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Ghostbusters Ultimate Collection 4K/Blu-ray Box Set Review

 By Paul Rudoff on Feb. 19, 2022 at 11:50 PM , Categories: Ghostbusters 1, Ghostbusters 2, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Home Video
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Sony Pictures Home Entertainment recently released the Ghostbusters Ultimate Collection 4K UHD/Blu-ray box set. Read on to find out more about it...

Before we really get into this, let's watch the official sizzle reel for the set.


My copy of the set, which was provided by Sony in exchange for proving the "Making Ghostbusters" book scans to them, arrived on February 7, 2022 via FedEx. It was very well wrapped in bubble-wrap, placed in a brown box with a bit of brown paper above it. There was no damage from shipping, though the Afterlife slipcover has a small ding in the front and there's a small crease on one of the inner sides of the trap box. The ding is more noticeable than the crease, but I'm not gonna complain because, all things considered, it could have been MUCH worse! At least I got the proper discs and all three slipcovers.

There are reports of missing discs and slipcovers. If your set has everything shown in the enlargeable photo below (plus a digital copy code voucher, if you live in North America), then you're golden. If your set has any issues, I'd recommend reaching out to Sony through e-mail (consumer@sphecustomersupport.sony.com) or calling them directly (1-800-860-2878).

-- THE PACKAGING --

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The box comes with a clear plastic sleeve over it, which features the No Ghost logo dead center on the front, with the "Ghostbusters Ultimate Collection" title above and below it, and lots of proton streams all around. A paper wrap that features the specifications is rubbed-cemented onto the back of the sleeve, and it has a flap that extends over the top. You can remove it if you want, though I left mine attached so that the paper stays with the rest of the item. Once you pull that sleeve off, you'll reveal the Ghost Trap box that holds everything. The trap box measures approx. 5.75"x4.75"x7.75" and is made from hard paperboard.

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Although the box isn't meant to be the same dimensions as the real trap prop, it does feature a lot of the little details (and faux wear) that the real prop has - including faux wheels on the bottom!

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To open the box, you slide forward a little notch at the front of the trap (or the top, if you stand the box vertically).

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Ignoring Ray's advice and looking into the trap, you will find the four disc cases and the "Making Ghostbusters" book (with a digital copy voucher slipped in on the right side, if you live in North America).

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NORTH AMERICA-EXCLUSIVE FEATURE: Pull all of that out and you'll see a fake electronic light show. (Versions of the box set released outside of North America don't have the light-up feature.)

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When the sensor inside the box on the left side is exposed to light (such as a camera flash), it will turn on four green LED lights placed on the inside of the box at the back on the left. The lights stay on for a few seconds then turn off automatically. The lights are powered by non-removable, non-replaceable batteries. If/when the batteries die, you'll have the "U.K. Version" of the box set.

Play Video

Each of the three movies is in a standard black two-disc plastic case with the usual "4K UltraHD" branding on the top front. The first two movies feature cover photos showing all four Ghostbusters, no longer excluding Ernie Hudson. On top of that, for the first time ever (to my knowledge), Ernie receives front billing with the rest of the cast.

* Case #1: Ghostbusters (1984) on 4K UHD & Blu-ray
* Case #2: Ghostbusters II (1989) on 4K UHD & Blu-ray
* Case #3: Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) on 4K UHD & Blu-ray
* Case #4: Special Features Blu-ray Discs 1 & 2

Each of the movie cases has an exclusive slipcover placed around it. (The Special Features discs are in their own Digibook case.) The front of each slipcover features that movie's version of the No Ghost Logo centered against a black background. The back of each slipcover, as can be seen in the bottom row of the photo below, features an image of that movie's villain. For Afterlife, the Mini-Pufts are shown because that film stole its villain from the first film, and there was no need to use Gozer twice.

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NORTH AMERICA EXCLUSIVE FEATURE: Digital versions of Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (Theatrical & Extended Cuts), and Ghostbusters: Afterlife. (I confirmed with Sony that sets released internationally do not contain a digital copy code voucher.) As you can see from the image below (codes whited out), every movie has a separate code. You can redeem only the film(s) you want, and ignore any that you don't. Since they redeem on Movies Anywhere, if you already have the films in your library from the codes provided with previous home video releases, you probably can't redeem them again. All four codes in the box set redeem for 4K copies, as expected. The eight special features from the Afterlife Blu-ray are on Movies Anywhere, but there is nothing more. No digital-exclusive special features this time. The new special features for the first two movies are not on Movies Anywhere. Whatever has already been up on the site from the old 2014 release is all that there, likely, ever will be.

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-- MAKING GHOSTBUSTERS BOOK --

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On August 4, 2021, I received an e-mail from the same Sony employee that I consulted with on the 2019 Steelbook set. He noticed that Spook Central had a full scanned copy of the "Making Ghostbusters" book, and wanted to use it "in some way as part of the celebration around the original films". He didn't get more specific than that, but I figured that Sony wanted to reprint it in some manner. Honestly, I didn't think it would be as part of a new franchise box set, but I should have guessed as much considering that he works for Sony's Home Entertainment department!

The original Making Ghostbusters book by Don Shay (on the left in the photo below) was published in August 1985 and is a large 8.25"x11" paperback book in black and white with a color photo section in the back. For this box set, the 220-page book (on the right in the photo below) has been scaled down significantly to approx. 5.5"x6.75". The text is still readable, but some of you might need to break out the reading glasses. Thanks to the photo below, you will notice that the cover elements have been repositioned a little bit.

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Sony used the raw book scans that I provided to them, which were originally scanned by MrMichaelT from the Ghostbusters Wiki. (I also gave them the scans that were cleaned by Matthew Jordan to make the PDF here on Spook Central, but they chose not to use them.) You'll notice a Special Thanks credit to us on the last page.

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For the most part, Sony reprinted the book faithfully. They did fix the original book's wonky page numbering, which is why the original goes to 223 and this reprint goes to 220 (the last page is the newly-added credits page seen above). The original book's first page number was "6", even though there weren't five pages before that. That "page 6" is now "page 2" in this reprint, with the title page being "page 1", with two unnumbered pages before that. Rest assured that no pages were removed from this reprint. The team did a great job with the reprint, especially considering how dark the photos in the originals scans were. Yes, there's a small hair or blemish in a few photos/pages that could have been easily cleaned out (almost all of the original scans had one or two hairs in them), but they are far and few between, and don't detract from how great of a job was done. Photos that go to page edges are slightly cropped since there is no border to "protect" them, but nothing of consequence is lost. It does seem like they went back to their original photograph for the two-page spread of Stay Puft and the Ghostbusters looking down upon him in the back of the book because the reprint has more information at the bottom than the original scan I gave to Sony. They also added some extra information to the left side of the two-page photo on page 196 (page 200 in the original). These were the only "changes" I noticed.

