Continuity mistake: When the Ghostbusters approach the giant uterine slime cocoon to try to breach into the museum, there's a group of firemen to the right. The late arrival to this group brings an axe. Cut to a wide shot and the guy is not carrying the axe anymore. (01:24:05)
Continuity mistake: Janosz is kinda bored as he awaits for the word of Vigo, the scourge of Carpathia. In close-up as he hears "I, Vigo..." he grimaces with his hands at chest height and not any wider than the shoulders. Turning to the wide shot, he is listening with his hands raised and the arms spread. (01:12:25)
Continuity mistake: When Dana tries to take Oscar back from the museum on her own, the cloth on top of the pillow where Oscar is resting goes from crumpled to straight. (01:18:20)
Continuity mistake: Tully is chasing Janine after she wished him goodnight. When the camera cuts closer to them, the cars parked on the sidewalk change abruptly, and they get back to the same models only at the end of the scene when someone honks a horn at him and the camera switches back to the original angle. (00:55:35)
Continuity mistake: While Peter is doing his pantomime with Vigo's painting saying "Walk for me talk for me, yeah!" you can see Dan Aykroyd stiffening on the ladder, acting as if Ray suddenly got possessed/mesmerized by Vigo. In the close-up that follows we see the process happening in a different and more gradual way. (00:51:40)
Continuity mistake: Janosz interrupts Dana and Peter talking about the Gaugain; behind him there are a man and an elderly lady passing by. Cut to Sigourney Weaver, and in the next shot the two people practically haven't moved. (00:43:10)
Continuity mistake: When Ray screams at the slime that "YooOOOuuUUU take the cake" his wrists in the background are crossed and the watch is visible. Cut, and his hands are joined and the wristwatch concealed. (00:39:45)
Continuity mistake: When Peter crawling like a worm draws the attention of the scourge of Carpathia that is holding the baby, shouting "Not so fast, Vigo!", notice Vigo's hair moving from the back of the right shoulder to the front. The hair changes position going in front of both shoulders to various° in the rest of the conversation. (01:34:55)
Continuity mistake: When Egon sucks the Scoleris inside the trap, the three 'busters are spread across the courtroom, but in the close-up of the trap you see their legs being much closer - and you can see for instance by Peter's stance that there's no real continuity. (00:36:20)
Continuity mistake: After "Do, Re, Egon", the Ghostbusters are nervously waiting for the Scoleri to show up, as if they knew they would. Just before the camera cuts to a close-up on Bill Murray, he begins to lower his head to look at his rifle, but in the close-up he is facing forward. (00:34:40)
Continuity mistake: The smaller Scoleri tosses the defense table at the judge's empty podium. In that sequence there are no burning fires (a tiny one quickly fades) and not even the glowing jar of slime. When the Ghostbusters arm up, the slime is smoking and glowing and fires burn at the judicial bench. (00:33:05)
Continuity mistake: When the Scoleri Brothers come (for whatever reason) out of the jar there are strong air currents all over the courtroom. The heroes are under the table, and you can see the winds knock down a few books above them. In the reaction shot on the crowd after Ray goes "Wooooow", you can see some of those books that just fell earlier still on the table. Look for instance at the two books by the red tome to the far left. (00:32:40)
Continuity mistake: The boys upstairs hear Ray screaming to pull him back up from the hole in the ground. Venkman is leaning against it with his left hand, which turns into the right hand at the first cut. (00:25:30)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the scene with Ghostbusters dressed as construction workers lowering Ray in the dig, Egon's left arm (the one operating the device) changes position between shots. (00:23:35)
Continuity mistake: Janusz is knocked off the ladder by Vigo's power surge. He then writhes on the floor as Vigo addresses him, alternatively touching the floor with his hand or not between shots. (00:22:30)
Continuity mistake: Peter got carried away playing with the kid, and his pitchy garbling summons Dana from the baby bedroom. He notices her and says something about a clear liquid; the tie of the baby bib is fully behind his back, but at the next cut the tie is across the shoulder. (00:19:10)
Continuity mistake: In the first scene at the museum, Dr. Janosz Poha approaches Dana that is restoring a Bonington. In this first wide shot Dana is brushing a spot with barely any brown paint on it, but in the close-up that follows she's retouching a different part where the color is thick, and the left side of the painting looks different again when he touches her hair. (00:12:20)
Continuity mistake: During Peter's chat show, the second guest narrates a bizarre and kinda creepy story about the alien who dragged her to his room. She concludes the story with a disturbed expression on her face, but when the camera angle changes and Peter stands, she's actually smiling without any relation to the mood of the previous shot. It is in fact a direct continuation of the very first shot of the show. (00:10:20)
Continuity mistake: Egon is running his test on the married couple. He is about to write a note once his assistant has further tortured them with the announcement of another half an hour of wait. Sigourney Weaver has her arms crossed in one shot, but addresses Egon in the next shot having her hand on her chin. (00:06:15)
Continuity mistake: When Winston is run over (or 'through') by the ghost train, he holds the stick at different height between shots. (01:01:05)
Answer: SpikeTV didn't alter the movie except for editing for time and content. The scene you saw was in the original film and the way the river looked was a combination of two things, the camera angle and the poor special effects of the time.
moviemogul