Ghostbusters Discussion
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2020)
How Important is it that GB3 is Funny?
Discuss the upcoming movie to be released in 2020 and directed by Jason Reitman.
How Important is it that GB3 is Funny?#4925407
By RichardLess - October 9th, 2019, 1:01 am - Posts: 880
- October 9th, 2019, 1:01 am #4925407
So since I've been on this site I've come across a wide variety of GBfans. We each have our own thing that makes us Ghostbusters fans. Now, first and foremost, Ghostbusters 1 & 2 are comedy films. They are judged on that basis. When critics review the film, they weigh how well the film succeeded at making them laugh probably more so than anything else.
That being said, I get the feeling that with quite a lot of you "comedy" isn't necessarily the most important aspect for Ghostbusters. Some of you like the Ghostbusting, the action, the horror, the mythology.
Of all the theories and hopes and wishes for GB3, one thing I notice that gets skipped is..."Will it be funny?".
So how important is the comedy? If GB3 doesn't make you laugh but it has a great story and spectacle is that enough?
For me the breakdown of importance is: 1) Characters, 2) Story, 3) Comedy, 4) Horror, 5/6) Action/Ghostbusting.
For Ghostbusters sooo much of the Comedy is character based. I view Ghostbusters 1 & 2 as comedy films. It will be the same for GB3.
For me if GB3 doesn't succeed as a comedy, the movie is a failure.
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Re: How Important is it that GB3 is Funny?#4925412
By Davideverona - October 9th, 2019, 2:41 am - Posts: 821
It was a really subtle comedy. Irony. Not slapstick or Pythonesque comedy.
It should work well again.
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Davideverona
By BatDan - October 9th, 2019, 3:09 am - Posts: 517
I always viewed as one of the greatest comedy films. 2nd movie is a great addition to the legacy.
I hope the 3rd is funny and brings out some new great lines to quote for years to come.
Which is why i'm hoping to God, that Bill is a substantial character in this. Venkman to me is the main character, so to make a sequel without him seems off and desperate.
Yeah for me Ghostbusters is about the comedy..everything else around it (the horror, the action, etc.) is what makes it truly unique and awesome. It's the funny characters in those crazy situations that make it great.
BatDan
By NotSabbat - October 9th, 2019, 8:53 am - Posts: 287
For me? Not at all. Light hearted is more important than funny for me.
NotSabbat
By back - October 9th, 2019, 9:39 am - Posts: 425
Considering that Ghostbusters is to be known as a Paranormal Comedy, Id say Comedic Relief is VITAL in playing a part in its success & seeing some more One-Liners would be great again...
"Back off man, Im a scientist."
"Your not sleeping with it, are you Ray?"
A Long long time ago, In an IRC chat room at 24k....
By robbritton - October 9th, 2019, 10:05 am - Posts: 509
- October 9th, 2019, 10:05 am #4925438
It has to be funny. It's following one of the most sublime comedies ever made. It'd be a disservice to aim for anything else!
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By Glow in the Dark - October 14th, 2019, 4:50 am - Posts: 33
- October 14th, 2019, 4:50 am #4925625
GB1 Funny - Absolutely important
GB remake funny - stay away!!
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By ghoulishfright - October 14th, 2019, 7:31 am - Posts: 432
I never understood people who call Ghostbusters a comedy. Yes, of course it has comedy in it, but so do most films. The Lord of the Rings has loads of humour, but you wouldn't classify it as "a comedy." Ghostbusters is more like a science-fiction horror-comedy; so, although comedy is one of the key ingredients, it's neither the main ingredient nor the only one. Even the first film has lots of straight drama scenes with no real jokes in them. So I don't believe that Ghostbusters needs to be laugh out loud funny, goofy, and silly -- Ghostbusters 2016 tried that and failed -- but it also shouldn't be the opposite extreme of dark and gritty like a Christopher Nolan Batman movie. It should be a pleasant mix of drama, horror, and comedy -- grounded in mundane reality -- with a generous splash of the fantastic. That being said, I would like a greater emphasis on character-based drama, especially with Ray and Winston, but the general tone of the first two films should continue.
