Post by Fritz on Jun 17, 2004 12:28:51 GMT -4
This is an evergreen topic that comes up in just about every Ghostbusters forum...so here it is here (expect more "familiar" topics soon...)
Myself? Easy. GB1 was the best. A perfect blend of comedy, horror, weird science, and a dash of romance. It was Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis's work of genius that established the scenario so perfectly...and so open that two years later J. Micheal Straczynski and the most talented writers in animation at the time created something that, in my estimation, was very much it's equal.
Unfortunately, five years later, the ball was dropped. For various reasons--time constraints, the influence of the already decaying animated series--the second movie didn't live up to it's predecessor. Let me count the ways...
--Almost plot point per plot point regurgitation of GB1's plot. Dana is menaced by supernatural evil. A wierdo has the hots for her. The Ghostbusters are down on their luck. Ray, Egon, and Venkman have a bust that turns things around for them. There's a montage sequence where Things Get Busy. The Weirdo is posessed by the bad guys. The Bad Guys get Dana. The Ghostbusters are menaced by a dickless, jack-off beaurocrat, before the mayor helps them. There's big show down where something big walks down the street. Do I have to go any further?
--Let me get this one out of the way right now: Janine turned into a desperate tramp barely recognizable from either the first movie or the animation. Her panting for Louis Tully simply made no sense in the context of the first movie or the animation. It was a creative misfire that was justly vetoed by every officially-licensed GB iteration since.
--On a related note...especially after three years of RGB getting along just fine without him, Louis Tully was shoehorned in just because he was friends with Ramis and Aykroyd. In addition to the above ruination of Janine just to give him something to do, they graft a completely new persona on to him (lawyer) to justify his presence in the movie.
--Why the hell wasn't Winston there with them at the River of Slime and the courtroom, anyway? After RGB had well established Winston as an equal to the rest, to see him relegated to "that other guy" again was a step back.
--Vigo the Carpathian was not a bad villain...but he just lacked the coolness and "Oh sh*t!!!" factor of Gozer.
--The GB2 logo wasn't as cool as the classic. It just smacked of "marketing trick!!!" One more GB2 innovation that's been ignored by every GB version since.
--The ECTO-1A was loud and ugly compared to the classic ECTO-1. Granted, my fan fic team, the GBWC, uses a car intentionally patterned off the ECTO-1A, but hey, they live in LA.
--Characters defanged. Other than Janine's spontaneously hyperactive libido, just about any other "adult" traits were toned down or removed entirely. Venkman's perversion was downplayed (there was the one bit about wanting a love potion to seduce a Penthouse Pet). Ray got a smoke in a couple of scenes, but Winston and Venkman do not. None of them chug beer. It was definitely a concession to the fact that more kids would be seeing the second movie because of the cartoon's success, but it weakened the characters.
That's my view. What does everyone else think?
Myself? Easy. GB1 was the best. A perfect blend of comedy, horror, weird science, and a dash of romance. It was Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis's work of genius that established the scenario so perfectly...and so open that two years later J. Micheal Straczynski and the most talented writers in animation at the time created something that, in my estimation, was very much it's equal.
Unfortunately, five years later, the ball was dropped. For various reasons--time constraints, the influence of the already decaying animated series--the second movie didn't live up to it's predecessor. Let me count the ways...
--Almost plot point per plot point regurgitation of GB1's plot. Dana is menaced by supernatural evil. A wierdo has the hots for her. The Ghostbusters are down on their luck. Ray, Egon, and Venkman have a bust that turns things around for them. There's a montage sequence where Things Get Busy. The Weirdo is posessed by the bad guys. The Bad Guys get Dana. The Ghostbusters are menaced by a dickless, jack-off beaurocrat, before the mayor helps them. There's big show down where something big walks down the street. Do I have to go any further?
--Let me get this one out of the way right now: Janine turned into a desperate tramp barely recognizable from either the first movie or the animation. Her panting for Louis Tully simply made no sense in the context of the first movie or the animation. It was a creative misfire that was justly vetoed by every officially-licensed GB iteration since.
--On a related note...especially after three years of RGB getting along just fine without him, Louis Tully was shoehorned in just because he was friends with Ramis and Aykroyd. In addition to the above ruination of Janine just to give him something to do, they graft a completely new persona on to him (lawyer) to justify his presence in the movie.
--Why the hell wasn't Winston there with them at the River of Slime and the courtroom, anyway? After RGB had well established Winston as an equal to the rest, to see him relegated to "that other guy" again was a step back.
--Vigo the Carpathian was not a bad villain...but he just lacked the coolness and "Oh sh*t!!!" factor of Gozer.
--The GB2 logo wasn't as cool as the classic. It just smacked of "marketing trick!!!" One more GB2 innovation that's been ignored by every GB version since.
--The ECTO-1A was loud and ugly compared to the classic ECTO-1. Granted, my fan fic team, the GBWC, uses a car intentionally patterned off the ECTO-1A, but hey, they live in LA.
--Characters defanged. Other than Janine's spontaneously hyperactive libido, just about any other "adult" traits were toned down or removed entirely. Venkman's perversion was downplayed (there was the one bit about wanting a love potion to seduce a Penthouse Pet). Ray got a smoke in a couple of scenes, but Winston and Venkman do not. None of them chug beer. It was definitely a concession to the fact that more kids would be seeing the second movie because of the cartoon's success, but it weakened the characters.
That's my view. What does everyone else think?