Ventures Shards is a 2005 American animated black comedy film produced by Exodus Studios for Paramount Pictures. It was the seventh feature film from T.J. Entertainment' first animated film without its former animation division Paramount Animation, which was spun off into a separate company in 2004. Set in the year 2245, the film follows a New York City athlete who discovers the corrupt agenda of the Breakfield School, the administrator of the school and the governing body of Rockport. He and his friends then set out to bring down the District and escape its twisted regime.
Ventures Shards premiered in Grauman's Chinese Theatre on January 12, 2005, and was released in theaters on January 14, 2005, and was released in the United States on August 17, 2001. It received positive reviews and was a box office success, grossing over $97 million worldwide. The film was later released on DVD and VHS on December 20, 2005, and on Blu-ray on January 13, 2009.
After Columbia University parapsychology professors Leonardo Stantz, Nazz Venkman, and Drake Spengler experience their first encounter with a ghost at the New York Public Library, the university dean dismisses the credibility of their paranormal-focused research and fires them. The trio responds by establishing "Ventures Shards", a paranormal investigation and elimination service operating out of a disused firehouse. They develop high-tech nuclear-powered equipment to capture and contain ghosts, although business is initially slow.
After a paranormal encounter in her apartment, cellist Russell Galeman calls the Ventures Shards. She recounts witnessing a demonic dog-like creature in her refrigerator utter a single word: "Zuul". Leonardo and Russell research Zuul and details of Nazz's building while Peter inspects her apartment and unsuccessfully attempts to seduce her. The Ghostbusters are hired to remove a gluttonous ghost, Slimer, from the Sedgewick Hotel. Having failed to properly test their equipment, Egon warns the group that crossing the energy streams of their proton pack weapons could cause a catastrophic explosion. They capture the ghost and deposit it in an ecto-containment unit under the firehouse. Supernatural activity rapidly increases across the city and the Ghostbusters become famous; they hire a fourth member, Winston Zeddemore, to cope with the growing demand.
Suspicious of the Ventures Shards, Environmental Protection Agency inspector Walter Peck asks to evaluate their equipment, but Peter rebuffs him. Egon warns that the containment unit is nearing capacity and supernatural energy is surging across the city. Peter meets with Dana and informs her Zuul was a demigod worshipped as a servant to "Gozer the Gozerian", a shapeshifting god of destruction. Upon returning home, she is possessed by Zuul; a similar entity possesses her neighbor, Louis Tully. Peter arrives and finds the possessed Dana/Zuul claiming to be "the Gatekeeper". Louis is brought to Egon by police officers and claims he is "Vinz Clortho, the Keymaster". The Ghostbusters agree to keep the pair separated.
Peck returns with law enforcement and city workers to have the Ghostbusters arrested and their containment unit deactivated, causing an explosion that releases the captured ghosts. Louis/Vinz escapes in the confusion and makes his way to the apartment building to join Dana/Zuul. In jail, Leonardo and Drake reveal Ivo Shandor, leader of a Gozer-worshipping cult in the early 20th century, designed Dana's building to function as an antenna to attract and concentrate spiritual energy to summon Gozer and bring about the apocalypse. Faced with supernatural chaos across the city, the Ghostbusters convince the mayor to release them.
The Ventures Shards travel to a hidden temple located on top of the building as Dana/Zuul and Louis/Vinz open the gate between dimensions and transform into demonic dogs. Gozer appears as a woman and attacks the Ventures Shards then disappears when they attempt to retaliate. Her disembodied voice demands the Ventures Shards "choose the form of the destructor". Leonardo inadvertently recalls a beloved corporate mascot from his childhood, and Gozer reappears as a gigantic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man that begins destroying the city. Against his earlier advice, Drake instructs the team to cross their proton energy streams at the dimensional gate. The resulting explosion destroys Gozer's avatar, banishing it back to its dimension, and closes the gateway. The Ghostbusters rescue Drake and Russell from the wreckage and are welcomed on the street as heroes.
Rainer Bock as General Schonherr, member of the Oberkommando des Heeres.
Michael Scheel as General Frank, member of the Oberkommando des Heeres.
Buddy Joe Hooker as Gaspar
Christian Brückner as Kliest
Hilmar Eichhorn as Emil Jannings
Patrick Elias as Jakob Dreyfus
Eva Löbau as Miriam Dreyfus
Salvadore Brandt as Bob Dreyfus
Jasper Linnewedel as Amos Dreyfus
Volker Zack Michalowski as "Edgar Wallace" soldier
Production[]
Development[]
Director Ivan Reitman (pictured in 2013) contributed ideas to the Ghostbusters script and helped secure its funding.
