door:"Dropping off or picking up?"
- Dean Bitterman: Dean Yeager inadvertently starts the Ghostbusters by firing them from their cushy academic jobs.
- Demonic Possession: Dana Barrett and Louis Tully by the Keymaster and the Gate Keeper. They turn into demon dogs.
- Dope Slap: Peter Venkmann to Ray Stanz, and vice versa.
- Dummied Out: Elmer Bernstein wrote a complete score for the film, parts of which in the final version got replaced by the songs from the soundtrack instead. Thus, several up-beat versions of the Ghostbusters Theme slipped into obscurity.
- Eldritch Abomination: This is what Gozer was implied to be. Parodied with the final form Gozer takes, which is the cuddly and cute Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
- Peter Venkman: Well, there's something you don't see every day.
- Eldritch Location: Gozer's dimension, as glimpsed through the fridge portal.
- Erotic Dream: Ray has one where he imagines a ghost girl giving him... um, moral support. This was originally part of a Deleted Scene where Ray and Winston are on a case at a haunted fort where the ghost girl had been greeting other male visitors.
- Establishing Character Moment: Venkman is first shown giving an ESP test to two students in which a wrong answer is followed by an electric shock. Because one of his test subjects is an attractive female student, Venkman keeps zapping the other (male) subject regardless of who gets the right answer. This reveals Venkman as a Jerk Ass and a man who thinks with his groin. The sharp-eyed will note that the male test subject seems to be getting the answers right after complaining of the shock. Note the look on Venkman's face as he gets it right, and the look of horror on the subject's face as Venkman reaches for the button
- Everybody Smokes: Perhaps not everybody, but the amount of smoking in this movie (especially from the lead characters) would never happen in a modern Hollywood film unless it's a period piece.
- Evil Makeover/Evil Is Sexy: When Dana gets possessed by Zuul she dresses in a more provocative manner.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Say it with me: "There is no Dana, only Zuul."
- Fog Feet: The library ghost.
- Foreshadowing: In the scene where the eggs in Dana's groceries start cooking themselves while still in the box, a bag of Stay Puft marshmallows can be seen right next to them. An advert for the marshmallows also shows up on the side of a nearby building during the scene in which the ghosts are released from the containment unit.note
- "Don't cross the streams."
- Larry King during the media montage telling his audience that some authorities suspect the Ghostbusters are staging the ghost appearances themselves.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: From what the Keymaster says (and the Ghostbusters later discover), Gozer is required for some reason to take on a form familiar to the inhabitants of the world it intends to annihilate.
- Fridge Horror: In-Universe example. Winston and Ray are driving back from their latest job, when the former asks: "Hey Ray? Do you remember something in the Bible about how, in the last days, the dead would rise from the grave?"Ray: Well, every civilization has its own myth about the end of the world.Winston: Myth? Ray, has it ever occurred to you that the reason we've been so busy lately is that the dead have been rising from the grave?Ray: How 'bout a little music?
- Also a literal example of Fridge Horror, when Dana first encounters Zuul.
- Gameshow Host: Dana compares Veckman to one.
- Glass Smack and Slide: Louis is chased by the Gatekeeper, Vinz Glortho, and attacked by him until he slams face first into the window of a restaurant and slides down, screaming. On the other side of the glass are a bunch of swanky, upscale diners who glance up briefly, then go back to exactly what they were doing.
- Godzilla Threshold: It is incredibly important not to cross the streams but by the time Gozer is about to reincarnate and bring about the End of the World as We Know It they figure "what the heck?"
- Greater Scope Villain: Ivo Shandor, worshipper of Gozer. Shandor was the architect for the building where Gozer himself/itself first enters our world, and led a cult dedicated to him. Of course, at this point Shandor himself has passed away by this point, but was significant enough to become an important mention while the Ghostbusters are locked up as the previously mentioned architect, since he was the one who had brought all the necessary elements for Gozer's return together while he was still alive. Years later, when Shandor returns and releases Gozer only for the Sumerian god to come back in a weaker Stay Puft form (leading to his second defeat), the ghost of Shandor decides to become a god himself using an also-previously-established mandala spread throughout New York, as well as become the ghost behind the ghosts to most, if not all of the Ghostbusters's deadlier ghost enemies in the 2009 Ghostbusters game. Oh, and the name he chooses for his Destructor form like Gozer's (except minus the Stay Puft)? The Architect.
- Hellhound: The Terror Dogs, Zuul and Vinzclortho.
- Heroic BSOD: Ray gets this when he ends up conjuring the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man as the creature to end the world.Peter: Ray has gone bye-bye, Egon. What have you got left?
Egon: Sorry, Venkman. I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The Ghostbusters had only just figured out the significance of Zuul, Gozer, Ivo Shandor, and Dana Barret's apartment building by the time of the final confrontation. Dana, their first customer, only came to them when she did because she saw their commercial on TV, and she only saw them on TV because it was on when she got home. It is implied that it was on when she got home because of paranormal activity in her apartment (along with the eggs and the doomfridge). If Zuul coulda just dialed it back on the poltergeist activity, Gozer would have been triumphant. (To make it even more ironic, it is doubtful that anyone, Zuul, Gozer, or the heroes, even realized this.)