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-- GHOSTBUSTERS (4K & BLU-RAY) --

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As you can see, both the front and back covers of the case artwork feature all four Ghostbusters. You'll also notice Ernie's name at the top of the front cover, right between Harold's and Rick's names. Previously, Ernie's credit was relegated to the credits box at the bottom of the movie poster or the back of the home video product. I don't know what kind of legal maneuvering Sony had to do to make this happen, but I'm glad that all parties involved cooperated to finally give Ernie the proper credit that he deserves.

The 4K disc is newly-created, and is not the same 4K disc from 2016 that was re-used in the 2019 Steelbook set. That 2016 disc features the old 1999 audio commentary, which was not ported over to this new disc. The other movie-based special features (fan commentary, trivia track, Slimer Mode) weren't added to the new disc, either. My source at Sony did tell me that the movie on this new 4K disc was "re-encoded and Dolby Vision was included in addition to just HDR10. We also added the 5.1 and original 2.0 mixes to the 4K UHD discs, in addition to the Atmos." (I thought they authored new 4K discs to put the 2016 disc's unconventional menu system in the past.) The Blu-ray disc is the same one that premiered in the 2019 Steelbook set.

DISC 1 - 4K ULTRA HD
Video: 3840x2160p Ultra High Definition, in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, with a 1:45:08 runtime over 16 chapters.
Languages: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, Czech 5.1, French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, German 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Hungarian 5.1, Italian 5.1, Japanese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Polish 5.1 VO, Spanish (Castilian) 5.1, Spanish (Latin America) 5.1, Thai 5.1.
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin America), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Japanese (hidden).
Special Features: None.

DISC 2 - BLU-RAY
Video: 1920x1080p High Definition, in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, with a 1:45:08 runtime over 16 chapters.
Languages: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Thai Dolby Surround.
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, French, Indonesian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai.

Here is a list of all of the Special Features that can be found on the Blu-ray disc.
  • Audio Commentary - with fans Troy Benjamin, Chris Stewart, Ashley Victoria Robinson, and Sean Bishop; moderated by Eric Reich. Recorded in 2019.
  • Audio Commentary - with director Ivan Reitman, actor/writer Harold Ramis, and producer Joe Medjuck. Recorded in 1999.
  • Slimer Mode - Picture-in-Picture interviews and pop-up trivia track. Recorded in 2009.
  • Tricks & Trivia - Subtitled text trivia track from Don Shay's "Making Ghostbusters" book.


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-- GHOSTBUSTERS II (4K & BLU-RAY) --

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The 4K disc is newly-created, and is not the same 4K disc from 2016 that was re-used in the 2019 Steelbook set. The 2019 audio commentary was not added to the new disc. My source at Sony did tell me that the movie on this new 4K disc was "re-encoded and Dolby Vision was included in addition to just HDR10. We also added the 5.1 and original 2.0 mixes to the 4K UHD discs, in addition to the Atmos." (I thought they authored new 4K discs to put the 2016 disc's unconventional menu system in the past.) The Blu-ray disc is the same one that premiered in the 2019 Steelbook set.

DISC 1 - 4K ULTRA HD
Video: 3840x2160p Ultra High Definition, in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, with a 1:48:19 runtime over 16 chapters.
Languages: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, German Dolby Surround, Hungarian Dolby Surround, Italian Dolby Surround, Japanese Dolby Surround, Spanish (Castilian) Dolby Surround, Spanish (Latin America) Dolby Surround.
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin America), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Japanese (hidden).
Special Features: None.

DISC 2 - BLU-RAY
Video: 1920x1080p High Definition, in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, with a 1:48:19 runtime over 16 chapters.
Languages: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, German Dolby Surround, Japanese Dolby Surround, Portuguese Mono, Spanish Dolby Surround.
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish.

Here is a list of all of the Special Features that can be found on the Blu-ray disc.
  • Audio Commentary - with director Ivan Reitman, actor/writer Dan Aykroyd, and producer Joe Medjuck. Recorded in 2019.


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-- GHOSTBUSTERS AFTERLIFE (4K & BLU-RAY) --

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For the most part, the case artwork underneath the exclusive slipcover uses the same artwork by fan artist Richard Philpott that graces the individual 4K UHD/Blu-ray combo pack artwork. As you can see in the photo below, there are some slight differences. There is no mention of "+ Digital" at the top of the front cover, there is no UPC symbol on the back cover, the text has been re-flowed to cover the area where the UPC symbol was, and the large boxed area in the middle of the back cover doesn't mention the digital copy so the HDR and 4K boxes have been expanded.

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DISC 1 - 4K ULTRA HD
Same 4K Ultra HD disc as released individually. See my review of the individual releases for details.

DISC 2 - BLU-RAY
Same Blu-ray disc as released individually. See my review of the individual releases for details.

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-- SPECIAL FEATURES: BLU-RAY DISC 1 (GHOSTBUSTERS) --

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This disc includes special features for Ghostbusters, with subtitles for nearly all of the content in the following languages: English, English SDH, Chinese Traditional, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin America), Thai.

Ghostbusters Preview Cut (1:54:26) (720x480) - The "first cut", dated February 17, 1984, featuring alternate and deleted scenes, extended lines of dialog, no music, temp sound effects, and no special effects. Includes optional Audio Commentary with editor Sheldon Kahn and associate producer Joe Medjuck. Presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio in 4:3 Letterbox, over 12 chapters, with no end credits.

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I confirmed with Eric Reich at GhostCorps that this was sourced from the Betamax tape that editor Sheldon Kahn held onto all these years, which is currently on display at GhostCorps headquarters. While the source is 4:3 Letterbox, I wish Sony would have chopped a bit of the blackness off the top and bottom and reformatted it into 16:9 anamorphic widescreen, like they did with the "Nobel Prize Aspirations" deleted scene I gave them back in 2019 (see the Scene Cemetery section), so that it would look better on a HDTV. Instead, you'll have a picture with blackness on all sides. To overcome that, you'll need to use your TV's "all direction zoom" feature. This is why I'm going to author my own anamorphic widescreen DVD.

