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Ghostbusters 2016 4K Blu-Ray DVD Home Video Review

 By Paul Rudoff on Oct. 28, 2016 at 11:30 PM , Categories: Home Video, The 2016 Parody Remake
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(photo by me, Paul Rudoff, taken in Target on Oct. 11, 2016)

Ghostbusters 2016 (aka Ghostbusters: Answer The Call) has been on home video...excuse me, home entertainment for a few weeks now. It's now time for Spook Central to give its official review, and give you the comprehensive details on what to find in each release. It should be noted that this review only covers United States releases, though it will likely be applicable to Canada, too. Not sure about Mexico or areas outside of North America. I suspect that the discs are, for the most part, the same worldwide, but I can't say for sure, so I'll just err on the safe side and cover what I know has been released here in the U.S.

-- THE MOVIE --

Before I get to the different versions, I should point out that the framing and formatting of the movie is all over the place. While the majority of the film is framed at 2.39:1 (with black bars at the top and bottom of the 16:9 screen), the majority of special effects (and some character's heads and bodies) leak out over the black bars, while the portal scene at the end was filmed in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio (for IMAX). I don't have a problem with the IMAX fullscreen, as The Dark Knight was done the same way, but the effects and heads going out of frame is a big issue for me. I think this was done to make them look 3D, but it actually makes it look fake because it literally takes you out of the movie and make the effects noticeable. I guess Feig and company forgot that the rule with special effects is to make your forget (or not realize) that you're watching special effects.

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(Normal Framing)

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(Leaked Framing)

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(IMAX Framing)

THEATRICAL CUT (1:56:34)
I've already given my review back in July after seeing the movie in the theater, and although I have warmed up to the movie a little bit, for the most part, I still stand by the opinions I gave after that single theatrical viewing. It's still a big mess that is rarely funny and is more concerned with its own agendas than in being a good movie. That said, it's actually not as bad is it could have been. The Extended Cut and the Alternate & Extended Scenes will show us that.

It should be noted that the "Theatrical Cut" on the disc is NOT the same cut that was shown in theaters in July 2016. There has been at least one alteration. After the ladies investigate the subway, there is an exterior shot of the Chinese restaurant headquarters in which you can see the Ecto-1 parked in the garage - before Patty has even joined the team, much less gotten the car from her uncle! In both cuts on the disc, the car has been digitally removed from the shot. Interestingly, the original shot is in the Target-exclusive "The World of Ghostbusters" featurette at 17:52. Ironically, that shot is used to illustrate a before-and-after comparison of digital alterations made to make the shot look more like New York instead of Boston. Below is the original shot (taken from the featurette), followed by the digitally-altered shot (taken from Blu-ray). Click on each for full size.

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(Original Theatrical Release)

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(Home Video Release)

EXTENDED CUT (2:13:44)
If you didn't like the Theatrical Cut, you will absolutely HATE the Extended Cut. It amps up the stupidity, juvenile humor, and man-hate to 11. This isn't just the theatrical cut with deleted scenes added back in. Some alternate takes were put in in place of other footage, even though it means that two fan favorite lines are no longer present. Gone are "salty parabolas" and "burn in Hell", replaced with "once you pop" and "fuck you". While a full comparison is available at Movie-Censorship.com, below is a quick list of highlights and lowlights on the significant newly-added footage in this cut (not the alternate takes).

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5:36 - An awkward conversation between Erin, her boyfriend Phil Hudson (Justin Kirk), and mentor Phyllis Adler (Elizabeth Perkins). It's long, boring, and terminally unfunny. It drags on even more in the full scene, present in the Extended & Alternate Scenes section.

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46:18 - Rowan and hotel guest Mrs. Potter (Lesley Nicol), in which she complains about ectoplasm dripping down her door frame. Some got on her back, which is causing an entity to manifest underneath her skin. I read about this scene in the novelizations and was disappointed that it was not present in the theatrical cut. This is one of the few changes in the Extended Cut that I like, though I think the creature effect should be scarier. It looks a little too cute to me.

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50:00 - Abby found an old photo of her and Erin at the grade school science fair with their "The Durable But Not Impenetrable Barrier" project. I don't know who's portraying young Abby and Erin, but this was a cute photo and wouldn't have hurt the movie if it were left in the Theatrical Cut. Unfortunately, it leads to...

