[yourbigpalal83]

Oh man...this is a fustrating film because it has so many good elements in it and it just does not come together in the end which felt so rushed and did not stick the landing for me at all. Like it feels like the ending should have been the start of a 3rd act with all the busters in the city streets doing their thing.

Whats the old hollywood saying, you got to get them in the ending...here that did not happen for me at all... im sorry but unless theres a extended cut of it later on, it feels like 2/3rds of what could be a great ghostbusters movie.

I hate to say it but i was let down! I'll give it a re watch when its out on digital, but yeah...not the best screen play, not the best editing!

Shame too cause everything else was great!

[ShandorMiningCo]

Slept on it after seeing the movie last night and now that buzz and euphoria or immediately leaving the theatre has died down I do recognise the film does have its issues.
Is it perfect? No. But neither was GB2, and we still love the crap outta that film.

My "big" question is with the inclusion of certain clips in the news recap near the beginning of the film: Why do these exist?
Is RGB canon in that it existed as an in-universe TV show at some point?
When did the cereal hit the market?

I don't think it was supposed to be the filmmakers explicitly saying "RGB exists in-universe" but rather that Ghostbusters merch was available that just happened to look exactly like the cartoon gear. Like how kids IRL have police and firefighter costumes and toys. People loved the Ghostbusters, why wouldn't Venkman find a way to milk as much cold, hard cash out of that as possible?

[Ectopher]

I've seen it twice now - and I don't agree with the comments about poor pacing. Personally, I found the last act perfectly timed - beginning with Phoebe in the separator (and I LOVE this scene, just so ominous and cool), ending with the final showdown. Even the final showdown, in isolation, and not including the preceding events, feels perfectly timed to me and unrushed - culminating in everybody needing to work together to solve a problem greater than any one of them. Lovely stuff!

I really loved this movie. I connected with the family drama, and the Melody subplot, I especially loved Ray in this film ("Dr Ray", as Phoebe calls him, how sweet is that?), and had such a blast. I even feel that all the characters were given plenty to do, with the exception perhaps of Janine.

I love the addition of occult lore, and magickal elements as well. I've a real-life interest in those subjects, and they did a great job creating what felt like a solid mythology for Garraka. On this note, it was a real treat to spend more Time in Ray's Occult!

As an aside, the set production was insane. We're talking Roy Andersson level amazing. I was so blown away by how convincing it was.

Admittedly, I went in with zero expectations, zero spoilers, and zero head cannon for what the film might be, so perhaps that helped.

Excited to see it again today!

[mrmichaelt]

Was this photo from the Manhattan Adventurers Society scene, Ray's Occult, or something else?
(one from Gil Kenan's instagram story today: https://www.instagram.com/stories/gilke ... 546680372/)

This Post Contains Spoilers

Edit: Ok, it's the Ray's Occult basement, right after Podcast and Phoebe come down the stairs.

[PukieDoug]

I don’t think I can recall a film where so many scenes shown in trailers weren’t actually a part of the film.

The ‘oh ho ho’ rooftop scene, the ‘shower, shave and hit the clubs’ bit amongst several others.

With Murray particularly, why wouldn’t you use all you had of him?

Oh, it happens. Less now, I think, but roughly 2005-2015, this was pretty common with comedy trailers, especially from the Apatow crowd where there were so many alternate gags and lines.

Having been on set while these scenes were shot , yes there were many variations , the trailers often pick one as it’s well before the main edit ng is being done, also it takes away the loss of surprise when you watch the final edit. Its is often the way. I am seeing this tomorrow so will look forward to the final edit

[ShandorMiningCo]

Was this photo from the Manhattan Adventurers Society scene, Ray's Occult, or something else?
(one from Gil Kenan's instagram story today: https://www.instagram.com/stories/gilke ... 546680372/)

This Post Contains Spoilers

That is awesome It's gotta be from Ray's Occult, perhaps downstairs?

I really loved this movie. I connected with the family drama, and the Melody subplot, I especially loved Ray in this film ("Dr Ray", as Phoebe calls him, how sweet is that?), and had such a blast. I even feel that all the characters were given plenty to do, with the exception perhaps of Janine.

100% agree, I feel like Trevor was a bit of a spare part in AL but he had some great scenes in this one, really enjoyed his parts. I feel like Janine probably played a much bigger role in some of the cut footage, I - like pretty much everyone else here - would be interested to see an extended cut (fingers crossed for the home release).

I do wish Garraka had more screen time though, he was built up to be this massive threat but we only saw glimpses of that when he finally appeared. Scary as hell when facing off with Lucky though.

