The debate continues to rage regarding whether or not Paul Feig's Ghostbusters actually lives up to the legacy of the original franchise. They're such different entities that comparison can eventually become quite difficult. However, there's one notable area where the 2016 Ghostbusters absolutely dominates the original 1984 version of the film: visual effects. Quite a bit of work went into making Feig's Ghostbusters look as good as it did, and a VFX breakdown of the process has finally hit the web. Check it out below to see for yourself.
As members of the audience, we have a tendency to forget how much work goes into the creation of a single VFX shot, but that video (opens in new tab) should serve as a reminder of how intense the filmmaking process has become in recent years. Over the course of two minutes we see several unique scenes from the film, and a breakdown of how certain shots came to life. Some sequences look almost entirely digital -- such as the rats flooding out of the subway station -- while others actually combined actors and practical effects with advanced CGI work. Meticulous doesn't even begin to describe the process.
Without question the most impressive sequence in the entire clip comes towards the end when we see how the cast and crew of Ghostbusters crafted the heavy metal concert scene. From the foreground to the background, Paul Feig and the rest of the crew used digital effects to fully realize a genuine ghost attack in a huge, crowded theater. Computer generated imagery has come a long way in recent years, and it's hard to imagine that men like Harold Ramis and Bill Murray could have ever imagined that technology such as this would ever be used quite so expertly in a Ghostbusters movie.
Of course, this video also serves as a testament to the quality of the performances in the recent Ghostbusters reboot. From the central quartet of funny females, to random extras walking along the street, everyone delivers authentic performances that actually sell the idea of ghosts invading New York. After all, visual effects only work if the actors in a given movie can realistically convey the fantasy.
If you consider yourself a fan of high-quality visual effects on film, then make sure to check out the above video. The new generation of Ghostbusters proved nothing if not divisive, but I think we can all agree that the reboot was certainly beautiful to look at.