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...adult Abby and Erin re-enacting the song and dance that went with that project. I'm sure it was cute when they did it as kids, but it's oh so bad when they do it as adults. That said, it kinda falls into the "so bad, it's good" category and you can't help but watch it. It's shorted in the Extended Cut; the full-length scene is in the Extended & Alternate Scenes section. Oddly, the rap that was reprinted in all of the junior and adult novels and Ghosts From Our Past books is not in the scene.

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1:26:37 - After being fake-arrested at the hotel, the Ghostbusters walk down the street and are met by blogger Chris Gethard (as himself), who pesters (not in the violent way) Erin about her "Ghost Girl" past. She punches him out, making the cover page of the New York Times. This leads to a scene in the headquarters of Jillian reading the paper to Erin, TV interviews with both Deans (Fillmore and Shanks) about Erin, and Kevin telling Abby that he wants to be a Ghostbuster.

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1:30:30 - Abby's possession now has a LOT of gross-out juvenile humor. Slime now oozes out of every one of her orifices, because the movie was apparently lacking in snot gags. Then she gets up and violently projectile vomits all over the bathroom. Paul Feig must fucking think his target audience is 5-year-olds because I have no other explanation for this shit. Seriously, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie is less gross than Ghostbusters.

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1:38:45 - While all Hell is breaking loose, Dean Fillmore is sitting in a coffee shop with a Boston Red Sox baseball player ghost (Lenny Clarke), who yells to him that "Yankees Suck!" This was a funny little bit that didn't ruin the pace of the movie (like so much other stuff that was left in), so I have to wonder why it was cut from the theatrical release. Maybe they couldn't get the special effect done in time.

Play Video

1:43:20 - The scene that everyone knew was a bad idea when they read about it, and was relieved when they saw that it was not included in the Theatrical Cut (except for being used alongside the end credits). Rowan-possessed-Kevin uses his control over the police and military not to have them use their pistols and assault rifles to massacre the four mortal Ghostbusters, but rather to make them dance to the Bee Gee's "You Should Be Dancing". I guess he really didn't want to take over the world after all. So much for all that talk of pestering the living. While this brief scene is not as stupid as I imagined (though it looks like it originally went on for longer than what's shown here), it's still an idea that should have been aborted in the writing phase. Just because the gag of making the police dance worked when Chuck Russell did it in his 1994 hit The Mask, starring Jim Carrey, does not mean that it works (or belongs) in your film, Mr. Feig. You wasted so much of Sony's money on crap like this.

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1:48:50 - When the Ghostbusters enter the hotel lobby, Rowan-possessed-Kevin thinks that Frank (Brian Baumgartner), a confused tenant of the building, is a fifth Ghostbuster. I read this scene in the novels and thought that it would have been a great cameo for Rick Moranis. You know, if he wasn't retired and had he wanted to be a part of the movie.

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1:52:45 - The Ghostbusters discuss "crossing the streams" as a way of reversing the polarity of the portal, and then they go up to it and try it.

There's a small audio glitch at the end of the mayor's office scene in the extended cut. After he says "on that horrifying note", the score starts to play, but is abruptly cut off before he says "thank you all so much for coming". It's a glitch in the seamless branching used to cut from the theatrical cut to the extended cut on the Blu-ray. You may not even hear it unless you're listening with headphones, as I was.

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-- THE STANDARD RELEASE --

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BLU-RAY
Since this is the most common mainstream release, and the one that contains the most material, I will cover it first. I'm considering this as the "base" release. Do note that this is Blu-ray only (plus Digital Copy code). There is no Blu-ray/DVD combo pack release in the U.S. :-(

Inside the case, you get one disc adorned with Slimer artwork, which contains both Theatrical & Extended cuts of the film, with the following specifications:

• Languages: English 5.1 DTS-HD, Spanish 5.1.
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish.
• Scene Selections: 16 chapters in each version.

