[hutto]

Here's a really random question, does Dan Aykroyd have some kind of issue with his arms? The way he holds the wand in this movie is just so weird. He basically has the rear grip pushed against his shoulder with his left hand running along side of it to operate the intensify button. I don't know if he's holding it this way just to look different from the others as he always used it right handed before, or he has some kind of injury that's making him do this. It just looks so awkward onscreen.

I’m glad someone else has mentioned this. What on earth is he doing? Feels like a very awkward pose and character wise, I always felt Ray would be very at home with the equipment. This just looks odd.

Im pretty sure Ray was intended to be injured when the Possessor lion knocked him off the base of the statue. But they cut it and just left Winston griping at him about being old. I liked constantly being reminded they were too old every five minutes.

[SpaceBallz]

Here's a really random question, does Dan Aykroyd have some kind of issue with his arms? The way he holds the wand in this movie is just so weird. He basically has the rear grip pushed against his shoulder with his left hand running along side of it to operate the intensify button. I don't know if he's holding it this way just to look different from the others as he always used it right handed before, or he has some kind of injury that's making him do this. It just looks so awkward onscreen.

Dan is left handed, the trigger box on the wand is made for a right hand thumb. He's using his left thumb and holding the trigger box instead of the grip of the wand. I know he held it correctly back in the 80s but he's pretty old now and probably got confused as to how he should hold it.

[13th Floor]

Here's a really random question, does Dan Aykroyd have some kind of issue with his arms? The way he holds the wand in this movie is just so weird. He basically has the rear grip pushed against his shoulder with his left hand running along side of it to operate the intensify button. I don't know if he's holding it this way just to look different from the others as he always used it right handed before, or he has some kind of injury that's making him do this. It just looks so awkward onscreen.

Dan is left handed, the trigger box on the wand is made for a right hand thumb. He's using his left thumb and holding the trigger box instead of the grip of the wand. I know he held it correctly back in the 80s but he's pretty old now and probably got confused as to how he should hold it.

When the pics first came out showing Ray at the firehouse with the pack i thought it was about him being afraid of Garraka and out of practice.He held it normally in Afterlife,this feels intentional.
Probably something got left in the cutting room floor about Garraka actually scaring Ray.You can see it in Dan's face that he's acting scared.

[Davideverona]

So, do they give a reason for Peter wearing sunglasses?

[GaudinosWheels]

No, not that I noticed. That took me out of it a little, he was in an apparently dark room in the middle of a storm…so why the glasses??

Ah man, the more I think about this the film the more it feels rushed and undercooked.

[RichardLess]

Could someone who has a strong memory explain in detail how the machine works that separates the spirit from a person/object? And does that mean Phoebe was effectively dead or like a purgatory like Melody?

I would be very grateful, I just need to make sure my understanding is correct. It's for something.

Thx for reminding me! I forgot 2 mention this.

I duno how it works but I do kno some1( Richardless) wrote fan script for GB3 that he send me a few months back. It had like this exact idea! When I saw the Frozen Empire I wanted to yell in the cinema “Hey! A guy on a GBfans site had that exact idea in his script he sent me!” but I’m not a crazy person so I remained quiet.

Forgive me Rich for giving anything away but for context in his script the main baddie sucks the souls out of human beings & replaces it with a piece of his/her own.

The soul machine is used on Venkman after the bad guy’s soul sucking process is interrupted while Venkman’s on a date with Dana @ a Chinese food restaurant, Venkman’s soul spends a portion of the script inside a cooked Peking Duck with the head & beak still attached. He can waddle around & talk. It’s really funny actually. I still chuckle picturing Bill Murray’s voice come out of a cooked duck.


Also, Richardless, I duno if u saw the movie yet but they use 2 of ur ideas! The soul separator and infusing proton pack with a metallic mineral to help win the day? Bronze in FE, ur script used lead if I recall?

( & Rich we may disagree on Ghostbusters Afterlife but u wrote a heck of a legit quality GB3 script)

Yes. Yes I did notice that. And thanks.

[SpaceBallz]

So, do they give a reason for Peter wearing sunglasses?