- Hope Spot: For a moment, it looks like they've vaporized Gozer and all's good with the world. Then Egon chimes in with "Ray, this looks extraordinarily bad." Cue Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Averted in the first film, as Venkman was utterly foiled in his attempt to reach Dana.Zuul (in Dana's body): There is no Dana, only Zuul!Peter: What a lovely singing voice you must have.
- I Love This Town: Winston Zeddmore, covered in molten marshmallow, triumphantly shouts this line as a summation of the good time the audience had watching this kick-ass movie.
- Ironic Echo: Near the end of the movie Venkman tells Ray to Get her!
- ISO-Standard Urban Groceries: Dana carries a bag of them (including celery stalk) into her apartment.
- It Has Been an Honor: In conjunction with using the Forbidden Chekhov's Gun.Peter: See you on the other side, Ray.
Ray: Nice working with you, Dr. Venkman.
- It Is Beyond Saving: In the Back Story told by Egon, Ivo Shandor believed society was "too sick to survive" after he experienced World War One, which is why he wanted to cause The End of the World as We Know It.
- It Was Here, I Swear: Dana sees a temple and terror dogs in her fridge. Later, she brings Peter to investigate:Peter: (peeking inside) Oh, my God Look at all the junk food!Dana: No, Goddammit! Look, this wasn't herePeter: (holding a piece of bologna) You actually eat this?Dana: Look, this wasn't here! There was nothing here! There was this space! And there was a building or something with flames coming out of it, and there were creatures writhing around, and they were growling and snarling. And there were flames, and I heard a voice say "Zuul"! It was right here!Peter: Well, I'm sorry, I'm just not getting any reading.
- It's Personal: Venkman alludes to this while the guys are busting Slimer.Venkman: Maybe now you'll never slime someone with a positron collider, huh?!
- Jerkass: Walter Peck is a rude, self-important, power-tripping, blame-throwing jerk. While Venkman certainly didn't help matters by being as uncooperative as possible, Peck's smug attitude (and repeatedly referring to Peter as Mr. Venkman and not Dr. Venkman) showed he wasn't really looking to play nice either.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- Despite his attitude, Peck, as the head of environmental safety is entirely right to be concerned about people using dangerous, untested nuclear devices that could likely cause disasters if anything goes wrong. Points which the Ghostbusters themselves also have. It's when he shuts off the containment unit (despite being told by the designers of the machine, with great emphasis, that without power it will explode) that he really goes too far.
- The college administrator who tosses them off campus at the start of the film is an example as well. Pretty much everything he says is true, especially in regards to Venkman.
- Jerkass Genie: Gozer. He puts it to those nearby to choose the form of the destroyer. Its size, however, is at his discretion.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Walter Peck had a point being concerned about the environmental safety of the Ghostbusters' facility, considering Egon had parallel concerns of his own. However, Peck barging in with a court order, ordering the containment grid turned off despite the warnings of the Busters and the reticence of a Con Ed technician and arresting the Busters for the resulting explosion on spurious charges puts him beyond the pale.
- Karma Houdini: No matter how valid his points were, one cannot deny Walter Peck's fault in nearly messing things up royally. The only commuppence he ever seems to get for it (that is seen) is getting drenched with marshmallow at the end, something that happened to everyone. In fact, given what happened between movies, it would seem he came out on top, ultimately.
- Kitschy Local Commercial: The commercial the Ghostbusters put out. It has no music, the characters are wooden and it looks like it was shot for about 5 bucks.
- Lampshaded Double Entendre:Dana: That's the bedroom but nothing ever happened in there.Peter: What a crime.
- Let's Split Up, Gang: In the hotel.Peter Venkman: Yeah, we can do more damage that way.
- Like Reality Unless Noted: We are supposed to assume this world is like our own, excepting there is an actual scientific, verifiable evidence of the paranormal (something our world is lacking). Such as the fact that Egon already had built/bought a PKE meter suggesting someone had detected the energy previously, however people act just as skeptically there as here.
- Long List: Ray's list of repairs the Cadillac needed and Egon's similar list of problems with their building.
- Also, Peck's injunctions against the 'Busters.
- And the list of paranormal beliefs during Winston's job interview.Winston: If there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say.
- Magnetic Plot Device: The reason New York is practically swimming in ghosts is because Dana Barret's high-rise apartment building is essentially a supernatural magnet. Ivo Shandor, the leader of a cult of Gozer worshipers, designed it specifically to give Gozer a doorway into our world. It also neatly explains just where the vast majority of the unleashed ghosts went, since the building used them as a power source.
- Mathematician's Answer: When asked where the stairs go, Venkman says, "They go up."
- Meaningful Background Event: Overlaps with Foreshadowing. When Dana first described Zuul to the Ghostbusters, she was subject to a test involving a makeshift headpiece and a monitor that displays her human image. When Vinz Clortho is subject to the same test, the monitor shows an image of a Terror Dog, signifying his true/upcoming form.