Picture formatting issues aside, this is, hands down, the MUST SEE item of all of the new special features. I am not exaggerating when I say that watching this cut was like watching the movie for the first time. What I felt must have been what mover-goers felt when the film premiered back in June of 1984. Since this cut lacks the music score, and contains the original on-location production audio, I felt like I was watching a documentary. It was as if a film crew was following the Ghostbusters around for a few weeks. The temporary sound effects just added to the uniqueness of the whole thing. The PKE Meter sounds like something out of Star Trek. Egon as a "new wave Mr. Spock", indeed. I won't detail all of the things that make this cut special - this review will be long enough already - but I will point out that the deleted shot of Jason and Catherine Reitman with their mother Genevieve Robert, which was reused in Afterlife, appears at 1:23:30. Also, Gozer speaks with Slavitza Jovan's real voice(?), and not Paddi Edwards' dubbed voice. At 1:42:00, she says, "Choose and perish", which prompts Peter to ask, "Jews and berries? We don't understand."

This is the source for the deleted scenes and the "before effects" footage from the 1989 Criterion Laserdisc and the 1999 DVD, except for the DVD's "Honeymooners" and "Bums" deleted scenes. Those two scenes don't exist in this cut, so I have to wonder where the DVD's production team sourced them from. Could there be another early cut of the film out there?

As an example of just how different this cut is, the new Ghostbusters: The First Cut page here on Spook Central has a clip of the montage after the guys bust the hotel ghost, which appears at 41:35. Spook Central VIPs get an exclusive bonus clip: The Ghost Montage (which appears at 1:17:25).

Reitman Squared Scene Commentary (7:35) (1920x1080) - Picture-in-picture commentary with Ivan & Jason Reitman for the "City Hall" and "Stay Puft" scenes. Jason also appears by himself with comments between scenes.

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While I wish that Jason would have given us a commentary track for Afterlife, these brief visual commentaries for scenes from the first and second films (see Disc 2) with him and his father Ivan, are nice for what they are.

Dana's Lost Auditions (1:05:52 play all) (1920x1080) - Auditions for the role of Dana Barrett from eight actresses who did not get the part. Presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio in 16:9 Pillarbox.

The eight actresses are listed below. Click on each name to go to that woman's IMDB filmography, so that you can discover what other movies and television programs you might have seen her in. The box set press release gives "special thanks to Brandon Kleyla", but he is not mentioned in the final set. I assume he provided Sony with these tapes.
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It's great to see a few of the actresses, some of whom are better known for other roles - like Denise Crosby in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Kelly LeBrock in Weird Science, Melanie Mayron in Thirtysomething, and Kelly McGillis in Top Gun - reading the lines that Sigourney Weaver made famous. The only negative I have is that there are some obvious omissions. Daryl Hannah's audition, which we saw a snippet of in the Cleanin' Up The Town documentary, was removed for some reason. Sony definitely has it, because a few frames of it appears at the start of Joanna Pacula's audition on the disc. We know that Julia Roberts auditioned for the role, but her tape isn't here, either. It also would have been nice to see Sigourney's infamous audition, where she gets on the table and barks like a dog. I remember Ivan saying that she didn't want it being shown, but I was hoping that by now she would have changed her mind and could have a good laugh at herself.

Maybe in the future, we'll not only get those, but also the auditions for Janine, Winston, and Peck. The actors who didn't get the roles - such as Michael Ensign for Peck - and the ones who did. I would love to see the performances that earned Annie Potts, Ernie Hudson, and William Atherton the roles.

"Behind Closed Doors: Ghostbusters" Reelz Documentary (1:28:15) (1920x1080) - A documentary about the making of Ghostbusters that aired on Reelz on June 2, 2019.

I've already reviewed this special, so if you want to know my thoughts, go read that. A full copy (at DVD resolution) is at the bottom of the review, in case you'd like to preview it. Unlike the copy here on Spook Central, there is no Reelz logo in the lower corner of the video on the Blu-ray. The picture is nice and clean, which makes me regret doing over 200 framegrabs from the marked copy, as I now feel compelled to redo them from this better source. There are no edits; the runtime is exactly the same as the online copy I got from Reelz's PR department. However, Sony is presenting this 90-minute special in one long chapter. Given the length, it would have been nice if chapter marks were placed where the commercial break spots are located. They should have been placed at these 7 spots: 13:08, 21:59, 29:46, 39:40, 50:16, 1:02:03, and 1:13:17.

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Do be aware that although this documentary is primarily focused on the making of the 1984 film, about two minutes (from 1:21:46-1:24:05) is spent unnecessarily discussing the unrelated 2016 film, with Dan Aykroyd and Al Roker towing the company line with that "misogynistic fanboys" fallacy that we're all tired of hearing touted as the reason why nearly everyone dislikes the film. Roker is quoted as saying, "I think history with bear out Paul Feig's vision." I think the exclusion of Feig's Folly from this box set (aside from a disposable digital copy that you can choose not to redeem) proves otherwise. You know, I'm all against editing things from their original version (see The Oprah Winfrey Show on Disc 2, for example), but I'd be 100% okay with editing these 139 seconds from future home video releases. This portion of the documentary sticks out like a sore thumb.

Also, Violet Ramis Stiel's first name is still misspelled in the Archival Footage and Stills credits at the very end. This is Reelz's fault, not Sony's, but it would have been nice if someone corrected it by now since I pointed it out in my review.

1987 TV Version (1:41:49) (720x480) - A re-cut of the film with some alternate TV-safe takes, reformatted for 4:3 television screens. Presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio (pan & scan) over 11 chapters with sped-up end credits. Audio volume is extremely low.

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This has been mislabeled as being from 1987. It most certainly is not. It's actually the "Late-1990s TV Version". The original ABC 1987 broadcast and ABC 1989 re-broadcast is totally different from what's on the Blu-ray. You don't even have to go very far as the 1987/1989 cut has the alternate shot from behind the students to cover the removal of "pissing me off", which isn't present here. Also, this version lacks the fade-to-blacks that were added for the insertion of commercials. There are several ways to tell that this is from the late-1990s:
  1. The word "ass" is present several times, instead of being cut out or replaced. In 1987, you would not hear, "We came, we saw, we kicked its ass" or "I'll sue your ass for wrongful prosecution". All of these are present here. "Ass" was fine to use (to a limited degree) in the late 1990s, but definitely not in 1987.
  2. The artificial camera pans - where the editor has to move the display area from left to right to show areas of the picture that would be "off screen" due to the reframing for 4:3 - are done digitally. They are unnaturally smooth (and headache inducing) compared to the way they would have been done in 1987.
  3. The end credits are letterbox. In 1987, they would have been squeezed into 4:3 fullscreen. By the late 1990s, they didn't bother doing that and just cut from the 4:3 pan-and-scan version of the movie to 4:3 letterboxed end credits.
  4. The Columbia TriStar Television Distribution logo appears at the end. That did not exist in 1987. The Columbia TriStar Television division ran from February 21, 1994 to September 16, 2002, after which it was rebranded Sony Pictures Television. If the images at the Sony Pictures Entertainment Wiki are accurate, we can peg this TV Version to 1996.
Ghostbusters TV Commercial (0:27) (1920x1080) - The complete in-movie commercial.