The Blu-ray main menu features the Walk The Moon cover of Ghostbusters (first track on the soundtrack), while the effects imagery from the main end credits plays in the background. Special Features are as follows:
  • Writer & Director Commentary (on both cuts)
    • Participants: Paul Feig (director & writer) and Katie Dippold (writer).
  • Filmmaker Commentary (on both cuts)
    • Participants: Paul Feig (director & co-writer), Brent White (editor), Jessie Henderson (executive producer), Jefferson Sage (production designer), Peter G. Travers (visual effects supervisor), and Mark Hawker (special effects supervisor).
  • Gag Reel Round 1 (7:30)
  • Gag Reel Round 2 (7:59)
  • Deleted Scenes (9:22):
    • Past Lives (2:02)
    • The Big Test (0:47)
    • The Breakup (6:25)
    • Where Are You? (0:24)
  • Extended & Alternate Scenes (21:14):
    • Erin Walks To Class (0:53)
    • Phil & Phyllis (4:30)
    • The Duke (2:27)
    • The Dean (2:06)
    • Bennie & Erin (1:13)
    • Protect The Barrier (3:10)
    • The Beasts of Mayhem (0:41)
    • Casper (1:53)
    • Visine (1:18)
    • Where's The Walkie (1:58)
    • Rebecca Gorin (2:00)
  • Jokes A Plenty (34:30):
    • Free For All (11:48)
    • Holtzmann Gone Wild (9:33)
    • The Patty Show (5:32)
    • Kevin Unleashed (4:20)
    • The Dean Goes Down (0:50)
    • The Bird (2:25)
  • Meet The Team (8:04)
  • The Ghosts of Ghostbusters (13:57)
  • Visual Effects: 30 Years Later (15:16)
  • Slime Time (5:15)
  • Chris Hemsworth Is Kevin (7:42)
  • Photo Gallery (86 concept art still images, no photographs)
  • Previews (all also shown on boot-up):
    • The Shallows (2:37)
    • The Magnificent Seven (1:59)
    • Inferno (1:24)
    • Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV (2:15)
    • Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2:15)
  • Boot-Up Ad for Blu-ray & Digital Copy (0:35)
EASTER EGGS
• Rowan's Manifesto (0:47) - Go to Special Features, Gag Reels, highlight "Gag Reel Round 2", press UP. An image of Slimer will quickly appear, then the video will play.

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The deleted, extended & alternate scenes show why this footage was cut out. Much of it is so stupid or man-hating, even more than the movie, that it becomes a slog to sit through. I watch a scene like "Where's The Walkie?" and I have to wonder, "Who thought this would have been a great thing to film, much less put in the movie?" That's a rhetorical question, as we all know who's responsible for crap like that. His initials are PF (no Chang's).

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"The Breakup", which is about the dissolvement of Abby & Erin's friendship, features the college talk show clip that I discussed in my adult novel review. Interestingly, while the on-set sign calls the show "Great Reads On The Quad", in the "Past Lives" deleted scene, Abby refers to the talk show as "Wolverine Scene". So, both Ghosts From Our Past and the adult novel are correct! Also, the host is played by Michael Hitchcock. (Thanks to Troy Benjamin for the ID.)

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The "Visine" deleted scene features Joel Murray as a security guard who meets up with possessed-Kevin in the hotel basement. Joel is not only the brother of Bill and Bryan-Doyle Murray, he was also a voice actor in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, and directed an episode of the Melissa McCarthy TV series "Mike & Molly".

Jokes-A-Plenty should be called "Improvised Alternate Takes". None of them are really any good or funny, which makes the over 30-minute runtime more torturous to sit through than anything the Elite Hunting Club could do to you. I take that back. I laughed at a few of Annie Potts' lines. She's awesome.

The five featurettes are good, and way more enjoyable than the aforementioned stuff. You can figure out what each one is about based on their titles. The only issue I have with them is that all clips from the original movies used therein are, for whatever reason, drained of their color. They're clearly not taken from the recent Blu-ray releases. I hope the clips haven't been altered so as to make the new film look better by comparison. Even the 1999 DVDs didn't look this drab.

The "Photo Gallery" is misnamed as there are no photographs. It's 86 pieces of concept art, all fullscreen in high-definition. I would have loved to have had a few more galleries like this, but with photographs of everything and anything. In-Movie, behind the scenes/on-set, the actors and characters, the posters, and even more concept artwork. I'm a sucker for this type of stuff, and I've always been saddened that we never got anything like this for either of the original two films.

