Ghostbusters Afterlife is Coming Home Soon and the Original Ghostbusters Gets New Features

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment revealed their plans for the home video release of Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters Afterlife, and you better sit down because along with the release of the new film there’s a treasure trove of new archival special features for the original two films on their way!

First up, Ghostbusters Afterlife will be hitting digital and VOD purchase services next week on January 4th! So if you can’t wait to get another screening in, or you were unable to see the film in theaters, the great news is that you won’t have to wait much longer. Afterlife is getting the full special edition treatment, with behind the scenes features, deleted scenes, and more. Sadly a commentary with Jason Reitman or any of his cast and crew doesn’t seem to be listed.

Next, the even better news: Afterlife hits DVD/Blu-ray on February 1st in a variety of packages… the most notable of which is the Ultimate Collection set, which looks to be available at Amazon, Wal-Mart and Best Buy which includes Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, and Ghostbusters Afterlife PLUS two additional discs of bonus features. One of which includes the early workprint version of the original 1984 Ghostbusters found by Sheldon Kahn during pre-production of Ghostbusters Afterlife. The full “Preview Cut” of the film also includes a commentary by Ivan Reitman and Sheldon Kahn himself, and it stands to reason that it’ll be a revealing look at the making of the film (plus include a lot of things we may never have seen before). If that weren’t enticing enough, newly unearthed and never before seen deleted scenes are included for all three films (assuming many of the scenes found at Fan Fest will be included here), tons of behind the scenes documentaries, and a whole lot more! And hey, even the fan commentary that myself, Chris Stewart, Sean Bishop and Eric Reich recorded for the last anniversary set is included. It’s safe to say that this will be the most definitive box set for all of the films to date.

Here’s more information in the full press release from Sony below:

From director Jason Reitman and producer Ivan Reitman comes the next chapter in the original Ghostbusters universe. In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, when a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather, an original Ghostbuster, left behind. The film is written by Gil Kenan & Jason Reitman.

Featuring GHOSTBUSTERS, GHOSTBUSTERS II and GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE on 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray, plus two discs full of special features! Includes over 20 hours of rare behind-the-scenes and must-see archival gems, including the full Preview Cut of the original movie and much, much more! Presented in collectible “ghost trap” packaging with lights, and includes a full 220-page reprint of the rare 1985 “Making GHOSTBUSTERS” book! Also includes digital versions of GHOSTBUSTERS, GHOSTBUSTERS II, GHOSTBUSTERS: ANSWER THE CALL and GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE.  

BONUS MATERIALS 

GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE

BLU-RAY™, 4K Ultra HD™ and Digital

• We Got One! Easter Eggs Revealed

• Ghostbusters: A Look Back

• A Look Ahead

• Bringing Ecto-1 Back to Life

• The Gearhead’s Guide to Ghostbusters Gadgets

• Special Effects: The Ghosts of Afterlife

• Deleted Scene: Is It Ever Too Late?

• Summoning the Spirit: Making Ghostbusters: Afterlife

DVD

• Summoning the Spirit: Making Ghostbusters: Afterlife

THE GHOSTBUSTERS ULTIMATE COLLECTION

• GHOSTBUSTERS 4K ULTRA HD

  • Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision

  • Dolby Atmos + 5.1 + Theatrical Stereo

• GHOSTBUSTERS BLU-RAY

  • Feature presented in high definition, from the 4K master

  • 5.1 + Theatrical Stereo

  • Special Features:

    • Commentary Featuring Director Ivan Reitman, Star/Co-Writer Harold Ramis and Associate Producer Joe Medjuck

    • Fan Commentary Moderated by Ghost Corps’ Eric Reich

    • Slimer Mode Picture-in-Picture Track

• GHOSTBUSTERS II 4K ULTRA HD

  • Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision

  • Dolby Atmos + 5.1 + Theatrical Stereo

• GHOSTBUSTERS II BLU-RAY

  • Feature presented in high definition, from the 4K master

  • 5.1 + Theatrical Stereo

  • Special Feature:

    • Commentary Featuring Director Ivan Reitman, Star/Co-Writer Dan Aykroyd and Executive Producer Joe Medjuck

• GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE 4K ULTRA HD

  • Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision

  • Dolby Atmos

• GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE BLU-RAY

  • Feature presented in high definition

  • Includes all special features from the standalone Blu-ray

• SPECIAL FEATURES DISC 1 – GHOSTBUSTERS (1984)

  • NEW: Rare 114-minute Preview Cut of the Film (in Standard Definition) – an unearthed early cut of the film with alternate takes, additional scenes, early effects and more. A unique must-see experience for any Ghostbusters fan!