Ghostbusters TV Commercial - Outtakes (4:44) (1920x1080) - Outtakes from the commercial shoot.

When this video was originally released on the 2019 set, the last 5-10 seconds were a couple of jumped still frames with no audio. Sony finally fixed that issue with this release, which is why the runtime is shorter.

Scene Cemetery (12:01 play all) - Sixteen deleted scenes. The first six are in 16:9 widescreen, 1920x1080 HD; the last 10 are from the 1999 DVD and are presented in their original 4:3 letterbox 720x480 SD format (which will be windowboxed when viewed on a HDTV).
  1. Ecto-1 Parking Ticket (0:21) - The supernatural abilities of the Ectomobile reveal themselves when it burns up a parking ticket a policeman placed on its windshield.
  2. Pulling up to Fort Detmerring (0:42) - Ray and Winston arrive at Fort Detmerring in the Ecto-1. (This scene is incomplete; see this report.)
  3. Fort Detmerring Ghost (1:37) - Inside the fort, Ray falls asleep in a display, only to awaken to an erotic encounter with a dreamy ghost.
  4. Louis Encounters Woman (0:33) - Possessed Louis may have found the Gatekeeper in the form of a prostitute on the New York City streets.
  5. Louis Encounters Muggers (0:24) - While in Central Park, possessed Louis comes across some muggers in a tunnel. (This scene is incomplete; see this report.)
  6. Nobel Prize Aspirations (0:31) - While going back to their lab on the university campus, the guys discuss the possibility of winning a Nobel Prize for their work. (Special Thanks given to me and Raffaele at the end.)
  7. Stake (0:57) - Dean Yeager and the Ghostbusters have a longer talk.
  8. Dana (0:40) - Peter talks to Dana in her apartment.
  9. Honeymooners (1:11) - The Honeymooners in the Sedgewick Hotel.
  10. Winston (0:48) - Janine fields some phone calls while Winston fills out a job application.
  11. Bums (0:42) - Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd as two street bums strolling through Central Park as Louis runs past them.
  12. Busy (1:23) - Peter and Ray converse with the Mayor on the City Hall Loading Dock while Janine gives Egon her lucky coin.
  13. Promotion (0:31) - Outside the Shandor Building, Winston shares his doubts about facing Gozer.
  14. E.P.A. (0:16) - Walter Peck speaks to a cop outside the Shandor Building.
  15. Puft Hat (0:26) - The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man's hat falls to the ground.
  16. No Louis! (0:40) - Louis asks Dana if they did it.
There are no new deleted scenes since the 2019 set. The "Central Park Bums Raw Takes" scene from the 2019 set has been moved to a new "Dailies" section, where it is called "Central Park". I'm really disappointed that those last 10, which date back to the 1999 DVD, are still presented in 4:3 letterbox. I really wish Sony would have reformatted them into 16:9 widescreen by chopping a little of the blackness off the top and bottom, like they did for the "Nobel Prize Aspirations" scene that I gave them in 2019. Also, we know from its use in Afterlife that Sony has the "Lucky Coin" footage (from the "Busy" scene) in HD, so why not include it here and retire this old 4:3 Letterbox SD clip?

Dailies (1:31:17 play all) (1920x1080) - The raw takes of various lines and alternate lines from seven scenes.
  • Dana Interview (4:17)
  • Dana's Apartment (31:16)
  • Headquarters (5:22)
  • Ballroom (12:12)
  • Central Park (5:11)
  • Keymaster (25:22)
  • Mayor's Office (8:10)
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I believe that the raw dailies that were shown at the 2019 Fan Fest are included here, but I have not looked for them within the 90 minutes of footage here. If you want to pick them out, feel free to give timecodes in the comments section below. (Give timecodes for the individual scenes, not the play all.)

1984 ShoWest Exhibitor Reel (12:11) (1920x1080) - Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd pitch an early reel of footage to theatrical exhibitors. (This footage has been edited; see this report.)

A Moment With the Stars - Original EPK Featurette (15:11) (720x480) - Selected soundbites excerpted from the Electronic Press Kit.

1984 Featurette (9:37) (720x480) - Vintage 1984 interviews with the cast and crew.

Cast and Crew Featurette (10:56) (720x480) - 1999 interviews with Harold Ramis, Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd talking about the origins of Ghostbusters, how it changed their lives and careers, and how their kids like it.

SFX Team Featurette (15:26) (720x480) - 1999 interviews with more than a dozen of the original visual effects team. Includes original production photos and conceptual art.

Alternate TV Version Takes (1:23) (720x480) - Alternate lines used in the ABC 1987 TV Cut to cover for dialog that was not suitable for airing on television. (The last two are shown out of order; the numbers in parenthesis refer to the video playlist numbers on the Deleted Scenes page.)
  • What A Knockabout of Pure Fun That Was! (02a)
  • Oh No! (04a)
  • Removal of Egon's "Oh Shit" (06a)
  • I Have Seen Stuff That Will Turn You White! (08a)
  • I'll Sue Your Funny Face (03a)
  • Wally Wick (07a)
For some reason, the video is very jittery! It was not like this on the 2014 and 2019 Blu-rays. Also, since the late-1990s TV cut is included on this disc, some of the alternate takes in this collection are not to be found there.

Who You Gonna Call: A Ghostbusters Retrospective (24:04) (1920x1080) - A 2014 interview with Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd, hosted by Geoff Boucher. This is Part 1, with Part 2 being in the Ghostbusters II section on Disc 2).

Ecto-1: Resurrecting the Classic Car (15:41) (1920x1080) - This 2009 featurette looks at the restoration of the vehicle.

