How can anyone not think of this film as a comedy? It's hilarious and a comedy classic. AFI's #28 Comedy

I was 4 years old when GB was first released and my older brother LOVED it. Once it hit VHS he would watch it over and over. I never cared for it and didn’t think it was particularly funny as a kid.

Cut to me getting my first DVD player in 1998 and GB was one of the first DVDs I bought thinking I’d give it another shot. It was hilarious, I can’t believe how much more I loved it as an adult than I did as a kid! A lot of the jokes, mannerisms, etc. went over my head as a kid but everything landed once I watched it again as an adult. It’s certainly one of the best comedies of all time.

I'm guessing that the trailer was cut the way it was to maintain the surprise that it's a Ghostbusters movie for casual moviegoers sitting in a theater until the Ectomobile is revealed. Until that point, it looks like another big budget horror movie like The Conjuring.

They probably should have had Venkman, Stantz, and Zeddemore appear in the final shot, though.

Probably because many fans who were kids during that time viewed it more in the SF/Supernatural category and were fans of that genre.

I remember that when RGB became “Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters” and focused more on comedy and slapstick the show went downhill.

I think GB2 being less scary also played a part in why it wasn’t as good.

I was a 7 year old who was terrified to watch scary movies when Ghostbusters came out. I was convinced to watch Ghostbusters because I was told it was a comedy. I did, and I loved it. Nothing in the movie was scary to me.

I wonder if there was a lot of kids like you who were Ghostbusters fans. I was terrified of scary movies but I loved to watch them anyways. Horror villains like Freddy and Jason were real popular with me and my friends. I would have assumed that GB would appeal more to that demographic of fandom who were into scary stuff and/or science-fiction/fantasy. Also, most of the jokes in GB1 went over my head at the time. Only Louis seemed like he was supposed to be funny.
Of course when I re-watched it as a teen and an adult, it was hilarious in addition to being creepy/spooky. But the way the humor was portrayed was still different compared to outright comedies like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Coming to America. Come to think of it, I didn't watch much of any comedies around the time of GB1 and the cartoon.

I was ten when it came out and I’ve never been big into horror but I’ve loved Ghostbusters since day one. I even made up my own costume for Halloween one year. And don’t get me started on The Real Ghostbusters every Saturday morning. And of course the toys.

I think the reason it never felt like a comedy to me was it never used the “rule of funny”. There was generally, more or less, an internal logic. If something weird happened, it was because of a ghost or spirit, not just because they wanted a joke in the scene.

The original is #28 on AFI’s 100 Years...100 Laughs list.

It’s #10 on Empires 50 Greatest Comedies of All Time list.

Vulture ranked it #14 on the 20 Best Comedies of All Time.

That’s just what I found in a few minutes of googling. It’s most definitely a comedy. The new trailer definitely needed to show that this is too (unless it isn’t...to which I say...ugh).

And the only reason I posted the original GB teaser was to push back on the idea that a teaser for a comedy doesn’t have to be funny because it’s short and doesn’t reveal the plot. The original GB teaser managed to be funny

I do think the original has a messy, noisy, and not-very-funny final act. But until then it's pretty amazing.

Were you a fan of fantasy or science fiction then? I was 3 when it came out, but I think I got into it because of the cartoon series and then I saw the beginning of the movie on TV. I remember being pissed because Bill Murray looked nothing like Venkman, and they ran away from the ghosts like some "geeks." Somehow I saw the movie either on HBO or VHS and thought it was the greatest thing ever. Oh yeah, about the cartoon show. The Boogeyman. That was a creepy episode.

As for the comedy, another reason I never looked at it like that is because the NY in that movie looked grimey at times, desaturated and real. The cast looked like average looking dudes in their late 30s. Only one guy looked like a comedic actor and that was Rick Moranis. I wasn't even aware at the time that the actor going bald (Murray) and his friend were well-known comedic actors of the time. I think it's telling that the toys, especially the role playing ones, were such a big seller, merchandise-wise for Ghostbusters. There's a sense of adventure in the original films and the cartoon.

Now Steve Martin movies, you just see his exaggerated expressions, the way the film is shot, and even a kid realizes it's purely a comedy.

So yes, I realize Ghostbusters is a comedy. I'm just saying that I never looked at it as strictly a comedy film. Growing up though, it was always kind of its own thing in my mind.