    • With optional commentary by Associate Producer Joe Medjuck and Editor Sheldon Kahn

  • NEW: “Reitman Squared” Scene Commentary – a look at two scenes from the film with Ivan & Jason Reitman

  • NEW: Dana’s Lost Auditions – eight auditions for the role of Dana Barrett, featuring Denise Crosby, Kelly LeBrock and more!

    • Special thanks to Brandon Kleyla

  • NEW: “Ghostbusters: Behind Closed Doors” Documentary – a 90-minute documentary about the making of Ghostbusters and the history of the franchise!

  • NEW: Ghostbusters Dailies – over an hour of raw dailies, encompassing 7 scenes from the film

  • NEW: Full TV Broadcast Version of the Film (in Standard Definition) – featuring alternate TV-safe takes

  • 16 Deleted Scenes

  • TV Commercial from the Film + Commercial Outtakes

  • 1984 ShoWest Exhibitor Reel

  • “A Moment With the Stars” Original EPK Featurette

  • 1984 Featurette

  • SFX Team Featurette

  • Cast and Crew Featurette

  • Who You Gonna Call: A Ghostbusters Retrospective

  • Ecto-1: Resurrecting the Classic Car

  • Ruth Oliver’s Library Ghost Scream Test

  • Multi-Angle Explorations

  • Storyboard Comparisons

  • Photo Galleries

  • “Ghostbusters” Music Video by Ray Parker, Jr.

  • Theatrical Trailers & Promo

• SPECIAL FEATURES DISC 2 – GHOSTBUSTERS II & GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE

  • GHOSTBUSTERS II

  • NEW: “Reitman Squared” Scene Commentary – a look at two scenes from the film with Ivan & Jason Reitman

  • NEW: 19 Deleted Scenes – a collection of never-before-seen deleted scenes!

  • NEW: Ghostbusters II Soundtrack Promo – a scene from the film with commentary from composer Randy Edelman

  • NEW: Full TV Broadcast Version of the Film (in Standard Definition) – featuring alternate TV-safe takes

  • 7 Additional Deleted Scenes

  • “The Oprah Winfrey Show: Cast of Ghostbusters II” – June 1989

  • Time Is But A Window: Ghostbusters II and Beyond

  • Ghostbusters II Original EPK

  • “On Our Own” Music Video by Bobby Brown

  • Theatrical Trailers

  • GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE

  • Jason’s Sneak Peek from Set

  • Theatrical Trailers

Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II 4K UHD Review

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Boy, this is strange. After years in the industry of creating special features for DVD and Blu-rays, I've never really done a review for one. But now that I'm no longer working in that field, and given that the folks in Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's publicity department were kind enough to send me review copies, here goes... my very first disc review of the Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II Ultra-HD 4K Blu-ray releases.

VIDEO QUALITY

Being only the second UHD disc that I've been able to take a look at (the other being the recent Deadpool release), it's tough to have a comparison for these older films in a 4K presentation. But as a fan of Ghostbusters, I loved every frame of what has been done here. In terms of the first film, the picture quality is very comparable to the "Mastered in 4K" release - I'd have to put freeze-frames side by side to get a good idea just where the differences occur in the jump in resolution. But this master is leaps and bounds better than the original pre-remastering Ghostbusters Blu-ray release... which was better than the previous DVD release, which had improved on the original DVD release. That's the good news, with ever release the picture quality continues to shine incrementally. Colors are deep and rich. Sharpness is good without any lines buzzing. I wish I had the ability to take screencaptures from the UHD discs because the picture presentation is absolutely astounding. Grain has been left in place to continue to give the feature presentation a filmic quality (and to mimic what audiences would have seen in theaters with a print projection) but the sharpness and the detail is wonderful. Sure, compared to the Deadpool UHD, there's a noticeable jump in the detail and fidelity of the image between the two, but make no mistake, this is the best that either film has looked in years let alone on a home video release. But chances are, if you purchased either the "Mastered in 4K" Blu-ray a year or two ago or that two-pack Digibook set and you're happy with the picture quality, you might not notice that large of a jump between the two releases.

AUDIO QUALITY

This is where the new release for both films really shines. My Dolby Atmos enabled system loved the brand-new mixes done for both of these films, even if they are a little scaled back when compared to the Deadpool UHD or the most recent Gravity Atmos release. Needless to say, the new mix is a massive upgrade from the stereo mix days, the surrounds get a pretty good workout with a lot of flybys and sound effects enveloping you on both films. It's still not as bombastic of a mix as a modern-era Atmos mix might provide, but for a film that's over 30 years old in the case of the original, it's still pretty darn impressive.

SPECIAL FEATURES

First off... hey! They listened and swapped Slimers so that the correct version of each is on their respective covers (initial versions of the box art solicited had Ghostbusters II Slimer on the original film's cover and vice-versa). It looks like they also nudged the (odd-choice) Fort Detmerring photo on the original films' cover so that the logo isn't chopping off poor Ernie Hudson's head. That said, man those covers are still ugly.

