which is better ghostbusters 1 or 2

‘Ghostbusters 2’ Is a Better Sequel Than ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ — Here’s Why!

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To say that Ghostbusters II (1989) is a hated film would be an overstatement, especially when you compare it with Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016), which may have actually resulted in the manifestation of negatively-charged Mood Slime beneath movie theaters!

But to suggest that Ghostbusters II is a beloved film would also be a lie, because it’s often the target of criticism from fans. This is due to the fact that it’s essentially a carbon copy of Ivan Reitman’s original 1984 classic, while perhaps not being as well-packaged or quite as charming.

However, now that the long-awaited Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) is here, it’s time to compare the two canon sequels. The truth is that neither one is perfect, but we believe that, as a sequel , and not necessarily a film , Ghostbusters II is better than Ghostbusters: Afterlife !

And here are seven reasons why…

7. It Introduces a New Villain

Even back when Ghostbusters II was released, it was great to see that it didn’t recycle the same villain from the previous movie. This time, Manhattan faces Vigo the Carpathian (Wilhelm von Homburg), an ancient warlock whose soul has been immortalized inside a creepy oil painting.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife , on the other hand, brings back Gozer (Olivia Wilde), the Terror Dogs, and the Stay Puft. While it’s awesome to see them back on the big screen, perhaps the sequel should have introduced a new threat, or at the very least not wasted Ivo Shandor (JK Simmons).

6. It Has the Original Ghostbusters

There were many challenges standing in the way of Ghostbusters: Afterlife . Not only did it have to wow fans as a film in its own right, Harold Ramis (Egon Spengler) sadly passed away in 2014, and almost every fan expected the remaining original cast members to make an appearance.

Fortunately, we get to see Bill Murray (Peter Venkman), Ernie Hudson (Winston Zeddemore), Dan Aykroyd (Ray Stantz), Annie Potts (Janine Melnitz), and Sigourney Weaver (Dana Barrett). But, of course, Ghostbusters II  has the whole gang, including Rick Moranis (Louis Tully).

Related: 7 Things in ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ That Did NOT Go Down Well With Fans

5. It’s Set In New York City

Switching the setting from New York City to Oklahoma was a brave and respectable move for Ghostbusters: Afterlife . But there’s no denying that we tend to associate the Ghostbusters with the Big Apple, and the relationship between the two has been long anchored in our memories.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife makes great use of its setting — spooky mine shafts, creepy farmhouses, and so on. But despite what many fans may say, deep down, they want the Ghostbusters franchise to return to its Manhattan roots, something the end of Ghostbusters: Afterlife even teases.

4. It’s a ‘Natural’ Sequel

Again, this is something that’s in no way Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s fault. The movie took such a long time to get off the ground, and it wasn’t until the reception to the 2016 reboot that Sony Pictures really started to take the idea of an actual sequel to the original movies seriously.

Nevertheless, Ghostbusters II was released just five years after the original film. And, like most sequels that are churned out in quick succession, it has the same feel as its predecessor. Sadly, most long-awaited sequels try way too hard to feel like they even take part in the same universe.

Related: All 4 ‘Ghostbusters’ Movies Ranked Worst to Best

3. It Has New Ghosts

Ghostbusters II introduces a bunch of new ghosts which have since reappeared in video games, as merchandise, and in IDW’s long-running Ghostbusters comic book series. The sequel’s most notable additions are the Scoleri Brothers, havoc-wreaking ghosts bound to electric chairs!

And then we have the Mood Slime (AKA Psychomagnotheric Slime), the river of pink gunk that’s flowing beneath the streets of Manhattan. Okay, so it’s not a ghost, but it is responsible for the emergence of ghosts, and was even reintroduced in Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009).

2. It Doesn’t Rely on Easter Eggs

There’s no denying that Ghostbusters: Afterlife relies heavily on references to the original movie . In fact, if you took half of them out, you’d probably reduce the runtime significantly! On the other hand, it’s fun to rediscover the original Ghostbusters through the eyes of all the new characters.

With that, it can also be distracting, and can even affect our view of the film itself. This simply isn’t the case with Ghostbusters II — yes, structurally, it’s the same film as its 1984 predecessor ( Home Alone 2: Lost in New York also does this ), but it doesn’t rely on nostalgia to function.