If you were keeping tabs on this movie for the better part of this year, you'll instantly notice that there is a bunch of content missing from this disc. Not a single one of the trailers or TV spots is included here, nor are the promotional featurettes, or the music videos. I have no idea why. We got trailers for both of the original films on their 2014 Blu-ray releases, and the respective music videos, too (after waiting 15 years since the first DVDs). This seems like a huge step back. Here's a list of official YouTube uploads for the missing material. Go download it all and burn your own disc to supplement this one. I wish that the entire end credits without the credits text would have been included as an Easter Egg. The first part is on here under the Blu-ray main menu, but that's only a small part of the sequence, which may have been the best thing in the entire film.

Included inside the case of every physical release is an Ultraviolet HD digital copy code (more on that further below), along with a fold-out booklet featuring ads and coupons for the following: Ghostbusters VR app (the 4K comes with a code to get it for free); Pasta Chips (coupon); Balance bars (two coupons); Ghostbusters Activision video game; the R-Rated Blu-rays of Ghostbusters 1 & 2, Goosebumps, and Pixels; Pasta Chips Cruise Sweepstakes; Wayback Burgers (coupon); Goodwill Stores; and Shutterfly (free mug code).

On the reverse of the digital copy code voucher is an offer to buy select Blu-ray and DVDs from Sony's website. The site doesn't show you the full list of movies unless you enter your code first (not the same one for the digital copy), which forces you to use the code even if you don't find anything you want. As of this writing, here is the list of movies available to buy on Blu-ray or Digital (for $5.99) or DVD (for $4.99), with free shipping on either physical format.
  • Battle: Los Angeles
  • Blue Jasmine
  • Captain Phillips
  • Grown Ups
  • Grown Ups 2
  • Here Comes The Boom
  • Jack and Jill
  • Men In Black
  • Men In Black 2
  • Men In Black 3
  • Moneyball
  • Paul Blart: Mall Cop
  • Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2
  • Soul Surfer
  • The Amazing Spider-Man
  • The Amazing Spider-Man 2
  • The Social Network
  • Zookeeper
Yeah, it's mostly crappy Adam Sandler and Kevin James films. I guess this is the stuff that Sony can't get rid of otherwise. Do note that it's, apparently, not one movie per code. It seems that you use one code to unlock the offer, and then can add as many movies as you want. In other words, with one code, you can buy 1 movie or all 18 movies. I don't know for sure because I was never able to complete my order. Even after creating an account (because the "guest checkout" option was always greyed out), and logging in, I kept getting redirected to this error message: "Your session has expired due to inactivity or you have logged in from another browser. Please log in again. Thank you." I'm not upset because Sony is not selling these titles at any special prices, as you can get them for about the same prices most anywhere else. So, I'll just pick up Men in Black 1 & 2 elsewhere (already have them on DVD since their first releases).

Since I can't use them, here are my three codes (from three different Blu-ray releases): ZD9PX85TY2 / 1VSSCSAT91 / BDYSC8JTFB (offer expires 1/31/2017).

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-- THE POOR MAN'S RELEASE --

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DVD
The runtime is 1:56:28, which pretty much matches the Blu-ray. Six seconds is hardly anything to be concerned about. The Photo Gallery is the same as the Blu-ray, and all images are in the exact same order.

The DVD release only contains the Theatrical Cut of the film, with the following specifications:

• Video: 2.39:1 Anamorphic Widescreen.
• Languages: English, English Audio Description, Spanish (all 5.1 Dolby Digital).
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish.
• Scene Selections: 16 chapters.

A small selection of extras are present:
  • Writer & Director Commentary
    • Participants: Paul Feig (director & writer) and Katie Dippold (writer).
  • Filmmaker Commentary
    • Participants: Paul Feig (director & co-writer), Brent White (editor), Jessie Henderson (executive producer), Jefferson Sage (production designer), Peter G. Travers (visual effects supervisor), and Mark Hawker (special effects supervisor).
  • Jokes A Plenty: Free For All (11:48)
  • Meet The Team (8:04)
  • Visual Effects: 30 Years Later (15:16)
  • Slime Time (5:15)
  • Photo Gallery (86 concept art still images, no photographs)
Surprisingly, the Easter Egg from the Blu-ray is carried over. To find it, go to Special Features, and on the first page, highlight "Writer & Director Commentary Off". Press RIGHT to reveal a hidden Slimer, then press ENTER to view Rowan's Manifesto (0:48).

