Trailer Image Comparison

Below are some frame comparisons between different home video versions of "Ghostbusters" trailers. Before each image is a brief introduction on what to look for between the images. I made a very concerted effort to get the exact frame from all versions. Some 4:3 letterbox images may have had their black bars removed in order to make them "widescreen" so they can match other images a little better.

Each frame has a few rollover images. The image displayed by default is the first one listed in the caption above the image. Mouse over the captions to swap the images back and forth. Keep in mind that these are large screenshots, so viewers with slow Internet connections should expect to wait a while for images to load.

The comparison here is between the 1989 Criterion Collection Laserdisc, which presents a 4:3 cropped version, and the 2019 Blu-ray, which presents a 16:9 HD widescreen version.

#1: The Sky Is Falling - This shows that the Criterion laserdisc is cropped, has overblown colors, and has a soft image. The Blu-ray restores the missing image and has better clarity, though it's a tad dark.

1989 Laserdisc    2019 Blu-Ray

#2: Emergency Vehicles Only - This shows that the Criterion laserdisc is cropped, has overblown colors, and has a soft image. The Blu-ray restores the missing image and has better clarity, though it's a tad dark.

1989 Laserdisc    2019 Blu-Ray

#3: Credits Card - This shows that the Criterion laserdisc is cropped, has overblown colors, and has a soft image. The Blu-ray restores the missing image and has better clarity, though it's a tad dark.

1989 Laserdisc    2019 Blu-Ray

The comparison here is between the Ghostbusters II 1999 DVD (if I remember correctly - as Ghostbusters was 4:3 Fullscreen), which presents a 4:3 letterbox version, and the 2019 Blu-ray, which presents a 16:9 HD widescreen version. I removed the black bars from the DVD image so that it can better match up with the widescreen Blu-ray image, though as you'll see, it still cropped the image a bit on the sides. One image also has a comparison from the 2014 Blu-Ray, which presented a fake trailer that used footage from the restored HD movie instead of the original trailer video footage.

On the Spook Central Facebook page you can find a video comparison of the real trailer (top) and the fake 2014 Blu-ray trailer (bottom), which was assembled by Matthew Jordan at my (Paul Rudoff) request.
Note: The complete real trailer includes the "coming soon" end card, but the copy used in this video was missing that card, so that's not a difference even though it seems like one here. Also, apologies for the slight echo. There are three differences, which are as follows:
1. Replaces deleted "I'm the chairman" footage with Peter looking at the Ghostbusters sign final movie footage.
2. Flipped "Dana looking at camera" shot.
3. After "Smoking!", an unused(?) crowd shot is replaced with a different crowd shot and a Gozer close-up.

#4: Ecto-1 Roof Rack - The DVD is a little overblown, which causes some details to be lost. Even though it was letterbox, it did not present the complete image as half of the round blue light on the right is missing. The DVD does show a little more picture on the top and bottom, but not a lot to complain about its loss on the Blu-ray.

1999 DVD    2019 Blu-Ray

#5: Snot-Covered Books - Better coloring and contrast in the Blu-ray image, as noticable in Ray's face (in the background) and the skeletal detail in Peter's hand. Again, you see more image on the left and right in the Blu-ray image.

1999 DVD    2019 Blu-Ray

#6: I'm The Chairman - Some of you will recognize this as deleted scene footage. Although the Blu-ray is darker, it has better contrast. Also included here is the shot from the fake trailer on the 2014 Blu-ray. Since that trailer was comprised of footage taken from the movie, and this shot doesn't exist in the movie, the team behind that release replaced it with the shot of Marty putting up the sign.

1999 DVD    2019 Blu-Ray    2014 Blu-Ray

#7: Title Screen - This is the one shot where I think the 1999 DVD looks better. The glow around the title there is blue (as it should be), while it's green (and dark) on the Blu-ray. The Blu-ray team needed to do a little color correction here.

1999 DVD    2019 Blu-Ray