Related: 5 Things the Controversial ‘Ghostbusters’ Reboot Gets Right

1. It’s a Feel-Good Movie

Ghostbusters II might be a lot of things, but miserable isn’t one of them. While fans like to point out that it’s set around the Christmas period, it’s more of a New Year’s movie, which the story uses to its advantage, as it revolves around the effects of positively and negatively-charged energy.

And using positively-charged Mood Slime to ‘animate’ the Statue of Liberty is ultimately what saves the day! We’re not suggesting that Ghostbusters: Afterlife isn’t a feel-good movie, but if we had to pick an uplifting New Year’s movie, Ghostbusters II would win out over the latest sequel.

With all that said, we’d be lying if we didn’t think Ghostbusters: Afterlife gets a few things right that Ghostbusters II doesn’t. But either way, we now have four Ghostbusters movies , and between them, 12 Ghostbuster characters ! So, needless to say, there’s plenty to choose from.

Jason Reitman ‘s Ghostbusters: Afterlife is now available on Blu-ray and DVD, and to rent and purchase across multiple platforms. Given the film’s success, it’s expected that Sony intends to greenlight a fourth movie in the official canon series, but this remains to be seen.

If a fourth movie does happen, though, let’s just hope we get to see McKenna Grace (Phoebe Spengler), Paul Rudd (Gary Grooberson), Logan Kim (Podcast) return to the fold.

Do you think Ghostbusters II  is better than Ghostbusters: Afterlife ?

5 Reasons Why Ghostbusters 2 Is Much Better Than You Remember It

Okay, confession time. I actually like Ghostbusters 2 better than Ghostbusters . I know. What am I smoking, right? Hardly anybody likes Ghostbusters 2 . Not even Bill Murray ! But, Ghostbusters 2 was my very first Ghostbusters movie, so it holds a very special place in my heart. It was the first movie where I was actually introduced to Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis, Sigourney Weaver, and Harold Ramis, so it definitely has that nostalgia factor for me.

You’re thinking, "Well, that’s the only reason you like it so much. It was your first." That definitely plays a part in my love for the film, but there are actually a few elements that can’t be found in the original movie that are in its polarizing sequel. I’m not aiming to convince you that Ghostbusters 2 is better than Ghostbusters, because I know that’s a losing battle. But, I am saying that maybe the film is a little better than you remember it being, if you’re in the “Hated it” camp.

Even if you didn’t like Ghostbusters 2 , I think we can all agree that the Bobby Brown single, “On Our Own” is still a banger. Here’s hoping that Ghostbusters Afterlife can renew faith in the franchise, since we all know how some felt about the 2016 Ghostbusters , which might be even more polarizing than Ghostbusters 2 .

The Sequel Raises The Stakes For The Characters

What I really love about Ghostbusters 2 , which I didn’t know back when I originally saw it since I watched it before the first movie, is that it is directly connected to the original film. I mean, duh, a sequel should be, right? That’s not always the case, though. Evil Dead II is much more trying to change the tone of the original film, acting as a sort of reboot, than as a direct sequel, and a lot of people haven’t even seen the first Terminator movie and they’re fine with that. But, Ghostbusters 2 is all about how the team is being sued after the events of the first film, because the city blames them for the destruction.

This puts their lives into question and splits them up. Ray and Winston are now doing children’s birthday parties , so you know they’re going to have to rise back to greatness. Egon is experimenting with emotions (which comes back later, but I’ll get to that soon), and Peter has actually moved on up and is doing a talk show now. When his ex, Dana, has a son with her ex-husband, and that baby is in danger, this raises a whole bunch of internal struggles for Peter becuase he still has feelings for her and wants to help.

Heck, even Louis is now the Ghostbusters’ accountant. In every way, the characters have grown, both as individuals, but also apart, which means that the stakes are raised since they need to become a team once again, which brings me to my next point.

The Team Coming Back Together Again Creates A Nice, Warm Feeling In The Heart

Okay, so since the team is out of business after the first movie, they’ve all disbanded and gone their separate ways. I mentioned where each hero went, but let’s talk about that river of slime again, and how the crew gets back together. I think the second movie does a great job of finding a way to get the team to rekindle their passion for ghostbusting, and it all goes back to that river. Dana’s baby, Oscar, is in a stroller that finds its way to an abandoned train station, and Ray breaks a pipe when he’s trying to investigate, so he gets the team arrested.

