Superhero Flicks, Part 12.8: All The Rest (Part 1.8, Ghostbusters)

Yadda, yadda, link to last entry, GHOSTBUSTERS!!


Ghostbusters

Rehashed from here...

The film-

More have seen this than "Poltergiest".

You're conceived knowing this one.

The history-

I could do 20 pages or more on my history with this film.

My love of this film has been a long wild ride.

I'll try to summarize it...

Saw it in the theater.
Was finally seeing good damned non-kiddie movies in the theater at last.

Then...non stop...HBO...the cartoon...the figures....the firehouse, the whole thing...

Got the flicks on DVD...need that big firehouse box with the whole animated series inside.

Yep, Ghostbusters has been there for me side by side with Freddy.

Been a helluva journey.

And...same non-believer stuff I said about "Poltergeist".
'Cept in this case, the results are awesome and funny.

Still hoping against all hope for part 3.

Whelp, I skimmed past a lot of that history, but, I'm gonna dig into it best I can here, and fill the gaps.

Starting with the song, dammit.




Ghostbusters II

The film-

Meh, not as good as 1, everyone agrees with that...but, really, it's just an excuse to reunite with these old friends, which, we're all hoping for out of Ghostbusters 3 too.

Come on, Bill...

The history-

We took my cousin Matthew to see this, and he loved it.
Really made his day.
So, hopefully, that antidoted "the Goonies incident", for him.


The Real Ghostbusters

The show-

Loved it.
Loved the SHIT out of it.

Titled "The Real Ghostbusters", to distinguish itself from that..yechh...other Ghostbusters cartoon with the gorilla.

The history-

This came along in the in-between years of 1 and 2, and a little bit after 2.

At the end, I think they were drowned out by Turtles.

Miss the hell out of it.
There's a couple episodes in the movie DVD double-pack, and...*winces* it hasn't held up quite as well as my memories...but it was still leaps and bounds above the vast amounts of insulting tripe us kids were deluged with in the 70's and 80's on Saturday mornings.

Check this out.
An extended version of the cartoon opening that plays out the whole song.
Sort of an animated video for the song.
Clearly, the characters don't quite look like their final versions, they're an evolution between the movie likenesses.
Lotta differences here, including a bad Slimer.
This was obviously a test animation deal-y to pitch the show to the network bosses or something.
I dunno, I think I like the show this video hints at better.





The Real Ghostbusters: 
Complete Collection (DVD)

WANT!!!!!


The Real Ghostbusters (action figures)

The toys-

Great!

Course, now that I'm a hairy ol' grownup fuck, all these even better Ghostbusters toys are busting out of the fuckin' woodwork.

Tch...*grumble*

The history-

I collected Winston first.
That weirded out some people.
Screw you.
You're the weird ones.
You and your antiquated generation, and its dopey meaningless hangups.
Keerist.
Literally couldn't make a move without bumping into someone's stupid bullshit.
It's a wonder I'm as sane as I am.

Anyway, I think I grabbed these....Winston...Egon..Ray...Peter.
Peter was hard to hunt down, everyone wanted Peter.

Anyway, while we're on toys...


Ecto-1

The toy-

One of the best play vehicles ever.

Maybe the Gobots base tops it...but...that dances in between vehicle, and playset, leaning toward playset.

Yeah, this was my favorite, this was my baby.

The history-

The above covers it.


The Real Ghostbusters Firehouse

The toy-

Fuck yeah, I had this.

Only thing better'n having Ecto-1 was being able to park it in this baby.

Sweeeet fuckin' times.

Hmm,...dunno which I loved more, this, or Castle Greyskull...
Hard tellin...

The history-

See above.


Proton pack, and trap.

The toys-

Didn't have this shit, Matthew did though.
Good for him.

The history-

N/A


The Real Ghostbusters Ectoplasm

The toy/history-

Um...this actually disappointed me.

Something went wrong at the factory, I never really got a good batch of this shit.

First batch was a bucket like the above, but purple, and that had a good consistency, but dried out into a gummy-bear like rubber stuff way too fast.

Second batch, red, exactly like the above, and was too runny, too sticky, almost soupy.
Tried leaving the cover off for extended periods to get the moisture out of it, and the stuff stubbornly wanted to turn to crust rather than thicken.

If I had it to do over, I'd try spooning in some cornstarch.

Third batch, a shotglass sized cup that came with a monster, and I shit you not, it was the consistency of Nyquil syrup, totally unusable.

Mattel had their shit together, they invented slime, and brought it back as Evil Horde Slime Pit Slime for He-Man.
It was even green like Slimer slime.
I wish I could go back, and tell all those kids, just double up on the Horde slime.

Needless to say, that runny red shit was not fit for running though the grates on the Ghostbusters firehouse.
The first time was the last time.
Gah!
I was years picking crusts out of those little holes.

Oh, and, I even tried mixing the Nyquil shit into the purple gummy-lump to try to revitalize it...and instead, it made it rot, and give off a foul odor the next day.
So much for that.
Not good.
The one true misfire of that whole line.

Well...except...


Ghostbusters (NES)

The game-

Gotta be one of the worst fucking games ever.