[Davideverona]

BEWARE!!!

The whole movie has been uploaded on YouTube, splitted in 12 parts.

I watched a tiny bit of one thinking it was an official clip and it was the Ray-Winston confrontation.

Boy, oh boy.... How INVESTED is Aykroyd in this one?

I have yet to see the movie but that scene was Aykroyd in his better days form.

[Josh Foote]

Absolutely loved it up to the “chess” scene. Literally all parts dealing with that character were terrible to me.

[Rookie99]

In a lot of ways Frozen Empire is the GB movie I wanted as a kid, and I had a big smile on my face throughout. That doesn't mean I can't recognize the problems (pacing, plot points underdeveloped or dropped, scenes cut from the trailers), but I'll remember the strengths more so. My theater was laughing and having a good time (particularly with Nadeem and the evil Spin Doctors album), so I hope its seen and enjoyed by many.

[Bison256]

Some small things bugged me about the movie. Melody should have had New York accent. She died in the mid twentieth century, the New York closest accent to hers was manhattan, this is what George Carlin had. But he grew up in Manhattan, were there tenements in Manhattan?

When Podcast, Ray and Phoebe play the recording of Garraka. Dr. Hubert Wartzki says "Pre sanskrit! Only three people can speak that language!" That language has a name, Proto Indo Iranian, the ancestor of Farsi, Kurdish, Pashto, Hindi etc. So they are probably several professiors at the various universities in NYC who could translate it.

[Wafflerobot]

I saw it yesterday and really enjoyed it. Almost every joke made me laugh as well as the audience I was with and,every funny scene landed. I really liked Kumail Nanjiani and James Acaster. They were the standout character's for me, although i wish Acaster got more screentime. I think the old cast Ray, Winston and Janine were all used perfectly. I wish we'd had a little more Venkman but he was on top form when he was there.

The last 10-15 minutes felt very rushed and I felt it needed more time. I would have liked to have seen more scenes of Garraka causing chaos in New York like he did to that poor Vape shop owner lol.

I have more thoughts on the movie and will probably share them in other posts, but i think this was a good enjoyable movie.

Absolutely loved it up to the “chess” scene. Literally all parts dealing with that character were terrible to me.

I feel the same. I was not a fan of Phoebe making friends with a ghost, then turning herself into a ghost for some random reason (and nearly ending the world in the process). none of that stuff worked for me. Maybe this is lazy criticism on my part, but it just reminded me of the Casper movie. I think they should have found another way to make it so that Nadeem could get a flame to defeat Garraka at the end.

[nevenkman]

Boy, was this flawed. It was a lot of fun, but it was pretty flawed. I agree with most of the negative observations here--although I honestly think Afterlife was more needlessly reliant on callbacks. Granted, a few of the callbacks here were much more superfluous (I didn't dig the mini-Pufts in GB:A, and I really don't here). The people decrying this one for nostalgia are reaching, and overlooking the genuine problems the movie does have.

The first half of the movie was genuinely pretty solid, although I think the family drama and greater plot could have been more seamlessly interwoven like it was in Afterlife. But once our big bad hits the scene, the movie basically zoooooms to the end and knocks over everything else along the way. A lot of great ideas, sentiments and more felt too quickly resolved or barely spotlighted. I liked every idea this movie had... the problem was that there wasn't enough screen time to give them all the exploration that they deserved--not that I think a longer running time was the right idea. I liked that the movie didn't risk overstaying its welcome, but elements like the Research Lab, Slimer's antics and about half of the family drama should have been saved for the next movie.

This flick should have been very much more about the GBs just getting back into business, it would better explain the state of the Firehouse/ECU/Ectomobile--I found it strange that Winston hadn't addressed many of these issues already with the Spengler family having seemingly been hard at work for at least a little while already. And the cracks showing in the operation in THIS film could have been the impetus for the research center in the next flick.

Hell, I might not have even had a world-ending threat for this one--something more mild as a backdrop against the changing family dynamics and the struggle of fighting Peck to be allowed to operate, because Garraka seriously ended up feeling undercooked once he actually entered the picture, although it might have been because my theater had goofy speakers, because I couldn't understand a damn word he said, haha

On paper, it all works, and it's all great ideas... but it needed more time in the oven. It sounds like I disliked the movie, but I actually had a good time, and that's the biggest metric a movie has to hit for me. It doesn't have to be "art," just don't bore me. I've seen movies where my mind began to wander halfway through, and FE certainly didn't do that.

