Discuss Ghostbusters: Afterlife, released on November 19, 2021 and directed by Jason Reitman.
#4963407
Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen Afterlife yet.

I loved Afterlife, it had its issues but overall I enjoyed it a lot. One part that I did feel was a little flat was the entrance of the original Ghostbusters scene. I've only seen the movie once a few days ago but ever since I've been playing around with different thoughts about how that scene could have gone in terms of dialogue. I'm clearly not a screenwriter and I'm not saying the below version is any better its just different and to be honest it was quite fun sitting down and writing it so wanted to share.

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Gozer is clearly winning the battle and starts to walk over to Lucky who is on the ground. Gozer appears to be preparing to make ‘the final blow’ against Lucky. The camera stays on Gozer as she approaches Lucky when we suddenly hear off-camera:

VENKMAN
“I just love what you’ve done with your hair.”

Gozer, distracted by the comment looks to her side. The camera pans to the original Ghostbusters who emerge.

VENKMAN
“The style is a bit too 80’s for me but how have you maintained such a vibrant colour after all these years? Clairol Nice and Easy? Just for Men?”

Gozers face appears angrier.

STANTZ
“Oh I think she remembers you Pete.”

VENKMAN
“Probably best if you don’t say, or think, too much this time Ray. Do you want to take it this time Winston?”

ZEDDEMORE
“I can’t figure out why she always looks like she’s just stepped out of a bubble bath?”

STANTZ
“Maybe she is trying to clean up how much of a filthy eldritch entity she is”.

Gozer gets angrier and growls at Ray.

VENKMAN
“What did I just say Ray. Look she isn’t all bad, she clearly can’t roll her eyes at our jokes.”

Gozer starts to move her hands forward to strike at the original Ghostbusters.

ZEDDEMORE
“I don’t think she is into chit-chat fellas….shall we? For Egon.”

STANTZ AND VENKMAN
“For Egon.”

The original Ghostbusters fire their Proton Packs at Gozer, capturing her in 3 streams. Gozer untangles the streams and throws the original Ghostbusters against the ECHO-1. The original Ghostbusters remain on the ground in pain.

ZEDDEMORE
“I think someone has been hitting the gym. You feeling old now Pete?”

VENKMAN
“I don’t feel old…I don’t feel anything. How you doing Ray?”

STANTZ
“I think I need to stop drinking.”

VENKMAN
“Gozie, kitten. Surely if you’re mad at anyone it’s your toy boy Shandor, out of all the places to build an interdimensional portal, he choses Summerville, Oklahoma. Not exactly downtown Manhattan is it?”

GOZER
“Time for you to join your friend”.

VENKMAN
“Just hold on one minute... I’m trying to imagine you with a personality but its taking me longer than expected.”

ZEDDEMORE
*Rolls eyes and shakes head* - “There is no way we are making it out of here alive.”

Phoebe fires her Proton pack at Gozer, movie continues as per normal.

---
Wafflerobot liked this
#4963844
Actually it isn't bad. Definitely some Bill quotes there, Lucky was already Zuul however when they show up. Maybe Callie in her place. Generally though yeah mate nice stuff. Be funny if Peter had said "Were gonna have Hot cocoa inside...Ray's gonna have vodka with it"
#4963882
For me, the entrance was fine.

What would have benefited the movie was some build up to it.

One or two scenes of Winston and Ray meeting up and Venkman being the big hold out..not being sure if hed be there for the showdown..then we hear “hey flat top!”

Just a simple short scene telling us Ray and Winston were prepping up and makin their way to the farm “any word on Venkman?” “No..”
#4964485
After watching the movie again and people asking about Gozer not doing the usual schtick i think it would have made more sense if the og's had interrupted Gozer mid sentence.

Gozer starts sending out the lighting towards "mom", it stops inches from her face and Gozer says "choose the form..." only to be interrupted by Venkman shouting "hey flat top"!