There's 30 minutes of deleted scenes and I heard there's a short scene giving a reason as to why he's wearing them.

I hope there's an explanation as to why Winston didn't tell the Spenglers about the ghost laboratory and new containment unit and just let them continue busting ghosts for 2 years while he knew the old containment unit was at full capacity.

[timeware]

No, not that I noticed. That took me out of it a little, he was in an apparently dark room in the middle of a storm…so why the glasses??

Ah man, the more I think about this the film the more it feels rushed and undercooked.

Now that you mention that, I wasn't really focused on this. It was a nice sunny day before Garraka showed up so that's probably the best reason for this. Or, Venkman was a little hungover.

[BrianReilly]

The proton packs and traps are super bright. They should all be wearing protective eyewear.

[TheManEatingToaster]

No, not that I noticed. That took me out of it a little, he was in an apparently dark room in the middle of a storm…so why the glasses??

Ah man, the more I think about this the film the more it feels rushed and undercooked.

[BrianReilly]

Also, I know I’m not the only one who feels this way based both on reviews and talking to people in real life, but the Phoebe/Melody teen romance is about the only part of this film that actually really works as a film.

I can still tell a bunch of it ended up on the cutting room floor, and it makes zero sense to reveal to the audience that Melody is working with Garraka like 45 minutes before Phoebe finds out, but it’s two characters with motivations and actions that make sense, we follow them through each step of the way, their dialogue pays off in defeating the main villain, and it has closure for both characters at the end.

Gary’s arc is getting to be more accepted as part of the family, but it just happens to him. He doesn’t really do anything to earn it (something obviously cut).

Trevor’s arc is getting treated like an adult. Again he just is given the keys at the end for no reason. Nothing learned or earned.

Callie’s arc is apparently left on the cutting room floor.

Ray’s arc should be about re-finding his passion now that he’s older but it essentially ends with “nuh-uh” and Winston just agreeing with him. Obviously much left on the cutting room floor here too. Ditto for Winston.

Nadeem is the only other character with close to a complete arc, but again he just sort of figures out his powers without really trying.

This Post Contains Spoilers

[tylergfoster]

...and it makes zero sense to reveal to the audience that Melody is working with Garraka like 45 minutes before Phoebe finds out...

This Post Contains Spoilers

I don't have a problem with this part.

I would say the movie is going for the idea that we know she's up to something but we don't know why, and the question that we're supposed to be waiting for throughout the remainder of the movie is whether or not her why will be sympathetic or truly villainous.

This Post Contains Spoilers

Also, not trying to be mean to anyone involved with the movie -- I really liked it! -- but

I would honestly kind of wonder if there really is that much stuff on the cutting room floor or if the filmmakers just didn't think some of these ideas all the way through.

This Post Contains Spoilers

[13th Floor]

Ya know,i didn't find it exactly nostalgia heavy,the library ghost goes by so quick it's almost blink and you miss it.And all the scenes themselves if you view them separately are good to great but the connective tissue is lacking.
For example,each Winston scene are so far apart.
And what is up with him withholding knowledge of the PRC from the Spenglers?He says he was waiting till the whole thing was ready but the new containment grids were ready,they could've been storing ghosts there instead of filling up the firehouse.
I loved the idea of Phoebe befriending a ghost but having said ghost be a sidekick to Garraka just.put a damp on that plot and once again the scenes between Phoebe and Melody are so far between.
If this was a 10 episode Ghostbusters show it would have made for fantastic television.
But Frozen Empire as it is is more of a guilty pleasure than a functioning movie.A damn great guilty pleasure tho.
Also,i agree with podcast kill those damn mini pufts once and for all.Enough.They were so gratuitous and not.even funny definetly where the nostalgia complaints from critics came from.