Ruth Oliver's Library Ghost Scream Test (1:26) (720x480) - The actress who portrays the library ghost practices how she will be screaming the word "Quiet" for when she transforms into the hideous ghost.

I was pleasantly surprised to see this here. I bet they took it from the Criterion Laserdisc Supplement DVD Raffaele made, which I gave them an ISO of back in 2019. All that's left from the Criterion laserdisc to be resurrected is the before-and-after comparisons with multiple audio tracks (I'm really surprised that Sony hasn't included them) and the hundreds of still photos. If you'd like to see video of the Scream Test, I have a copy on the Ghostbusters Behind-the-Scenes page.

Multi-Angle Explorations (5:22 play all) (720x480) - Using the Angles feature, the viewer can toggle back and forth between the rough cut and the final cut of the film to see three scenes before and after the final visual effects were added.
  • Firehouse Exploding (2:37)
  • She's a Dog (1:47)
  • Crossing the Streams (1:10)
I'm so happy to report that after 22+ years, the name of the first item has finally been fixed! Ever since the 1999 DVD, is has been mistakenly named "Spook Central Exploding".

Storyboard Comparisons (5:42 play all) (720x480) - Watch a split-screen side-by-side comparison of three scenes in the film next to their animated original storyboards.
  • Slimer (2:05)
  • Dogs Drag Dana (2:01)
  • Atop Spook Central (1:56)
Photo Galleries - All are presented in 1920x1080. Most of the galleries are stills that you have to manually navigate: left, right, and press down to return to the main menu. The Ecto-1 Restoration is a video slideshow.
  • Gallery 1988 Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary Print Collection (31 images; 16 unique pieces of art)
  • Storyboards (361 images total)
    • Haunted Stacks (14 images)
    • Boys in Library (25 images)
    • Proton Charging (24 images)
    • Slimer (100 images)
    • Louis Meets Dog (26 images)
    • Bums in Park (6 images)
    • Cheeky Ghost (13 images)
    • Mink Coat (14 images)
    • Slimer Pigs Out (6 images)
    • Louis Meets Muggers (21 images)
    • Dogs Drag Dana (25 images)
    • Atop Spook Central (87 images)
  • Production Photos (285 images total)
    • Ghoulish Librarian (24 images)
    • Lovely Floating Ghost (Dream Ghost) (18 images)
    • Production Team (4 images)
    • Slimer (59 images)
    • Spook Central (43 images)
    • Stay Puft Man (65 images)
    • Terror Dogs (72 images)
  • Design Concepts (220 images total)
    • Colorful Early Concept (1 image)
    • Colorful Ectomobile Interior (3 images)
    • Early Stay Puft Man Concepts (3 images)
    • Light Stream Chalk Drawings (19 images)
    • Pencil Librarian Ghoul Concepts (5 images)
    • Pencil Terror Dog Concepts (4 images)
    • Pencil and Chalk Creature Concepts (158 images)
    • SFX Conceptual Paintings (10 images)
    • Early Logo Concepts (17 images)
  • Ghostbusters Garage: Ecto-1 Restoration Gallery (5:31) (1920x1080)
I am EXTREMELY happy to report that all of the 1999 DVD galleries have been redone since they were resurrected in the 2019 set. For starters, Storyboards and Production Photos have been separated into subcategories. The script text has been restored under the storyboards. Best of all, unlike the 2019 set, which sourced the old DVD images from the 2005 DVD, where a horrible oil painting filter was applied to them, the DVD images here were sourced from the 1999 DVD. As such, they DON'T have that horrible oil painting filter on them. In fact, they are presented in 1920x1080 and look even BETTER than the 1999 DVD. The only way they could look even better than this is if they were rescanned in high resolution from the original photo negatives and artwork and presented as unedited flat fullscreen images (with little to no framing and zero slanting).

Because the images come from the 1999 DVD, there are three Terror Dog photos that are no longer included. There were exclusive to the 2005 DVD, where they were trashed with that oil painting filter. (I still wonder why they're on the 2005 DVD, but not the 1999 DVD.) Unless the original photographic source is used, they're garbage anyway. Yes, the screw-ups of the 2005 DVD team still haunt us. Also not included are the 10 pieces of The Real Ghostbusters artwork that the 1999 DVD team had mistakenly put in the "Colorful Early NYC Concepts" section. The one true movie-related image from that gallery (Stay Puft attacking the city) IS included here in the "Colorful Early Concept" section. Unfortunately, those pieces of The Real Ghostbusters artwork are not included in the TimeLife DVD box set, but I have them archived here on Spook Central, so they're not truly lost.

"Ghostbusters" Music Video by Ray Parker, Jr. (4:18) (720x480)

Trailers (6:14 play all) (1920x1080) - All are in widescreen, with all of the original end cards ("coming soon", etc.).
  • Theatrical Teaser (1:28)
  • International Teaser (1:04)
  • Theatrical Trailer (2:15)
  • 30th Anniversary Domestic Trailer (1:26)
Ivan Reitman DVD Promo (2:15) (720x480) - A promotional video from 1999 in which Ivan praises the then-new DVD format and touts the features of the "newly-released" Ghostbusters DVD.

I remember this video from back in the day, and it was nice seeing it again. If you want to watch it, it's part of my Ivan Reitman tribute.

---------------------------------------------------------------

-- SPECIAL FEATURES: BLU-RAY DISC 2 (GHOSTBUSTERS II & AFTERLIFE) --

Image

This disc includes special features for Ghostbusters II and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, with subtitles for nearly all of the content in the following languages: English, English SDH, Chinese Traditional, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin America), Thai.

The Ghostbusters II content is as follows.

Reitman Squared Scene Commentary (7:14) (1920x1080) - Picture-in-picture commentary with Ivan & Jason Reitman for the "Birthday Party" and "Scoleri Brothers" scenes. Jason also appears by himself with comments between scenes.

Scene Cemetery (18:42 play all) (1920x1080) - A collection of 26 deleted "scenes", though to call these "scenes" would be a gross mislabeling. Some are really just quick bits of dialog. Worse yet, those bits of dialog aren't actually deleted! Runtimes include legal text at the end of each.