Then, we get one of my favorite moments in the entire series with the courtroom scene with the Scoleri Brothers , which I think might even rival the library scene from the first movie. The ghosts manifest themselves from the slime and the judge’s negative vibes, and what follows is the crew getting back together and a cool montage where the boys are back in business, which always leaves a warm feeling in my heart after them being separated earlier in the film. Man, I love this movie!

Vigo Is Actually A Pretty Cool And Intimidating Villain

I know when most people think about Ghostbusters’ villains, their mind instantly jumps to The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man , and that’s cool. I love Stay Puft. I also love how Gozer from the first movie is gender fluid. Really, though, when it comes to Ghostbusters villains, my favorite will always be the Scourge of Carpathia, the Sorrow of Moldavia, Vigo.

Vigo comes out of a picture in a museum, which sounds like a lost Twilight Zone episode and he is genuinely creepy and intimidating. More so than Zuul and Gozer from the first film, even. Granted, the ‘Busters beat Vigo pretty easily, but the build up to that final battle is awesome. I had nightmares as a kid, and I still think he’s really cool.

Janosz Is Comic Gold

Head of the Restoration department at the Manhattan Museum of Art, and Dana’s boss, Janosz Poha ( Ally McBeal’s Peter MacNicol), is by far my favorite character in the entire movie. Every line of dialogue that comes out of his mouth (“Soon, the city will be mine and Vigo’s … mainly Vigo’s.”) is outright comic gold. In fact, with his silly accent, he was kind of like the Borat of the ‘80s . If you imitate his voice, any Ghostbuster 2 fan will immediately go, “Oh, hey, that’s Janosz!”

I also just think he adds such a great layer of lunacy to this already crazy movie. One thing that the original Ghostbusters has going for it in spades is its zany characters, but Janosz may just be the zaniest that this series has to offer. His willingness to take Dana’s baby to Vigo so she will be his wife is just played so well, and he’s never intimidating, which is a nice counterbalance to Vigo, who is very intimidating. Ghostbusters 2 is pretty funny, but Janosz definitely steals the movie.

The Concept Of Negative Feelings Manifesting Itself Into Slime Under The City Is Actually Pretty Clever

Lastly, I find the concept of a river of slime that is manifested from the negative feelings people have toward each other in major cities to be super creative and clever. The year 1981 is often cited as the most violent year in New York City history . The film does a great job of exploring the topic of New York, in the ‘80s, being kind of a terrible place to live, but in a humorous way.

The river of slime running beneath the surface was definitely emblematic of the animosity and violence and fear that was coursing through the city at the time, and I think that makes Ghostbusters 2 a lot smarter than people give it credit for. Watch it again, as an adult, with that mindset of what the deeper meaning is, and maybe you’ll appreciate it more.

In the end, I know a lot of people will still not like Ghostbusters 2 , and that’s okay. You don’t have to like the movie. But, I definitely think you should give it another chance if you’ve just put it off as being a bad sequel. You might be pleasantly surprised. For info on more current 2021 movies , though, make sure to stop by here often!

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Rich is a Jersey boy, through and through. He graduated from Rutgers University (Go, R.U.!), and thinks the Garden State is the best state in the country. That said, he’ll take Chicago Deep Dish pizza over a New York slice any day of the week. Don’t hate. When he’s not watching his two kids, he’s usually working on a novel, watching vintage movies, or reading some obscure book. 

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Screen Rant

Why ghostbusters 2 is a much better sequel than you think.

1989's Ghostbusters 2 has a reputation for being a bad follow-up, but anyone who loved the original should find plenty to love in the sequel.

1989's Ghostbusters 2 has a reputation for being a bad follow-up, but anyone who loved the original should finally plenty to love in the sequel. With director Jason Reitman's sequel - now set for 2021 thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic throwing 2020 into turmoil - Ghostbusters: Afterlife on the horizon, a popular hope among fans is that Ghostbusters finally gets a worthy follow-up. Sadly, this isn't surprising, as Ghostbusters 2 has long been seen as disappointing and lackluster, despite the fact that it was a box office smash at the time.

On one hand, this negative reaction could be explained as due to Ghostbusters 2 simply not being as good as the original movie, but realistically, few sequels are. On top of that factor, Ghostbusters is a landmark film for many, with generations of viewers being introduced to the hilarious and fantastical world co-created by Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd, and having it shape their senses of humor. Ghostbusters is one of those comedies that many quote so often they could form entire conversations with fellow fans out of lines from it. It's that memorable.

