Revealing mistake: In the earthquake scene where the road is cracked, you can see the cloth on the side of one of the cracks flapping in the wind. (01:20:35)
Revealing mistake: When the eggs are popping out onto the counter in Dana's apartment, if you look closely you can see the the levers in the egg carton flipping each one out. (00:19:30)
Trivia: When Spengler, Venkman and Stantz are in the basement of the New York Public Library, the bookcase falls over, prompting Venkman to ask Stantz if this has ever happened before. The whole exchange, including the bookcase falling over, was not scripted. It is thought that the bookcase fell because some crewmen accidentally bumped into it, and Bill Murray ad-libbed his lines. Producer/director Ivan Reitman decided to leave it in the movie because it added to the supernatural qualities of the film.
Suggested correction: Very funny, but also wrong. Completely unlikely when you watch the scene (there is no way that shelf could be knocked down 'by accident' and there are perfect cuts throughout the sequence). In fact the scene appears in the early script. The most improvisation you can find related to it is the scene with Bill Murray 'collecting the sample (the director in the DVD commentary remarks needing just one take) ', which was made up the day of the shoot to be a set-up for the bookcase moment and the rest.
Trivia: The Ghostbusters theme, "composed" by Ray Parker Jr., was directly ripped off from the song "I Want A New Drug" by Huey Lewis and the News. In fact, Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker for intellectual property theft (settled out of court). Premiere Magazine later featured an article in which the film makers admitted to using the song "I Want a New Drug" as temporary background music in many scenes. They said that they made an offer to Huey Lewis to write the main theme for the movie, but Huey Lewis declined. The filmmakers then provided Ray Parker Jr. with finished film footage (including the Huey Lewis song in the background) to aid Ray Parker in writing an original theme song, which apparently he couldn't do.
Suggested correction: This is incorrect. Ray Parker Jr paid a fee to Huey Lewis to sample "I Want a New Drug." Lewis sued Parker but settled out of court. Years later, Parker sued Lewis because Lewis broke a confidentiality agreement by speaking about the out of court settlement during an interview.
Ray Parker Jr, himself (appearing on the Adam Corolla show in 2015), claimed that he had never met Huey Lewis, did not personally know him, and that he did not know Huey Louis was the first musician approached to compose the Ghostbusters theme song. But Parker's statement must be a deliberate falsehood. After Huey Lewis turned down the theme song offer, it was Ghostbuster director Ivan Reitman who provided "samples" of movie footage containing the Huey Lewis song "I Want a New Drug" (as background music) to Ray Parker. Parker then produced a direct knock-off the Huey Lewis music. No "fee" was paid to Huey Louis for the direct use of his music until after Lewis sued for intellectual property theft. Ray Parker Jr additionally claimed that he didn't and still doesn't know any of the details of the original lawsuit; but that, too, is a falsehood. The settlement paid to Huey Louis was undisclosed but quite sizable, so much so that attorneys for Ivan Reitman and Ray Parker requested a gag order on the settlement (to avoid the perception of an admission of guilt). Ray Parker was allowed to keep the copyright on the Ghostbusters theme, but the fact remains that Parker (AND Ivan Reitman) paid dearly for knowingly ripping off the Huey Lewis song.
Continuity mistake: When the Ghostbusters are heading for the building, there's a wide view of New York bathed in a sunset light with a red and blue sky. In further close-up shots, there is a clear sunny light everywhere. (01:15:20)
Suggested correction: Most likely the result of the supernatural clouds forming around the building.
Character mistake: Meeting Dana at the Lincoln Center fountain, Venkman tells her that Gozer was a deity worshipped in 6,000 BC by Hittites, Mesopotamians and Sumerians. There are no historical accounts of those specific populations dating back to that ancient of a date, or writing of any form for that matter. (00:43:40)
Suggested correction: Venkman said Mesopotamians, not Babylonians. The Mesopotamian civilization existed in 6500 BC so his information would be accurate in that aspect.
You are absolutely right, I have misquoted the movie there and I just fixed it thanks to your correction. "Mesopotamians" is just a generic denomination, though, so saying that Gozer would be worshipped by the Hittites in 6000 BC, and then list a generic name for the inhabitants of the area and then the Sumerians (generally accepted as the first organized civilization of the area, still much after the proposed date) doesn't seem to be quite accurate.
A valid point of view from both of you, however, it's established that Dr. Venkman is the least knowledgeable in paranormal history so it's possible he listed the groups out of order. As is rightly pointed out, Mesopotamia was a generic listing, like saying Americans, so maybe if he said Mesopotamians first, then the other groups, the quote would make sense?
I completely agree that he's the least knowledgeable of the bunch by far and it is well-established and reinforced in the same scene since he needs Dana's help to read "Hittites." Read, because he's not quoting from memory; he's reading (presumably something Egon or Ray had to write down for him). As you say, "if" he said Mesopotamians first, maybe it would have made sense (but it's not what he says), and even then, using your example, saying "in 1000 BC, Manitou was worshipped by the Sioux, the Americans and the Apache" just sounds wrong. (I know that by 'Americans' we mean generally the US population and feel free to add 'native' to it, then again Hittites established their civilization when the Sumerians were wiped out already, and that's 4 millennia past the date - it is what happens making a word salad in a small sentence that has to register just superficially for the audience).