That way it sort of satisifies the lore of gozer, and it also makes their entrance a bit more impactful. There was a lot of questions about a destructor form missing, this answers that and then goes on to show Gozer recognising them, getting visibly more angry on recognising the people who thwarted her 30+ years earlier and deciding to take them out as is, then presumably going on to use the destructor form choice after the og's have been dealt with.
#4964502
I will agree it was great to see them but...I think they should have been introduced sooner. Ray meeting with them and they haven't gotten together too often and they say No and Winston ends up going because Ray feels he needs to go because Egon's granddaughter is getting into whatever drove Egon away, Peter maybe gets a nice scene with Dana where she tells him how helpless she felt before she met them and what would happen if there wasn't a GB group to stop whatever Egon went there to stop? Some interesting ideas I think.
#4964519
This is how I would've integrated the OGB's . Film is the same up until the phone call with Ray:

The phonecall with Ray is a shorter with less exposition. Lingering shot of Ray after he puts the phone down.

Scene 1
Cut to lecture theatre as Professor Venkman wraps up his speech with charismatic Murray ad-libs "until next time folks". He turns to walk out and sees Ray waiting in the wings, pulls funny face and walks passed pretending not to know him & mistaking him for a student. Ray follows Venkman and the two banter before Ray says "it's Egon", they stop Ray tells Venkman "what if he found something out there?" Venkman response "No Ray, No"... I'm not a writer or comedian so I'm not going to attempt to do actual dialogue just conveying the sense of the scene.

Scene 2
We return to Callie & the Gang on the farm, a day or so having passed and Phoebe and Podcast are outside discussing the repercussions of their first bust and how they can get the equipment back. A black car slowly pulls up the Dirt Farm drive followed by two armored trucks... Podcast freaks out: "Do you think it's the FBI?" - paranoid, he flees, leaving Phoebe alone unperturbed. As the car pulls-up, a close-up of the plate reading: "Zeddemore". Enter Ray, Venkman and Winston. "Hey kid, is your mother home?"

Cut to kitchen table, with the 3 OG's stood/sat around with Callie. "This is so typical of him" - this scene would give exposition re: Egon and OGB's back story except this time you have the three guys explaining what happened (though way less negative about Egon - they think he lost his mind a little), "He cared about you in his own way", but Callie is still not convinced. They apologise for the dangerous equipment being left around and Zeddemore offers compensation to remove it. They ask her if Egon left anything relating to his work. Callie tells them to take it and do whatever they need but to leave her and the kids out of it.

Cut to exterior. "The rest of the equipment is being held at Summerville Sheriff's Office so good luck with that". On the way out Phoebe overhears them talking about a Gozerian temple and quietly gets Ray's attention "I've seen it, I can show you". The guys go against Callie's wishes and basically let the Phoebe take them to the temple.

Scene 3
Cut to the temple entrance... everything is sealed - the mural is gone..."I don't understand it was right here"... Venkman groans about a wild goose chase, "This is the last time I travel halfway across the country because a kid had a hunch, Ray"... Phoebe explains Egon led her here, that they saw Gozer. Ray misunderstands and the guys assume Phoebe read all of Egon's notes about the 84 crossrip and has an overactive imagination, she says "Egon is here", Ray says "Listen kid, your grandfather will always be with you, but... there is nothing to be scared of out here. We defeated Gozer a long time ago".

We then see the OGB leave with Zeddemore's trucks and most of the equipment.

The film resumes from where it left off only now there is more of a setup for the Ghostbusters returning at the end and they were given space to breathe in the movie without bloating the runtime beyond 3 additional scenes (maybe 10 mins total).

As the OGB's have gone, the kids vow to stop Gozer themselves by breaking the remaining equipment out of the Sheriff's Office. This is where we have an additional scene explaining the townsfolks are Gozer worshippers and following the kid's trespassing in the temple, they sealed it and destroyed all the exterior evidence around the entrance. After the Gatekeeper and Keymaster unite there is an extra scene showing the townsfolk in ritual robes and masks making a procession heading towards the mine / mountain. There is a sequence of the kids sneaking into the mine, avoiding the scary looking townsfolk.

When Gozer awakens and kills Shandor (or hell if this is my fanfiction becomes Shandor instead) he/she shoots electricity out of their fingers which fries all of the worshiping townsfolk (note: Sheriff Domingo is not a Gozer worshipper). Would make more sense and be a better callback if Gozer asked Shandor if he was a God and Shandor said "Yes" and we get to see what happens next that way (his demise or worse) as opposed to asking Ray again.