Sadly, you're losing out on so much content from the Blu-ray release, yet paying almost as much for it. The DVD retails for a little under $20, and the Blu-ray is usually a little over $20. If that wasn't insulting enough, Sony even tells you on the back of the DVD case that you bought the wrong version.

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Honestly, I can't recommend the DVD version unless, like me, you're a video collector who wants a copy of the movie on multiple formats - and even then, wait until it hits the under-$5.00 discount bins at Walmart, Target, or Best Buy. For the love of all that is good and holy, please do NOT pay full price for substantially less content. There is no reason Sony couldn't have made this a two-disc set with both cuts of the film and all extras found on the Blu-ray, and sold it for the same price. Of course, the studios are trying to push everyone away from DVD, and this is a prime example of that. Let's face it, they want the DVD format to be as dead as Gertrude Aldridge.

If you don't own a Blu-ray player, you're better off saving up some money and buying a cheap $65 Blu-ray player from Target and then buying the Blu-ray version of the movie than wasting money on this sampler DVD.

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-- THE CINEPHILE'S RELEASE --

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4K ULTRA HD/3D BLU-RAY/2D BLU-RAY COMBO PACK
This three-disc combo pack is not for the average mainstream consumer, as you will need a specific type of player and a specific type of television in order to watch it. For the 4K ULTRA HD disc, you will need a 4K UHD TV with HDR, Ultra HD Blu-ray player, and a high-speed HDMI 2.0A cable. For the 3D BLU-RAY disc, you will need a 3D HDTV, and a 3D Blu-ray player or PlayStation 3 console, 3D glasses, and a high-speed HDMI cable.

Inside the case, you get three discs, each adorned with different artwork. The 4K ULTRA HD disc, which only contains the Extended Cut of the movie, features artwork of the "Ghostbusters" title and assorted logos over a plain black and grey background, and has the following specifications:

• Video: 2160p Ultra High Definition
• Languages: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible), English Audio Descriptive Service 5.1, Spanish 5.1.
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish.

The 3D BLU-RAY disc, which only contains the Theatrical Cut of the movie, features the new metal-beveled No Ghost logo on the face of the disc, and has the following specifications:

• Languages: English 5.1 DTS-HD, English Audio Description 5.1, French 5.1, Spanish (Latin Am) 5.1, Spanish (Mexican) 5.1, Thai 5.1.
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, Cantonese, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, French, Indonesian/Bahasa Indonesia, Korean, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese.

As far as bonus features go, the 4K ULTRA HD disc contains a "Cast & Crew" section with some still photos of the cast and crew, as well as a "Moments" section that is a collection of clips from the film themed as follows: Light 'Em Up (4:50), Kevin (9:37), Ghosts (11:02), and The World (6:22). The 3D disc contains no additional bonus features.

The third disc in the case is the standard 2D Blu-ray disc that I detailed above. However, instead of featuring Slimer artwork on it's face, we get the "Ghostbusters" title and assorted logos over a plain blue and grey background.

This combo pack includes an exclusive code (hidden in the booklet that is otherwise identical to the one that comes with the standard Blu-ray release) that allows you to download the Ghostbusters VR app for free. You enter the code on the website, and will then be forced to create a Ghostbusters VR account, after which you will be instructed to download the app in the Google or Apple app stores. Sadly, I wasted my time using the code and creating an account because the app doesn't work on either of my devices. I knew that it wouldn't work on my iPod Touch (because Apple won't let me upgrade it past iOS v6), but I was surprised that I could not install it on the Polaroid tablet I bought last year on Black Friday. It says that "this item is not compatible with your device". Oh well, the trailer on the website made it look like a fun way to kill a few minutes.

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-- STORE EXCLUSIVE RELEASES --


This is the standard Blu-ray edition, with a sticker on the slipsleeve front cover and an exclusive "Bonus Disc" DVD tossed into the case. The DVD contains "The World of Ghostbusters" featurette (25:12) and nothing else, not even a menu! Although I wish there was more content on the disc (there's certainly more than enough room for more stuff), and I definitely wish it were a Blu-ray disc and not a DVD, I will admit that this is a fantastic featurette.

