Summer of ‘89: Ghostbusters II Showed That the Franchise Was Never Untouchable

Plus: This week in "Tales from the Crypt."

Ghostbusters II (1989)

Five years after they defeated Gozer, the Ghostbusters are out of business. When Dana begins to have ghost problems again, the boys come out of retirement to aid her and hopefully save New York City from a new paranormal threat.

June 16, 1989

Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis
cinematography by Michael Chapman
music by Randy Edelman
screenplay by Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd
produced by Ivan Reitman
directed by Ivan Reitman

"So there's a new Ghostbusters movie coming out, and, for something related to one of my favorite franchises, it may be expected that I review it. But instead of a review, for once, I'm doing something a little different: a non-review. Because I refuse to watch it (laughs) I'll tell you why. The original, which we now have to call the 1984 Ghostbusters, is a timeless classic. It's one of the greatest comedies ever made. But this one, judging from the trailers, looks awful. So, instead of doing what everybody else is gonna do, go see the movie, and then talk about how bad it is, I'm gonna do something different. Something unheard of! I'm not gonna see it! Wow! What a novel concept, right? If you already know you're going to hate it, why give them your money?"

That's a quote from filmmaker, YouTuber, and movie re-viewer James Rolfe from the opening of his instantly infamous video "Ghostbusters 2016. No Review. I refuse." The video, which his YouTube description calls "preemptive thoughts" on the film, is all about how great Ghostbusters is, how you should never mess with a classic, how he's going to save his money because it looks cheap, and how women aren't funny (he doesn't say that part outright, but he implies it enough).