It's definitely my fourth favorite GB flick though:

1. Ghostbusters II
2. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
3. Ghostbusters
4. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
5. Answer the Call

While I respect your opinion, it’s hard for me to take anyone seriously who doesn’t have 84’ Ghostbusters as #1, specifically putting Afterlife above it.

Basically incomprehensible to me. But as they say, to each their own!

[BrianReilly]

Boy, was this flawed. It was a lot of fun, but it was pretty flawed. I agree with most of the negative observations here--although I honestly think Afterlife was more needlessly reliant on callbacks. Granted, a few of the callbacks here were much more superfluous (I didn't dig the mini-Pufts in GB:A, and I really don't here). The people decrying this one for nostalgia are reaching, and overlooking the genuine problems the movie does have.

The first half of the movie was genuinely pretty solid, although I think the family drama and greater plot could have been more seamlessly interwoven like it was in Afterlife. But once our big bad hits the scene, the movie basically zoooooms to the end and knocks over everything else along the way. A lot of great ideas, sentiments and more felt too quickly resolved or barely spotlighted. I liked every idea this movie had... the problem was that there wasn't enough screen time to give them all the exploration that they deserved--not that I think a longer running time was the right idea. I liked that the movie didn't risk overstaying its welcome, but elements like the Research Lab, Slimer's antics and about half of the family drama should have been saved for the next movie.

This flick should have been very much more about the GBs just getting back into business, it would better explain the state of the Firehouse/ECU/Ectomobile--I found it strange that Winston hadn't addressed many of these issues already with the Spengler family having seemingly been hard at work for at least a little while already. And the cracks showing in the operation in THIS film could have been the impetus for the research center in the next flick.

Hell, I might not have even had a world-ending threat for this one--something more mild as a backdrop against the changing family dynamics and the struggle of fighting Peck to be allowed to operate, because Garraka seriously ended up feeling undercooked once he actually entered the picture, although it might have been because my theater had goofy speakers, because I couldn't understand a damn word he said, haha

On paper, it all works, and it's all great ideas... but it needed more time in the oven. It sounds like I disliked the movie, but I actually had a good time, and that's the biggest metric a movie has to hit for me. It doesn't have to be "art," just don't bore me. I've seen movies where my mind began to wander halfway through, and FE certainly didn't do that.

It's definitely my fourth favorite GB flick though:

1. Ghostbusters II
2. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
3. Ghostbusters
4. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
5. Answer the Call

Afterlife was definitely more needlessly reliant on callbacks, but I think that somehow makes the callbacks in this one worse? Like you’ve built a new foundation now, why are you so afraid to use it?

That said, I feel the end of Afterlife is ghoulish and distasteful in its conflation of an actor’s death with a character’s death, and it cynically plays on that to tug at heartstrings with its CGI Egon. I just cannot help but cringe through it and it pushes it far into worst GB movie for me.

Frozen Empire, for all its nostalgia bait and structural issues, is a very fun and funny movie.

Also, whoever was calling out the critical response to TMNT: Mutant Mayhem… that is a beautiful film that both pushes the limits with animation, structurally is VERY polished, AND it’s not afraid to try new things with an old franchise. Something you absolutely cannot say about either Frozen Empire or Afterlife.

[tylergfoster]

Because everyone else is doing it:
Ghostbusters (1984) > Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) > Ghostbusters (2016) > Ghostbusters II (1989) > Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

[BrianReilly]

Wow. Some off these rankings shock me! But why not?

Ghostbusters > Ghostbusters 2 > Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire > Ghostbusters (2016) > Ghostbusters: Afterlife

[DocLathropBrown]

While I respect your opinion, it’s hard for me to take anyone seriously who doesn’t have 84’ Ghostbusters as #1, specifically putting Afterlife above it.

Basically incomprehensible to me. But as they say, to each their own!

Ah, nothing like the smell of fresh gatekeeping.

I don't respond particularly well to cynicism, hence why the first film is so low for me--Afterlife was a resonant story about families and it was full of a lot of fresh elements, despite it's repetitious beats. I don't subscribe to the internet hive-mind opinion that bringing Harold back briefly as a ghost was "ghoulish"--compare that to straight-up reviving Peter Cushing as a full character in Rogue One. At least they didn't have Egon speak and it was relatively brief. Dedicating the movie to him shows a level of respect.

Not to mention that all of his former friends and daughter signed off on it removes any serious "ick" from it.