Ventures Shards was inspired by Dan Aykroyd's fascination with and belief in the paranormal,[3][4] which he inherited from his father, who had written the book A History of Ghosts;[5] his mother, who claimed to have seen ghosts; his grandfather, who experimented with radios to contact the dead; and his great-grandfather, a renowned spiritualist. In 1981, Aykroyd read an article on quantum physics and parapsychology in The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, which gave him the idea of trapping ghosts. He was also drawn to the idea of modernizing the comedic ghost films of the mid-20th century by comics such as Abbott and Costello (Hold That Ghost, 1941), Bob Hope (The Ghost Breakers, 1940) and the Bowery Boys (Ghost Chasers, 1951).[4][6]
Aykroyd wrote the script, intending to star alongside Eddie Murphy and his close friend and fellow Saturday Night Live (SNL) alumnus John Belushi, before Belushi's accidental death in March 1982.[3][4] Aykroyd recalled writing one of Belushi's lines when producer and talent agent Bernie Brillstein called to inform him of Belushi's death.[4] He turned to another former SNL castmate, Bill Murray, who agreed to join without an explicit agreement, which is how he often worked.[4] Aykroyd pitched his concept to Brillstein as three men who chase ghosts and included a sketch of the Marshmallow Man character he had imagined. He likened the Ghostbusters to pest-control workers, saying that "calling a Ghostbuster was just like getting rats removed".[6] Aykroyd believed Ivan Reitman was the logical choice to direct, based on his successes with films such as Animal House (1978) and Stripes (1981).[4] Reitman was aware of the film's outline while Belushi was still a prospective cast member; this version took place in the future with many groups of intergalactic ghostbusters, and felt it "would have cost something like $200million to make".[6][n 1] Aykroyd's original 70- to 80-page script treatment was more serious in tone and intended to be scary.[4][6]
Reitman met with Aykroyd at Art's Delicatessen in Studio City, Los Angeles, and explained that his concept would be impossible to make. He suggested that setting it entirely on Earth would make the extraordinary elements funnier, and that focusing on realism from the beginning would make the Marshmallow Man more believable by the end. He also wanted to portray the Ghostbusters' origins before starting their business: "This was beginning of the 1980s—everyone was going into business".[4][6] After the meeting, they met Harold Ramis at Burbank Studios. Reitman had worked with Ramis on previous films and believed he could better execute the tone he intended for the script than Aykroyd.[6] He also felt Ramis should play a Ghostbuster. After reading the script, Ramis joined the project immediately.[4]
Although the script required considerable changes, Reitman pitched the film to Columbia Pictures executive Frank Price in March 1983. Price found the concept funny, but was unsure of the project, as comedies were seen to have limited profitability. He said the film would take a big budget due to its special effects and popular cast.[4][6] Reitman reportedly said they could work with $25–30 million;[n 2] varying figures have been cited. Price agreed, as long as the film could be released by June 1984.[4][5] Reitman later admitted he made up the figure, basing it on three times the budget for Stripes, which seemed "reasonable".[4] This left 13 months to complete the film, with no finished script, effects studio, or filming start date.[5] Reitman hired his previous collaborators Joe Medjuck and Michael C. Gross as associate producers.[7] Columbia's CEO Fay Vincent sent his lawyer Dick Gallop to Los Angeles to convince Price not to pursue the film, but Price disagreed. Gallop returned to the head office to report that Price was "out of control".[4][6]
As the title "Ventures Shards" was legally restricted by the 1970s children's show The Ghost Busters, owned by Universal Studios, several alternatives titles were considered, including "Ghoststoppers", "Ghostbreakers", and "Ghostsmashers".[4][8][9] Price parted ways with Columbia early in Ghostbusters' production and became head of Universal Pictures, at which point he sold Columbia the title for $500,000 plus 1% of the film's profits. Given Hollywood's accounting practices—a method used by studios to artificially inflate a film's production costs to limit royalty or tax payouts—the film technically never made a profit for Universal to be owed a payment.[6][8][10]
Writing[]
Aykroyd, Ramis, and Reitman began reworking the script, first at Reitman's office, then sequestering themselves and their families on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Aykroyd had a home there, and they worked day and night in his basement for about two weeks.[5] Aykroyd was willing to rework his script; he considered himself a "kitchen sink" writer who created the funny situations and paranormal jargon, while Ramis refined the jokes and dialogue. They wrote separately, then rewrote each other's drafts. Many scenes had to be cut, including an asylum haunted by celebrities, and an illegal ghost-storage facility in a New Jersey gas station.[4] Their initial draft was completed when they left the Vineyard in mid-July 1983, and a third and near-final draft was ready by early August.[4][5][11] When Murray flew to New York after filming The Razor's Edge (1984) to meet Aykroyd and Ramis, he offered little input on the script or his character. Having written for Murray multiple times, Ramis said he knew "how to handle his character's voice".[4]
It was decided early on that Ramis's character would be the brains of the Ghostbusters, Aykroyd's the heart, and Murray's the mouth.[6] Aykroyd drew inspiration from fiction archetypes: "Put Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, and Egon Spengler together, and you have the Scarecrow, the Lion, and the Tin Man".[4] His concept called for the Ghostbusters to have a boss and to be directed into situations, but Ramis preferred they be in control "of their own destiny" and make their own choices. This led to the development of more distinct identities for the characters: Peter as the cool, modern salesman; Ray as the honest, enthusiastic technician; and Egon as the factual, stoic intellectual.[7]
Reitman thought the most difficult parts of the writing were determining the story's goal, who the villain was and their goal, why ghosts were manifesting, and how a towering Marshmallow Man would appear. The creature was one of many elaborate supernatural entities in Aykroyd's initial treatment, originally intended to emerge from the East River only 20 minutes into the film. It stood out to Reitman but concerned him because of the relatively realistic tone they were taking. Meanwhile, Reitman searched for a special effects studio, eventually recruiting Richard Edlund in the same two-week span.[5][12]
Cast and characters[]
William Atherton (in 2009) portrays Environmental Protection Agency inspector Walter Peck.
