Ghostbusters

Answer: The part of Winston was written for Murphy. He was unavailable because he was filming Beverly Hills Cop. The director and writer are on record as saying had Murphy accepted the part, Winston would have had a much larger role in the film.

Question: In Dana's bedroom, after she's possessed, there's a picture next to her bed. Is that Reagan from The Exorcist?

Answer: I watched clips from both movies to compare the images. The picture of the little girl next to Dana's bed looks a little like Regan from the Exorcist, but the hair styles are different enough to conclude that it is not. Regan had longer and straighter hair while the girl in the photo has shorter and bushier locks.

raywest

Question: What did Zeddmore mean when he said "This job's not worth another 5 a year" just before they cross the streams?

Answer: He says "This job is definitely not worth eleven-five a year! " Meaning that's how much the Ghostbusters are paying him, $11,500 a year.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: Why would Ivo Shandor and his followers possibly want to summon Gozer? For what reason?

MovieBuff09

Chosen answer: Because Shandor believed that human society was too sick to survive (to quote Egon). Gozer was supposed to destroy human civilization in the hope (apparently) that something better would rise to replace it.

Grumpy Scot

Question: I heard that Ron Jeremy had a walk on part in this film, does anyone know in which scene he is in?

Answer: Ron Jeremy can be seen in the crowd outside the firehouse right after the containment unit is shut off.

Question: When Venkman is on the phone with Egon, he says that he shot Dana/Zuul up with 300 cc of Thorazine. Since Thorazine is a powerful anti-psychotic drug, it's unlikely that Dana had some in her medicine cabinet. If she didn't already have some on hand, then where did Venkman get it? He said that he has a PhD in psychology, so is he able to prescribe medications for anyone?

Answer: They're all three doctors in that field, so it's not unlikely at all that they could acquire the medication. The question then becomes: why did he have it on him at the time?

Phixius

Indeed, it's hilarious when you ask yourself that question, and the movie does not have any of the characters question that! Which would have been comedy gold. As the original poster said though; Venkman has a PhD in Psychology, so he can't prescribe the drug, and the other 2 are physicists, so no, I wouldn't say they are doctors in the field?

Sammo

A Psychologist could have studied medicine. If you have a medical licence you can prescribe medicine to a patient. This doesn't automatically make a Venkman a psychiatrist, but he is more likely more trained in the actual clinical practise. Doesn't make it less unethical though and if anyone finds out he would have his license revoked immediately.

lionhead

Chosen answer: Gozer vanished to either give them the sense of accomplishment that they won OR she realized that the proton energy stream COULD do her harm. She vanished and then had one of them choose "the destroyer", which was the Stay-Puft marshmallow man.

CCARNI

Question: When using the trap, why is it inadvisable to look directly into it?

Socks1000

Chosen answer: It is so bright, it may damage your eyes.

William Bergquist

Chosen answer: Theoretically, they are nuclear powered proton colliders. The positively charged energy released by the proton collisions is channeled through the neutrona wands into a manageable beam. This positively charged beam bonds to the negatively charged ectoplasm which ghosts used to manifest. This allows the Ghostbusters to draw them into their traps.

Phixius

Chosen answer: They cross the streams to cause a reversal in the particle flow in Gozer's dimensional gate, shutting it down and causing a massive explosion. Gozer, having taken the form of the Stay Puft mascot, subsequently burns up in the explosion as the marshmallow he now is.

Garlonuss

Question: The Website Spook Central features an original teaser for the film with a noticeably different theme song. What song is it and who performs it? (It can be heard at www.ecto-web.org/~spookcentral/gb1_teaser.mp3).

Answer: IMDB says that it was a temporary song just used in that trailer. The song is appearantly by Glenn Hughes and Pat Thrall and can supposedly be found at www.ghpg.net/ctc/discography.html. Hope this helps.

Question: Why does Ray drop his trap on the altar? It can be seen all through the 'choose' conversation and when Staypuft first appears.

Answer: He places it on the altar just after they believe they have vaporized Gozer with the proton packs. At this point, thinking the ghost to have been destroyed, he sets it down as he believes the job is done and he will not need it.

Jazetopher

Answer: Ray realised Gozer was too powerful to be caught in the trap, so why carry the extra weight?

Question: The music video for Ray Parker Jr's hit song features several celebrities who lip-sync to the word "Ghostbusters". Is there a complete list of all the celebrities in the video?

Answer: Chevy Chase, John Candy, Danny DeVito, Peter Falk, Mellisa Gilbert, Carly Simon, Teri Gar, and George Wendt, along with the four major stars of Ghostbusters themselves.

Question: When Gozer says, "Choose your destructor," Peter Venkman then says, "Whatever person or thing we think about, that's what'll appear to destroy us. If we think of J. Edgar Hoover, he'll appear to destroy us." Why then didn't a giant J. Edgar Hoover appear?

Answer: This question was huge in 1984 after the movie came out. The running theory was that Ray had already thought of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man before Venkman said his line. The delay in Gozer saying the choice was made was because she was determining if it was a viable choice.

Answer: Agree with the other answer but would add that Gozer specifically said to "choose." Venkman citing J. Edgar Hoover as an example was not an actual choice. Meanwhile, Ray silently decided on the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and the choice was made.

raywest

Chosen answer: For scenes like when Bill Murray is covered with it and it gets in his mouth, it's gelatin mixed with food coloring. For other scenes it's various plastics.

Question: When Ray says, "aim for the flat top," is he referring to the platform or Gozer's haircut?

Answer: Their hair: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flattop.

Brian Katcher

Character mistake: When Ray and Winston are driving across the Brooklyn Bridge around midnight in the Ectomobile, Ray quotes a verse of scripture claiming to be "Revelation 7:12". What he quotes is actually Revelation 6:12. (01:03:38)

More mistakes in Ghostbusters
More quotes from Ghostbusters

Trivia: When Peter Venkman mentions the time Egon Spengler tried to drill a hole in his head, Egon replies, "That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me". This line was ad-libbed by Harold Ramis.

More trivia for Ghostbusters

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