Related: Ghostbusters 3: Why Rick Moranis Isn't Returning For Afterlife

Ghostbusters was a movie that came out at exactly the right time, with exactly the right script and exactly the right players involved. Ghostbusters 2 was never going to top, or even equal, the original, and the best it could hope to offer fans was a fun companion piece with the same spirit. Thankfully, that's exactly what it ended up being.

Why Ghostbusters 2 Is a Worthy Sequel

To be fair, Ghostbusters 2 is certainly a flawed film. It's sometimes too silly for its own good, such as with the dancing toaster, and the sub-plot about Jeanine and Louis hooking up isn't very interesting. As mentioned, this sequel is by no means in the original's league. The thing is, hating it because of that is punishing a fun movie for not being an amazing movie. Both are just different shades of good, and both can be worthwhile. So, it's time to look at what Ghostbusters 2 does right.

For starters, the chemistry between the four leads remains as sharp as ever, and the characters just as likeable, even if Venkman ( Bill Murray ) continues to be a likeable flavor of jerk. Sigourney Weaver is still great as Dana Barrett, and Vigo the Carpathian is a really cool, captivating villain. Peter MacNicol is also hilarious as Vigo's henchman Janosz. Ghostbusters 2 is just downright funny too, thanks to scenes like Louis' comically terrible performance as the Ghostbusters' lawyer, or Venkman's dismayed reaction to his three colleagues interrupting his date with Dana while in their underpants and dripping with pink slime. Other gags, such as the Titanic finally arriving in New York as a ghost ship, and Venkman's droll turn as a talk show host on World of the Psychic, also land well.

The Ghostbusters stomping through New York inside a slime-animated Statue of Liberty is also a ton of fun, and makes for a nice counterpoint to the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man malevolently doing so in the first film. If anything, Ghostbusters 2 's biggest flaw might be that it's too similar to the original, with many plot beats that echo it, and jokes that seem to be trying to imitate its style. That said though, there's no real logical reason why anyone who loved the original Ghostbusters shouldn't love Ghostbusters 2 . It's not as good, but few comedies are. Instead it's more of just about everything people loved, with the same great characters, and the same creative team's guiding hand.

More: What The Original Ghostbusters 3 Would've Looked Like (& Why It Didn't Happen)

Key Release Dates

Ghostbusters: afterlife.

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Ghostbusters 1 or 2? Which One is Better?

quote: It's a rare sequel that exceeds the original movie.

quote: Ghostbusters 1

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5 Ways Ghostbusters II Doesn't Deserve The Hate (& 5 It Does)

Although Ghostbusters 2 gets a pretty bad rap from many viewers, the film doesn't actually deserve all the criticism it gets.

Ghostbusters came out in 1984 and was a monumental success, combining science fiction, action, and comedy to create one of the most beloved movies of all time. 5 years after the release of Columbia Pictures and Ivan Reitman's megahit Ghostbusters , the director and cast returned to hopefully make a successful sequel, titled Ghostbusters II . While the movie made $215 million during its run in theaters, it failed to live up to the original and was considered a disappointment by the studio and the critics.

RELATED:  Ghostbusters Afterlife: 10 Ways It Should Acknowledge The 2009 Video Game

Although the sequel may have been deemed a commercial and a critical failure, it still had some amazing performances, big action sequences, and some great comedy. Ghostbuster II may be remembered as an overall disappointing follow-up, but it seems to have grown a cult following since its release on VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, and streaming apps. Also, the Ghostbusters story will continue in the upcoming sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife . However, when it comes to   just Ghostbusters II , there are just as many reasons to enjoy it as there are to dislike it.

10 Doesn't: The Whole Cast (Including Slimer) Were Hilarious & Provided Countless Comedic Moments

Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, Ghostbusters 2's comedy was on point and almost every character had at least one funny comment throughout the film. While the actual Ghostbusters , especially Bill Murray and Dan Akyroyd, were obviously hilarious, smaller characters such as Louis Tully, Janosz, and Slimer stole the show. One of the funniest moments in the movie is when Louis suits up as a Ghostbuster himself and waits for the bus to arrive, only for the doors to open and reveal Slimer behind the wheel. Louis reluctantly agrees and gets aboard the bus but hilarious mentions that he didn't know Slimer had his license.