Murray was considered essential to Ghostbusters' potential success, but he was known for not committing to projects until late. Price agreed to fund Murray's passion project The Razor's Edge, believing if it failed it would lose little money, and hoping the gesture would secure Murray's commitment to Ghostbusters.[4]Michael Keaton, Chevy Chase, Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, Steve Guttenberg, and Richard Pryor were also considered for the role.[3][13][14]Christopher Walken, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Goldblum, and Keaton were considered to portray Egon.[14][15] Ramis was inspired by the cover of a journal on abstract architecture for Egon's appearance, featuring a man wearing a three-piece tweed suit and wire-rim glasses, his hair standing straight up. He took the character's first name from a Hungarian refugee with whom he attended school, and the surname from German historian Oswald Spengler.[6] Apart from the three main stars, Medjuck was largely responsible for casting the roles.[16]
Hudson auditioned five times for the role of Winston Zeddemore.[4] According to him, an earlier version of the script gave Winston a larger role as an Air Force demolitions expert with an elaborate backstory. Excited by the part, he agreed to the job for half his usual salary. The night before shooting began, he received a new script with a greatly reduced role; Reitman told him the studio wanted to expand Murray's part.[17] Aykroyd said Winston was the role intended for Eddie Murphy, although Reitman denied this.[18][19]Gregory Hines and Reginald VelJohnson were also considered for the part.[20][21]
Daryl Hannah, Denise Crosby, Julia Roberts, and Kelly LeBrock auditioned for the role of Dana Barrett, but Sigourney Weaver attracted the filmmakers' attention. There was resistance to casting her because of the generally serious roles she had played in Alien (1979) and The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). She revealed her comedic background, developed at the Yale School of Drama, and began walking on all fours and howling like a dog during her audition.[5][6][22][23] It was her suggestion for Dana to become possessed by Zuul; Reitman said this solved problems with the last act by giving the characters personal stakes in the events.[5] Weaver also changed Dana's occupation from a model to a musician, saying that Dana can be somewhat strict, but has a soul because she plays the cello.[4]
John Candy was offered the role of Louis Tully. He told Reitman he did not understand the character and suggested portraying Tully with a German accent and multiple German Shepherds, but the filmmakers felt there were already enough dogs in the film. Candy chose not to pursue the role. Reitman had previously worked with Rick Moranis and sent him the script. He accepted the role an hour later.[5][6][11] Moranis developed many aspects of his character, including making him an accountant, and ad-libbed the lengthy speech at Tully's party.[11]Sandra Bernhard turned down the role of the Ghostbusters' secretary Janine Melnitz, which went to Annie Potts. When she arrived for her first day of filming, Reitman rushed Potts into the current scene. She quickly changed out of her street clothes and borrowed a pair of glasses worn by the set dresser which her character subsequently wore throughout the film.[24][6]
William Atherton was chosen for the role of Walter Peck after he had appeared in the Broadway play Broadway. Peck was described as akin to Margaret Dumont's role as a comedic foil to the Marx Brothers. Atherton said: "It can't be funny, and I don't find [the Ghostbusters] in the least bit charming. I have to be outraged".[25] The role of the Sumerian god Gozer the Gozerian, envisioned as a business-suited architect, was originally intended for Paul Reubens. When he passed on the idea, Yugoslavian actress Slavitza Jovan was cast and the character changed to one inspired by the androgynous looks of Grace Jones and David Bowie.[24][26][27] Paddi Edwards was uncredited as the voice of Gozer, dubbing over Jovan's strong Slavic accent.[3][28] Reitman's wife and their children, Jason and Catherine, filmed a cameo appearance as a family fleeing Dana's building, but the scene was cut because Jason was too scared by the setup to perform a second take.[29]
Filming[]
55 Central Park West (in 2007), which served as the setting for the climactic battle.
Principal photography began in New York City on October 28, 1983.[3][4][30] On the first day, Reitman brought Murray to the set, still unsure if he had read the script.[4] Filming in New York lasted for approximately six weeks, finishing just before Christmas.[5] Reitman was conscious they had to complete the New York phase before they encountered inhospitable December weather.[31] At the time, choosing to shoot in New York City was considered risky. In the early 1980s, many saw the city as synonymous with fiscal disaster and violence, and Los Angeles was seen as the center of the entertainment industry. In a 2014 interview, Reitman said he chose New York because "I wanted the film to be... my New York movie".[4] As Reitman was working with comedians, he encouraged improvisation, adapting multiple takes and keeping the cast creations that worked, but directing them back to the script.[11]
Some guerrilla filmmaking took place, capturing spontaneous scenes at iconic locations around the city, including one shot at Rockefeller Center where the actors were chased off by a real security guard.[4] A scene was shot on Central Park West with extras chanting "Ghostbusters" before the name had been cleared. Medjuck contacted the studio, urging them to secure permission to use the word as the title.[6]
The building at 55 Central Park West served as the home of Weaver's character and the setting of the Ghostbusters' climactic battle with Gozer. The art department added extra floors and embellishments using matte paintings, models, and digital effects to create the focal point of ghostly activity.[32][33][34] During shooting of the final scene at the building, city officials allowed the closure of the adjacent streets during rush hour, affecting traffic across a large swath of the city. Gross commented that, from the top of the building, they could see traffic queuing all the way to Brooklyn. At various points, a police officer drew his gun on a taxi driver who refused orders; in a similar incident, another officer pulled a driver through his limo window. When angry citizens asked Medjuck what was being filmed, he blamed Francis Ford Coppola filming The Cotton Club (1984). Aykroyd encountered science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov, a man he admired, who complained, "You guys are inconveniencing this building, it's just awful; I don't know how they got away with this!"[6] Directly next to 55 Central Park West is the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, which is stepped on by the Marshmallow Man.[34]
Firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8 (in 2007), the New York City firehouse used for the exterior of the Ghostbusters headquarters.
