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Is Harold Ramis the unsung hero of Ghostbusters?


Dan Aykroyd's original script for Ghostbusters was apparently very massive. He developed all the specifics about the traps technology and what exactly was inside the vault and how the ghost behaved there, etc. Basically, it was much more of a science fiction script (or depending on who you ask, more bloated, trippy, and insane), and he took his ideas very seriously. Harold Ramis took Aykroyd's script and streamlined it/made it more crackerjack.

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I never knew this. Have you read this script? I'd be interested in seeing what Dan's thoughts were but given his interest in the paranormal and such I wouldn't be surprised if it went in a different direction.

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If I remember correctly, Aykroyd's original concept had the Ghostbusters be inter-dimensional time travelers. Instead of the proton packs, they used wands for their equipment. And the Ghostbusters dressed more like members of a SWAT unit. Aykroyd was told by Ivan Reitman that his script would've probably cost the movie about $300 million (imagine how much that would be today considering inflation) to make. Harold Ramis came in and made Aykroyd's concepts more grounded and focused.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdjYgCMMVTs

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Yikes! If Ramis got all that stuff cut then yes, he's officially a personal hero of mine.

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Dan Aykroyd strikes me as a guy who has great concepts and ideas, but he has great trouble making them seem more coherent, focused, and relatable. Nothing But Trouble is pretty much what you'll get from an unfiltered Dan Aykroyd.

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wow. I'd never heard of Nothing But Trouble , just looked it up now. It looks insanely bad. I feel i have to see it, given the cast and the writer.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e745cKbN08w

The Awfully 90s Summer rolls on as Awfully Good Movies revisits one of the most infamous film debacles of the decade that also serves as one of its most endearing cult classics: Dan Aykroyd's 1991 directorial debut/finale NOTHING BUT TROUBLE! After dominating the 1980s by co-writing and starring in such hits as THE BLUES BROTHERS and GHOSTBUSTERS, the Canadian comedian decided to finally step behind the director's chair after Dan and his brother Peter wrote the script for a most unusual hybrid of horror and comedy that Aykroyd described as a hybrid of BEETLEJUICE and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, with both John Hughes and John Landis refusing to reunite with Aykroyd on the project. It certainly helped Aykroyd that he was able to attract plenty of star power to his directorial debut, with his SNL co-star Chevy Chase starring as a big shot financial advisor alongside Demi Moore as a lawyer who convinces Chase to drive her to Atlantic City to confront her ex-fiancee, and Aykroyd's GREAT OUTDOORS co-star John Candy as a cop in the decaying mining town of Valkenvania who pulls over Chevy and Demi for speeding and turns them into the local Justice of the Peace--a demented 106 year old man who isn't planning on letting these snooty yuppies leave his courthouse alive, as played under heavy makeup by Aykroyd himself.

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Harold Raimis is a genius!! I am mad he cannot be brought back

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