Other funny moments include Louis and Janine making out while babysitting little Oscar, possessed Janosz talking with the Vigo painting, and Ray admitting he slept with the slime-filled toaster. There are countless comedic moments throughout the film, but perhaps the best is when Bill Murray hosts his show "World of Psychics" and speaks with two people who claim to know when the end of the world is. After the segment is over, Bill Murray says next week's episode will cover hairless pets... Weird.

9 Does: Gozer Isn't Mentioned & The Original Movie's Events Weren't Followed Up On Thoroughly

While there is a brief mention of the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man at the beginning of Ghostbusters II , the first movie is largely forgotten throughout the sequel's run time. Besides the main cast and the mayor, the sequel doesn't really refer to Gozer the Gozerian and the events of the first film. The mayor himself seems to have forgotten what the Ghostbusters did and doesn't trust what they're saying about evil slime is true.

RELATED:  Ghostbusters: 10 Things That Still Hold Up Today

How the sequel could not mention Gozer is perhaps the biggest flaw of the movie, especially since she was such a scary villain and was always accompanied by her two equally frightening terror dogs. Even though it's been 5 years since the last film, it almost seems as if the whole city forgot what the Ghostbusters encountered on that high-rise apartment, which explains why no one seems to take the group seriously anymore. Whether it's the mayor or "yuppy larva," the Ghostbusters seemed to be a joke to the city of New York, of course until the city is infested with ghouls and the villain starts reigning terror again.

8 Doesn't: Peter & Dana's Romance Plays A More Important Role In The Film

Peter Venkman and Dana Barrett began a romantic relationship at the end of Ghostbusters , but in the sequel, it's revealed that Dana got married to her musician friend from the first movie after she broke up with Peter. She even had a child named Oscar with the musician but they got divorced, as she tells Egon early on in the sequel. While it was disappointing the fans couldn't see their romance blossom in between the two movies, the sequel makes up for it and brought the two lovebirds back together.

When her bathtub turns to slime and tries to eat her and Oscar, Dana runs over to Peter's apartment and the two become reacquainted again, even cleaning his apartment while he's at work. They go on an actual date at a fancy restaurant and officially rekindle their flame, only for it to be cut short when the slime-covered Ghostbusters show up to tell Pete about their sewer findings. The sequel did a good job bringing these two back together and incorporating Oscar added an extra element, especially when Dana and Oscar are trapped in the museum with Janosz and Vigo. This makes the moment when the Ghostbusters coming crashing through the roof seem even more important, with Peter swinging in like the white knight.

7 Does: Kidnapping Baby Oscar & Ghost Train Scene Was A Little Too Dark For This Kind Of Movie

Ghostbusters was by no means a kid's movie and it did have those haunting terror dogs, but Ghostbusters II seemed to incorporate more horror elements than the original. After being possessed by his scary boss, Vigo the Carpathian, Janosz is told to get a child so Vigo can live again. This leads to baby Oscar ending up on a balcony, while Louis and Janine are babysitting, and a ghostly nanny Janosz flying by and kidnapping the child. Dana arrives home early and actually witnesses this scarier version of Janosz kidnaping her young baby, which leads her to go to the museum where Dana and Janosz work.

In addition to baby Oscar being kidnapped, the scene when Egon, Ray, and Winston go into the tunnels to find the river of slime and end up seeing dead heads on a stick, which is horrifying in itself. To top it off, a ghost train comes chugging through the tracks and goes right through poor Winston's body, leaving him in shock. Again, Ghostbusters  had moments of jump scares and violence, but Ghostbusters II took it to a whole other level which probably turned off some youngsters and their parents.

6 Doesn't: Winston Shines At Times & Is A Larger Part Of The Team

Winston Zeddemore joined the guys in the middle of Ghostbusters , becoming part of the team and helping them defeat Gozer and Stay Puft. However, he wasn't around at the beginning and wasn't really a big part of the movie until the final scene. Ghostbusters II begins with him and Ray attending a kid's birthday party in their Ghostbusters uniforms and singing the theme song to the party of youngsters. As soon as Pete, Ray, and Egon helped save the judge from the Scolari brothers, the team proclaimed they were back and Winston was with them at every turn.

RELATED:  10 Sci-Fi Comedy Movies To Watch If You Like Ghostbusters 1984

The aforementioned ghost train scene was centered around Winston, as were the Vigo pictures going up in flames scene and Winston saving Ray and Egon with a fire extinguisher. For a role that was originally supposed to be played by Eddie Murphy in the original, Ernie Hudson earned his stripes in Ghostbusters 2 and made his Winston Zeddemore as important as any of the other 3 Ghostbusters.