But why judge a book by its cover? Let's dive into what's contained inside...

The UHD discs lack any special features with the exception of an audio commentary, most likely to assure that the highest bit-rate is dedicated to the picture and audio presentation on these discs. But the standard 1080p Blu-ray discs include the same special features that were included on the Digibook two-pack set released in 2014. But hey, this is my first venture into a Blu-ray review, let's leave no stone left unturned and dive into what's here (and what's not). 

Included on the Blu-ray are:

"Who You Gonna Call: A Ghostbusters Retrospective" - called a "roundtable" discussion (though not at a table and is more of a Geoff Boucher moderated Q&A)

"Time is But a Window: Ghostbusters II and Beyond" - the second part of the Geoff Boucher "roundtable" that gives a little bit of a discussion on the production and response of the second film and talks about prospects for a third film at a time when Paul Feig's current July release was unannounced.

Deleted Scenes - 10 scenes from the original film (with several missing that were on the Criterion disc and for some reason still have never made it onto a SPHE release) and 7 very welcome deleted scenes from the second film are presented here... although there are several scenes from the second movie that aren't represented here for one reason or another including a cameo from Eugene Levy we've seen in production photography but never on celluloid. Deleted scenes, especially with actors cut from the film in entirety are always a tricky thing, but those are the types of things that fans would love to see. Maybe some day. Again, good fodder for another box set down the line.

Alternate TV Takes - These are a lot of fun, especially for those of us that grew up without a proper VHS release of the film and instead watched the ABC Sunday Night at the Movies recording we had over and over. A fun inclusion.

Audio Commentary by Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis and Joe Medjuk (on the first film). This is the same commentary from the 90s, it's fun and light-hearted but a little dated at this point. Dan Aykroyd had said he recorded new commentaries for both films at the time of the original Blu-ray release, neither of which strangely seem to have seen the light of day. Maybe an upcoming box set with the 2016 film?

Slimer Mode - the "BonusView" track over the film is fun, although a bit repetitive of materials elsewhere.

"Ecto-1: Resurrecting the Classic Car" - great 15 minute featurette from when the car was restored for the 25th anniversary. Sadly since that time, the Ecto-1A from the second film has been rotting and still sits in shambles.

Featurettes: Original 1984 featurette (cut from the EPK material, which is fantastic), cast and crew featurette, SFX Team featurette - these are all great though aren't given much time to breathe. There's also a multi-angle feature that is replicated from the original DVD release (and the Criterion Laserdisc before it) where you can see VFX/SFX shots before and after with the touch of a button.

Music Videos: Both the Ray Parker Jr. music video and the Bobby Brown "On Our Own" music video are represented on both discs. Glad to have them. Though there's several other music videos that could and should be included on a future release. The Bus Boys' "Cleanin' Up the Town", Mick Smiley's "Magic", Run DMC's "Ghostbusters" remix.

Trailers - yes. That same weird trailer is on the original film that was on the original Blu-ray release. Must have been a legal issue or something but it's... weird. Maybe they wanted to take advantage of the HD picture by overcutting footage from the film into the trailer with the audio bed, maybe there was a legal reason, but it's strange to hear cut lines of dialogue under the wrong shots (Venkman's cut line about being the "Chairman of the Largest Paranormal Removal Company" under the shot of the original Ghostbusters banner being hung outside the firehouse being the most egregious. Why not include the ORIGINAL original trailer? It's such a strange choice. I can understand not including the trailer on the Criterion disc that includes the unused Ghostbusters theme because of music legality issues, but this one is a head-scratcher to me still.

NOT included on the Blu-ray are: several of the deleted scenes seen on previous releases including the Criterion laserdisc release. There's a whole lot of key behind the scenes elements that have never been explored on a home video release (which hopefully the upcoming "Cleanin' Up the Town" documentary will take care of) but for reference, I did a full breakdown of what would be the ideal set of special features in an old Private Sector column that you can see here courtesy of Proton Charging.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Do you have a 4K TV and the latest Dolby Atmos home theater setup and are you a die-hard Ghostbusters fan? Then this release is for you. But if you purchased the lovely Digibook set no more than a year ago, and you don't have the latest tech setup then there's really no need for you to purchase this set. Much like the "Superbit" releases of old in the DVD days, this is really for the video and audio aficionados, and even then because it's an older movie many people won't be using it as reference for their home theater demos most likely. If you've already got the excellent Digibook Blu-ray set, you might want to hold out to see if another box set of the films is released down the line with more special features. That definitive "Alien Anthology" archival version of Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II in box set is still elusive. Maybe some day, it'll come to pass.