Afterlife knew how to take its time to make you care for the characters even if they're not deep characters.
Frozen Empire is action packed and full of fun scenarios for ghostbusting but it rushes EVERYTHING. You zap between characters faster than the possessor can zap between objects.Mixing these two movies would make for a great GB movie.
Nadeem showing the whole team he could light a candle
like it was a huge deal was hilarious,so was Venkman hitting him with pens
BIG SPECULATION: This movie must have had either little time between pre production,writing and shooting or the test screenings were abysmal,it reminds me of Multiverse of Madness having changed arcs and deleted deaths and changed arcs for certain characters.
Or maybe Gil and Jason found themselves in trouble when they realized they now have an Avengers sized cast for a GB movie.
Some fans might disagree but this movie would have been way better and more functional like Afterlife if the OGs weren't in it.Phoebe,Callie,Gary,Trevor,Lucky and Podcast as side characters in the lab with Pinfield,maybe a Winston cameo.
Now you have time to breathe and work on the characters

[jonogunn]

I...did not like the movie. Needs a re-watch but I feel like this may be the worse GB movie yet...I think I even enjoyed 2016 more!

Sure Afterlife had slow parts and all but it felt like 1 coherent story/movie

2016 was funny and even tho the bad guy sucked at least they built him up throughout the movie.

Everything in the 3rd act needed to have started somewhere in the second and have that little "adventure" dragged out.

I can't believe that this movie has less ghostbustin' that any of the other movies!! I thought this RGB inspired so I was expecting more of a "adventure" throughout most of the movie but nope.

The cigarette selling guy scene should have been cut out. He died! the only person on screen to die! And it's all Pheobe & and the GB's fault!

And the crowd gathering outside the firehouse made no sense at all. SO random and forced

[Chicken, He Clucked]

Venkman’s shades were funny and looked cool. No explanation needed.

[DancingToaster]

Also, I know I’m not the only one who feels this way based both on reviews and talking to people in real life, but the Phoebe/Melody teen romance is about the only part of this film that actually really works as a film.

I can still tell a bunch of it ended up on the cutting room floor, and it makes zero sense to reveal to the audience that Melody is working with Garraka like 45 minutes before Phoebe finds out, but it’s two characters with motivations and actions that make sense, we follow them through each step of the way, their dialogue pays off in defeating the main villain, and it has closure for both characters at the end.

Gary’s arc is getting to be more accepted as part of the family, but it just happens to him. He doesn’t really do anything to earn it (something obviously cut).

Trevor’s arc is getting treated like an adult. Again he just is given the keys at the end for no reason. Nothing learned or earned.

Callie’s arc is apparently left on the cutting room floor.

Ray’s arc should be about re-finding his passion now that he’s older but it essentially ends with “nuh-uh” and Winston just agreeing with him. Obviously much left on the cutting room floor here too. Ditto for Winston.

Nadeem is the only other character with close to a complete arc, but again he just sort of figures out his powers without really trying.

This Post Contains Spoilers

I can understand this, but to me, it seemed like it only worked a bit better because they spent more time on it. My issue with it is that, in my opinion at least, it was a big part of the reason why the other stuff didn't get enough development. Perhaps a longer movie could have helped, but I don't think that should have been necessary with better pacing and editing. I don't know if it's just the way Melody looks/is animated, talks, acts, etc., but every time she showed up I felt like I was watching scenes that were from a different film and clumsily edited to fit into this one. Maybe it would have worked better as an RGB-style tv episode if this was a series instead of a movie.

Phoebe seems to learn a lesson about trusting the wrong people from Melody's betrayal, but I would have liked to see that pay off a bit more when it comes to her own relationship with her family. That plotline deserved a bit more focus than Melody's redemption.

Other than Phoebe saying she trusted the wrong person, where exactly was the turning point that led to her calling Gary "dad" at the end? It's possible that she just kind of realized that her family wasn't as bad as she thought, but that should probably be clearer for such an important moment. As I mentioned earlier, maybe they could have had Gary almost take the proton beam for Phoebe instead of Trevor, so she could see the difference between Melody's self-serving betrayal and Gary's sacrifice, leading to her learning about who she CAN trust. A small change like that (especially related to the implied circumstances in GBA around the kids' father leaving) could have demonstrated Gary's loyalty and devotion while also tying the Melody plotline more effectively into the family story.