Image
  1. World of the Psychic (2:53) - The original version of Peter's show featuring three female guests. One of them plays the accordion, though the sound is muted for the first 23 seconds to avoid paying music rights. Another tells of the alien she met at the Paramus Holiday Inn. A hairless cat is also featured.
  2. Fraud (0:18) - Peter talking to his producer. The Mayor walks by and Peter calls out to him.
  3. This Is Hard for Me (0:53) - Peter and Dana outside her apartment talking about their past. Ray and Egon come out and ask Dana about the stroller.
  4. It Was Right Here (0:24) - The Ghostbusters in the middle of the street measuring where the stroller rolled.
  5. Dana's Curse (0:45) - After discovering the hotspot in the road, Dana and Peter talk about the possibility of her being cursed and predisposed to supernatural phenomena.
  6. We Should Get a Deeper Reading (0:37) - Digging the hole in the street.
  7. El Gato, The Cat (0:52) - Dana chats with Peter in the courtroom before the trial. [contains one alternate take at the very start]
  8. Ladies and Gentleman of the Audience (0:33) - Louis gives his opening statement.
  9. Wow (0:11) - Ray witnessing the Scolari brothers coming out of the slime jar.
  10. He's Asleep (0:18) - Janosz making noise in the hallway and Dana telling him that Oscar's asleep.
  11. Louis' Secret (1:16) - Louis tries to zap Slimer in the firehouse lobby, and nearly fries Janine in the process.
  12. Sewer Invitation (1:23) - Ray, Egon, and Winston turn up at Peter's apartment to ask him to go down the sewers with them.
  13. He Had Me by the Throat (0:33) - The Ghostbusters trying to explain things to The Mayor and Hardemeyer at Gracie Mansion.
  14. We're Stuck in Here (0:52) - The Ghostbusters in the mental hospital talking to one of the patients.
  15. You're My Cousin (1:11) - Louis begging his dermatologist cousin Sherman (Eugene Levy) to help get the guys out of the mental hospital.
  16. They're Gonna Need Me (0:27) - Louis looking for Janine in the firehouse. She slides down the pole and tells Louis the phones have been going nuts.
  17. Peter's Concern (0:50) - Peter and Ray talk to the mayor outside the museum. This is the original "tenth level of Hell" dialog spot.
  18. We're Getting Nowhere (0:17) - The fire chief talks to Ray. This is the first part of the dialog exchange.
  19. We'll Handle Everything from Here (0:12) - Ray responds to the fire chief. This is the second part of the dialog exchange.
  20. Jack Buys It (1:37) - The Mayor's aide, Jack Hardemeyer, decides to remove the slime shell himself...which doesn't end well for him.
  21. Can You Get Into That Museum (0:51) - Alternate take of "Jack Buys It".
  22. Kumbaya (0:29) - The Ghostbusters try to get the crowd to sing.
  23. What Are You Doing Here? (0:46) - Louis talking to Slimer (not present because the scene isn't finished) after getting off the bus.
  24. Good Evening New York (0:39) - As the walking statue is nearing the shore, Peter talks to the crowd of people that have gathered in Battery Park. The audio is muted for the last 17 seconds to avoid paying for the use of the song "Higher and Higher" outside of the movie.
  25. Driving Miss Liberty (1:10) - The guys argue in Lady Liberty's crown about the best route to take to the museum.
  26. Ghostbusters with Vigo (0:44) - Random shots from inside the museum during the finale. Not a complete scene.
Image

I'm really happy to finally see the original World of the Psychic scene and one of the Sherman Tully scenes. A few of the other new bits are nice, though a lot of it isn't worth writing about. It would have been nice if Sony ponied up the money for the music used in the "World of the Psychic" and "Good Evening New York" scenes; especially the former, as we have no idea what song the guest was singing and playing.

I'm glad they they fixed the ordering of the "Louis' Secret" and "Sewer Invitation" scenes. On the 2014 and 2019 sets, they were reversed, which is out of order as per the script. I wish they would have done something more with all of the "outside the slime-covered museum" footage (items #17 - #22). What is presented here is a mess. Scenes are incorrectly edited. "Peter's Concern" and "Jack Buys It" are listed as two separate scenes, but really, they are part of the same continuous scene. The video named "Peter's Concern" contains the middle part of the conversation (from Peter's "Dracula's brother-in-law" dialog to Ray's "tenth level of hell" dialog). The video named "Jack Buys It" contains the first part of the conversation (Hardemeyer's "clown car" dialog) and the last part of the conversation (from the mayor's "Can you get into that museum?" dialog to Hardemeyer being sucked into the slime). An even worse example is "We're Getting Nowhere" and "We'll Handle Everything from Here", which is a conversation between Ray and the Fire Chief that has been broken up into two "scenes". I have no idea why they edited it like this instead of piecing/keeping it together in its proper form. All of the "outside the slime-covered museum" scenes need to be re-edited into one big scene, following the script. I'm sure some fan could use the footage here, the final movie, the B-roll that appears in the EPK, and the Titanic dialog between Peter and the Fire Chief from one of the TV spots, to reassemble a cut that is near 100% of what's in the script. I think we now have nearly all of the footage needed to make the whole scene as scripted (and seemingly filmed).

Ever since the "Louis' Secret" deleted scene premiered on the 2014 Blu-ray, the Coca-Cola logo on the refrigerator (on the left as Louis reaches the bottom of the stairs) has been blurred. I know that it will never be unblurred, but I find it weird that they still leave it blurred, while a big honkin' Coke machine is unblurred in the new "You're My Cousin" scene.

Despite the large tally of "26", there is still a lot of notable deleted scenes not present here (see the Deleted Scenes page):
   • Ghost Jogger's Lap Time
   • Ghostbusters Gift Boutique
   • Louis Sets A Trap For Slimer
   • Guys talking to museum guard in lobby (before routine spook check).
   • Possessed Ray Driving
   • Sherman Tully outside Psych Hospital.
   • The full Outside the Museum Scene (with original Titanic dialog).
   • Statue of Liberty ceremony with Slimer flying out from crown.
   • Taking Down the Old Sign.
   • Full Orrefors Crystal Shop scene.
   • Full montage scenes of Janine on phone and Louis catching Slimer eating his lunch.
   • Egon and Ray test some mood slime with some electronic headgear.
   • There has to be more with Winston in courtroom, since he comes and goes in the film.

As I previously stated, some of the items here were not deleted from the film. However, they were filmed from alternate angles. Let's take a look at two of them, and how they compare to the final film. The first video is "Fraud"; first the "deleted scene" then the film clip at 11:00. The second video is "Wow"; first the "deleted scene" then the film clip at 32:40.

Play Video

Play Video

Randy Edelman Music Commentary (2:39) (1920x1080) - The opening scene from the film with commentary from composer Randy Edelman.