[UPDATE - 12/22/2016]
The World of Ghostbusters is no longer exclusive to Target, and no longer only available as 720x480 SD on the included DVD. A mere two months later, and it is now available on Vudu as part of the 1920x1080 HD digital-exclusives given with the code included with the standard Blu-ray release. For more information on that, see the Digital-Exclusive Bonus Features section below. There is no longer a reason to buy the Target-exclusive release.

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The first half covers how elements from the original films (Ecto-1, Proton Packs, the logo, etc.) have been re-created in the new movie universe, while the second half details other elements from the new universe (Aldridge Mansion, restaurant headquarters, the slime, etc.).

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You get some clips and words from the original actors who cameo in the film.

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As well as Harold Ramis' children. His son Daniel is the "Metalhead" who tells Rowan that "Ozzy Rules!"

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His daughter Violet appears as an extra with her son, baby Harold.

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When the ladies are first shown the firehouse, you'll see her on the right side of the screen talking to Paul Feig.

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This featurette actually makes it feel like Feig and company were trying to make a love letter to the original films. Without a doubt, this was my favorite featurette of all that appear on either disc.

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BEST BUY-EXCLUSIVE BLU-RAY STEELBOOK

This is the same Blu-ray disc used in the other releases, but the hook here is that it's in a specially-designed collectible Steelbook case. This case is actually part of the Project PopArt Limited Edition Steelbook set, all featuring artwork by Dan Mumford (though you will not find his name given anywhere on or in the packaging). The disc face has actually been changed to match the new outer artwork, with it now showing the Ecto-1 from the back cover, instead of Slimer from the standard release, or the plain blue and grey from the 4K combo pack. Again, the disc content is exactly the same, no matter what the disc artwork shows.

Dan Mumford created artwork for Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, and the Steelbooks that utilize it are still available for sale at Best Buy: Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II. It should be noted that these discs contain the exact same content as the Blu-ray discs released in 2014. All that's different is the case and the artwork on the disc.

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I should also mention that the Ghostbusters (2016) 4K Combo Pack is also available in a Steelbook case with the same artwork seen above. I'm not making special mention because there's nothing unique about it, and it doesn't make a proper set with Ghostbusters 1 & 2 as the regular Blu-ray does.

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WALMART-EXCLUSIVE BLU-RAY SOCKS GIFT SET

What we have here is a big box containing the standard Blu-ray release and a pair of No Ghost logo socks made by Truffle Shuffle. What else is there to say about it?

Which store-exclusive you buy depends on what you like to collect. If you're into bonus features, Target hits the bullseye with one more featurette than any other release. If you're into cool cases, Best Buy is your best bet. Be sure to re-buy the original two Ghostbusters films to complete that set of Steelbooks. If you're into Ghostbusters wearables, then walk to Walmart.

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-- DIGITAL-EXCLUSIVE BONUS FEATURES --

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Sony has seen fit to release a large selection of bonus material digitally, instead of on the physical disc. God, I hope that this will not become a growing trend, though I suspect that it will be. Included with the physical Blu-ray disc (and presumably the DVD, too) is a code for an Ultraviolet digital copy. Normally I sell these codes, as I prefer physical media, but since the voucher promised "over an hour of additional extended and alternate scenes", I bit the bullet and used my first digital copy code. Man, was it quite a chore. If you've never used a digital copy code before, here is the simplified instructions on how to use the code included with Ghostbusters (2016).
  1. Go to the Sony Pictures Store website and enter the code on your voucher.
  2. Create an account for that site, as well as for the UltraViolet website. UV account creation may be automatic, but be on the lookout for any checkboxes that ask if you want to create a UV account, and be sure to tick it. This is VERY important.
  3. Create an account on the Vudu website, and be sure to link it to your UltraViolet account. There will be a small (easy to miss) text link saying something like, "Click here if you have an UltraViolet account".
  4. After signing up and getting into the Vudu site, click on "My Vudu", then "Extras+" to go to the special page (alt) on which you can watch all of the extras.
[UPDATE - 12/22/2016]
A mere two months after the original physical release, all of the iTunes and Target exclusive content has been added to Vudu, along with a new Slimer featurette (unless that was exclusive to some other retailer). The list below has been updated to include this new content. All of these videos are available in 1920x1080 HD, which is a vast improvement over the DVD included with the Target release.

