Ghostbusters (2016): 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
The franchise makes its long-awaited return with Director Paul Feig’s unique and hilarious take on the classic supernatural comedy, led by the freshest minds in comedy today, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth. Together they team up to save Manhattan from a sudden invasion of spirits, spooks and slime that engulfs the city.
From the moment that this movie was announced I was a supporter of it despite all of the negative feedback. I continuously told people to wait until it came out to make your decision on a film that no one has even seen and people continued to hate on the fact that there were women Ghostbusters. The thing with all that is if you take away the public negativity from influencing your decision and you just watch it without comparing it to the original films then this is actually a really fun film. It has the same feel to it as the original but it leans more on the gags and jokes more so and that’s not entirely a bad thing given the change in modern film. Some of the jokes did fall flat in certain moments and it was obvious that a lot of those moments were improvised. One thing that I do wish is that there was a bit more ghost hunting involved and a lot more ghosts throughout the film other than at the end. I do think that this film had a lot more innovation to it as far as the equipment goes and that was really interesting to see. The cameos from the original Ghostbusters were a nice touch also but I would’ve preferred a passing of the touch as opposed to just random characters that they played. All in all I really liked the film a lot and didn’t understand why people dogged on it so much. It had everything that people would expect in a Ghostbusters film and if you haven’t seen it by now then I highly suggest you give it a chance. 6/10
4K Presentation:
Movies like this are made and meant to be played in this format. The film looked gorgeous all around but you really saw the impressiveness of what 4K and HDR can do during the final battle. The colors were extremely vibrant and crisp without skipping a beat with all the action going on. If you have a 4K setup then I HIGHLY suggest picking up a 4K copy of this film and enjoy the clarity of it all.
3D:
This movie specifically was made for 3D. Some of the scenes are more obvious than others but the way that they utilized it was very smart and interesting. The best ones were of the ghosts. The way that they were put together had the ghosts heading towards the screen and even bypassing the widescreen bars at the top and bottom and that created a more realistic 3D experience. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a unique 3D experience and this film really delivered.
Special Features:
Gag Reels – 2 different gag reels here that are actually really funny and show missed cues, line flubs and more.
Deleted Scenes – Only a handful of scenes here that are pretty decent to check out if you’re curious.
Extended & Alternate Scenes – About 11 scenes that are actually pretty good and entertaining to check out.
Jokes A Plenty – This feature is pretty much a collection of alternate takes of certain lines in the film.
Meet the Team – Paul Feig and the cast talk in depth about the characters in the film
The Ghosts of Ghostbusters – A nice feature that talks about the various ghosts in the film and the different stages regarding their looks and effectiveness.
Visual Effects: 30 Years Later – A really cool discussion about the advancement of special effects and how they were able to utilize them.
Slime Time – This feature talks about the ecto-goo that is a constant throughout all the films.
Chris Hemsworth is “Kevin” – This is a feature on the actor and his comedic and improv chops.
Photo Gallery
Audio Commentary With Writer/Director Paul Feig And Writer Katie Dippold
Audio Commentary With Editor Brent White, Producer Jessie Henderson, Production Designer Jeff Sage, Visual Effects Supervisor Pete Travers, And Special Effects Supervisor Mark Hawker