This short piece was uploaded to Youtube on August 28, 2021 as an advertisement for the score album release. Honestly, it's not super exciting, and plays out more like an English Descriptive audio track than a commentary, but at least they included it. That's more than can be said for the plethora of online promotional materials for Afterlife.

1992 TV Version (1:37:27) (720x480) - A re-cut of the film with some alternate TV-safe takes, reformatted for 4:3 television screens, with fade-to-blacks for the insertion of commercials. Presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio (pan & scan) over 10 chapters with sped-up end credits.

Image

As far as I'm aware, the only alternate footage here (at 1:02:00) is the "wretched walking worms" in place of "miserable assholes" when the guys talk to the Mayor in Gracie Mansion. The rest of the film is 100% the same, though a whole 9-minute chunk of the film has been removed. "Edited for Television" appears at the bottom of the screen at the beginning of the film. The picture quality tells me that this was definitely sourced from video; perhaps a TV broadcast master tape. It definitely looks like it's from 1992...

...but I have some doubts. The runtime is about 10 to 11 minutes shorter than the theatrical cut. If I remember correctly, the original ABC broadcasts of both movies were slotted in for two and a half hours so that they would not have to edit them for time, just for content. The cut presented here has a HUGE chunk edited out from it. It jumps from the scene with Peter "putting down" the baby to the guys in the subway tunnel; completely editing out the "routine spook check", Peter finding that Dana cleaned the apartment, Louis asking Janine out, Egon and Ray examining the photos, and the guys asking Peter to blow off his date to go with them into the sewers. That's a whopping NINE MINUTES REMOVED! I don't have an ABC recording to compare it to, but I'm pretty sure that much of the film was never removed from an ABC broadcast. If this cut were from 1992, I think that the runtime would be a lot closer to 1 hour and 48 minutes (the final cut's runtime). I think what's on the disc might actually be the syndicated TV cut of Ghostbusters II. It would not have been in syndication until a few years after 1992, which is when ABC did their original broadcast. Anyone have a copy of the ABC broadcast from 1992 for comparison?

"The Oprah Winfrey Show: Cast of Ghostbusters II" - June 1989 (43:17) (720x480) - The entire main cast chat with Oprah Winfrey on what it was like to make the film and be a part of the Ghostbusters franchise. (This show has two portions edited from it; see this report.)

Ghostbusters II Original EPK (41:37) (720x480) - Contains segments 3 through 9 of the EPK. As the chapters are randomly placed, here is where each segment starts:
    00:00 - 3. Featurette (NO TITLE CARD)
    06:30 - 4. Four Guys Profile
    09:56 - 5. Ivan Reitman Profile
    12:45 - 6. Sigourney Weaver Profile
    15:28 - 7. Annie and Rick Profile
    18:49 - 8. Selected Soundbytes
    36:17 - 9. Selected B-Roll

This video appears here in the same manner as it premiered on the 2019 set, so I knew they would not reinstate the missing portions of the EPK that were purposely left out. However, at the very least, they should have changed the chapter placement. The video has sections that make for perfect spots to put the chapter marks, and yet they still didn't use them.

Time Is But A Window: Ghostbusters II and Beyond (16:16) (1920x1080) - A 2014 interview with Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd, hosted by Geoff Boucher. This is Part 2, with Part 1 being in the Ghostbusters section on Disc 1).

"On Our Own" Music Video by Bobby Brown (4:35) (720x480)

Trailers (7:53 play all) (1920x1080) - All are in widescreen, with all of the original end cards ("coming soon", etc.):
  • Domestic Teaser (1:07)
  • International Teaser (2:32) (this was "Trailer #2" on the 2014 Blu-ray and "International Theatrical Trailer" on the 2019 Blu-ray)
  • Theatrical Trailer (2:26)
  • Rare Unfinished Teaser (1:46) - Contains the full in-movie commercial. The face of the model on the Cosmopolitan magazine cover is still blurred.

Here is what the disc holds for Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

Jason's Sneak Peek From Set (2:06) (1920x1080) - A pre-recorded message from Jason Reitman, on the Temple of Gozer set, to a crowd gathered on the Sony lot.

Image

Just when I thought I've seen everything there is for Afterlife. I wish Sony would have provided some context for this. Based on what Jason says in the video, it was shown at some public gathering on the Sony lot in 2019 that Ivan was speaking at. The video gives the impression that Jason couldn't be at this event because he was in the middle of filming the movie. That means that it wasn't at Fan Fest. Plus, we would have seen people's cell phone video of it, if it were. Anyone know what event this video was originally shown at?

Trailers (7:42 play all) (1920x1080) - All are in widescreen, with all of the original 2020 end cards, though the International trailer's end card changed from "July 2" to "Coming Soon".
  • Teaser Trailer (0:53) - Released on January 16, 2019, which I reviewed here.
  • Theatrical Trailer 1 (2:28) - Released on December 9, 2019, which I reviewed here.
  • Theatrical Trailer 2 (2:28) - Released on July 27, 2021, which I reviewed here.
  • International Trailer (1:52) - Edited down version of (Domestic) Trailer #1 (Dec. 9, 2019), but with the field testing ending.
The domestic trailers are the same as the ones originally released online (see review links), except for one small difference in Trailer #2. The text at 1:22 reads "This Fall" instead of "This Thanksgiving", and the end card doesn't contains the "PG-13" rating logo under the "score album" box. The lack of a rating, and the generic "Fall" release date, tells me that the copy Sony used for the Blu-ray was made before the trailer that premiered online. In other words, the trailer uploaded online is a slightly revised version of the one on this disc.

Since these trailers are not really exclusive to the Blu-ray, and are essentially the same as what Sony has released online over the past few years, I'm sharing my Blu-ray rips with all of you via my Internet Archive account. You can also download the original MKV files via these links: Teaser Trailer (1/16/2019, 74MB), Theatrical Trailer 1 (12/9/2019, 217MB), International Trailer (12/9/2019, 166MB), and Theatrical Trailer 2 (7/27/2021, 218MB).

I'm glad that we got some of the movie advertising, but the third/"final" trailer is missing, as are all of the TV spots. Not to mention all of the online promotional materials that I mentioned in my review of the standalone Afterlife releases. I really hate that this Ultimate Collection treats Afterlife like an afterthought.