Again, I enjoyed the film a lot and I will go see it again if possible. I just personally found this particular plotline frustrating and felt like it had a negative domino effect on several genuinely good things in the movie.

[gerard55]

Also, we had two full length movies without the Ghostbusters having a proper bust. In about 4 hours of film, we had two ghosts being catched via gunner seat + remote trap and two baddies being catched from underground "traps". That's all. I know Jason and Gil are fans of the franchise, but they're trying to do things the complicate way....the very first bust could have been a traditional bust (which also requires less budget) with the family interacting in proper way to let us understand what they're up to. That's something I've been missing from the last movie, the Ghostbusters arriving onsite and investigating the threat/ghost - that would be a good way to combine the horror/comedy aspect I love about the original movies.

But, there's also some gold in this movie. As I mentioned, Dan being Ray is just awesome. That's something I always wished for a sequel. Ray being some type of Indiana Jones to solve mystic riddles was a great subplot. Wouldn't mind more of that mystic element, if there ever will be a sequel.

______________________________________________________________________________________________
That's probably my main gripe about the movie its called Ghostbusters and that seems to be going by the wayside. The movie opens up with a recycled muncher bust with a new toy for hasbro to flog, then it goes to Phoebe being benched and stuck in the firehouse while the others are out on calls. I'd be more interested in seeing those calls.

There was all this talk about RGB influence, there's plenty of RGB episodes where they go out on a call, investigate, find the ghost and trap it. Is that too much to ask for? The last time that was done in these movies is the first time it was done in 84 with Slimer, its not been done since (atc doesn't apply here obviously). It makes me scratch my head that in a movie about 'busting ghosts', that's the element that gets neglected the most.

This movie I found to be pretty average, and imo the marketing was very deceptive. Where is this supposed frozen empire like in the poster? Ecto on the streets, the Gb's in their red coats walking into a frozen NYC in search of Garraka? I must have blinked and missed that part, oh wait it didn't actually happen, I know posters can be a bit liberal but the trailers pretty much backed what the posters were showing. So much was chopped from the trailers that didn't make it into the movie, that scene with Gruberson and the Spenglers on a building roof in the red coats with the 'ohhoho' part, what was that about? What's he looking at to illicit that reaction? That's the only part of the trailer that makes me think of the poster with ecto and the gb's surrounding it walking into a frozen city. It makes me wonder if this movie was originally larger in scale, then things changed and everything got condensed to a few locales.

Then we have this demon who's able to command an army of ghosts, his army promptly pissed off the second they got released and he was left to his own devices. Speaking of which, for 40 years worth of ghosts to escape on screen it didn't look that many, plus where's Gozer? Has she also escaped? Or is she still in multiple traps in a field somewhere?

The showing I went to had maybe 50 people at it, and the only real reaction was a slight laugh to the firemaker sliding down the pole, that was it. I hope it does well enough to get another, but for me the movie was severely lacking.

[jonogunn]

This movie I found to be pretty average, and imo the marketing was very deceptive. Where is this supposed frozen empire like in the poster? Ecto on the streets, the Gb's in their red coats walking into a frozen NYC in search of Garraka? I must have blinked and missed that part, oh wait it didn't actually happen, I know posters can be a bit liberal but the trailers pretty much backed what the posters were showing.

Agreed! I have that poster as my phone wallpaper and was like hey! what the heck.

Garraka should have been introduced 30 minutes earlier then have the GB group all geared up in uniform out on the adventure before culminating back to the firehouse.

[13th Floor]

I don't quite get the deal Winston has with the Spenglers,he fixed the Ecto and let them run the operation...but then just kinda left them on their own?They lived two years in the firehouse and he never fixed the place?Also,ecto is running into some problems(at least that's what i remember,in the dragon chase it was running on high temp all the time).
C'mon Zedd,give them a little help

[mrmichaelt]

I don't quite get the deal Winston has with the Spenglers,he fixed the Ecto and let them run the operation...but then just kinda left them on their own?They lived two years in the firehouse and he never fixed the place?Also,ecto is running into some problems(at least that's what i remember,in the dragon chase it was running on high temp all the time).
C'mon Zedd,give them a little help

Yeah, curious what the comic fills in on that first part.

