While “Ghostbusters: The Ice Menace”, the fourth (official) part of the saga started by Ivan Reitman in 1984, is to be seen in the cinema, here is the favorite film of the famous franchise by AlloCiné Internet users.
40 years after the first Ghostbusters, the fourth opus (not counting Paul Feig’s female reboot) of the saga has just been released in cinemas. Ghostbusters: The Ice Menace is the direct sequel to The Legacy released in 2021. The new team of ghost hunters arrives in New York for an adventure that pays homage to the films of the 80s.
Led by McKenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Logan Kim, Celeste O’Connor, Kumail Nanjiani, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd and Annie Potts, The Ice Threat sees the Spengler family move into the iconic New York fire station. They will then have to team up with the original members of Ghostbusters, who have set up a top secret research laboratory to take ghost hunting to the next level. When the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an army of ghosts that spreads a threat of ice across the city, the two Ghostbusters teams must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age.
Which film in the Ghostbusters saga is most popular with audiences?
With an average spectator rating of 4 stars out of 5 for 36,135 ratings, it is the first film in the franchise which is the favorite of Internet users. Ghostbusters 2, released in 1989, has a spectator rating of 3.4 as does Ghostbusters: Legacy released in 2021.
The lowest rated film being, unsurprisingly, the 2016 reboot starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones with an average rating of 2.1 out of 5 stars.
A cult film born in the mind of Dan Aykroyd
In 1984, Ivan Reitman – then a young director – unveiled Ghostbusters, the story of Peter, Raymond, Egon and Winston who found a society intended to hunt ghosts. Its name: Ghostbusters. Success knocked so hard on their door that they were soon working on the assembly line.
The basic idea for Ghostbusters was born from the actor’s imagination Dan Aykroyd, who plays Ray in the film. The young American had a somewhat crazy ambition, since originally, his fighters were to operate in space. A concept deemed too expensive by production. With his accomplice Harold Ramis, also one of the stars of the film (Egon), he then reworked the script and set the action in New York.
Sony Ghostbusters
Upon its release, this science fiction comedy – which also gave birth to a genre in its own right – was a success. With more than $238 million in revenue for its theatrical release in the United States, Ghostbusters was for a time the most profitable comedy in history across the Atlantic. Until the release, six years later, of Maman, j’ai missed the plane, which accumulated 285 million greenbacks.
Ghostbusters also received two Oscar nominations in 1985 for Best Special Effects and Best Song (the now cult “Who you gonna call” by Ray Parker Jr).
Nostalgic spectators
Out of 530 reviews, the feature film has 436 reviews of 3 stars and above. Like the Internet user Frogman, the majority of spectators who rated the film 5 stars explain that Ghostbusters is the film of their childhood.
“This film is my childhood, and it’s very difficult to tell you about it today. Surely it’s nostalgia that makes me say this, but for me this film is a masterpiece. He knows how to do what for me is the key to fantasy: he takes our world and knows how to put his finger on all the aspects that could give it a supernatural appearance. Thus a library, a building, an old abandoned building on a street corner can become the key elements of a new mythology. In this respect, the way of revisiting New York is phenomenal, and I find that despite everything I manage to maintain a casual and relaxed tone (thank you Bill Murray) is a feat. So perhaps I say this because I rewatch this film each time with my child’s eyes, but on the other hand, I tell myself that, if I can still look at it like this today, it’s because originally, this film still had real power…“
Sony
Ghostbusters
Videoman29 adds: “En 1984 Ivan Reitman directs one of the most cult comedies in the history of American cinema. “Ghostbusters” will make a whole generation of spectators aged 7 to 77 laugh with laughter. The recipe seems easy, a simple and effective storyline, funny ghosts, tasty and very funny dialogues and a solid gold cast. Everything comes together to make one of the biggest box office successes of all time. The “Ghostbusters” pull out all the stops to give us nearly two hours of non-stop action and laughter. The special effects have certainly aged but they give a very pleasant retro feel to the film. Sigourney Weaver is magnificent and the soundtrack is just legendary, what more can I say? It is urgent to go hunting for ghosts and dark thoughts at the same time!“
A film that has aged poorly?
Septembergirl wrote in 2013: “An inventive and irresistible comedy, with lots of humor. The casting is convincing and the characters are endearing. A simply legendary logo and music.”For GyzmoCA”The film has aged a little but its humor is still as impactful. Ivan Reitman succeeds in installing an atmosphere of “cooltitude” in his films and this “Ghostbusters” is the best example with the brilliant trio of actors (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd & Harold Ramis) two of whom are also the screenwriters (Aykroyd & Ramis).“
Sony
Ghostbusters
Among the lowest scores, the majority of critics find that the film has aged poorly and that the humor is dated. For the Internet user 7th Critique, the film is “Cult because it brings with it a new delirium, that of ghost hunters; but apart from the little touches of humor, we tend to get bored quickly. It surely had more of an effect at the time, today Today it is not necessarily any old thing that will harm the film, but rather its simplistic structuring lacking interest and suspense, we are not far from falling asleep or giving up “Damn, flute,. poop-pudding.“”
RENGER writes: “A film which has aged extremely poorly, where the scenario, although it is original, in no way ensures the quality of the film, given the disastrous quality of the SFX (especially for the time, we have already seen better) and the poor dialogues exchanged by Bill Murray & Dan Aykroyd. Uninteresting and boring. We find the time long and we never buy into the film, between the idiotic humor and the weakest staging.“
Ivan Reitman spoke about Ghostbusters on our microphone