The rest of the film continues as it exists. For me - this would fix the problems I had with the OGB inclusion.

Oh and while we're at it... the kid who fires Doritos at Phoebe in the missing scene.... keep that in and then in the montage sequence have him be scared by Bug Eye or another ghost and pee himself as a pay-off to him being a dick earlier.
#4964605
Thats great dude!

It helps interweave the ogs into the story without it shoehorning.

I would do away with Ray grabbing Pete at the University. The black car pulling up would be enough to convey they rounded each other up.

I would put this scene the next day after phoebe gets yelled at by Callie.

Trevor can be there in that scene “you can take your science crap, but can i at least keep the car?”

The OGs taken their own equipment back works great, it makes sense theyd have to confiscate unlicensed gear and it goes with Callie wanting nothing to do with it..it can add some extra drama from her and phoebes previous fight

As their watching the guys drive off Callie turns to Phoebe “now..you wont messing with your grandfathers stuff..for good…now go to your room.”


I love this idea because it also explains how they have it when they show up for the showdown.

.. Also adds more stakes for the climax as the kids only have one pack and the ecto.
Chicken, He Clucked and -1 others liked this
#4964623
Chicken, He Clucked wrote: December 31st, 2021, 3:49 am This is how I would've integrated the OGB's . Film is the same up until the phone call with Ray:...
That's a nice write-up and is quite similar to what I expected / hoped the movie to be like. I imagined the the kids would explore the Ghostbusters world by themselves, slowly include the OGBs into the mix at about half way and let them interact with each other in Summerville.

With the OGBs being in Summerville and at the farm, the kids still could have their own adventure with them (sneakily) going at Gozer on their own while the OGBs are invesigating on their own or having dinner with Callie, Janine, etc.. The way the OGBs went off for the kids to have their own final showdown works cool as well in your suggestion.

The way the OGBs were incorporated into the film is the weakest point of the film for me. This maybe the only and last chance for the whole team to show up on screen again and you, it kind of feels wasted for me. Having those 10 additional minutes with Ernie, Dan and Bill would have satisfied the old heads, would explain better who those old guys are for newcomers and also wouldn't hurt the family drama / kids adventure story that Jason wanted to tell...quite the opposite, it would have improved the drama and stakes some more even.
Chicken, He Clucked and -1 others liked this
#4964643
LouisZeddemore wrote: That's a nice write-up and is quite similar to what I expected / hoped the movie to be like. I imagined the the kids would explore the Ghostbusters world by themselves, slowly include the OGBs into the mix at about half way and let them interact with each other in Summerville.
BatDan wrote: January 2nd, 2022, 6:31 pm Thats great dude!

It helps interweave the ogs into the story without it shoehorning.

I would do away with Ray grabbing Pete at the University. The black car pulling up would be enough to convey they rounded each other up.

I would put this scene the next day after phoebe gets yelled at by Callie.

Trevor can be there in that scene “you can take your science crap, but can i at least keep the car?”

The OGs taken their own equipment back works great, it makes sense theyd have to confiscate unlicensed gear and it goes with Callie wanting nothing to do with it..it can add some extra drama from her and phoebes previous fight

As their watching the guys drive off Callie turns to Phoebe “now..you wont messing with your grandfathers stuff..for good…now go to your room.”

I love this idea because it also explains how they have it when they show up for the showdown.

.. Also adds more stakes for the climax as the kids only have one pack and the ecto.
Cheers both for taking the time to read! It really hurts the movie didn't explain this stuff - would've been a ton more satisfying if they did something like the above, it'd be interesting to know what the movie looked like in different drafts.
#4964731
Like i loved the movie. And i adored seeing them together again, for its both a highlight of the film and the part that has me raising the most questions.

I mean i wasnt expecting them to be the focus, but i was expecting more than just popping up at the finale.

maybe Jason was so worried about Bills availability that they only focused on the big finale and barely filmed anything else.

However, im thinking the card scene with Dana, was probably his big intro with the other guys coming to “rally the team” back, probably a knock at the door or a phone call after Danas done messing with him.. And it just got cut down to be a credits gag.