- Ms. Fanservice: Now we already know Dana Barret is physically attractive, but once she gets possessed by one of the Terror Dogs she becomes EVEN MORE smoking hot than she was.
- Muggles Do It Better: See Magic Versus Science. Ancient god, meet unlicensed nuclear accelerator.Peter: Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown!
- Naïve Newcomer: Subverted by Winston, who adjusts to his new job very quickly.
- Nerd Glasses: Louis Tully in both movies. Janine gains a huge pair of Harry Potter specs in the sequel, to match her animated counterpart (and make her a more plausible romantic match for Louis).
- Never My Fault: Walter Peck condemns the Ghostbusters for causing the explosion he himself had caused, in spite of their warnings.
- Never Recycle a Building: Even though it's a major deathtrap in the middle of New York City, the abandoned firehouse remains conveniently available until Venkman et al need a place of business.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the climax, Ray screws up majorly twice - first by nearly getting his team zapped off the tower by confessing to not being a god and later Gozer tells the Ghostbusters to choose the form of the Destructor. Ray thinks of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (whom he believes to be totally harmless), whereupon Gozer (reading Ray's mind) assumes the form of the Marshmallow Man and wreaks havoc.
- The Not-So-Harmless Punishment: When Gozer demands that the Earth choose the shape of its destroyer, Ray immediately thinks of The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, being the one thing that he believes could not possibly ever hurt us. Unfortunately, that's not quite so.
- Oh Crap!: The look on Mr. Stay Puft's face when the Ghostbusters cross the streams.
- Alternatively, the Ghostbusters' reaction to Stay Puft.Egon: LOOK!
Ray: No! It can't be!
Winston: What is it?!
Ray: It can't be!
Winston: What did you do, Ray?! Aw, Shit!
- And again when Stay Puft turns to face them with its maniacal grin
Winston: Oh, no.
Peter: Mother pus bucket
- And again when Stay Puft turns to face them with its maniacal grin
- When Walter Peck turns the containment grid off, the result is an Oh Crap! combined with a This Is Gonna Suck. The electrician even says, "Oh, shit!" while Egon makes a little "kaboom" motion with his hands.
- Alternatively, the Ghostbusters' reaction to Stay Puft.
- OOC Is Serious Business: Egon, of all people, tries to start a fistfight with Peck while insulting his mother.
- Personal Arcade: In the first night of the franchise, the guys' upper-level loft includes two arcade video games (Missile Command and Star Castle) and a Star Gazer pinball machine next to the fireman's pole.
- Pillar of Light: Rises over the city when the ecto containment unit explodes, releasing all of the ghosts trapped.
- Plot Time: It's a good idea to use the MST3K Mantra for those of us who pay attention to time:
- As Dana walks in to ask for help Ray is working on the Ecto-1, which is unpainted. She and Peter leave to check out her apartment. After that scene the three are eating Chinese with the last of the petty cash and speaking as if the Dana incident had only just happened and was a failure. Then they get their hotel call and the Ecto-1 is ready to roll - completely fixed and painted.
- Tully mentions before Dana's incident that he's having a party coming up in two weeks. He throws a party on the night Gozer arrives. In between, the Ghostbusters do a variety of jobs and become a major media sensation, seemingly spanning a few months at least. It's unclear if Tully's party is supposed to be the one he's talking about in the beginning of the film or a second one.
- Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: Venkman gets two of these in rapid succession
- Venkman: (after having nearly been flung off a building by Gozer's Electrofingers-of-Death) "All right this chick is toast!"
Venkman: " let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown."
- Precision F-Strike: The containment grid's shut down, and ghosts are streaming into the atmosphere in a pillar of blinding light. What drives home how bad the situation isn't the ensuing montage, or that a possessed man escapes in the crowd. It's that what's happening is enough to tip Egon over into angrily insulting Peck's mother.Peck: I want this man arrested! These men are in violation of the Environmental Protection Act, and this explosion is a direct result of it!
Egon: Your mother!
Winston: Mr. Mayor, I was a lot like you, but since I joined up with these men I have seen shit that will turn you white!
- Winston gets a good one in on the Mayor:
- Raised Hand of Survival: Dana Barrett is changed into a dog demon by Gozer. After Gozer is destroyed the demon's charred body is found. Her hand breaks out of the body, showing that she's still alive inside it.
- Reactionary Fantasy: The film has been described as a reactionary fantasy where the major realistic villain is Walter Peck, a Strawman of a government bureaucrat who barges into a small business and his interference causes disaster.
- Reality Ensues: The Ghostbusters have their Big Damn Heroes moment, arriving to cheering crowds at Dana's apartment building. Cut to them dragging themselves and their heavy gear up twenty-plus flights of stairs.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Dean Yeager tells Venkman off resoundingly as he evicts them from the university, calling he and his team frauds and shysters. It's clear he's been relishing the notion for some time.Dean Yeager: Doctor... Venkman. We believe the purpose of science is to serve mankind. You however seem to regard science as some kind of dodge... or hustle. Your theories are the worst kind of popular tripe, your methods are sloppy, and your conclusions are highly questionable! You are a poor scientist, Dr. Venkman.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning
- Gozer's dog demons Zuul and Vinz Clortho both have glowing red eyes.
