GHOST
(Blu-ray Review)
Starring
Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn, Rick
Aviles, Vincent Schiavelli. Directed by Jerry Zucker. (1990/126 min)
FROM
PARAMOUNT
Review
by Stinky the Destroyer😽
So
I was at Dollar Tree the other day and found a movie called The
Belko Experiment, a vicious black comedy where a bunch of office
workers are trapped in their building and forced to kill each other.
The best character is Barry Norris, a office manager willing to
sacrifice everyone to save his own skin. He's played by Tony
Goldwyn, and if the name doesn't ring a bell, his face surely would.
Goldwyn is one of those actors where you go, “Hey, it's that guy!”
Though
his filmography is long and varied, Goldwyn excels at playing
despicable white-collar douchebags and depicts Norris as a psychotic
version of his most famous role, Swayze-slayer Carl Bruner in 1990's
Ghost.
For
the uninitiated, Ghost wasn't just a box office hit. It was an
unexpected cultural phenomenon, making pottery sexy, an old song new
again and Demi Moore appealing (sort of). The film also cemented
Patrick Swayze as Hollywood's most sensitive hunk and briefly
convinced the world Whoopi Goldberg could act. That it was directed
by one of the guys responsible for Airplane! was another big
surprise.
 |
| Swayze loses this argument. |
Revisiting
the film for the first time since my wife dragged me kicking and
screaming to the theater 30 years ago, I still hold the opinion that
Ghost is a bit overpraised and certainly not Oscar-worthy
(though it did nab a few, including an inexplicable win for Whoopi).
However, it also reminded me how great Goldwyn was. Comparatively
speaking, he never got the credit he deserved for creating one of the
better unsung bad guys of the decade. One of the chief reasons Sam
Wheat is so sympathetic is because Goldwyn makes Bruner a guy we love
to hate. Swayze & Moore may have made audiences swoon, but for
me, Goldwyn was always the most memorable part of the movie. Or maybe
I'm just wired funny.
Ghost
is #8 in the Paramount
Presents
series, consisting
of some of the studio’s iconic films. Paramount
currently
appears to
be focusing
on the era when they pretty-much dominated the box office with
high-concept commercial blockbusters. As
such, this one's sort of a no-brainer and is nicely
remastered
with improved picture and sound. But for me, the niftiest aspect is
the packaging, which
folds-open
to reveal the film’s original poster art. The series is obviously
intended for those of us who still take pride in displaying how we've
blown our discretionary income.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
"FILMMAKER
FOCUS” - New interview with director Jerry Zucker.
VINTAGE
FEATURETTES (from 2006) - “Ghost Stories: The Making of
a Classic” (featuring interviews with Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore,
Whoopi Goldberg, Jerry Zucker and screenwriter Bruce Joel Ruben;
“Anatomy of a Love Scene” (breakdown of the pottery scene). Based
on the subtle comments by a few of those involved, I got the
impression Moore & Swayze didn't actually get along very well.
AUDIO
COMMENTARY – By Zucker & Ruben
TRAILER
DIGITAL
COPY
KITTY CONSENSUS:
NOT BAD. LIKE CAT CHOW.
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