A teaser for a comedy film probably needs to have some sort of comedic elements to let audiences know, hey, this is new film you know nothing about, it's a comedy, okay?
But this is a teaser for Ghostbusters. At this point, you're selling the public on Ghostbusters, not just another comedy movie.
The German trailer is probably slightly better.

Plus, I'd argue that Ghostbusters as a franchise or series night need to evolve in some way, at least in regards to marketing.
Ghostbusters 2 was virtually identical in tone to the first one yet many people consider it to be inferior.
Ghostbusters 2016 was most definitely advertised as a comedy, like the original, and seemed to hit the same notes more or less in the trailer. They even had a cast of SNL alumni like the original. It didn't do well.
Taking advantage of 80s nostalgia, and playing up the spookier elements might, among other things, be the way to make a successful GB sequel.
I'm re-watching the trailer, and I'm enjoying it the second time around.
Paul Rudd's character has the awe and reverence for the Ghostbusters like the now adult fans do. He comes across as kind of a fanboy. So I can relate to him.
Then you have the kids getting into some kind of adventure, and getting surprised like, "It has a gunner seat!?" And I can relate to that too, because as a kid I wanted to have adventures like that, be a Junior Ghostbuster.
Was the gunner seat in the movies, or was that only in the cartoon?

I take it back. I'm interested in this movie now.

Yeah, I don't know either...not to mention it starred two of the biggest names on SNL at the time and two guys from SCTV.

I suppose thats where the term "teaser" trailer comes into play.

This is just being referred to as a "trailer." The teaser came out almost a year ago:

That said, movies get multiple trailers nowadays, revealing more and more as the release date gets closer.

Some of the best lines in the movie are in the final act.

• "Where do these stairs go?" "They go up."
• "Ray, if someone asks if you're a god, you say YES!"
• "What did you do Ray!?"
• "Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown".
• "Well that's something you don't see everyday."

I love the end

I'm just reading it as weird justification why this new trailer doesn't have anything particularly funny in it.

"Go get her Ray!"

I re-watched the trailer just now.

"Remember that summer when we died under a table?"

Hilarious!

It's this generations "I feel so funky!"

That 'oughta do it. Thanks very much, Ray.

I was totally a sci-fi kid. My heroes growing up were Mr. Spock and Luke Skywalker. So, yeah, I definitely approached the original movie from a viewpoint of "these guys are using science to understand and battle the paranormal. And they happen to be pretty funny while they're doing it" .

get that people see it as a comedy and it wins accolades like that, but to me as a kid, comedy was Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry and The Three Stooges. When absurd stuff happened, it was toon logic or "rule of funny'. Like I said, GB sorta held to an internal logic. I didn't realize the stars were SNL actors. They didn't make jokes to get a laugh from the audience, they made a joke because they were trying to cope with an absurd situation or were sassing each other.

If young Reitman can handle this dual approach - an adventure with comedic elements, this could be very good. I still don't think ATC was outright terrible, but it really needed an outside writer to go over the script and tighten it up. And it didn't need to be a reboot. Just have it be a franchise in another city.

The original Ghostbusters pulled off a really incredible feat... it really blended comedy with action adventure/scifi/horror perfectly and seamlessly. The film could be viewed as either a comedy or a genre adventure; it carried and blended both things so well that it could be both Animal House and Raiders of the Lost Ark at the same time. Push the comedy a little more, and it falls apart (see the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot); push the horror a little more and it falls apart again. It also blended the cartoony (Slimer, Marshmallow Man) and creepy (the cab driver, Zuul) to the point where both poles felt natural together.

Nice thinking' Ray...

I always thought it was the perfect symbiosis of comedy and horror that made it so great. As a young kid I barely knew it was a comedy, it was the horror fantasy that pulled me in. It wasn't until I was a young adult that I appreciated the humor. Now I watch it and love it for everything that it is. Comedy/ horror/sci-fi . The rich ambience and atmosphere of New York circa 1983. Even its sparse dramatic and philosophical moments. It's a film that stands the test of time. An absolute cinematic CLASSIC.

I’d be willing to hear him out if not for the fact that the marshmallow man is one of the funniest things ever put in a film.

Before the original GB came out, I remember reading a report that it was going to be a big risk for Hollywood since horror and comedy traditionally did not score well with audiences.