5 Does: The Special Effects Didn't Improve A Lot From The First Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters was released in 1984 and while the special effects were good for its time, many expected that Ghostbusters II being released in 1989 would greatly improve the CGI. Unfortunately, it seemed the effects were either the same as the original or even worse, mainly when all the ghosts are released into the city and even the Scolari brothers in the courtroom scene. The computer graphics just didn't look as realistic as they could have and many of the ghosts were way too fake looking, which took away from the scariness of the movie.

Although there are many great action sequences (see below), the movie would have benefited greatly from some technological advances. In 1984 they brought a giant marshmallow man to life and it looked really good for its time, so why are all the ghosts in the sequel so goofy looking?

4 Doesn't: Vigo The Carpathian Was A Frighteningly Dangerous Villain

The painting of Vigo the Carpathian at Dana's museum is scary enough, but when it starts to come alive it becomes that much scarier. One of the most haunting moments comes when the Vigo painting begins to smile at Dana and part of his head later starts popping out of the picture after Janosz is shown talking. Wilhelm von Homburg played Vigo in Ghostbusters II , but his voice was dubbed with the extremely gifted Max von Sydow's, who brought out the evilness of Vigo the Carpathian.

The size and stature of Vigo were impressive and he seemed to dwarf all the Ghostbusters, so he looked even bigger when he was with baby Oscar or compared to his gofer, Janosz. His nasty looks and long hair added to the uniqueness of his monstrous look, and the fact that he could control objects with his mind and knock out the guys with his bad breath added to his arsenal.

3 Does: The Ghostbusters Being Put In The Psychiatric Hospital Mirrored The Original's Jail Scene

Even though they saved the city 5 years earlier from a giant marshmallow man, the Ghostbusters are given no respect and the Mayor's assistant has them institutionalized when they tell him about the evil slime in the sewers. While this scene is still very funny, it mirrors the Ghostbusters arrest in the first movie, which is lazy writing and shows why Ghostbusters II had so many reshoots after the initial filming ended. Even though the scene features the great Brian Doyle-Murray, brother of Bill, as a doctor in the hospital, it's something fans already saw in Ghostbusters . Replacing a jail with a psychiatric hospital isn't a big stretch of the imagination and was just another roadblock in the way of the Ghostbusters getting back to work.

2 Doesn't: The Action Scenes Were Phenomenal & Larger In Scale

While some of the effects weren't even as good as the first movie, most of the action sequences were bigger in scale and featured some unique storytelling. The courtroom scene is one of the most underrated scenes in any movie and the use of the Statue of Liberty was a creative way for the guys to break into the slime-covered museum. When the slime starts bubbling in the courtroom, the anticipation kept growing until the Scolari brother's ghosts came popping out and started scaring the heck out of everyone in the court.

The action montage of the Ghostbusters when they first return is really fun too, with the guys filming a new commercial with Louis and stopping some diamond thief ghosts by setting up multiple ghost traps. While there wasn't much they could do once they got to Vigo, the road taken was actually way more exciting. The boys used positive slime to hose down the Statue of Liberty and used the giant French statue to crash through the slimy museum bubble, descending in to save Dana and Oscar as real Ghostbusters would.

1 Does: The Crowd Singing Saved The Day More Than The Ghostbusters Did At The End

Although the Ghostbusters helped Dana and little Oscar by crashing through the museum's roof, they were actually knocked down and stuck on the ground, unable to move at all. Vigo's power was too great but when the clock struck midnight and New Year began, the crowd outside the museum started singing and this weakened the evil Vigo. Other movies have used large groups of no-name characters to try to help the titular heroes or stop the titular villains, which never seems to work out for the story. It kind of feels like a cheap victory for the Ghostbusters because they were ultimately defeated and a large group of civilians singing " Auld Lang Syne" weakened Vigo with their positive energy.

NEXT:  Ghostbusters' 10 Funniest Scenes

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Ghostbusters ii.

• Parents say (14)
• Kids say (29)

Based on 29 kid reviews

Good for kids 12 and up

Report this review, an underrated sequel of the original, ghostbusters ii(1989), good sequel.