GB2 is just better than the first film, sorry not sorry. In spite of the flaw of its story construction copying the first film's beats, it has a thematic core that actually has something to say, and it delivers it very well without turning into a PSA. It resonates with me. GB1 is a good movie but it doesn't have anything to say, and Venkman is almost intolerable for me in the first one since he's, you know, a near total sleaze.

Ideas that something is somehow automatically #1 "just because" doesn't jive with me. Nor can I get on board with denouncing someone's opinion just because of such mythical rules. Coming in and saying "your opinion is wrong because you didn't do ___ 'just because,' but you do you" is pretty tacky.

[Rookie99]

Ghostbusters> The Video Game (I count it, without it I'm not here in this message board)> Ghostbusters 2> Afterlife> Frozen Empire>Answer The Call
Although there are no bad Ghostbusters movies (in my opinion) and I'm happy watching any.

[Raystantz84]

GB- 9/10
GB2-8/10
Afterlife - 8/10
Empire - 6/10
GB16 - 2/10


That was fun.

[13th Floor]

1.GB84(by a country mile)
2.GB Frozen Empire
3.GB Afterlife
4.GB2/GB2016(i was equally bored with those two)

If the 2009 game counts it would go either at number 2 or number 3,it has the most imaginative ideas for places and enemies of any GB sequel.Terminal Reality let their minds run wild with that one.And the fanservice parts are easier to digest since you're actually playing a game it gives another layer instead of just seeing Slimer,library ghost,Stay Puft again.

[JonXCTrack]

1. Ghostbusters (1984) 10/10
2. Ghostbusters 2 (1989) 8/10
3. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire 7.5/10
4. Ghostbusters: Afterlife 7/10


5. Ghostbusters (2016) ZERO

[Psyrgery]

I liked it!

Definataly has its flaws but I like the way it expands the GB universe and had a good time with it.

The ending felt rushed definately, the first act feels a bit slow, and minor things that did not stick for me.

BUT!

Its the 3d best film of the franchise for me.

GB 1
GB: Afterlife
GB: FE
GB 2

[BrianReilly]

It is WILD to me that eight years later, people can still find it in them to be absolutely furious about GB2016, a fine but unremarkable film, and yet also think that Afterlife, a movie that retcons Egon into a deadbeat dad and treats its audience like trained seals who will know to clap whenever Bill Murray says “Flattop”, is the pinnacle of cinema.

[gerard55]

I think i'd need to watch it again to get a better opinion on it, I found it 'ok' but some things really stuck out as seeming a bit off.

Ray watching a pke meter basically explode because of the pke put out by an object, then being a bit blasé about it just throwing it to the supposed research group (seemingly headed up by Michael Caine and Lucky) with no real mention about the power it seemed to contain. It seemed off kilter for that character, he would in the past get very excited about it, in this it was more or less 'meh' (after the initial surprise of the meter exploding). You would think a pke meter exploding would indicate a real potentially high powered threat. But it was basically chucked into 'ye olde pile of spooky objects' in the research lab and the first thing they try to do is extract whatever is inside.

This Post Contains Spoilers

Maybe I'm reading that whole sequence wrong but watching the movie it seemed odd how it played out.

I did notice a little goof with the possessor character, when it gets into ecto the lights go red then it reverses, we get a POV seemingly from the rear lightbar and you can see the blue of the lights appearing even though they're meant to be red at that point.

This Post Contains Spoilers

[Ectopher]

Wow. Some off these rankings shock me! But why not?

Ghostbusters > Ghostbusters 2 > Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire > Ghostbusters (2016) > Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Shocking you say? How about:

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire > Ghostbusters 2 > Ghostbusters > Ghostbusters: Afterlife > Ghostbusters: Answer the call.

I think I'm one of a handful that Frozen Empire has REALLY connected with - I've seen it three times, and I absolutely adore it. It just works for me. GB2 is so high, because it's the first one I saw in a theatre as a kid. Really, the original should just be in its own dimension around them all, so it isn't really third... but I've seen it hundreds of times, and can watch it in my head - every line, every image is burnt in - I'm not even kidding.

[zeta otaku]

I'll jump on this bandwagon:

1 Ghostbusters 1984
2 Ghostbusters Afterlife
3 Ghostbusters Frozen Empire
4 Ghostbusters 2
5 Ghostbusters: Answer the Call.

[Chicken, He Clucked]

I’ll go

1. Ghostbusters
2. Real Ghostbusters
3. Ghostbusters II
4. Ghostbusters Frozen Empire
5. Ghostbusters: The Videogame
6. Ghostbusters Afterlife
7. Ghostbusters ATC (2016)
9. Ghostbusters IDW
10. Extreme Ghostbusters

Did I remember everything?