In my teens, my dad went through 3 Cadillacs and we fixed them together. The only certainty we concluded was a Cadillac can never be 100% fixed for more than a few days and there's always something. That's what I thought of when I saw that scene.

[starang11]

I hope there's an explanation as to why Winston didn't tell the Spenglers about the ghost laboratory and new containment unit and just let them continue busting ghosts for 2 years while he knew the old containment unit was at full capacity.

I'm guessing it was the quickest/easiest way to explain it to the audience, so we're learning about it all through the Spenglers. But otherwise it didn't make much sense.

One thing I might have missed: did they explain why ghosts are around again after the whole "there hasn't been a ghost sighting in 30 years/the business dried up" stuff in the last one? I feel like it could have been mentioned during the news montage/info dump in the beginning, but I was distracted by the toy commercial and music video clips.

[jonogunn]

I don't quite get the deal Winston has with the Spenglers,he fixed the Ecto and let them run the operation...but then just kinda left them on their own?They lived two years in the firehouse and he never fixed the place?Also,ecto is running into some problems(at least that's what i remember,in the dragon chase it was running on high temp all the time).
C'mon Zedd,give them a little help

not to mention he had a secret lab that he never told them about for years lol. like why?

[13th Floor]

I don't quite get the deal Winston has with the Spenglers,he fixed the Ecto and let them run the operation...but then just kinda left them on their own?They lived two years in the firehouse and he never fixed the place?Also,ecto is running into some problems(at least that's what i remember,in the dragon chase it was running on high temp all the time).
C'mon Zedd,give them a little help

not to mention he had a secret lab that he never told them about for years lol. like why?

He said in the movie that he wanted it to be a surprise and i'm like "dude"you have the stuff ready,let them start bringing the ghosts over.
Also,don't remember which user here that kept suggesting an off site storage facility
..well ya kinda got it in this movie.
Another thing from the cutting room floor,Venkman was with Ray at the PRC but it got cut,you can see Venkman in the background whem Pukey...pukes

[Ectojeff88]

Had a huge 2-day party with my closest family and friends to celebrate. I decorated the house, I had a GB history presentation, trivia, games.
After finally seeing the movie, being a video editor this film was great but as everyone has noted, clearly there was a TON cut out to meet a 2 hour runtime.

Opening title should have been Ghostbusters song! Camera driving through the misty ghost cloud, Garakka’s eyes and fade right into the main title! So simple, #1 place to start on the fan edit when we get to see deleted scenes. I hope Gil fights hard to get as much included as possible if there is no official extended cut.

I don’t understand how the fans went crazy for the red coats, studio and filmmakers VERY aware of the hype, all over the posters, and scenes where they are most heavily featured are cut? Are you kidding me?
Anything with Murray should be in, because he has been the most difficult part of all this waiting for new GB films.

I don’t care how long a movie has to he if there are critical pieces to build everything well. People will sit for Oppenheimer, Avengers Endgame and Dune 2 so why would GB need to meet a runtime?

Agreed Lucky and Trevor are just there and how have they not been texting or anything to know they are now both working GB. I would have loved to see an awkward romance growing from Afterlife instead of Phoebe and Melody, though I did still appreciate that subplot that tied to Garraka’s power growing.

Library sequence was one of the best in the film, all the lore, new parts of the library archives.

LOVED Peck’s pressure to change sides at the end “Sounds like we have your support Mr Mayor!” So good, and kinda same angle Ecto driving away from the firehouse crowd as leaving end credits GB 1.

More thoughts but those are the biggest after first viewing.

[LouisZeddemore]

One thing I might have missed: did they explain why ghosts are around again after the whole "there hasn't been a ghost sighting in 30 years/the business dried up" stuff in the last one?...

Yeah, I wondered that myself. We're being thrown into this new status quo without explanation, even though Afterlife made it pretty clear that the Ghostbusters are needed anymore. Such a strange introduction to the business seemingly running again as usual - incoming job calls, business cards and media presence.