There are worse, but they're unplayable.
This is the worst playable game.

Cinemassacre already tore this a new asshole with no less than three whole videos.
So, I won't get into nitpicky details, James does a sufficient enough job there.

I do have to mention that the MIDI rendition of the Ghostbusters theme playing in an endless loop is "help me Smee!", cranked up to fucking 11.
Holy shit.

The history-

Can't remember if this was a christmas, or a birthday, or an allowance buy, but...it was fucking disappointing.
Only game I can remember hating more than this, was Ikari Warriors II.


Ghostbusters II (NES)

The game-

Still shitty compared to good games, but nowhere near the abomination of Ghostbusters 1 the game.
You can actually play this, and not want to kill yourself.

The history-

Matthew had this, played his.


Ghostbusters (Sega Genesis)

The game-

Haven't laid hands/buttons on it yet, but it looks great.

This is NOT an adaptation of the shitty NES version.
Sega went and made a lock, stock, and barrel, from-the-ground-up whole new game.

And, it's what you goddamned wanted the first time, running around, shooting ghosts with proton beams.

No dodging drunk drivers, buying gas, buying traps, emptying traps, raising money, climbing steps with B button taps, none of that boring stupid ridiculous shit.

It just lets you fucking play Ghostbusters!!

Hmm...thing is, only way to really get something like this...is emulation.
What, are you gonna go buy a Genesis on Ebay, and arm wrestle some other bidder for it, and this cart?
With Sega not making the profit anyway, and not making consoles period anymore, much less retro consoles?
Do they really give a damn?
Are they in a position to?
And what about stuff like the Dingoo?
An after-market gizmo made for emulating.
How else to enjoy those games in portable form but to ROM-rip?
And, what about those thingamajiggies you plug into the AV port on your TV that come loaded with old NES ROMs?
And...how else to preserve these games long term, but ROM ripping?
Who are we kidding?

Oh, all right, I'll do the stupid fuggin' dance....if you can get ahold of this somehow...*wink, wink* try 'er out.

The history-

N/A


Extreme Ghostbusters

The show-

On the one hand, argh, everything 90's was "extreme", even deoderant sticks.
Boy, it got old fast.
This show had an uphill battle winning my respect with that title.

But, it won me over.
It was really made by people who loved the old show, and it showed.
I really ended up digging it.
All these years later, my grouchy contempt for youth culture has dissolved, leaving only a warm fondness for this show, and...I miss it as much as the originals.
Yep.
I'd like to see an update of these characters.
I care what happened to them.
That's good fiction.

Ghostbusters 3 is supposed to be about a passing of the torch, well, they already did it here, and it worked out fine.
To the skeptics, hey, here's exhibit A.

The history-

Oh, hell, if I did the classic TRGB theme, then, here...





Freddy vs Ghostbusters

The film-

Two great tastes that go great together!

From here...

Another nifty little internet fanfilm, that ended up being a prototype for a better one.
Yep, the internet was coming into its own with its culture, shows, etc.

It's creeping up..well, no, it is mainstream, we all love some web based show, we all can reference this stuff amongst ourselves, it's the network and studio heads that are the slowpokes of acknowledging this facet of our culture.

It IS the new mainstream, but the dinosaurs just haven't been notified.

The history-

The above covers it.
Oh, wait, here.
The people what made this, so's you can see it.
Braxtanfilm


Return Of The Ghostbusters

The film-

From here again...

The sequel to "Freddy vs. Ghostbusters", and waayyy better in production values.
I honestly think this would've passed muster as a theatrical picture in the 80's as the followup to the real film.
Or, at the least, a telefilm.
Very well done, stuff like this continues to show the potential of the internet, and its ability to tap into all the heretofore untapped talent out there.
Wonderful.

Weeell....maybe a bit over the top there, but...what it represents is indeed wonderful.

The history-

Ditto the last one.


Ghostbusters: The Video Game

The game-

From here yet again.

So, this kinda counts as Ghostbusters 3.
Unless Ghostbusters 3 the movie comes out, then that bumps it down to Ghostbuster 2.5.
Watched walkthroughs, and it's a pretty cool fuckin' game.
I hear the PS2 version has glitches though...fneh.


Forgot to clarify, I watched the ENTIRE walkthrough, so, I feel like I've seen a 3rd film.
And it's good as a movie too.

The history-

Here, have a trailer




Infestation

The comic-

See here.

Okay, the summary, Ghostbusters, GI Joe, Star Trek, and Transformers vs Zombies,.
And the short and sweet of the review, the Ghostbusters were the best part.

The history-

This was a "coming soon", deal when my mother got sick, and came out as she recuperated, so, it was how I marked the months.

Now, this week was a year to the day we dragged her into the hospital, and now Infestation 2 is on its way starting this upcoming January.
Very emotionally surreal to come full circle like that.
Didn't feel like a year...it did, and it didn't...hard to explain...
The time dragged, but that night feels like yesterday...
And the whole Infestation deal connects that yesterday with a wormhole almost.


Ghostbusters 3 (2013?)

C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mooooon!


And, that's alla that.

Up next...erm....Dead Dudes.
It'll make sense when you see it, trust me.

(BTW, this comes between this, and this)