- After Tully is possessed by one of the dog demons, his eyes flash red when he becomes angry. Dana Barrett's eyes also become red after she is possessed.
- While in his female human form, the evil deity Gozer the Gozerian has red eyes.
- Running Gag: Louis locking himself out of his apartment.
- Shared Mass Hallucination / Scooby-Doo Hoax: Invoked by Peck, who accuses the Ghostbusters of being frauds that use nerve gas to make people believe they're seeing ghosts, and then "put on a light show" to get rid of them.
- Signature Team Transport: Ecto-1.
- Snub by Omission: When Peter Venkman introduces his team at the library:Roger Delacorte: I'm Roger Delacorte. Are you the men from the university?
Dr. Peter Venkman: Yes, I'm Dr. Venkman, Dr. Stantz, Egon
- Soundtrack Dissonance:
- During the sequence where the ghosts escape the containment unit and start terrorizing the city, a pop ballad titled "Magic" by Mick Smiley is played.
- The "monster movie"-style music that plays during Stay Puft Marshmallow Man's entrance is (intentionally?) Played for Laughs when juxtaposed with Mr. Stay Puft's smiling face. However, he does turn to face the Ghostbusters a few minutes later...
- The Stinger: There's an inter-credits scene set right after the events of the movie, where Slimer emerges from the New York streets and proceeds to charge at the audience, emitting a horrible wail.
- Styrofoam Rocks: At the end, when debris is falling from the top of the skyscraper, in one shot you can see a rock, which had supposedly tumbled from several hundred feet in the air, fall straight down and bounce off of a wooden police barrier.
- Tablecloth Yank: Venkman does this in the hotel ballroom, destroying everything except the centerpiece.Venkman: The flowers are still standing!
- Tailor-Made Prison: All of the ghosts who get captured get placed into the nuclear-powered Containment Unit. Instant Catastrophe? Turn off the Unit.
- Team Hand-Stack: The Ghostbusters do this just before entering the building to fight Gozer. They do another one when they think they've won, until Egon tells them that things are about to go From Bad to Worse.
- This Cannot Be!: Ray's reaction at seeing the Stay Puft monster.
- Throat Light: Zuul's throat (in terror-dog form) emits a bright light when Dana sees it in her refrigerator.
- Trust Me, I'm an X: "Back off, man, I'm a scientist."
- The Tunguska Event: A throw-away line near the end has Ray telling Louis that he was part of the biggest crossover event since this, implying that it was a ghost thing.
- Too Soon: In-universe example. After they defeat Stay Puft and save the world, the examine the "corpses" of the devil dogs Dana and Louis became. Ray mentions it smells like "barbecued dog hair", then remembered Peter's attachment to Dana, and apologized profusely. Fortunately, Dana and Louis were rescued shortly after.
- Too Dumb to Live: Ray thoughtlessly denies being a god when Gozer questions him, as a result he and his friends are almost killed.
- Uncomfortable Elevator Moment: The scene wherein the Ghostbusters are heading up to the floor of their first real assignment. "Why worry? Each of us is wearing an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back." Cue the other two shuffling comedically away in the tight space.
- Unusual Euphemism: "Mother pus bucket!"
- "I am the Keymaster!" "I am the Gatekeeper."
- Voice of the Legion: Zuul, when Venkman gets it angry.
- Weapons That Suck: The ghost trap has some kind of astral suction function.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The 'busters get their initial capital by mortgaging Ray's family house at an absurd interest rate. We never learn whether they earned enough money fast enough to save it from being foreclosed.
- Widescreen Shot: Ramis joked that he got cut out of most of the standard screen broadcast.
- Particularly in the 4-shot where the Ghostbusters are walking and talking with the hotel manager. Cropping Ramis out of the shot leaves the manager neatly flanked by the other two, and since Ramis doesn't speak during the shot
- X-Ray Sparks: Shown when the lightning strikes Dana and Louis atop Gozer's temple.
- You Have to Believe Me: Inverted; when they finally get to see the Mayor, despite the apparent lunacy of the things they're suggesting the Ghostbusters — while still stressing the urgency of the situation to him — nevertheless present their case in a fairly calm, reasonable and level-headed manner (even if they do succumb to the dramatic at one point: "Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!"). Better yet, respected city officials like the City Fire Chief support the Ghostbusters' case with rational observations of the bizarre phenomena plaguing the city that defies any explanation other than the Busters'. On the other hand Peck, who on the surface has the more rational case (that these people are conmen), nevertheless comes across as twitchy, touchy, a bit irrational and clearly nursing a grudge, prone to exploding into violence (albeit after being provoked by Venkman) and on the whole rather shifty and unreliable.
- Your Mom: Egon's response to Walter Peck's blockheadedness.
Ghostbusters II
- '80s Hair: The saleswoman at the Orrefor's fine crystal store seen in the montage.