If my theory’s true..it should have stayed, because just one scene explaining how theyre getting together would have helped bridge the gaps even for just a fraction. It wouldve been at least something lol
LouisZeddemore liked this
#4965039
Seeing all those behind the scenes photos of Janine visiting Peter and Dana is saddening me, knowing that Jason decided to not feature any more scenes with the OGBs, just to have them suddenly appear in an unsatisfying way as a deus ex machina in the finale, even after shooting proper scenes with the original cast.

From the comments and glimpses of behind the scenes moment, I'd rather want to the movie they initially wanted to make instead of the one we got. I still remember my feeling from seeing Afterlife the first time. I was so pumped to finally have a proper sequel and having winessed some great moments, but at the same time I was more dissapointed about the lack of screentime of the OGBs...and I didn't expect them to have much screentime to begin with. Those scenes with Janine visiting Peter and Winston would have elevated the movie by quite a margin for me. That would have explained what they're up to, given the characters some more depth and weight and would have build up to the finale in a proper way.

I really hope Sony is pushing Jason for an extended OGB cut for an additional home release in the future.
BatDan liked this
#4965105
LouisZeddemore wrote: January 9th, 2022, 2:28 pm Seeing all those behind the scenes photos of Janine visiting Peter and Dana is saddening me, knowing that Jason decided to not feature any more scenes with the OGBs, just to have them suddenly appear in an unsatisfying way as a deus ex machina in the finale, even after shooting proper scenes with the original cast.

From the comments and glimpses of behind the scenes moment, I'd rather want to the movie they initially wanted to make instead of the one we got. I still remember my feeling from seeing Afterlife the first time. I was so pumped to finally have a proper sequel and having winessed some great moments, but at the same time I was more dissapointed about the lack of screentime of the OGBs...and I didn't expect them to have much screentime to begin with. Those scenes with Janine visiting Peter and Winston would have elevated the movie by quite a margin for me. That would have explained what they're up to, given the characters some more depth and weight and would have build up to the finale in a proper way.

I really hope Sony is pushing Jason for an extended OGB cut for an additional home release in the future.
Same dude!

I do find it funny, i give that theory about the knock on Dana's door and its the 'call to action' and a day or two later it was confirmed.

But what gives? was it pacing? was it not wanting to cut away from the Spenglers to other character subplots? who knows. I think keeping this Janine subplot in would've helped the movie bridge itself to the OG's return in the climax.
It would also given us fans some more time to spend with them as well. Its a win win.

I do like how they reworked Winston's scene into a send off for sequel, i would keep that..however theres probably lines relevant to the central plot you can still use to to give him some more screen time.

Ah well. I still love the movie, but now knowing what could've been it feels like a HUGE loss and like a big "ah what!? CMON!"
#4965168
I would also have liked to see more OGB scenes. However I think if we did see those scenes then the final battle would not have worried us because no matter how bad it got we knew the OGBs would be coming.

When I first saw the movie seeing the OGBs the first time was a joy. However seeing the movie again it does slow down the building up of the tension in the scene. I am sure Jason had a hard time trying to figure out how to introduce the OGBs and keep the flow of the movie going at the same time.
#4965187
....yeah why did he change it ?

hell, you didnt even need the actual guys to shoot that set-up..can just use stand ins.

that honestly would have been a lot better. you can cut away to all the others reactions, while you run through the showing of the boot (lucky looks up), the belts to the name tags (phoebe and callie look over), pan out to "have you missed us?"

the line is the only real "Murray footage" used in that whole sequence of shots.

idk..some of the decisions for their inclusion (and exclusion) are just bizarre. lol


..Dont get me wrong, Im happy we got what we got (we're lucky we got to see them suited up at all, even if its a little awkward story wise) . But, like i said, walking away knowing more details has me asking more questions.
#4965350
I was telling friends that all I wanted from this film was a "last ride" I don't feel I got that but I did feel I got a very fond farewell to Egon. Maybe next/ if time round. I would just hate to see the last stuff we got from the three remaining to be that face off. They don't need to be in suits all the time for the new ones and can help run the business but a last ride if you will somewhere would be great.

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