This title has:

Entertaining and better than the first

Great family movie and very nicely dune sequel, this movie is amazing, best gb ever, okay sequel not as good as the first, kind of disappointing, ghostbusters.

• Cast & crew

Ghostbusters Sequel

Plot currently kept under wraps Plot currently kept under wraps Plot currently kept under wraps

• Jason Reitman
• Mckenna Grace
• Carrie Coon
• See more at IMDbPro

• Peter Venkman

• Winston Zeddemore

• Walter Peck

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia The working title for this film was "Firehouse" after the Ghostbusters firehouse. In previous films, the exterior shots of the firehouse were filmed at Hook & Ladder 8 in the Tribeca (Triangle Below Canal Street) neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. After filming was finished on Ghostbusters II (1989) , the firehouse kept half of the Ghostbusters II sign that hung outside. It was regularly displayed on holidays, particularly Halloween. Eventually, it was permanently moved inside, after a successful GoFundMe campaign by fans of the movie in June 2021, which funded a full-scale replica of the Ghostbusters sign. This sign now hangs outside of the firehouse year-round. The GoFundMe campaign is now an annual fundraiser for the firehouse and a celebration is held there on Ghostbusters Day each year.
• Connections Referenced in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: Chip n' Dale: A New Legacy (2022)
• When will Ghostbusters Sequel be released? Powered by Alexa
• March 29, 2024 (United States)
• United States
• London, England, UK
• BRON Studios
• Columbia Pictures
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• IMAX 6-Track
• Dolby Atmos

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'Ghostbusters Answer the Call' Was Actually a Better Reboot Than 'Afterlife'

• Ghostbusters: Afterlife relies heavily on nostalgia, featuring numerous references and cameos from the original film, but fails to capture what made the original great.
• The film tries to turn the Ghostbusters series into a family story and a generational saga, distancing itself from the horror comedy tone of the original.
• Ghostbusters: Answer the Call is a better reboot as it embraces the comedic ensemble nature of the franchise, with distinct characters and a focus on humor and irony.

Much like the paranormal exterminators themselves, Jason Reitman ’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife tries its hardest to capture the spirit of the original Ghostbusters with a force far more powerful than any unlicensed nuclear accelerator: nostalgia. The bulk of Afterlife ’s runtime features an onslaught of glorified Easter eggs, references, and cameos tied to the Ivan Reitman original and its lore, vying to be the long-awaited Ghostbusters three-quel fans have asked for decades to see. What results is a film that exists more in rose-tinted fanboy reverence of the franchise than an attempt to embody what made the original classic great as a film, which it failed to do.

Set nearly 40 years after the fact, Afterlife serves as a direct sequel to the 1984 original and centers on the surviving family of Harold Ramis ’ Egon Spengler as they inherit his life’s work, lock, stock and proton pack. Through some strange supernatural happenings around her family’s new town, Spengler’s granddaughter Phoebe ( Mckenna Grace ) learns of her Ghostbusting heritage and rallies a team of misfits to once again stop Gozer the Gozerian from heralding a spectral apocalypse.

RELATED: Exploring the Long, Difficult Road to Making 'Ghostbusters 3'

What Does 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' Get Wrong as a Sequel?

Indulgent call-backs aside, Ghostbusters: Afterlife 's biggest fault as a follow-up to its namesake is that it tries to turn the series into something it never was. The film’s insistence to tell a story of discovering family legacy positions the original film and the franchise as a whole as a generational saga akin to Star Wars worthy of an emotional conclusion. Much like Star Wars: The Force Awakens , Afterlife ‘s new generational cast attributes the Ghostbusters to famed hero status and the events of the original film to legend as Phoebe reconnects with the literal ghosts of her family’s past. The film is also more self-serious and full-heartedly sincere than the original, substituting skewed comic cynicism with a mix of action-adventure elements and family-drama.

As far as the original film was concerned, Ghostbusters was never meant to be a family story or a whimsical coming-of-age adventure, but a wall-to-wall horror comedy. The 1984 classic featured some of the most popular comic talent at the time popping wisecracks and working off each other’s egos while bumbling through a larger-than-life sci-fi horror story peppered with high-concept technobabble and memorable one-liners. While Afterlife was a film about Ghostbusters in name and iconography alone, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016) had a stronger grasp on the kind of tone and fun spirit a Ghostbusters film is supposed to be.