The available extras include everything found on the disc (excluding the commentaries and concept art gallery), as well as the following exclusives:
  • The Return of Slimer (6:40)
  • Stunt Busters (13:04) (previous iTunes-exclusive)
  • The Full Version of the Times Square Fight with No Visual Effects (5:41) (previous iTunes-exclusive)
  • Stunt Coordinator Walter Garcia's Original Stunt-Viz for the Times Square Fight (3:38) (previous iTunes-exclusive)
  • The World of Ghostbusters (25:17) (previous Target-exclusive in SD; online is HD)
  • A Single Take of Chris Hemsworth Doing His Dance! (2:01)
  • Jokes A Plenty: Kevin's Unsuccessful Job Interview (8:23)
  • Extended & Alternate Scenes (1:05:51):
    • Erin Gets Fired (3:37)
    • Tired Shanks (0:56)
    • No Graffitti (3:11)
    • The Longest Job Interview Ever (14:21)
    • Tamar (0:53)
    • Secret Handshake (2:58)
    • Patty's Car (1:49)
    • Mrs. Potter (3:09)
    • Backstories (4:39)
    • The Singer Gets High (2:57)
    • The Mayor's Office (8:08)
    • Car Trouble (2:22)
    • A Sale on Bonsai (1:29)
    • Soups & Salad (4:01)
    • Evacuate The City (2:23)
    • Bring It In (1:25)
    • So Glad You Came Back (4:33)
    • Uncle Bill (1:41)
    • The New Book (1:19)
Some of these are even longer versions of the newly-added scenes in the Extended Cut, so there's no need for me to comment on each and every one of these. The "Uncle Bill" scene gives you more Ernie at the end, and shows that his conversation with Patty originally had a different flow. As for the others, here are a couple bits of interest...

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"No Graffitti" - The graffiti artist gets a little more screentime, and shows himself to be yet another dumb male character, because he doesn't know how to spell "graffiti" correctly.

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"The Singer Gets High" - Paul Feig cameos as a Thunder Gun Records representative watching the Beasts of Mayhem perform...or maybe he's watching Ghostbusters (2016). It's hard to tell.

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"Bring It In" - We actually see the Proton Cannon in action. It boggles my mind how much money they spent on creating this vehicle/prop, only for it to barely appear in the final film. Such a shame because it looks pretty cool. It would make for a great toy.

Image

"The New Book" - Abby & Erin receive advanced copies of their new book with an even more overly-long title.

[UPDATE - 12/22/2016]
A mere two months after the original physical release, all of the iTunes-exclusive content has been added to Vudu. If you're reading this at this point, you will have already seen an update note previously in this post telling you about that. If you missed it, see the Digital-Exclusive Bonus Features section above. As such, the information below is no longer relevant and I highly suggest you do NOT buy the movie on iTunes, unless you really want it in that manner. I always advocate the purchase of a physical disc you can keep forever over a digital copy that you have no possession of.

As if it wasn't maddening enough that over an hour of bonus content is only available digitally, there is some more content that is ONLY available if you purchase the digital version of the movie on iTunes! Thanks to Ghostbusters Headquarters for the following information.
  • Stunt Busters! (13:04)
  • The Full Version of the Times Square Fight with No Visual Effects (5:41)
  • Stunt Coordinator Walter Garcia's Original Stunt-Viz for the Times Square Battle (3:38)
That actually sounds like some pretty neat stuff. Too bad I'll never see it, unless someone rips it and shares it illegally. I jumped through enough hoops to get the other digital-exclusives, and I paid for those with my Blu-ray purchases. I'm not paying more money for another digital copy of the movie that I don't need, just for 23-minutes of bonus content that could (and should) have been included on Target-exclusive bonus disc that only used up a mere 1.2 Gigabytes of it's 4.7 Gigabyte capacity. That leaves more than enough room for this extra iTunes content AND the other digital-exclusives. I guess I know what to look forward to in a few years for the inevitable double dip Blu-ray release (and the triple dip a few years after that).

