DVD Revolution
by Marc Cameron
If I were to say "Who you gonna call?" what would you answer? If you ethusiastially reply "Ghostbusters!," chances are you took part in the 80's mania that made the film and Ray Parker Jr.'s title song huge hits. Now, in one of the most impressive DVD projects ever, Columbia Tri-Star presents a special edition package fit for even the biggest Ghostbusters fan.
Considering the beautiful anamorphic widescreen transfer and the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, the film print alone is worth the $24.95 asking price. But that, as the say, is only the tip of the iceberg. To spice up the filmaker audio commentary tracks have become a common feature to today's new DVD releases, Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman, wirter and star Harold Ramis and associate producer Joe Medjuck have gone the Mystery Science Theater 3000 route and placed their silhouettes at the bottom of the screen, lending their insights while watching the film.
The silhouette feature is accessed through the multi-angle function on the DVD's remote control, and the picture can be turned off entirely. In another interesting use of the the multi-angle function, viewers can choose to watch a side-by-side compairision of the film and the storyboards to see how the movie developed between concept and execution. Plus, during some key sequences, you can turn the special effects off and view the film as it was before the FX were added to the final cut.
And who says subtitles are only for the French and Spanish speaking fans among us? Feature-length production notes are available through the subtitle menu, offering an ongoing stream of anecdotes and information about the film as it progresses. There are also 10 deleted scenes, a large photo gallery, three making-of segments and some excellen DVD-ROM-only extras suh as a complete shooting script.
The Ghostbusters special edition proves how far DVD technology can be taken to enhance the experience of watching a movie. Fans will want to revisit this experience over and over again.