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Jim Milton
Ghostbusters: When strange and macabre things begin to happen in NYC, a foursome of ghost removal experts are called upon to stop the ancient god of the underworld, Gozer, from ushering in the end of mankind. It’s just another day in the New York City.
Ghostbusters II: Five years later, the boys are called upon to stop an evil 500 year old Carpathian magician that resides in a painting in the NY Art Museum. Should he be able to transfer his soul into that of a baby, there will be big trouble in the Big Apple.
Ghostbusters (1984), Rated PG, 1 hour 45 min
Ghostbuster II (1989), Rated PG, 1 hour 48 min
2160 UHD, DD TrueHD 7.1 (& Atmos), 2.40:1 Aspect Ratio
Starring: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver
Directed by: Ivan Reitman
Ghostbusters Rating:
Ghostbusters II Rating:
Violence: Comedic
Sex: No
Language: No
So here I begin my foray into the wonderful world of UHD 4k Blu-ray. With every iteration of Ghostbusters (4 by my last count), the picture has improved. This 4K release is even better than the last “mastered in 4K” release from the other year, which was better than the plain vanilla BD, which was vastly better than the DVD. Is this version worth getting if you already have the “Mastered in 4K” blu-ray? It might be if you are a videophile, but the differences are not worth a double dip IMHO. With HDR, and in general between the 2 movies, colors are more solid and realistic, especially skin tones and reds.
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Skin tones are less orange than the BD counterpart. Details for the most part are better resolved, though both films suffer from slight softness, especially in long shots. The close-ups are where you really see fine details. Every pock mark on Murrays face are razor sharp, wood, bricks and other objects look wonderfully detailed and solid (almost 3D). I must admit, that some of the details in scenes are only noticeable if you compare the BD version directly with the 4K version, but the HDR is very apparent. It’s HDR that will really make owning 4K discs a must have item. My sympathy to you early adopters that have a 4K monitor w/o HDR.
These movies really need no commentaries other than the original had a better story line and better special effects. GB II spends the first 15 minutes with dialog between the characters re-telling the story from the first movie. Also the Statue of Liberty felt like a total retread of the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, with the latter being much more fun. However, GB II has a slightly better overall video presentation, though both have quite a bit of very fine film grain.
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As mentioned, 4K does resolve details better than old fashioned (Golly, did I just say that?) 1080p, but it is the HDR that makes these films stand out. I do not have Atmos because of room constraints, but the sound for both films was very good with looks of special effects from the proton packs in particular. I have not seen a film that is shot in 4K yet, but from what I have seen in these movies leaves me anxious to see what’s coming down the pike next. I have seen the future, and it’s in UHD!
GB: Commentaries, SFX team featurette, Cast & Crew featurette, On the Scene with Ghostbusters, Multi-angle Exploration, Storyboard, Music Video, Scene Cemetery (deleted scenes), and Trailer.
GB II: Time is But a Window featurette, Music Video, Scene Cemetery and Trailer.
A BD version is included for each movie, as well.
More about Ultra HD (4k) and HDR