- Adult Fear: Just about anything involving Oscar. Poor Dana nearly had a heart attack after everything she witnessed.
- As You Know: Zed's infodump to Ray explaining how the Ghostbusters went out of business after the first movie.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The Statue of Liberty.
- Babies Make Everything Better: Inverted. Vigo uses Dana's son as a vessel in order to revive himself.
- Baby Carriage: In the opening scene of the second film, with a more ghostly version used in a later scene.
- Badass Boast:Venkman: We're the best we're the beautiful we're the only Ghostbusters!
- Batman Gambit: Vigo and Janosz pull one when they decide to abduct Dana too, by having Janosz kidnap Oscar, knowing Dana would come to the museum to get him. Once she was inside, Vigo had the slime seal off the building.
- Beat Them at Their Own Game: The Ghostbusters are able to charge the slime with positive energy, making it an effective weapon against Vigo. And as a bonus, bring the Statue of Liberty to life to rally the New Yorkers.
- Berserk Button: Venkman meets a security guard who is a fan of his TV show World of the Psychic, and adds that his other favorite TV show is Bassmasters. This greatly offends Venkman for some reason.
- Big Applesauce: Mocked near the end by Venkman, who asks why any being would want to return in 1980s New York, rather than sunny Southern California.
- Big Bad: Vigo
- Big Blackout: Ray accidentally causes one in the second film.
- Body Surf: Vigo's goal. He attempts to take over Oscar's body, but once foiled, he decides Ray works just as well. Cue sliming.
- Bottomless Magazines: The slime blowers expend far more slime than the tanks could be reasonably said to carry. Possibly justified by the fact that the evil version of the slime demonstrates itself to be self-replicating in the courtroom scene, so the good version could do the same.
- Brooklyn Rage: The source of the Big Bad's power.
- And what is the best way to overcome Brooklyn Rage? The spirit of goodwill brought on by New Years Eve and the spirit of patriotism as symbolized by the Statue of Liberty.
- The Cameo: Bobby Brown, who provided the movie's theme song "On Our Own", appears in a minor role as the Mayor's doorman.
- Canon Immigrant: In a recursive sort of way. Slimer was in the first movie, but wasn't given a name and he was basically a bad-guy caught by the Ghostbusters. He was turned into a good-guy regular character and given a name in the cartoon series, which is where he becomes a Canon Immigrant in the second movie: the first time we see Slimer in the sequel, he's hanging around inside the Fire Station headquarters chowing down on some food, implying that even the live-action guys have adopted him. The only other scene we see him in, he's shown helping Louis, which again implies that Movie Slimer, like Cartoon Slimer, is now a Team Pet.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Vigo the Carpathian, the Scourge of Carpathia, the Sorrow of Moldovia: "Now is the dawning of the season of evil" and etc.
- Care-Bear Stare: The good mood slime is charged with positive feelings. It's harmful to evil ghosts and if turned on humans it turns them into love freaks.
- The Cassandra: Milton Angland, the author who appears on Peter's show at the beginning of the second movie and predicted the world would end on New Year's Eve that year. That almost comes true, though nobody ever sees or speaks of him again.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- "Higher and Higher" in the second movie. Ray and Egon show us that the slime happens to really like Jackie Wilson's version of the song early on in the movie. A cover version is used later on in the movie to empower the slime, thus mobilizing Libby.
- Egon is first seen in the movie conducting an experiment on whether negative emotions could have an impact on the surrounding environment. Enter "mood slime" And then see the mood slime itself take control of a major landmark.
- The psychic Venkman was interviewing predicting the world would end on New Year's Eve.
- The evil stare that Vigo gives Ray plants the seed for Vigo to temporarily possess Ray towards the end of the film.
- Closest Thing We Got: Tully is pressed into representing the Ghostbusters when they're put on trial after blacking out New York. Tully protests that he's a tax lawyer who got his degree at night school.Ray: That's OK, Louis. We were arrested at night. [Face Desk]
- Combined Energy Attack: When the 'busters use the collective goodwill of New York to break through the slime shield on the museum.
- Darker and Edgier/Sequel Escalation: The horror got ramped up, compared to the first one. It wasn't enough that Oscar was stolen away, for example - it had to be on a building ledge, at Venkman's apartment after they were attacked in their own home.
- The spirits themselves were genuinely terrifying (the Ghost Train in particular), and then imagine what prolonged exposure to the Mood Slime does...
- Dated History: When the Titanic is shown arriving in port, it has a huge hole in the prow. And is in one piece rather than having split in half.
- Demonic Possession: Janosz Poha, Ray Stantz, and (almost) Oscar.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Vigo paralyzes the Ghostbusters with a blast of energy, then steps past them to take Oscar. Lacking any other options, Venkman crawls toward Vigo and starts mocking and insulting him.
- The Dreaded: Vigo's titles when he was alive included "Vigo the Cruel", "Vigo the Despised", "Vigo the Torturer", and "Vigo the Unholy".Venkman: Wasn't he also "Vigo the Butch"?