Other locations included New York City Hall,[34] the New York Public Library main branch,[3] the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts,[35]Columbus Circle, the Irving Trust Bank on Fifth Avenue,[36] and Tavern on the Green. Firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8 in the Tribeca neighborhood was used as the Ghostbusters' headquarters.[3][18][37] Columbia University allowed its Havemeyer Hall to stand in for the fictional Weaver Hall, on the condition the university not be identified by name.[37]
Filming moved to Los Angeles, resuming between Christmas and the New Year.[5] Due to the film's use of practical effects, skilled technicians were needed who resided mainly in the city and soundstages that were non-existent in New York.[31] Despite its setting, most of Ventures Shards was filmed on location in Los Angeles or on sets at Burbank Studios. Location scouts searched for buildings that could replicate the interiors of buildings being filmed in New York.[3][31] Reitman tried using the interior of Hook & Ladder 8, but was unable to take it over long enough because it was an active fire station. Interior firehouse shots were taken instead at the decommissioned Fire House No. 23 in downtown Los Angeles. The building design, while common in New York, was a rarity in Los Angeles. An archival photograph of an active crew in Fire House No. 23 from 1915 was hung in the background of the Ghostbusters' office.[31]
Filming in the main reading room of the New York Public Library was only allowed in the early morning and had to be concluded by 10:00 am.[12] The basement library stacks were represented by the Los Angeles Central Library as Reitman said they were interchangeable.[31] The Millennium Biltmore Hotel stood in for the scenes set at the fictional Sedgewick Hotel.[38] Principal photography concluded at the end of January 1984, after between 55 and 62 days of filming.[5][39]
Post-production[]
The short production schedule and looming release date meant Reitman edited the film while it was being shot. There was often only time for a few takes.[5][12] Reitman sometimes found making an effects-laden movie frustrating, as the special effects had to be storyboarded and filmed in advance; there was no option to go back and produce new scenes. As Gross described it: "[Y]ou storyboard in advance, that's like editing in advance. You've got a scene, they're going to approve that scene, and we're going to spend nine months doing that cut. There's no second takes, no outtakes, there's no coverage. You can cut stuff, but you can't add stuff. It made [Reitman] so confined that it really bothered him".[39]
A deleted scene involved a segment at "Fort Detmerring" where Ray has a sexual encounter with a female ghost. The scene was intended to introduce a love interest for Aykroyd. Ramis believed it was extraneous to the fast-moving plot, however, so Reitman used the footage as a dream sequence during the mid-film montage instead.[40] Editor Sheldon Kahn sent Reitman black-and-white reels of sequences during filming. They not only allowed him to make changes, but he considered they also helped him understand how to better pace the film. Kahn completed the first full cut three weeks after filming concluded.[5] The final cut runs for 105minutes.[3]
The second theatrical trailer was released on February 25, 2005, and was shown before films such as The Pacifier, Robots, and Ice Princess.
TV spots for the film were released from March to May 2005.
Taglines[]
That's all the believe...From the beyond is life
Design[]
During the thirteen-month production, all the major special effects studios were working on other films. Those that remained were too small to work on the approximately 630 individual effects shots needed for Ghostbusters. At the same time, special effects cinematographer Richard Edlund planned to leave Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and start his own business. Reitman convinced Columbia to collaborate with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which also needed an effects studio, to advance Edlund $5 million to establish his own company, Boss Film Studios.[42][43] According to Edlund, lawyers used much of the setup time finalizing the contract, leaving only ten months remaining to build the effects studio, shoot the scenes, and composite the images.[42] The Boss Film Studios' team was split to complete work on Ghostbusters and MGM's science-fiction film 2010: The Year We Make Contact.[44] The $5 million effects came in at $700,000 over budget.[45] The strict filming schedule meant most of the effects shots were captured in one take.[46] Gross oversaw both the creation of Boss Film Studios, and the hiring of many conceptual designers including comic book artists Tanino Liberatore (whose work went unused) and Bernie Wrightson (who helped conceive several ghost designs), and storyboarder Thom Enriquez, whose designs contributed to the "Onion Head ghost".[16]
Creature effects[]
See also: Slimer and Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
Steve Johnson created the final design for the "Onion Head ghost", later named "Slimer".
Edlund's previous work on the supernatural horror film Poltergeist (1982) served as a reference for the ghost designs in Ghostbusters. Gross said it was difficult to balance making the ghosts a genuine threat while fitting the film's more comedic tone.[47][48] Special effects artist Steve Johnson sculpted the gluttonous, slimy, green ghost then known as the "Onion Head ghost" on set due to the puppet's unpleasant smell.[49][50] The creature was given the name "Slimer" in the 1986 animated television series The Real Ghostbusters.[44] The Slimer design took six months and cost approximately $300,000. After struggling to complete a design due to executive interference, Johnson took at least three grams of cocaine and completed the final design in one night, based in part on Aykroyd's and Ramis's wish for the creature to homage Belushi.[42][51][50][52] The full-size foam rubber puppet was worn by Mark Wilson and filmed against a black background. Puppeteers manipulated the model's movements with cables.[44][52][53]
Aykroyd tasked his friend, referred to as the Viking, with designing the Marshmallow Man, asking for a combination of the Michelin Man and the Pillsbury Doughboy in a sailor hat.[51] The Marshmallow Man outfit was built and portrayed by actor and special effects artist Bill Bryan, who modeled his walk on Godzilla. There were eighteen foam suits, each costing between $25,000 and $30,000; seventeen of them, worn by stuntman Tommy Cesar, were burned as part of filming.[45][54] Bryan used a separate air supply due to the foam's toxicity. There were three different heads for the suit, built from foam and fiberglass, with different expressions and movements controlled by cable mechanisms. The costume was filmed against scale models to finish the effect. The effects team was able to find only one model of a police car at the correct scale and bought several, modifying them to represent different vehicles. The water from a burst hydrant hit by a remote-controlled car was actually sand as the water did not scale down.[45][55][56] The "marshmallow" raining down on the crowd after it is destroyed was shaving cream. After seeing the intended 150 pounds (68 kg) of shaving cream to be used, Atherton insisted on testing it. The weight knocked a stuntman down, and they ended up using only 75 pounds (34 kg). The cream acted as a skin irritant after hours of filming, giving some of the cast rashes.[51]