On another note. I just had the chance to watch the movie again, this time with my girlfriend. The movie was a slightly better experience for me knowing exactly what to expect. Still not a big fan of how the movie turned out, but I can appreciate the good bits some more. Most importantly, we had a great watching the movie together.

But as to my girlfriend (who only knows Ghostbusters because of me) really enjoyed the movie and mentioned that time flew by quickly. She especially liked the Melody subplot, the mini pufts, the new cute ghost and Ray's scenes, especially how enthusiastic he was about his little adventure and how this is exactly what he wants to do in his "golden years".

However, she also had some problems with the sheer amount of characters and didn't understand why Lucky and Podcast had to be in this movie at all. She was also surprised how quickly the movie ended and felt the finale was kind of lackluster. With all the promises of a frozen NYC and Garraka's army of ghosts, she expected another 20 minutes after the first (and as it turned out, the final) confrontation with Garakka.

This screening's biggest laughs both came from the sex dungeon jokes, the library ghost, pencil throwing scene and Venkman's booze stash (I'm loving Murray's expression there ). Other than that, the audience was mostly quiet, but acknowledged some key scenes like Peck's return and the OGs suiting up.

[mrmichaelt]

One thing I might have missed: did they explain why ghosts are around again after the whole "there hasn't been a ghost sighting in 30 years/the business dried up" stuff in the last one? I feel like it could have been mentioned during the news montage/info dump in the beginning, but I was distracted by the toy commercial and music video clips.

I don't recall and hopefully the comic will fill that in.

[Hairy Biker]

One thing I might have missed: did they explain why ghosts are around again after the whole "there hasn't been a ghost sighting in 30 years/the business dried up" stuff in the last one? I feel like it could have been mentioned during the news montage/info dump in the beginning, but I was distracted by the toy commercial and music video clips.

I don't recall and hopefully the comic will fill that in.

Maybe it's a case of there have been ghost sightings, but they've never been reported.

[gboy6]

I know this is a minor nitpick, but it bothered me that the 1904 firehouse was depicted as it is in its present state and not how it's supposed to be at that time, with it being double the size as it is now.

[mrmichaelt]

I don't recall and hopefully the comic will fill that in.

Maybe it's a case of there have been ghost sightings, but they've never been reported.

True, Ray's Occult has a lot of visits now that he's offering to buy a haunted object.

I know this is a minor nitpick, but it bothered me that the 1904 firehouse was depicted as it is in its present state and not how it's supposed to be at that time, with it being double the size as it is now.

True, IRL it was split around 1914/1915? Since it's an alternate timeline, I guess the split happened sooner or it was never built double the size.

[An Invisible Bed]

I'm back!

I loved it, but it felt too rushed, everything needed a little more breathing room, it felt over with too quick, I easily could have sat through a three hour epic length film, felt over with too soon.

And feels like a lot of stuff was chopped out, the shot of the new team in cold weather gear from the trailer made me go "wow" and then it's just... not in the actual movie? A big head scratcher.

It needed a Sedgewick hotel equivalent, a bust not directly tied in with the main story around the midway point, they show this cool looking ghost in the new lab, but he never gets out? Why have such a cool looking ghost they don't bust?

I liked what was there but wanted a lot more, more lore, I'm still kinda frustrated more light hasn't been shed on when the Ghostbusters went their separate ways, what exactly happened between 1989 and 2021, it's a huge question on my mind but continues to get brushed aside.

And as a big time nerd, it frustrates me they seem to want to ignore the 2009 game, it was written by Dan and Ramis, was the last time all the guys played the characters together, it should be considered a canon story, I get most audiences wouldn't know it, but it seems odd to contradict and not have some little tip of the hate, at least this time we confirmation II is canon.

Basically Afterlife goes for more of an emotional angle, it felt like a indie guy doing a blockbuster, this feels more like standard popcorn entertainment, which is all it needed to be, in fact I always wanted a movie like this where it's essentially a Real Ghostbusters style adventure.

I was worried about this one but I'm pleased overall.

One issue, the prologue was cool as hell and got me way hyped, but it needed to have the song, why not have the song? Would made it all the more impactful.