Even with all of this bonus content, and the official stuff on YouTube that's not on the disc (trailers, tv spots, promo featurettes, music videos), there's still a great deal of content missing. The following footage and dialog appeared in trailers, but are not found anywhere in any of the released bonus content. (I didn't re-watch the 45+ TV spots for any significant missing footage.)
  • Shot of the Ecto-1 passing by Washington Square Park (view)
  • "It will haunt you every night, what ever *it* is. No one should have to encounter that kind of evil...except you girls. I think you can handle it." -- Jonathan the Theater Manager (view)
  • "We have a gift. We see what no one else is willing to see. We do things others can't do. If there's a paranormal problem, we're the ones to answer the call." -- Abby Yates (view)
  • "We're gonna need a bigger boat." -- Kevin Beckman (view)
  • "These women are just sad. / I'm sure she just misspoke. / Sad, bored, lonely, SAD women. / - Oh." -- Jennifer Lynch & Abby Yates (view)
The PlayStation Store also lists an 8-minute video titled "Kevin's Unsuccessful Job Interview" as a PSN Exclusive, but I suspect that this is the "Jokes A Plenty: Kevin's Unsuccessful Job Interview" video that's up on Vudu.

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

-- LET'S WRAP THIS UP ALREADY --

If you're still with me this far, I'm not sure what else I have to say. If the time you just spent reading everything above (and the three days it took me to write it all up) didn't give you enough information to make an informed decision on this, I don't know what will. Honestly, I'm disappointed with Sony on this. Putting aside opinions on the film itself, I hate that they kept a substantial amount of extras exclusive to digital releases. I can hold out hope that it'll appear on physical disc in a few years when they do the inevitable double dip, but everything should have been on disc from the outset. To me, the physical disc is the real product, and the digital release is just a "back-up copy". It leaves me with an uneasy feeling that the digital release is treated in higher regard than the physical release. There also should have been a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack considering how little love was given to the DVD in the first place.

If you want to buy the physical disc, and you didn't notice the links I gave throughout the review, here they are again: You can buy the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD/3D Blu-ray/2D Blu-ray Combo Pack at Amazon. For the store-exclusives, you'll have to go to the websites for Target, Best Buy, and Walmart.

4 comments

Comment from: Jason A. Matthews (TheJAMMan1988) [Visitor]

I always thought the the “Extended Cut” of the film is really the semi-cut-down, finished version of the same early version that one person already saw and reviewed it on Reddit back in March 2016:

http://web.archive.org/web/20160309210528/https://www.reddit.com/r/ghostbusters/comments/493zai/ive_seen_an_early_version_of_the_new_ghostbusters/

What do you think, Paul?

Nov. 5, 2016 @ 03:48
Comment from: [Member]

Pretty much.

It seems that there’s a “three hour” complete/director’s cut, which is what the person on Reddit saw. Then there’s a cut-down of that, which is the Extended Cut. Then there’s one cut-down even more, which is the Theatrical Cut.

If you edit the deleted and extended/alternate scenes on the Blu-ray back into the film, you’ll get that super long version.

– Paul

Nov. 7, 2016 @ 17:03
Comment from: Sean Pultz [Visitor]

Let me tell you something. This movie is far from awful. Trust me, it could have been far far worse.

Comedy has changed since 1984. Now movies can’t just release a trailer for a horror comedy without it being advertised as a just a straight up horror film. It has to shout out “We are a comedy.” There are some exceptions like “Krampus". But with the new Ghostbusters movie, films can’t just be marketed as a sci-fi action movie with a little bit of comedy thrown in. Remember when people were put off by “Sweeney Todd” because some were expecting a Tim Burton slasher movie but instead they were given a horror musical. Now when you market a comedy, you have to market it as a comedy. That’s how the business works now.

But as far as the movie is concerned, I thought the girls did a good job. Kate McKinnon was my favorite cause she’s such a weirdo.

Could the movie have been better than what we got. Yeah. Do I hate it? No! If the leads were just eye candy for the sake of eye candy or if Adam Sandler was involved, I’d probably have a problem with it. But, truth be told, I don’t.

Nov. 25, 2016 @ 10:58
Comment from: Ryan [Visitor]

Re: things breaking letterbox for a 3d look

This is how Ghostbusters ATC was in theaters. I think it was only 3D and not IMAX but he specifically wanted things breaking the bars and let theaters know about it.

So that stuff is all on theatrical cuts.

Jan. 12, 2017 @ 19:46

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