---------------------------------------------------------------

-- THE ULTIMATE CONCLUSION --

Image

This is a really great set and I'm honored to have contributed to it with the "Making Ghostbusters" book and the "Nobel Prize Aspirations" deleted scene (and possibly the Ruth Oliver Library Ghost Scream Test). It doesn't quite reach "ultimate" status, but it does a whole lot of things right. As tends to be the case with these things, there is a LOT of content that is missing. With Afterlife, I know that Sony is purposely holding stuff back for a future release because that film is very well documented and the material is readily available. As for the original two films, I really can't say what the situation is, but I suspect more stuff will "magically" show up in two years for the franchise's 40th anniversary.

Here's the list of stuff from previous home video releases, and online distribution, that is missing. The last few items are not directly-related to the theatrical films, but they're gone now, and we'd like to have them back. In fact, the items related to The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters should, ideally, be used on a "The Ultimate Ghostbusters Animation Collection" SD-on-Blu-ray box set, with every episode of both series (including Slimer!), all alternate RGB episodes, the restored RGB pilot in HD, all TimeLife materials in HD (as they were originally recorded), and what's listed below.
  • Criterion Collection Laserdisc: Split-Screen Effects Comparison - Library Ghost, with multiple audio tracks.
  • Criterion Collection Laserdisc: Split-Screen Effects Comparison - Ballroom, with multiple audio tracks.
  • Criterion Collection Laserdisc: Hundreds of Still Photos/Drawings/Storyboards/Text.
  • Criterion Collection Laserdisc/GB1 1999 DVD: Screenplay Text (was on-screen on LD, on DVD-ROM on DVD).
  • GB2 1999 DVD: Talent & Filmographies. These are brief biographies and filmographies of the film's main cast with photos alongside. Yes, they are dated now, but for archival purposes, I'd love to still see them.
  • Big Daddy DVD: GB1/GB2 15th Anniversary Video/DVD Trailer. (This is the Adam Sandler movie from 1999.)
  • Men in Black Blu-ray: Ghostbusters 2009 Blu-ray Trailer.
  • Online: Ghostbusters 1&2 2019 4K/Blu-ray Steelbook Commercial (June 11, 2019).
  • Online: Afterlife Trailer #3 (Final Trailer)
  • Online: ALL Afterlife Online Promotional Materials (NYC premiere soundbites, NYC premiere photos, movie photos, movie soundbites, movie b-roll, passing the proton pack, and WAY too much more stuff to list here)
  • Online: ALL Adam Savage Afterlife videos (too many to list here)
  • GB1 2009 Blu-Ray: Making of Ghostbusters: The Video Game featurette.
  • GB1 2009 Blu-Ray: Ghostbusters: The Video Game "Atari Live/When Disaster Strikes" Trailer.
  • GB1/GB2 2019 4k/Blu Set: The Real Ghostbusters Pitch Concept Pilot (HD) (Ideally, this will be ported over to a Real Ghostbusters: Complete Series SD-on-Blu-ray release with all of the TimeLife special features sourced from the HD masters - if Sony ever gives us one.)
  • Rudyard Kipling's The Second Jungle Book VHS: The Original Extreme Ghostbusters opening title sequence. (This was among the trailers at the start of the original VHS release of this movie in 1997. Ideally, this will be ported over to an Extreme Ghostbusters: Complete Series DVD release - if Sony ever gives us one.)
Here's the prerequisite list of stuff I'd like to see added to a future release. I can even help provide some of it. I would also suggest that SONY CONTACT INDUSTRIAL LIGHT AND MAGIC to see what they have in their archives for Ghostbusters II. They provided a finished photo from the Slimer Chicken Trap deleted scene for the "Industrial Light & Magic: Into The Digital Realm" book, so they may have the entire thing - and more! It would also be nice if some of the incomplete or edited things could be made whole again, but I know that some of these were edited on purpose. More details can be found in this Spook Central article.
  • The mess of Ghostbusters II deleted scenes, specifically the outside museum scenes.
  • Ghostbusters II Electronic Press Kit
  • Ghostbusters II Oprah Winfrey Show Episode
  • Ghostbusters Fort Detmerring Deleted Scene
  • Ghostbusters Louis Encounters Muggers Deleted Scene
  • Ghostbusters ShoWest Exhibitor Reel
If you're still with me this far, I should have given you enough information to make an informed decision on whether to buy this or not. Unfortunately, if you don't already own it, you're stuck paying higher aftermarket prices to Amazon Marketplace sellers or eBay scalpers, because the set was already out-of-print by its February 1, 2022 release date. As reported by The Digital Bits on that date...
Also today, we've confirmed with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment that their Ghostbusters Ultimate Edition 4K Ultra HD release was a limited edition. Not only did it sell out almost everywhere within a day or two of its announcement, the studio currently has no plans to make more copies.
You won't have any better luck at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, or Deep Discount. They all are either "sold out" or, as is the case with Walmart, now charging over $200 for it.

I think it sucks that this set is a "limited time offer", just like the 2019 4K/Blu Steelbook set. While I love the ghost trap packaging and the "Making Ghostbusters" book (since I provided it to Sony), I hope that Sony will put out a sleeker, discs-only set without all of the swag for a wide general release so that everyone has a chance to get all of the exclusive special features. Warner Brothers has done that with their Complete Series Blu-ray sets for Batman: The Animated Series (originally with figures) and Batman Beyond (originally with a figure and cards). Let's hope Sony feels the same. This is a great box set that comes highly recommended... if you can get your hands on it.

5 comments

Comment from: Daniel Debs [Visitor]

My wife managed to snag me a copy before they all sold out and I really love the set. It’s disappointing though how much stuff is missing though for GB2 and Afterlife. Where’s the rest of the deleted scenes? And I’d love that three hour cut of Afterlife.

Feb. 25, 2022 @ 00:03
Comment from: Spottedfeather [Visitor]  

I don’t suppose you could do high quality scans of the front and back of this set ? The pictures you posted were kind of small.

Mar. 20, 2022 @ 11:23
Comment from: [Member]

Eventually, large images of the packaging will be added to the reference library section of Spook Central. I don’t know when I will get the chance to do that. It’s not a high priority for me right now. - Paul

Mar. 20, 2022 @ 11:33
Comment from: Spottedfeather [Visitor]

Ah, cool. No rush. I didn’t see your response before I sent you a message. So…just ignore that one.

Mar. 20, 2022 @ 14:22
Comment from: NSGhostbusters (Noah) [Visitor]

I’ve noticed that in the GBII TV cut at 1:25:16 when Vigo gets shot by the proton streams, that his growls have some sort of scream filtered over them. - Noah

May. 17, 2022 @ 17:34

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