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.

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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

slimer ghostbusters 2

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

gozer ghostbusters 1984

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.

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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 dana ghostbusters2

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

baby oscar ghostbusters 2

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 z ghostbusters 2

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.

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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 2 special effects

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

vigo the carpathian ghostbusters 2

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

ghostbusters 2 psychiatric hospital

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

ghostbusters 2 action scenes

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

ghostbusters 2 final crowd singing

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.

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