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: The Ghostbusters saved the world, but five years later, they're thought of as "two-bit frauds and publicity hounds." They also apparently got shafted when it was time to clean up Gozer's mess. Ray and later Peter comment on this.
- TV Producer: No Respected psychic will come on the show, they think you're a fraud.Venkman: I AM a fraud!
- Emotion Eater: Vigo feeds on anger in order to strengthen himself. The Ghostbusters counter this by bringing the Statue of Liberty to life to inspire the spirit of patriotism in the New Yorkers.
- Extra-Strength Masquerade: The giant demonic marshmallow man and plague of ghosts from five years ago everyone remembers and even had physical evidence of was all the world's most elaborate hoax. Obviously. Though there is a great deal of truth in this, after all, people will often only believe what they ''want'' to believe.
- Expospeak Gag: This exchange:Dr. Peter Venkman: Hey Egon, how's school? I bet those science chicks really dig that large cranium of yours?Dr. Egon Spengler: I think they're more interested in my Epididymis
- Failed a Spot Check: Dana. She misses that the water for a bath has suddenly gone silent.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: The number of people in the movie who claim not to believe in the supernatural a mere five years after a prehistoric deity marched through downtown Manhattan is staggering.
- Justified in that Peck convinced everyone that the Stay Puft Man was a marketing ploy, and the explosion that closed the portal was the Ghostbusters misusing pyrotechnics, leaving them on the hook for all the damages caused by saving the world.
- Foreshadowing: The psychic predicting the end of the world at the beginning of the movie.
- When Vigo is brainwashing Janosz, his portrait changes to shows the old subway tunnel with mood slime flowing down the support pillars.
- Funny Foreigner: Janosz Poha. Except not really.Dr. Peter Venkman: Johnny...where in the hell are you from anyway?Dr. Janosz Poha: (with Slavic accent) De Upper Vest side...?
- Fur and Loathing: A woman is attacked by her haunted coat.
- Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul: A side effect of being doused with positively charged mood slime.
- Giggling Villain: The Scoleri brothers.
- Hanging Judge: Stephen "The Hammer" Wexler. Not only does he have a very unprofessional rant (which any competent lawyer not named Tully would use on appeal to have the conviction thrown out) about how he wishes it were still legal to have people burned at the stake but he doesn't seem to have been too concerned with whether or not the Scoleri brothers were actually guilty.
- He Knows Too Much: When Ray and Egon were analyzing photos of Vigo's painting and discover his connection to the river of slime, he telekinetically locks the door before setting the room on fire.
- Historical In-Joke:
- Not exactly celebrities, and not that anyone would mind seeing them harmed, but Vigo the Carpathian is a pastiche of Grigori Rasputin and Vlad III Tepes (aka "Vlad the Impaler" aka "Draculea") by way of Dorian Gray.
- A couple when the ghosts swarm New York in the movie. The Titanic finally reaches New York, and the mayor is visited (and berated by) the late Mayor LaGuardia.Cheech Marin: (on seeing the Titanic docked) Well, better late than never!
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The Ghostbusters analyze and co-opt Viggo's evil mood slime by using a positively-charged version of the slime to animate the Statue of Liberty, which allows them to bypass the slime barrier surrounding the Manhattan Museum of Modern Art. The slime blowers are then key to incapacitating Janosz and the possessed Ray without hurting them. When Vigo is forced back into the painting, the slime blowers are the only weapon that visibly hurt him.
- Jerkass: Egon with his hilariously cruel experiments, including fooling a couple into thinking they are there for marriage counseling and watching them from behind a two-way mirror, then making them wait for hours and slowly pushing up the temperature.
- Just Train Wrong: Egon identifies the ghost train that runs over Winston in the subway tunnel as one that derailed in 1920, despite it looking much more like a train from fifty years before that.
- Large Ham: The judge, especially during his "BURNED AT THE STAKE!!!!" rant.
- Janosz.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The Judge who launches into an extremely unprofessional and sadistic rant against the Ghostbusters after he initially finds them guilty — the bad karma this creates within the vicinity of the "mood slime" results in bringing back the Scolari Brothers, sibling criminals he tried and sentenced to death for murder. He is then forced to rescind the order to get the Ghostbusters to help him.
- The Prosecutor (played by the late Janet Margolin) as well, given her rude treatment of the main characters during the trial, which results in her getting hauled out upside down by the Scolari Brothers.
- Live Mink Coat: During the scene where the evil slime terrorizes the city, there's a freaky moment where a lady in a fur coat steps into the slime and the coat comes alive, turning into a pack of pissed off minks.
- Magic Skirt: The prosecuting attorney is lifted by her leg by a ghost, but her skirt stays up the entire time. (The novelisation of the movie says that she was struggling to keep her skirt from rolling over.)
- Medium Awareness:
- The updated Ghostbusters sign with the ghost giving the "two" sign. The movie revolved around their comeback after five years of inactivity, so a redesigned logo might seem fitting. It was also their second run as ecto-exterminators. Furthermore, the "two" sign is better known as the V Sign, "V for Victory," from World War II. So the logo is the Ghostbusters' Take That to the authorities that shut them down after the first movie. The fact that it is holding up two fingers is coincidental (at least from the story point of view). Combining these two, V is the Roman numeral for 5.