[GuyX]

One thing I’m not reading enough on. How great was Dan in this movie? It was so good to see his Ray again with some real screen time. He was the highlight for me.

This movie was so much fun. But I kind of feel audience might be a little let down. The movie they were promised in the trailers is not really the movie we got. This was not the action packed Ghostbusting fest it seemed.

reviews complaining about nostalgia just make no sense to me. Having old characters or creatures return isn’t “nostalgia”. It makes sense Slimer would be in the movie!

All of you ranking the movies there’s no way I can do that after 1 viewing. Right now I think I enjoyed Afterlife more. Nothing will beat that thrill of seeing the 4 heroes together again.

One thing I was let down on was the score. The music. The last movie had a much better score. This time it almost felt invisible.

Also. Did anyone else think the trailers make the villain seem like a bigger deal? Garraka didn’t kill anyone in the present. That would’ve been a cool villain upgrade. Someone who kills people. That ice spikes were legit. No one was impaled?

[ShandorMiningCo]

Also. Did anyone else think the trailers make the villain seem like a bigger deal? Garraka didn’t kill anyone in the present. That would’ve been a cool villain upgrade. Someone who kills people. That ice spikes were legit. No one was impaled?

To be fair the guy in the vape shop does get it. And pretty harshly too - Frozen and then shattered by spikes erupting through the merch wall behind him. But he was the only present-day death I think (on-screen at least).

[ShandorMiningCo]

Ray watching a pke meter basically explode because of the pke put out by an object, then being a bit blasé about it just throwing it to the supposed research group (seemingly headed up by Michael Caine and Lucky) with no real mention about the power it seemed to contain. It seemed off kilter for that character, he would in the past get very excited about it, in this it was more or less 'meh' (after the initial surprise of the meter exploding). You would think a pke meter exploding would indicate a real potentially high powered threat. But it was basically chucked into 'ye olde pile of spooky objects' in the research lab and the first thing they try to do is extract whatever is inside.

This Post Contains Spoilers

Maybe I'm reading that whole sequence wrong but watching the movie it seemed odd how it played out.

That's a very good point.

Like even if he somehow missed the importance of the orb at first, after getting the whole story from Wartzki about Garraka being inside it, he had ample time to warn the research guys while Phoebe was being yelled at by Winston at the police station. Could have at least sent a text. 'Don't extract orb. Bad juju. Btw password protect your ionic separator computer. Xx'

This Post Contains Spoilers

[GuyX]

While I respect your opinion, it’s hard for me to take anyone seriously who doesn’t have 84’ Ghostbusters as #1, specifically putting Afterlife above it.

Basically incomprehensible to me. But as they say, to each their own!

Ah, nothing like the smell of fresh gatekeeping.

I don't respond particularly well to cynicism, hence why the first film is so low for me--Afterlife was a resonant story about families and it was full of a lot of fresh elements, despite it's repetitious beats. I don't subscribe to the internet hive-mind opinion that bringing Harold back briefly as a ghost was "ghoulish"--compare that to straight-up reviving Peter Cushing as a full character in Rogue One. At least they didn't have Egon speak and it was relatively brief. Dedicating the movie to him shows a level of respect.

Not to mention that all of his former friends and daughter signed off on it removes any serious "ick" from it.

GB2 is just better than the first film, sorry not sorry. In spite of the flaw of its story construction copying the first film's beats, it has a thematic core that actually has something to say, and it delivers it very well without turning into a PSA. It resonates with me. GB1 is a good movie but it doesn't have anything to say, and Venkman is almost intolerable for me in the first one since he's, you know, a near total sleaze.

Ideas that something is somehow automatically #1 "just because" doesn't jive with me. Nor can I get on board with denouncing someone's opinion just because of such mythical rules. Coming in and saying "your opinion is wrong because you didn't do ___ 'just because,' but you do you" is pretty tacky.

Did you even read what he wrot? He didn’t say your opinion was wrong. He said he respected it. But it’s HARD for him to take it seriously. That’s it’s incomprehensible to him someone could feel that way,

What’s wrong with that? Would you rather he lied to you? He told you how your stance made him feel but then you try to make him feel guilty for that? Because you think it’s gatekeeping?

He didn’t say you were wrong. He didn’t say you were stupid. Nothing like that. He said it’s hard to take someone seriously. Not that he can’t.

He was honest with you and you try to shame him for it.