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"Janine. Didn't yo mamma ever tell you not to get involved with no Ghostbuster? Now go on home."
--- Dr. Venkman (GB1, deleted scene)
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By Scum - October 14th, 2019, 8:13 am - Posts: 241
Couldn't agree more. ATC humor is unfortunately what is considered comedy now. I feel like it's almost inevitable we'll get some of that type humor simply because it's what works in today's generation.
The general comedic tone of GB1 is super super subtle/dry, (of course the Ray BJ scene and most of the Venkman sexual stuff is there) but even those scenes and lines are the super subtle type of comedy that goes right over your head as a kid.
That all being said, I do feel like light - heartedness as opposed to outright comedy is much more important. It's gotta have a balance between horror and humor, something of a sub genre I coined years ago as "FUNdead".
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"Doctor... Venkman. The purpose of science is to serve mankind. You seem to regard science as some kind of dodge... or hustle. Your theories are the worst kind of popular tripe, your methods are sloppy, and your conclusions are highly questionable! You are a poor scientist, Dr. Venkman!" - Dean Yeager
"No, no, no. You are a talking monkey on a spinning ball, floating through infinity. You f*ckhead" - Joe Rogan
By robbritton - October 14th, 2019, 8:21 am - Posts: 509
I never understood people who call Ghostbusters a comedy. Yes, of course it has comedy in it, but so do most films. The Lord of the Rings has loads of humour, but you wouldn't classify it as "a comedy." Ghostbusters is more like a science-fiction horror-comedy; so, although comedy is one of the key ingredients, it's neither the main ingredient nor the only one. Even the first film has lots of straight drama scenes with no real jokes in them.
But it was absolutely written, directed and produced with the intention of it being a comedy. The kept takes were the ones that cracked Ivan Reitman up!
If blockbusters have copied it since, and diluted the comedic effect, that is only testament to how well it did it. And really, which are the scenes in the original that are straight drama? Even the oft-vaunted"dead rising from the grave" bit has "never met him" to offset the rest. The big bad is a marshmallow, the solution is a urinal gag, the ominous keymaster/gatekeeper build up is at heart an innuendo, Tobin's Spirit Guide is a gag on 80's lifestyle books about alcoholic drink types, "Oh, they'll be totally discreet", a full army back up for absolutely no reason, etc, etc, etc. Every moment of Ghostbusters is there to propel the joke. That's why it works so well.
However you slice it, whatever their differing styles, all three Ghostbusters movies are comedies*. That was the intent, and that is what they are. Whether they succeed or not is subjective, but it can't be denied that that it what they were meant to be.
*it should be noted that GB2 is more of a gentle Twins, Three Men and a Baby type movie than the post 70's SNL/New York in dissaray feel of the original. All three movies reflect comedy trends contemporary to their release dates as much as respecting the feel of the previous. They are trying to compete in the comedy market before anything else.
By Dr.D - October 14th, 2019, 12:46 pm - Posts: 732
- October 14th, 2019, 12:46 pm #4925633
Ghostbusters IS a comedy.
By zeta otaku - October 14th, 2019, 1:17 pm - Posts: 1367
- October 14th, 2019, 1:17 pm #4925638
You guys are out of your damn minds.
Ghostbusters is a documentary.
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zeta otaku
By ghoulishfright - October 14th, 2019, 9:41 pm - Posts: 432
I understand that it's a comedy (like I said, it's a key ingredient; the main spice), but I feel like simply calling it "a Comedy," and nothing more, is highly reductive. It's a high-concept science-fiction horror-comedy genre picture, and I don't think most ghostheads have remained fans for the last thirty years just for the chuckles. People might come to the franchise for the laughs, but they stay for the adventure; the spectacle; the ghost traps and proton packs -- there's nothing overtly comical about a proton pack. Heck, some ghostheads even love the romance elements.
I love the comedy of Ghostbusters, and personally, I think it's important, but theoretically, if someone were to do a dark and gritty Christopher Nolan-style version of Ghostbusters, it would still technically work. It would just be hard to take seriously, because the concept itself is so ridiculous that you want to acknowledge it with comedy. That's why Christopher Nolan's Batman movies fail in my book: I can't take a guy dressed like a bat seriously. Of course, the opposite extreme of all comedy and no drama is just as bad, and the comedy of the original Ghostbusters is wisely grounded with lots of drama: the Judgement Day scene, Dana's abduction, Peck shutting down the ecto-containment unit, et cetera.