- Monumental Damage: After the positive slime wears out, the Statue of Liberty can be seen collapsed on the street. However, the credits show the Statue restored to its original state (with the Twin Towers dominating the background.)
- My Death Is Just the Beginning: Invoked by Vigo when his head died: "Death is but a door. Time is but a window. I'll be back."
- Not Now, Kiddo: As the judge is passing sentence, Ray sees the slime bubbling furiously. The Ghostbusters attempt to warn the judge, but promptly get silenced. So they take cover before it explodes with the Scoleri Brothers' ghosts emerging.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: The Ghostbusters while posing as construction workers.
- Omnidisciplinary Lawyer: Averted and lampshaded. Louis Tully specifically warns the main quartet that he doesn't know criminal law. Sure enough, he botches the defense and the judge rules against them. It's only the timely appearance of ghosts (thereby proving to the disbelieving judge that ghosts are real) that get the Ghostbusters off the hook. To his credit, Tully does help play legal hardball at that moment to force the judge to rescind the restraining order.
- One Thing Led to Another: And the next thing Louis knew, he and Janine were having sex!
- OOC Is Serious Business: Louis takes the guys their gear and tells them about what's happened when they're released from Parkview. While Ray and Egon are talking about Vigo possessing Oscar, Peter looks dead serious, is totally silent, and has his jumpsuit and elbowpads on before the others have even finished zipping up. And when they're walking out, he's a good six feet in front of them.
- Pair the Spares: Janine, who spent most of her screen time in the first film fruitlessly flirting with Egon, hooks up in this film with Louis.
- Papa Wolf: Venkman develops a fondness for Baby Oscar as the film progresses; when the plot to have Vigo possess Oscar is revealed, this trope comes out in full force, as mentioned in OOC Is Serious Business.
- The Power of Rock: The Ghostbusters use the positive emotions evoked by good ole rock to power the slime.
- Primal Fear: The sheer number of things Dana has to go through as Oscar is repeatedly manipulated, snatched away, and almost possessed
- Rasputinian Death: The team recounts the death of Vigo the Carpathian:Egon: Vigo the Carpathian. Born 1505, died 1610.
Peter: 105 years old, he hung in there, didn't he?
Ray: He didn't die of old age, either. He was poisoned, stabbed, shot, hung, stretched, disemboweled, drawn and quartered.
Peter: Ouch.
- The Renfield: Janosz, who was played by Peter MacNicol, who also played the Renfield in Dracula: Dead And Loving It.
- Sequel Reset: Peter and Dana have split up, only to rekindle their relationship. The Ghostbusters were sued out of business, only to get it going once again. They are interfered with by an Obstructive Bureaucrat until the Mayor asks for their help. Though it's believable that the people of New York would try to fool themselves into believing it was all a hoax.
- Mad Magazine made a point of underlining this in their spoof of the movie, with Winston asking Egon why it is that they're right back where they started in the first movie even after having saved New York. Egon rightly points out the trope and all the reasons movie sequels do this.
- Shout-Out: At a party where Ray and Winston were performing, when they asked Who You Gonna Call?, the kids answered "He-Man".
- Sinister Subway: Home to an Afterlife Express, which is a Call Back to an offhand comment in the first film, when a reporter informs viewers that his grandmother used to tell ghost stories about a spectral locomotive.
- As another example of Shown Their Work, in searching for the source of the supernatural energy spike which caused little Oscar's runaway Baby Carriage at the start of the movie, the Ghostbusters discover the fictional Van Horne station filled by the river of slime. This is a reference to Beach's Pneumatic Railway which was built beneath Broadway and later shut down by Boss Tweed, and the movie depiction even resembles some of Beach's designs with its tile walls and mosaic frescoes. (Interestingly, while the Manhattan Museum of Art was also fictional, the building used for its facade, the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House near Battery Park, is within a mile of the original tunnel's location.)
- Square/Cube Law: In spite of the general Rule of Cool and Applied Phlebotinum, the law gets a brief nod during the Statue of Liberty scene
Winston: Can't you go any faster?Ray: I'm afraid the vibrations would shake her to pieces. We should have padded her feet
- Theme Tune Cameo: Ray and Winston try to sing the GB theme song at a birthday party for "ungrateful yuppie larvae", but sadly, they're shouted down by their cries for He-Man.
- Weaponized Landmark: The Statue of Liberty.
- Weirdness Censor: Despite saving the world in the first film, the Ghostbusters are bankrupt and regarded as frauds just five years later, with all the ghost sightings being chalked up to a toxic leak causing mass hallucinations, due to the explosion of the containment system.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Apparently Winston has an aversion to rats.
- "World of Cardboard" Speech: After the proton packs fail to make a dent in the slime shell covering the museum.Ray: You know, I just can't believe things have gotten so bad in this city that there's no way back. I mean, sure, it's messy, it's crowded, it's polluted, and there are people who would just as soon step on your face as look at you. But come on! There's gotta be a few sparks of sweet humanity left in this burned-out berg. We just gotta find a way to mobilize it!