'Ghostbusters: Answer the Call' Is a Better Reboot

Answer the Call served as a reboot for the franchise as opposed to a canonical sequel and cast Melissa McCarthy , Kristen Wiig , Kate McKinnon , and Leslie Jones as a new proton-powered team pitted against a villainous plan that threatens to plunge the world into ghostly doom. The film infamously was drastically ill-received by fans and veritably broke the internet worse than a 50-foot rampaging marshmallow man stepping on a church. Although not without its fair share of shortcomings, Answer the Call better achieved the kind of tonal experience the Ghostbusters name should instill in its audience: fun.

Answer the Call understood that Ghostbusters is intended to be joke-a-minute ensemble comedy. The film tries hard and often to get a laugh out of its audience through dialogue, improv, and physical comedy. Regardless of if the jokes lands, the film still tries to be funny in every scene by the power of its characters. Much like the original, the cast is given distinct personalities and quirks that permit them to be foils to one another and work off each other in comedic ways, between McKinnon’s sadistic mania, Jones’ city-weary charm, Wiig’s good-natured awkwardness, and McCarthy’s no-nonsense dedication. Comedic personality and chemistry are what make the Ghostbusters a team worth watching and laughing with. Afterlife carried itself with about as much comedy as a typical modern blockbuster movie where the story and characters were largely played straight with only an occasional one-liner here and there amidst a half-serious adventure drama with Phoebe as the singular lead. Answer the Call , like the '84 original, is a comedy first and foremost.

A chief source of Ghostbusters ’ comedy as a plot is rooted in irony. The original 1984 film portrayed the team as degreed science professors working as blue-collar spectral exterminators facing down otherworldly threats. Answer the Call stems from that same kind of irony, but pushes it further by having the team’s overwhelming expertise work against them as their start-up science operation to save the world is not taken seriously by a public eager to deny and refute them. In Afterlife , the Ghostbusters as heralded as legendary heroes revered on the level of Jedi Knights, robbing the ironic mundanity of their profession.

'Ghostbusters: Answer the Call' Is Just More Fun

Apart from the comedy, Answer the Call also actively has more fun in its world-building than Afterlife . While Afterlife offers little in the way of new ghosts and gadgets to marvel at, barring the R/C mobile ghost trap and Muncher, Answer the Call introduces a whole slew of inventive new ways to bust a veritable world of new phantoms. Along with redesigning the familiar gadgets of the original such as PKE meters and proton packs, the film features the likes of proton grenades, ghost chippers, and gauntlets that lend themselves to fun new ways to subdue the paranormal. The ghosts themselves also range farther than in Afterlife and even the original by featuring demonic creatures, corporeal old-world spirits, evil parade balloons, and more in sequences that turn the art of ghostbusting into visceral combat. Afterlife reiterates the familiar threats of Zuul and Gozer and how they’re busted without much innovation aside from the Ecto-1's new mobile gunner seat . Answer the Call further expands on the possibilities of Ghostbusting by having fun in forging its own identity in how it is done.

In comparison to the original Ghostbusters , neither Afterlife or Answer the Call are perfect films, but they each succeed and fail the franchise in different ways. Afterlife is a solid blockbuster overall, but scarcely resembles the kind of film the original wanted to be. Answer the Call celebrated and homaged the creative energy of the original, but also featured comedy that didn’t quite click with die-hard fans. How each of these films pleased one audience while leaving the other unsatisfied — and how quick the studio was to renege on its reboot -- illustrates the power of nostalgia has on franchises today, for better and worse. Despite emulating the exact kind of film the original Ghostbusters always was in almost every way, Answer the Call left lifelong fans scorned and yearning for something to vindicate their years of wanting a third film to recapture their childhood. Afterlife more than accommodates by drenching itself in a fanboy-gaze infatuation with every little thing it could borrow from the original while telling a story grander than anything Reitman intended with the original. Whether in trying to retain the spirit of the original through emulation or duplication, fandom nostalgia is the Ghost Corps’ greatest asset and its worst enemy all at once.

What is better? Ghostbusters 1 or Ghostbusters 2?

I'm just having fun waiting to know which movie you think is better the second or the first movie?

Comments (10)

Ghostbusters 2 personally but I can agree that 1 is a better film

First one its a classic.

First definitely

Reply to: :doughnut: :poultry_leg: Slimer :pizza: :cake:

Reply to: marioaddiction64 roblox

First to me lol

Reply to: Ashof2000z

Cool I enjoyed the sewer part

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