PSA: Watching the original before a remake will ruin the remake for you every time

Honestly, I made the mistake of doing a double feature last weekend with the 1984 Ghostbusters and then the 2016 one back to back. The difference was so jarring I couldn't even finish the remake, it felt like a totally different movie with no soul. Tbh, if you're going to watch a remake, don't watch the old one first or you'll just get mad at all the missing charm. Has anyone else tried this and ended up walking away halfway through?

3 comments

3 Comments

linda5002mo ago

The Ghostbusters 2016 one was rough even on its own, I watched it first and still couldn't get into it. Doing them back to back like that just shows you how much the original nailed the pacing and jokes without trying too hard.

karen_perry382mo ago

Yeah the 2016 one tried way too hard. Original just let the jokes land naturally.

jennys721mo ago

Did you catch any of the behind-the-scenes stuff about the 2016 one? I remember reading an article where they talked about how much of the comedy was improvised, but it felt like nobody was on the same page. The original had this tight script where every line built up to the next joke, and even the ad-libs like Bill Murray's stuff still fit the characters. With the 2016 version, it was like they threw spaghetti at the wall to see what stuck, and most of it missed. Watching them back to back must make the pacing gap even clearer, like the 2016 one had all these pauses for jokes that just fell flat. I get why you couldn't get into it, even without comparing it to the original.