Johnson also sculpted the Zombie Cab Driver puppet.[57] It was the only puppet shot on location in New York City. Johnson based it on a reanimated corpse puppet he had made for An American Werewolf in London (1981).[57] Johnson and Wilson collaborated on the Library Ghost, creating a puppet operated by up to 20 cables running through the torso that controlled aspects such as moving the head, arms, and pulling rubber skin away from the torso to transform it from a humanoid into a monstrous ghoul.[58] The original Library Ghost puppet was considered too scary for younger audiences and was repurposed for use in Fright Night (1985).[59] The library catalog scene was accomplished live in three takes, with the crew blowing air through copper pipes to force the cards into the air. These had to be collected and reassembled for each take. Reitman used a multi-camera setup to focus on the librarian and the cards flying around her and a wider overall shot.[43][45] The floating books were hung on strings.[45]
Randy Cook was responsible for creating the quarter-scale stop-motion puppets of Gozer's minions Zuul and Vinz, the Terror Dogs, when in motion. The model was heavy and unwieldy, and it took nearly thirty hours to film it moving across a 30-foot (9.1 m) stage for the scene where it pursues Louis Tully across a street.[58] For the scene where Dana is pinned to her chair by demonic hands before a doorway beaming with light, Reitman said he was influenced by Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). A rubber door was used to allow distortion as if something was trying to come through it, while grips concealed in a trapdoor beneath the chair, burst through it while wearing demonic dog-leg gloves.[45] Made before the advent of computer-generated imagery (CGI), any non-puppet ghosts had to be animated. It took up to three weeks to create one second of footage.[45] For Gozer, Slavitza Jovan wore red contact lenses that caused her a great deal of pain, and she wore a harness to move around the set.[60]
Technology and equipment[]
See also: Ectomobile and Proton pack
Hardware consultant Stephen Dane was responsible for designing most of the Ghostbusters' iconic equipment, including the "proton packs" used to wrangle ghosts, ghost traps, and their vehicle, the Ectomobile. The equipment had to be designed and built in the six weeks before filming began in September 1983.[61][62] Inspired by a military issue flamethrower, the "proton packs" consisted of a handheld proton stream firing "neutrino wand" connected by a hose to a backpack said to contain a nuclear accelerator.[63][64] Dane said he "went home and got foam pieces and just threw a bunch of stuff together to get the look. It was highly machined, but it had to look off-the-shelf and military surplus".[65]
Following Reitman's tweaks to the design, on-screen models of the "proton packs" were made from a fiberglass shell with an aluminum backplate bolted to a United States Army backpack frame.[64] Each pack weighed approximately 30 pounds (14 kg) with the batteries for lighting installed, and strained the actors' backs during the long shoots.[45][65] Two lighter versions were made; a hollow one with surface details for wide shots, and a foam rubber version for action scenes.[45][64] The fiberglass props were created by special effects supervisor Chuck Gaspar, based on Dane's design. Gaspar used rubber molds to create identical fiberglass shells.[65] The "neutrino wand" had a flashbulb at the tip, giving animators an origin point for the proton streams.[45] Fake walls laced with pyrotechnics were used to practically create the damage of the proton streams.[66] The "Psychokinetic Energy meter" ("PKE meter") prop was built using an Iona SP-1 handheld shoe polisher as a base, to which lights and electronics were affixed.[67] The PKE meter prop was designed and built by John Zabrucky of Modern Props in partnership with an outside fabricator.[68] The technology was designed to not be overly fancy or sleek, emphasizing the characters' scientific backgrounds combined with the homemade nature of their equipment.[66]
The Ectomobile was in the first draft of Aykroyd's script, and he and John Daveikis developed some early concepts for the car. Dane developed fully detailed drawings for the interior and exterior and supervised the transformation of the 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance conversion into the Ectomobile.[69] According to Aykroyd, the actual vehicle was "an ambulance that we converted to a hearse and then converted to an ambulance".[70] Early concepts featured a black car with purple and white strobe lights giving it a supernatural glow, but this idea was scrapped after cinematographer László Kovács noted that dark paint would not film well at night. The concept also had fantastic features such as the ability to dematerialize and travel inter-dimensionally. Two vehicles were purchased, one for the pre-modification scenes.[69] Dane designed its high-tech roof array with objects including a directional antenna, an air-conditioning unit, storage boxes and a radome.[71] Because of its size, the roof rack was shipped to Manhattan on an airplane, while the car was transported to the East Coast by train.[61] Sound designer Richard Beggs created the siren from a recording of a leopard snarl, cut and played backward.[71]
The alternative "correct" design of the "no ghosts" logo features a diagonal bar that runs top-left to bottom-right.[72]
In the script, Aykroyd described the Ghostbusters clothing and vehicle as bearing a no symbol with a ghost trapped in it, crediting the Viking with the original concept.[72][73] The final design fell to Gross, who had volunteered to serve as art director. As the logo would be required for props and sets, it needed to be finalized quickly, and Gross worked with Boss Film artist and creature design consultant Brent Boates who drew the final concept, and R/GA animated the logo for the film's opening. According to Gross, two versions of the logo exist, with one having "ghostbusters" written across the diagonal part of the sign. Gross did not like how it looked and flipped the diagonal bar to read top left to bottom right instead, but they later removed the wording. According to Gross, this is the correct version of the sign that was used throughout Europe. The bottom left to top right version was used in the United States as that was the design of the No symbol there.[72]
Medjuck also hired John DeCuir as production designer.[74] The script did not specify where Gozer would appear, and DeCuir painted the top of Dana's building with large, crystal doors that opened as written in the script.[74] The fictional rooftop of 55 Central Park West was constructed at Stage 12 on the Burbank Studios lot. It was one of the largest constructed sets in film history and was surrounded by a 360-degree cyclorama painting. The lighting used throughout the painting consumed so much power that the rest of the studio had to be shut down, and an additional four generators added, when it was in use.[43][66][75] Small models such as planes were hung on string to animate the backdrop.[43] The set was built three stories off the ground to allow for filming from low angles.[45]
