Ghostbusters (2016) 4K Ultra HD and 3D Blu-ray Review
Kristy Sturdivant
October 15th, 2016
Oh, reboots. They are the bane of many a movie fan, but they are here to stay so we should probably just suck it up and ignore the film or just take it as a completely new experience where we don’t bring any baggage with us. GHOSTBUSTERS is one of those reboots that got a lot of flak from every angle, but plowed on ahead following the beat of its own drum. I personally had no qualms about the reboot, as I liked the original GHOSTBUSTERS but wasn’t so enamored with it that I was against a new perspective. Especially a reboot from Paul Feig, the guy who gave us BRIDESMAIDS and went ahead and cast two of the biggest leads again in Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy. I won’t say that I was excited to see the film, but I walked away pleasantly surprised and will not hesitate to pop it into my 4K player for more viewings.
Something strange is going on in New York City, well, more strange than usual. A barrier separating humans from the ghosts is breaking down thanks to a crazy man! Luckily, New York has two women (Kristin Wiig and Melissa McCarthy) who are experts in ghosts and are willing to take on the paranormal along with their eccentric engineer (Kate McKinnon) and a bystander who is a NYC history buff (Leslie Jones). Will the ragtag team be able to stave off the spirits that are taking over the city with their proton blasters? Let’s hope, because there is no one else to call!
One of the things GHOSTBUSTERS has going for it is the cast, which is ironic since that is probably what most people hated so much about the reboot. Melissa McCarthy, Kristin Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth are spot on in this film. Though, honestly, Chris Hemsworth steals the spotlight whenever he is on screen, which is never really a bad things. This cast worked really well off of each other and none of them overpowered the others, something that can’t even really be said about the original 1984 film. These four comedic ladies really balanced each other out, which made the film extremely enjoyable since you weren’t waiting for Bill Murray to get back on the screen the whole time.
Though the film was enjoyable and entertaining, the one flaw might be that there was no reference to the original GHOSTBUSTERS. It would have been so easy to just have the guys play their parts during their brief cameos, as opposed to just have them be random New York City residents. It was a bit of a mistake on director Paul Feig’s part, but it’s a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things.
I found GHOSTBUSTERS to be a lot more enjoyable than I had thought it would be and am glad that a new generation will be able to enjoy the greatness that is Slimer and that catchy Ray Parker Jr. song. I don’t think it’s been decided on whether or not the film merits a sequel, but I say go with it. The world needs more GHOSTBUSTERS, and having women save the city for a change is pretty awesome.
3D BLU-RAY REVIEW
It’s clear that GHOSTBUSTERS was made for 3D and the result is a very nice 3D presentation. But this is a “3D gimmick” type of presentation where it will wow you when the beams shoot straight at the screen and when the ghosts spit slime, but normally is pretty pedestrian. The added 3D effects did make the film more enjoyable.
4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: The new GHOSTBUSTERS looks fantastic on 4K Ultra HD. From the opening scene, I was impressed by the increased level of detail and number of colors. The final battle at night stood out to me as a good example of more detail and depth in the dark backgrounds but also some nice color resolution in the foreground. Even the small things seemed to have more detail in them (door handles, trash cans, etc.) compared to the Blu-ray. Upscale or not, this is a very nice looking 4K presentation.
Audio: We get a very impressive Dolby Atmos track to top off the great visual presentation. This is a film that uses the surround channels very effectively and when coupled with the video, it comes close to reference-quality.
There are no 4K exclusive special features, but it does include a Blu-ray of the film, which includes the following special features:
Commentary Writer Katie Dippold and Director Paul Feig: Both of the audio commentaries are great to listen to, but if I had to choose just one I would go with this one. Paul Feig is very informative and gives a lot of great information.
Commentary with Paul Feig and crew: Another interesting listen through, but there is a bit of overlap. However, if you are a fan you just can’t go wrong with this kind of behind-the-scenes information.
Gag Reels (15:29) – There are actually two reels here that give your basic flubbing of lines and laughing around. These are always fun to watch so be sure to take a look.
Deleted Scenes (9:22) – Four deleted scenes that I’m glad are included in the disc, but glad didn’t make the cut. They are still worth watching though!
Alternate and Extended Scenes (21:14) – Again, it was great including these in the disc set, but they didn’t add anything to the actual film. Be sure to redeem that digital code so you can get these as well!
Jokes-A-Plenty (34:30) – Here’s the featurette you want to watch! This is all the improv and added lines that were eventually cut from the film. If you don’t watch anything else, make sure to check out this featurette!
Chris Hemsworth is ‘Kevin’ (7:42) – A whole little featurette about Chris Hemsworth’s role in the film? Yes, please! I lied before, you should watch this too if you were as charmed by the idiot Kevin as I was.
The Ghosts of Ghostbusters (13:57) – Paul Feig talks about all the ghosts and the different “tiers” they were in. This was also very interesting and fun to watch.
Meet the Team (8:04) – A little stint about all the lady ghostbusters and a little bit of background information about their characters.
Visual Effects: 30 Years Later (15:16) – A featurette with a little comparison with this film versus the original in the early 80’s. Very interesting to learn about.
Slime Time (5:15) – No, this is not a Nickelodeon spin-off, this is about all the green goo that was spewed all over Kristin Wiig in the film. Watch to the end to get the recipe for your kiddos!
Photo Gallery and Previews
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