Spaceballs

Ghostbusters [Blu-ray]
$28.95
My daughter and I just did a GHOST BUSTERS double bill in honor of her upcoming move to New York, where she will be working at Columbia University, which is where Bill Murray and his paranomal colleague are studying at the beginning of the first film. We both really enjoyed the original and felt that it had more than held up over time, but we we were tremendously disappointed with the sequel. This is a joint review of both films. We watched the original film on Blu-ray and the second one on regular DVD. I won't say much more about the format except to say that the quality of the Blu-ray was somewhat disappointing. In fact, the quality of the DVD was very nearly as good as the Blu-ray.

Rewatching the first film, it was fascinating to see what a simple story it told, and how short it was. There really is very little to the film apart from the simple story and a string of scenes the become a framework for a series of jokes. The one thing that surprised me was that I don't find Bill Murray's jokes, many of which feel ad libbed, as funny as I did when I saw it when it first came out. This is balanced by Harold Ramis and Dan Ackroyd being funnier than I remembered. The special effects all look pretty good by today's standards, except for Slimer, who didn't much appeal to me when the film came out and still doesn't. But the highpoint of the movie, then as now, is the Stay-Puft marshmallow man, which is definitely one of the greatest movie monsters ever.

I saw the sequel when it came out, but over the years found it odd that I couldn't remember anything about it. I remembered that Sigourney Weaver's character had a baby, but that was the extent of it. Rewatching the film it is easy to see why I couldn't remember anything about it: it is simply not a very memorable film. The pace and the rhythm are erratic and many of the jokes are simply unfunny. The plot isn't very interesting and seems pretty formulaic, the formula being the first movie. It was, in fact, almost a remake of the original with some names changed and situations altered. Both my daughter and I were very unhappy with it and did not think it a very worthy sequel to the first film.

The original 1984 GHOSTBUSTERS still plays like a film that was the product of some imaginations in the grip of a real vision, while the sequel feels like a film made to cash in on the success of the former. It isn't like they weren't trying, they simply weren't inspired. GHOSTBUSTERS 2 just is not a worthy sequel of one of the more memorable light comedies of the eighties. Speaking for the two of us, we definitely enjoyed the first movie, but wish we had passed on the second one. I just hope that I remember the latter as poorly as I did the first time.

Airplane! (Don't Call Me Shirley! Edition)
$12.98
I hadn't seen Airplane for at least 10 years but decided to buy a used DVD to add to my collection. This kind of movie fits my sense of humor - kinda silly and gross in places, but still a lot of laughs. The humor is definitely 1980s with some pop-culture references that were fun to me, but would probably go over the heads of my grown children. It was also fun to see some of the actors that I hadn't seen in a few years. Even my wife, who wasn't looking forward to it, was laughing in some places. Not a cinematic masterpiece, but a fun time.

Robin Hood - Men in Tights / Spaceballs
$19.98
I REALLY enjoyed these movies! Mel Brooks directed BOTH of them, and I beleive he did a GREAT job of it! If you like goofy-type humor, (WITH some slapstick thrown in) among OTHER kinds, you'll ADORE these movies! They combined two of Mel's BEST movies, in this 'humor DVD' A MUST-HAVE for fans of 'Mel Brooks!

Robin Hood - Men in Tights
$14.98
Fun for the whole family, wonderful actors with perfect timing, something for everybody.
Mel Brooks did it again. (And Carey Elwes is easy on the eyes!)