7. Ghostbusters - A Futuristic Time-Travelling Action Film
The 1980's sci-fi/action/comedy Ghostbusters is a such a beloved property that news of a remake starring an all-female cast prompted most of the Internet to explode with self-righteous rage. Whatever you may think of the new ghostbusting team, it seems unlikely that the 2016 version will achieve the same "instant classic" status that the 1984 vintage did. The easy going, semi-improvised feel of the original had a lot to do with the laconic style of SNL alum Bill Murray, but Dan Akroyd's original vision for the movie didn't feature a role for Murray. Instead, the Peter Venkman character was written with John Belushi in mind, with Akroyd as his co-star, similar to The Blues Brothers. The original Ghostbusters draft - initially called Ghost Smashers - didn't feature an original story for the characters, instead set in the future and starting with Belushi's Venkman and Akroyd's Stanz already well established in their ghost smashing ways. The ambitious script saw them travelling through time, space and various dimensions to battle huge ghosts. In this version, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was just one of many manifestations of main villain Gozer, rather than the movie's biggest set piece. Unable to get a big enough budget together to do justice to Akroyd's ambitious vision, director Reitman instead suggested the script be rewritten and scaled down, instead focusing on the origins of a plucky group of paranormal ghost hunters in New York. We may not have got the see the team travelling to different dimensions, but there aren't many Ghostbusters fans who would trade the classic we did get for that.
David is an office drone and freelance writer for WhatCulture and Moviepilot, among others. He's also foolishly writing a serialised novel on Jukepop and has his own irregularly updated website. He's available for freelance work. Reach out on Twitter to @davefox990
