Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters

Several years ago in a pub in Putney, London, my friend Dominic told me that his mate was making a documentary on Ghostbusters and was at that time travelling the states carrying out interviews.

I've waited patiently for this and it's finally here, and wow! What an achievement. So many films about films spend too much time interviewing critics and film specialists, and the odd cast member who could be bothered to show up. This one gets pretty much everyone and it's hugely insightful.

Great stories from actors, puppeteers, stunt men and William Atherton. Insight into the creative processes that worked out how to put proton packs, ghosts and giant Marshmallow men on to the screen.

A wonderful labour of love and a timeless record of one of the films that really managed to bottle lightning.

I can't wait for the sequel!

I think it's a huge credit to the filmmakers (Anthony and Claire Bueno) that they were able to elicit such fond reminiscing from the cast and crew of Ghostbusters - the making of which has become at this point, well-trod subject matter. As documentaries go, it's very tech-heavy, but everyone on camera is personable and clearly happy to be there, and I enjoyed myself considerably. Though Bill Murray's absence is inescapable, I applaud the efforts of all involved to coalesce and make up the difference. There's some real heart to this.

The icing on this dessert is the late Harold Ramis, and it is an undeniably joy to see him again.

I've never left a review on here in my life, but I just had to for this doc. From start to finish it's purely about the making of this unique and special movie, with the highest access to all the key figures involved (minus Murray unsurprisingly). I've watched a few retrospective Docs that pad the run time and try patch over that they couldn't get the access they needed by adding nonsense cultural impact sections. Like interviewing fans and asking their opinion on why the property has remained relevant. I personally couldn't care less what some nerd at a comic convention thinks about Ghostbusters, or why its special to them. This thankfully, covers the inception, development and execution of the movie itself ditectly from the people who made it and gives you a greater appreciation of things you now take for granted. An example being what an insane risk putting a 40 foot marshmallow man in the 3rd act of your movie was.

It's more like 7 and a half for me. I'm a big fan of the original movie and I had big expectations for this doc. I wish it was more about the writing, characters and themes, instead it delves more deeply into the making of the special effects. Of course they were revolutionary at the time and it's an important aspect of the movie, but I could have done with less details (the part about making Slimer feels neverending). It's still interesting and rich though.

This is a great documentary, behind the scenes, how it was written, the casting...I'm just surprised it's taken so many years to materialize. I thought in the wake of the new movie coming out it would at least get a mention but no...this is about the first Ghostbusters movie from the 80's. A great insight.