So yeah, to answer the thread's title, I think it's important that GB3 has comedy, but not to the detriment of all the other vital elements. Ghostbusters 2016 tried too hard to be a comedy, and bombed.
I HATE the unscripted, improv comedy. The "ok you funny people there's no script so just do zany things and we'll edit it together later".
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By RichardLess - October 15th, 2019, 8:19 am - Posts: 880
You don't understand people who call a movie written by Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd, directed by Ivan Reitman, and starring some of the biggest comedic minds of the '70s and 80's a "comedy"?
Ghostbusters is a comedy. It has elements of sci-fi horror. But 85% of the scenes in the movie are of comedic quality. There are plenty of comedies with other elements of genre in them. Annie Hall has Drama, Doctor Strangelove has war sequences. It would be a little insane to have a movie called Ghostbusters to not have sequences of horror.
There's a word I like to use called "verisimilitude" and it's the key ingredient to how a movie like Ghostbusters works so well. Before Ghostbusters most big budget special effects comedies were failures. Roger Ebert mentions this in his original Ghostbusters review. Take a movie like Steven Spielberg's "1941"(a movie I actually enjoy...but was panned by critics and audiences alike). It's clearly suppose to be a comedy about how jittery America was post Pearl Harbour. But the comedy is so forced and all over the place it's a tonal nightmare. It breaks the verisimilitude of a real event in history and as a result the movie just doesn't quite work for most people.
Ghostbusters builds a believable world. There are no over the top characters mugging the camera for laughs. No zany antics. No fart jokes. Just real people and real characters acting like themselves in the situation they find themselves in.
When you look at the other movies Harold, Ivan, Bill and Dan did, the restraint used in Ghostbusters is quite something. Now, I love Animal House, Meatballs, Stripes and Caddyshack. But the comedy in Ghostbusters is of a different sort. It's so character based and real. Maybe it's because they couldn't resort to the R rated stuff, or they were just flexing different muscles, I'm not sure. But it's the best thing those guys ever did.
And I know this is a controversial opinion, but they did it *twice*. Frankly I think Ghostbusters 2 is one of the most underrated comedies ever made. Does it work as well? No. But it's still damn funny. If they had nailed that 3rd act I think Ghostbusters 2 would be held in higher regard. Though some people seem to be coming around.
Yeah the Judd Apatow style. It works for some movies. But when it doesn't work, it REALLY doesn't work. Those types of comedies seem to be too long as well. A comedy shouldn't be longer than 110 minutes. There are exceptions but when I watched GB16 all I think could about was how poorly edited it was. And then they go and release an EXTENDED CUT. That middle finger bit with the college dean still hurts from the cringe. It's like...why??? And then the whole Snoop Dog lingo with not letting the door them on the way out. Just made it...yikes. (yeah I know I'm bringing up how poorly done GB16 was. Beating that dead horse. Again. What can I say? I enjoy beating dead horses. Where did that phrase even come from? I mean, who was beating dead horses so much that it became a phrase?)
But then, I think it's really funny. The basset hound bit makes me laugh out loud as much as any other Ghostbusters moment. My wife finds it the funniest of the movies by a long way, and she grew up in an academic household on Shakespeare and Wilde, so it's not like it only appeals to idiots! It's all subjective in the end.
The point should be that all three movies are intended as comedies, regardless of how they landed with every audience member.
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By RichardLess - October 15th, 2019, 10:57 am - Posts: 880
- October 15th, 2019, 10:57 am #4925675
What do you mean the point *should* be? That *is* the point. And yes. It's all subjective. I think that goes without saying. They are all intended as comedies. And they go about it in different ways. It works for some people. Doesn't work for others.
By robbritton - October 15th, 2019, 3:48 pm - Posts: 509
Sorry man, I was referring back to the upthread argument that the movies weren't strictly comedies, rather than anything you had specifically said there. Should have set my quote game better!
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