- You Have to Believe Me: A certain amount of this helps Hardemeyer in getting the Ghostbusters committed, and in the psychiatrist not believing a word they said. Even Dana, despite the slime covering them, doesn't seem to respond well.


text:
Contact Us
The eighth annual K9 memorial was held Saturday in Porterdale Georgia. This event which honors fallen police dogs is hosted by "we ride to provide ...
Newton Trails is hosting a series of community walks exploring health, safety, community-building and economic benefits of trails in Newton County.
Crossover Day was very long this year as the House passed nearly 50 bills. Unfortunately, most of those bills will probably not clear the Senate ...
Crossover Day is now behind us as we wrap up days 30 and 31 of the 2016 legislative session. We had a short week, but ...
This week the Georgia General Assembly hit an important deadline, Crossover Day. All of the bills which originated in either the House or the Senate ...
Clyde and Sherri Hutchison, creators of the Covington-based Backyard Safari, were named finalists in the UGA Taste of Georgia designation for Clyde's white bean ...
The Newton County Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta alumnae is conducting a shoe collection drive through the end of March to raise funds for organization ...
The Newton County Board of Commissioners (BOC) is being recommended to hire Jeffrey L. Monroe, of Five Points, Alabama, as the county's new fire ...
Newton County has to pay a $4,000 fine and meet a list of conditions detailed in a consent order by the Department of Natural ...
Georgia State Perimeter College's Newton Campus celebrated renewal this week in two ways.
Mike Blinder, author of the book Survival Selling and one of the world's leading digital marketing experts, is giving a seminar on the secrets ...
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Former Covington mayoral candidate Bobby Sigman will be formally arraigned on charges stemming from allegedly paying someone to steal current-Mayor Ronnie Johnston's campaign signs in October.
A grand jury true billed the charged of making a false statement, criminal trespass (two counts) and theft by taking (two counts) in May.
The long-awaited Covington civic center isn't close to being built as the project lacks funding and a firm site, but talks have renewed following the arrival of mega-medical industry Baxter International and a new site option that would also house a proposed agricultural center.
On June 1 at roughly 7:30 a.m., Covington police responded to the a shoplifting at the Home Depot on Industrial Park Boulevard.
Each year the Oxford Lions award a bicycle to a boy and girl from the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades at Flint Hill Elementary School whom the teachers have chosen as the most improved students. Pilot Club provided the helmets.
My parents bought me my first car as a present for my graduation from high school. Like most teenagers, I was absolutely ecstatic.
My parents bought me my first car as a present for my graduation from high school. Like most teenagers, I was absolutely ecstatic.
It had dings in the paint, a few dents on the outside and a hole in the carpet in the back floorboard, but to me it was perfect.
I hope all my genealogy hunters had a great and productive memorial weekend. Were you able to talk and record some war stories from your veteran relatives? Maybe you have questions about their stories and want to prove them and don't know where to start?
Finishing out my top 13 free websites:
Average retail gasoline prices in Atlanta have fallen 4.9 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.37/gal yesterday. This compares with the national average that has fallen 4.5 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.61/gal, according to gasoline price website AtlantaGasPrices.com.
Including the change in gas prices in Atlanta during the past week, prices yesterday were 28.1 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 26.7 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 18.2 cents per ...
The lawsuit filed by Alcovy High School Principal LaQuanda Carpenter against several anonymous bloggers was amended late Friday afternoon to add one person: Newton County School Board District 1 representative Jeff Meadors.
Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar, 5176 Highway 278, Covington, April 26, Score 96.
Alcohol by the drink in unincorporated Newton County is moving toward a vote in November, but first the public will have a chance to comment on the proposed ordinance, which will strictly control where alcohol sales are allowed.
Newton County Fire Service has been awarded the Chesney Fallen Firefighters Memorial Grant Award by the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation.
The grant is for $2,826 and will be used to support local fire safety and burn prevention efforts in Newton County.
A Covington Police Officer was rear-ended by a suspected drunk driver last week.
The accident occurred on U.S. Highway 278 at approximately 1:45 a.m. Friday, May 25. Officer Bob Yarbrough was backing up another officer on a traffic stop when a vehicle driven by 37-year-old Conson Wilson Starr struck the car and drug it roughly 40-feet.
Calling all Parrot Heads! Covington is about to experience a little bit of paradise.
The Alcovy Conservation Center has begun an evening hike tradition.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Now with an additional story.
Every now and then, right in the middle of an ordinary day, a woman kicks up her heels and commits a small act of liberation. What would you do if you could shed the "shoulds" and do, say—and eat—whatever you really desired? Go AWOL from Weight Watchers and spend an entire day eating every single thing you want? Start a dating service for people over fifty to reclaim the razzle-dazzle in your life—or your… (plus)
Editeur: Random House (15 avril 2008)
Format: EPUB
Taille du fichier: 690 ko
Protection: DRM
Langue: Anglais