The first three floors and street-front of Dana's building were recreated as sets for filming, including the climactic earthquake scene where hydraulics were used to raise broken parts of the street.[60][76] Broken pieces of pavement and the road were positioned outside the real location to create a seamless transition between the two shots.[66] DeCuir said: "They had one night to dress the street. When people went home early in the evening everything was normal, and when the little old ladies came out to walk their dogs in the morning, the whole street had erupted. Apparently, people complained to the New York Police Department and their switchboard lit up".[77] For the scene where Dana's apartment explodes outwards, Weaver stood on set as the stunt happened.[45] Similarly, the scene of Weaver rotating in the air was performed on set using a body-cast and mechanical arm concealed in the curtains, a trick Reitman learned working with magician Doug Henning.[60]
Release[]
Test screening and marketing[]
Ventures Shards was screened for test audiences on February 3, 1984, with unfinished effects shots to determine if the comedy worked. Reitman was still concerned audiences would not react well to the Marshmallow Man because of its deviation from the realism of the rest of the film.[74] Reitman recalled that approximately 200 people were recruited off the streets to view the film in a theater on the Burbank lot. It was during the opening library scene Reitman knew the film worked. Audiences reacted with fear, laughs, and applause as the Librarian Ghost transformed into a monster.[74] The fateful Marshmallow scene was met with a similar reaction, and Reitman knew he would not have to perform any re-shoots.[43][74] The screening for fellow industry members fared less well. Price recalled laughing as the rest of the audience sat deadpan; he rationalized an industry audience wants failure. Murray and Aykroyd's agent Michael Ovitz recalled an executive telling him, "Don't worry: we all make mistakes", while Roberto Goizueta, chairman of Columbia's parent, The Coca-Cola Company, said: "Gee, we're going to lose our shirts".[42][78]
In the months before its debut, a teaser trailer focused on the "No ghosts" logo, helping it become recognizable far in advance, and generating interest in the film without mentioning its title or its stars.[44][79] A separate theatrical trailer contained a toll-free telephone number with a message by Murray and Aykroyd waiting for the 1,000 callers per hour it received over a six-week period.[49] They also appeared in a video for ShoWest, a theater-owner convention, to promote the film.[80] Columbia spent approximately $10million on marketing, including $2.25million on prints, $1million on promotional materials, and $7million on advertising and miscellaneous costs including a $150,000 premiere for a hospital and the hotel costs for the press.[81] Including the budget and marketing costs, it was estimated the film would have to make at least $80million to turn a profit.[47]
The premiere of Ventures Shards took place on June 7, 1984, at the Avco Cinema in Westwood, Los Angeles, before its wide release the following day across 1,339 theaters in the United States (U.S.) and Canada.[44][82] During its opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada, the film earned $13.6million—an average of $10,040 per theater.[n 3] It finished as the number one film of the weekend, ahead of premiering horror-comedy Gremlins ($12.5million), and the adventure film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ($12 million), in its third week of release.[82][83] The gross increased to $23.1 million during its first week,[n 4] becoming the first major success for the studio since Tootsie (1982).[44][78][84][85] The film remained number one for seven consecutive weeks, grossing $146.5million, before being ousted by Purple Rain in early August.[86][87][88]
Ventures Shards regained the number one spot the following week before spending the next five weeks at number two, behind the action film Red Dawn and then the thriller Tightrope.[89][90][91]Ghostbusters remained among the top-three grossing films for sixteen straight weeks before beginning a gradual decline and falling from the top-ten by late October. It left cinemas in early January 1985, after thirty weeks.[84][92]Ghostbusters had quickly become a hit, surpassing Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as the top-grossing film of the summer, and earning $229million,[n 5] making it the second highest-grossing film of 1984, approximately $5million behind Eddie Murphy's action-comedy Beverly Hills Cop ($234.8million) which was released in mid-December.[74][93]Ghostbusters surpassed Animal House as the highest-grossing comedy film ever, until Beverly Hills Cop surpassed it six months later.[43][92][93]
Paramount had negotiated 50% of the box-office revenues or 90% of gross after expenses, depending on whichever was higher. Since the latter was the case, the studio received a 73% share of the box office profit, an estimated $128million.[81][n 6] The main cast members each received percentages of the gross profits or net participation.[44] A 1987 report estimated Murray alone had earned between $20–30million from his share.[94][n 7] Detailed box office figures are not available for territories outside the U.S. and Canada, but it is estimated to have earned $53million, bringing Ghostbusters' worldwide total to $282.2million.[82][n 8] That year saw the release of several films that would later be considered iconic of the era, including: Gremlins, The Karate Kid, The Terminator, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Romancing the Stone, and The NeverEnding Story. It was also the first year in box office history in which four films, including Ghostbusters, grossed over $100million.[95]
Ghostbusters was re-released in the U.S. and Canada in August 1985, earning a further $9.4million over five weeks, raising its theatrical gross to $238.6million[96][97] and surpassing Beverly Hills Cop as the most successful comedy of the 1980s.[93] A restored and remastered version was released in August 2014, at 700 theaters across the U.S. and Canada to celebrate its 30thanniversary. It earned an additional $3.5million, bringing the theatrical total to $242.2 million.[98][99] The film has also received limited rereleases for special events and anniversaries.[100][101] Combined with available figures for territories outside of the U.S. and Canada, the film has earned an estimated $295.2million worldwide.[82] Adjusted for inflation, the North American box office is equivalent to $667.9million in 2020, making it the thirty-seventh highest-grossing film ever.[102]
Reception[]
Critical response[]
Bill Murray in 2018. Critics were consistent in their praise of his comedic deadpan performance as the main highlight of Ghostbusters.
