Home   •   Films   •   TV Series   •   Everything Else   •   Store   •   Help/Search   •   Credits/Contact   •   The Corner Penthouse
« Topps Fright Flicks Trading CardsTotally Awesome: The Greatest Cartoons of the Eighties Book Review »

Ghostbusters Collection Includes All Three Films DVD Review

 By Paul Rudoff on Feb. 4, 2018 at 7:37 PM , Categories: Ghostbusters 1, Ghostbusters 2, Home Video, The 2016 Parody Remake
Image
(click to enlarge)

Next year is the 35th anniversary of Ghostbusters, and I suspect we'll get new Blu-ray releases of both original films in honor of the event (each including one new bonus feature to justify the re-purchase, like the recently-discovered Fort Detmerring scene footage). Hopefully, Sony will also see fit to finally release the entire series of Extreme Ghostbusters on DVD. Are you listening, Sony? Well, we may have gotten a look at the new master used for the Ghostbusters II Blu-ray.

Matthew Jordan picked up Sony's new Ghostbusters Collection - Includes All Three Films! DVD. He sent along some information and photos, which I'm using to write this review. So, although this review will bear my name, it is Matt's review. I don't own this release.

Even though this set includes all three films, it only contains two discs. That means that two films are going to be doubled-up onto one disc. Care to guess which two that will be?

Image

If you click on the enlargement of the front and back covers seen at the top of this article, you'll notice that it lists bonus features for Ghostbusters 2016, but not for the original two films. Everything that was on all of the previous releases, going back to 1999, won't be found here. They had to go in order to fit both films onto one (presumably) dual-layer disc. You do get English and French subtitles, as noted in this main menu screenshot.

Image

The Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters II disc is not new. It was originally released last year under the title Ghostbusters 1 & 2 2-Movie Collection. The Ghostbusters 2016 disc is the same one that was released individually back in 2016 (reviewed here), which includes a few of the bonus features also found on the Blu-ray.

Image
(image courtesy of Ghostbusters Wiki Facebook)

The reason Matt bought this "budget bin" set, even though he already owned superior releases of all three films, is because he wanted to see if new masters were used for the original two films since Sony authored a completely new disc for them. For Ghostbusters, he found that the same master used for the 2005 DVD was also used here. Those of you who have read the Ghostbusters Home Video Comparison page will already know that that is the second worst master ever used for the film. (That mid-1990s blue tinted master takes the top prize.) Why Sony didn't just downsample the 2014 Blu-ray master is beyond me.

Ghostbusters II is where things get interesting. Instead of using the 2005 master, the 1999 master, or even the 2014 Blu-ray master, Sony chose to downsample a 2010 HD master used for HDTV broadcasts at the time. When I reviewed the 2014 Blu-ray Digibook set, I said that for the first time ever, Ghostbusters II had image quality issues. As can be seen on the Ghostbusters II Home Video Comparison page, every effects shot that featured the pink slime was incredible dark. That page now houses comparison shots from this 2017 DVD, which fixes those effects shots. Sadly, the new master is highly cropped.

It was always my hope that Ghostbusters II would get a new Blu-ray release with a new master (and more deleted scenes and vintage bonus features). Perhaps the usage of this "alternate" HD master is a good sign that when we get the inevitable Blu-ray double dip next year (quadruple dip for Ghostbusters 1), it will contain an improved master - be it this one, or one that's even better!

If you're looking for a DVD set of all three films WITH bonus features for all three, the Ghostbusters 3 Movie Set appears to be what you're looking for. The back of the case shown on Amazon mentions bonus features for all three films, so I assume that it's the original three discs; the 2005 DVDs for the first two films (since The Real Ghostbusters episodes are mentioned as bonus features for Ghostbusters II). Bear in mind that the 2005 DVD of Ghostbusters is a piece of crap, but if you want it all in one package on DVD, this is your best option.

There is also a Ghostbusters Double Feature 2-DVD Set that, I assume, is just both 2005 DVDs packaged together, but without the scrapbook. The back of the case doesn't mention any bonus features, so they could also just be two new movie-only discs. Your guess is as good as mine.

1 comment

Comment from: NSGhostbusters [Visitor]  

“The Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters II disc is not new. It was originally released last year under the title Ghostbusters 1 & 2 2-Movie Collection” I’m afraid to tell you that this may not be correct Paul, as I was looking at eBay listings of this set and it’s actually just a repackage of the 2005 DVDs. It seems like this 3 movie collection is the only way to get this particular Ghostbusters / Ghostbusters II DVD.

Apr. 28, 2021 @ 19:42

Leave a comment


Click here to log in if you already have an account on this site.
Your email address will not be revealed on this site.
(Set cookies so I don't need to fill out my details next time)
(Allow users to contact me through a message form -- Your email will not be revealed!)

 
 
Who you gonna call?

Please answer the question above.
We ask for this in order to slow down spammers.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Please log in to avoid this antispam check.

Established August 1996
SpookCentral.tk


Search (Articles Only)

Ghostbusters Afterlife Posters For Sale

Ghostbusters Merch at Amazon.com

Ghostbusters Officially Licensed Amazon Store

Please be aware that as an Amazon Associate, I earn a very tiny commission from purchases made though the Amazon links on this site.

Want to see your product reviewed here? Click for details.

Official Spook Central Merchandise

www.BuyItHere.tk - Paul's Merchandise For Sale

COMMUNITY LINKS

NEWS
Ghostbusters Wiki
GB News
GB Fans
Ghostbusters Mania
GB Reboot Facebook
Proton Charging News Archive

FORUMS
GB Fans
EctoZone

OFFICIAL
Ghost Corps Facebook
Ghostbusters Facebook
Ghostbusters YouTube
Ghostbusters.com

In Loving Memory of Joel Richard Rudoff (July 28, 1944 - January 20, 2014)

In Loving Memory of Linda Joyce Rudoff (July 12, 1948 - November 29, 2015)

Doreen Mulman (May 22, 1961 - March 14, 2014)



Pirate Ship - Cheap USPS Postage
( MY COMPARISON REVIEW )
( AVOID SHIPPINGEASY/STAMPS.COM )

The Art Of Tristan Jones

James Eatock's eBay Auctions
U.S. eBay (Ghostbusters stuff)
U.K. eBay (Ghostbusters stuff)

  XML Feeds

AWARDS I'VE WON



Advanced CMS