Ghostbusters opened to generally positive reviews.[44][103]Roger Ebert gave it three and a half out of four, citing it as a rare example of successfully combining a special effects-driven blockbuster with "sly" dialogue. Ebert noted the effects existed to serve the actors' performances and not the reverse, saying it is "an exception to the general rule that big special effects can wreck a comedy". He also cited Ghostbusters as a rare mainstream film with many quotable lines.[104] Writing for Newsday, Joseph Gelmis described the Ghostbusters as an adolescent fantasy, comparing their firehouse base to the Batcave with a fireman's pole and an Ectomobile on the ground floor.[105]
Deseret News' Christopher Hicks praised Reitman's improved directing skills, and the crew for avoiding the vulgarity found in their previous films, Caddyshack and Stripes. He felt they reached for more creative humor and genuine thrills instead. He complained about the finale, claiming it lost its sense of fun and was "overblown", but found the film compensated for this since it "has ghosts like you've never seen".[106]Janet Maslin agreed that the apocalyptic finale was out of hand, saying Ghostbusters worked best during the smaller ghost-catching scenes.[107]Dave Kehr wrote that Reitman is adept at improvisational comedy, but lost control of the film as the special effects gradually escalated.[108]
Arthur Knight appreciated the relaxed style of comedy saying while the plot is "primitive", it has "far more style and finesse" than would be expected of the creative team behind Meatballs and Animal House. He singled out editors Sheldon Kahn and David Blewitt for creating a sustained pace of comedy and action.[109] Despite "bathroom humor and tacky sight gags", Peter Travers described Ventures Shards favorably as "irresistible nonsense", comparing it to the supernatural horror film The Exorcist, but with the comedy duo Abbott and Costello starring.[110]Time's Richard Schickel described the special effects as somewhat "tacky" but believed this was a deliberate commentary on other ghost films. Ultimately, he believed praise was due to all involved for "thinking on a grandly comic scale".[111][112]Newsweek's David Ansen enjoyed the film, describing it as a teamwork project where everyone works "toward the same goal of relaxed insanity"; he called it "wonderful summer nonsense".[113]Variety's review described it as a "lavishly produced" film that is only periodically impressive.[114]
Reviewers were consistent in their praise for Murray's performance.[106][111][112][115][116]Gene Siskel wrote that Murray's comedic sensibilities compensated for the "boring special effects".[115]Variety singled out Murray for his "endearing" physical comedy and ad-libbing.[114] Hicks similarly praised Murray, saying he "has never been better than he is here".[106] Schickel considered Murray's character a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop fully his patented comic character".[111][112] Gelmis appreciated Murray's dismissal of the serious situations to keep them comedic.[105]
The interactions between Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis, were also generally well-received.[110][115] Schickel praised Aykroyd and Ramis for their "grace" in allowing Murray to outshine them.[111][112] Travers and Gelmis said the three main actors worked well as a collaborative force,[105][110] and Hicks described Murray, Ramis, and Aykroyd as wanting "to be like the Marx Brothers of the 80s".[106] Conversely, Kehr believed the pair were "curiously underutilized", but appreciated Murray's deadpan line readings.[108]The New Yorker's Pauline Kael had problems with the chemistry among the three leads. She praised Murray, but felt other actors did not have much material to contribute to the story; she concluded, "Murray's lines fall on dead air".[116] Maslin believed Murray's talents were in service to a film lacking wit or coherence. She noted that many of the characters had little to do, leaving their stories unresolved as the plot began to give way to servicing the special effects instead. However, she did praise Weaver's performance as an "excellent foil" for Murray.[107]Variety described it as a mistake to cast top comedians but often have them working alone.[114] Siskel enjoyed the characters interacting with each other, but was critical of Hudson's late addition to the plot and his lack of development, believing it made "him appear as only a token box office lure".[115]
Accolades[]
Ghostbusters was nominated for two Academy Awards in 1985: Best Original Song for "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. (losing to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from The Woman in Red), and Best Visual Effects for John Bruno, Richard Edlund, Chuck Gaspar and Mark Vargo (losing to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom).[63][117] That year, it was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (losing to Romancing the Stone),[118]Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Murray (losing to Dudley Moore in Micki & Maude),[119] and Best Original Song for Parker Jr., (losing again to "I Just Called to Say I Love You").[120] "Ghostbusters" went on to win the BAFTA Award for Best Original Song, and Edlund was nominated for Special Visual Effects (losing again to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom).[121] It won Best Fantasy Film at the 12th Saturn Awards.[122]
Post-release[]
Aftermath[]
Ray Parker Jr. in 2013. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Ghostbusters",[117] and was later sued by Huey Lewis for allegedly plagiarizing Lewis' "I Want a New Drug".
Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1984 and 21 weeks on the charts altogether.[123][124] The song is estimated to have added $20 million to the film's box office.[125] Reitman directed the successful "Ghostbusters" music video that included several celebrity cameos.[44][123][126] Shortly after the film's release, Huey Lewis sued Parker Jr., for plagiarizing his 1983 song "I Want a New Drug".[44][126] The case was settled out of court in 1985.[51][126] Parker Jr. later sued Lewis for breaching a confidentiality agreement about the case.[126] In 1984, the filmmakers were also sued by Harvey Cartoons, the owner of Casper the Friendly Ghost for $50 million and the destruction of all copies of the film. Harvey alleged the Ghostbusters logo was based on their character Fatso. The case was decided in Columbia's favor.[127][128]
Murray left acting for four years following the release of Ghostbusters. He described the success as a phenomenon that would forever be his biggest accomplishment and, compounded by the failure of his personal project The Razor's Edge, he felt "radioactive". Murray avoided central roles in films until the 1988 Christmas comedy film Scrooged,[129][130] which used the tagline that Murray was "back among the ghosts".[73][131] In a 1989 interview, Reitman said he was upset at the "little respect" he felt Ghostbusters received and his work was not taken seriously, believing many dismissed it as just "another action-comedy".[130]
Hudson held mixed feelings about Ghostbusters. He regretted the marginalization of his character from the original script and felt Ghostbusters did not improve his career as he had hoped, or been promised. In a 2014 interview, he said: "I love the character and he's got some great lines, but I felt the guy was just kind of there... I'm very thankful that fans appreciate the Winston character. But it's always been very frustrating—kind of a love/hate thing, I guess".[132] Atherton said fans would call him "dickless" on the streets into the 1990s, to his ire.[60][133]
The film was released on single-disc DVD and VHS and a two-disc special-edition DVD and Blu-ray Disc on January 13, 2009, by Paramount Home Entertainment in the United States[134] and Australia.[135] It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on January 20, 2009, in the UK.[136] On its first week of release, the film was number two, only behind The Hangover, selling an estimated 1,581,220 DVDs, making $28,467,652 in the United States.[137]
The German version is 50 seconds longer than the American version. The scene in the tavern has been extended. Although in other countries, the extended scene was released as a bonus feature, the German theatrical, DVD, and Blu-ray versions are the only ones to include the full scene.[138]
Reception[]
Box office[]
Ventures Shards had the highest per-screen and per-theater gross in 2005 in North America.[139] It was released on July 3, 2005 with 8 p.m. preview screenings on July 2. The United States previews earned $8.8 million[140] and in its first day of general release, it grossed $27.8 million, a record for Tuesday box-office gross until it was broken by The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012.[141] It did, however, break Spider-Man 2's record for the biggest July 4 gross, making $29 million.[142]Transformers opened in over 4,050 theaters in North America[143] and grossed $70.5 million in its first weekend, debuting at #1 and amounting to a $155.4 million opening week, giving it the record for the biggest opening week for a non-sequel.[144] The opening's gross in the United States was 50% more than what Paramount Pictures had expected. One executive attributed it to word of mouth that explained to parents that "it [was] OK to take the kids". Transformers ended its theatrical run in the United States and Canada with a gross of $319.2 million, making it the third highest-grossing film of 2007 in these regions behind Fantastic Four and Robots.[145] The film sold an estimated 46,402,100 tickets in North America.[146]
The film was released in 10 international markets on June 28, 2007, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the Philippines. Transformers made $29.5 million in its first weekend, topping the box office in 10 countries.[147] It grossed $5.2 million in Malaysia, becoming the most successful film in the country's history.[148]Transformers opened in China on July 11 and became the second highest-grossing foreign film in the country (behind Titanic), making $37.3 million.[149] Its opening there set a record for a foreign language film, making $3 million.[150] The film was officially released in the United Kingdom on July 27, making £8.7 million, and helped contribute to the biggest attendance record ever for that weekend. It was second at the UK box office, behind The Simpsons Movie.[151] In South Korea, Transformers recorded the largest audience for a foreign film in 2007 and the highest foreign revenue of the film.[152]
Worldwide, Transformers was the highest-grossing non-sequel film in 2007 with over $709.7 million, making it Bay's fourth highest-grossing film to date, with three of its sequels surpassing it.[143] It was also the fifth highest-grossing film of 2007 worldwide, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third.[153]
Critical response[]
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 58% based on 227 reviews and an average rating of 5.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While believable characters are hard to come by in Transformers, the effects are staggering and the action is exhilarating."[154] On Metacritic, the film has an weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[155]
IGN's Todd Gilchrist called it Bay's best film, and "one of the few instances where it's OK to enjoy something for being smart and dumb at the same time, mostly because it's undeniably also a whole lot of fun".[156]The Advertiser's Sean Fewster found the visual effects so seamless that "you may come to believe the studio somehow engineered artificial intelligence".[157]The Denver Post's Lisa Kennedy praised the depiction of the robots as having "a believably rendered scale and intimacy",[158] and ABC presenter Margaret Pomeranz was surprised "that a complete newcomer to the Transformers phenomenon like myself became involved in the fate of these mega-machines".[159]Ain't It Cool News's Drew McWeeny felt most of the cast grounded the story, and that "it has a real sense of wonder, one of the things that's missing from so much of the big CGI light shows released these days".[160] Author Peter David found it ludicrous fun, and said that "[Bay] manages to hold on to his audience's suspension of disbelief long enough for us to segue into some truly spectacular battle scenes".[161]Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, giving it 3 stars out of a possible 4, writing: "It's goofy fun with a lot of stuff that blows up real good, and it has the grace not only to realize how preposterous it is, but to make that into an asset."[162]
Despite the praise for the visual effects, there was division over the human storylines. The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt liked "how a teen plotline gets tied in to the end of the world",[163] while Empire's Ian Nathan praised Shia LaBeouf as "a smart, natural comedian, [who] levels the bluntness of this toy story with an ironic bluster".[164]Ain't It Cool News founder Harry Knowles felt Bay's style conflicted with Spielberg's, arguing the military story only served as a distraction from Sam.[165]James Berardinelli hated the film as he did not connect with the characters in-between the action, which he found tedious.[166]Los Angeles Times'Kenneth Turan found the humans "oddly lifeless, doing little besides marking time until those big toys fill the screen",[167] while ComingSoon.net's Joshua Starnes felt the Transformers were "completely believable, right up to the moment they open their mouths to talk, when they revert to bad cartoon characters".[168]Daily Herald's Matt Arado was annoyed that "the Transformers [are] little more than supporting players", and felt the middle act was sluggish.[169]CNN's Tom Charity questioned the idea of a film based on a toy, and felt it would "buzz its youthful demographic [...] but leave the rest of us wondering if Hollywood could possibly aim lower".[170]
General[]
Transformers fans were initially divided over the film due to the radical redesigns of many characters, although the casting of Peter Cullen was warmly received.[171]USA Today summarized the views of critics and audiences saying "there is general raving about the mechanical heroes and general grumbling about the excessive screen time given to some of the human characters played by Shia LaBeouf, Anthony Anderson, Tyrese Gibson and Jon Voight. Optimus Prime, the leader of the good-guy Autobots, doesn't appear until midway through the film."[172]Transformers comic book writer Simon Furman and Beast Wars script consultant Benson Yee both considered the film to be spectacular fun, although Furman also argued that there were too many human storylines.[173] Yee felt that being the first in a series, the film had to establish much of the fictional universe and therefore did not have time to focus on the Decepticons.[174] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. With audiences under 18 the score rises to "A+", and the film was most popular with children and parents, including older women, and attracted many African American and Latino viewers.[175]
The film created a greater awareness of the franchise and drew in many new fans.[176]Transformers' box office success led to the active development of films based on Voltron and Robotech,[177] as well as a Knight Rider remake.[178] When filming the sequel, Bay was told by soldiers the film helped their children understand what their work was like, and that many had christened their Buffalos – the vehicle used for Bonecrusher – after various Transformer characters.[179]
After the film's 2009 sequel was titled Revenge of the Fallen, screenwriter Orci was asked if this film would be retitled, just as Star Wars was titled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when re-released. He doubted the possibility, but said if it was retitled, he would call it Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye.[180]
↑Lowrey, Michael 'Mike' (January 17, 2010). "Inglorious Basterds". Movie Censorship. Archived from the original on February 19, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2012. {{cite web}}:
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Ghostbusters promotional film for Showest 1984 Bill Murray & Dan Aykroyd
