Movie Info:
Writer: Bruce Joel Rubin
Director: Jerry Zucker
Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze, Tony Goldwyn
Rating: PG 13
Studio: Paramount
Release Info:
Theatrical Release:
DVD Release Date: December 30, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $19.99
Ghost is one of those movies that I’ve seen more than once. While it’s a good movie, I haven’t seen it in quite some time. Part of the reason for this is that I never owned Ghost on DVD before. It’s not that I don’t like this movie enough to own it on DVD, because I do. It just wasn’t one of those movies I thought about owning.
The other reason why I haven’t seen Ghost in a while is because I haven’t managed to catch it on television recently. The movie was on TV quite a bit throughout the 90s, but now, I just haven’t happened upon this movie on television. So, when I learned that I’d be getting Ghost in Blu Ray, I was actually quite happy. I do like this movie, so it’s nice to finally have this collection.
Ghost received mixed reviews from critics, initially, but grossed hundreds of millions of dollars both domestically and worldwide. These days, the film is rated more favorably by today’s critics. The movie went through a series of actors before Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg were cast. In fact, Whoopi would not have been cast had it not been for Swayze, who demanded she be placed in the role of Oda Mae.
This is funny because Whoopi Goldberg went on to win an Academy Award for her role in this film. In fact, she is one of only three black actresses to win an Academy Award for a best supporting actress role. Whoopi was the second black woman to win an Academy Award period, preceded only by Hattie McDaniel for her performance as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. So, this win for Whoopi was, and still is, a big deal.
I believe this movie was so successful because of the cast. The plot was pretty good, but it wasn’t so standout that it deserved an Oscar. Still, the cast, their chemistry and their performances made this movie and the story in it standout. A lesser cast wouldn’t have been able to make Ghost such an outstanding success at both the box office and with the people watching this film.
The Ghost Plot
The story starts with the love of two New York City residents, Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) and Molly Jensen (Demi Moore). It’s clear that the two love each other, but Sam refuses to say those three little words to Molly. It upsets her that his response is always ‘ditto’ instead of I love you, too, whenever she tells him she loves him. Still, she believes he loves her anyway, and is willing to still be with him, for the time being.
The two are sharing an apartment, and while walking back there, after a night at the theatre, they are robbed. The thief, Willy Lopez (Rick Aviles), is armed and he ends up shooting Sam. Sam manages to run after him, but he loses sight of Willy mid-chase. Returning to Molly, he realizes that he is a ghost, as he watches her hold his dead body to her. When the lights come to take him to a better place, he runs away, trapped between the land of the living and the dead.
Sam has another encounter with Willy, who sneaks into Sam and Molly’s home. After going through their belongings, Sam follows Willy home where he learns that one of his closest friends, Carl Bruner (Tony Goldwyn) had hired Willy to rob him. Carl, who also was Sam’s co-worker is in the middle of laundering money from the bank where Sam worked. He was going to steal his new computer password, because Sam had recently changed it and Carl was then unable to access the phony accounts he had created to store the money.
Sam is afraid the dirty men will come after Molly, but as a ghost, he cannot warn her. Enter Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg). She claims to be a medium, but she’s really a crook. Going off a long held family belief that members of her family can hear, but not see ghosts, Sam actually helps her discover her true gift, of course, it’s up to Sam to convince Oda Mae to help him and in return, help Molly before it is too late.
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
Ghost looks good on Blu-ray though sadly this is not the absolute best quality that you can find. Ghost is not a recent film and it shows in small ways. A recent remastering does help it though and it never looks bad on Blu-ray. It just doesn’t appear to be brand new. The 1080p AVC MPEG-4 encode with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, Ghost gives you all that an 18 year old movie can in terms of strength in an entirely new setting.
Fans will enjoy the fact that Ghost has been cleaned up and looks as good as it does. There are some occasional instances of blur and small instances of wear, but I was satisfied with what I was watching. The colors are beautifully done and the flesh tones are stellar. The level of detail has been moved up, too. It’s a nice transfer even if it’s not 100% perfect.
The audio suffers from its share of difficulties that make it less amazing than the video, but again, not horrible. The main problem here is that the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound does little for the film in terms of dynamic content. The audio leans mainly on the front channels for everything. The music is not as strongly delivered as it could be and the limited effects sound good, but there aren’t enough to make a case out of them alone. So, what it comes down to is that Ghost will never win any awards for Blu-ray sound.
That being said, it’s passable for a standard audience that loves the movie. In addition to the English audio there is Spanish and French tracks in Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles are available in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Visual: 
Audio:
Bonus Features:
Ghost offers the set of features here that are available in the special edition DVD that was released in 2007. Overall there is a good set of special features here though I can’t help but feel like some of the key actors are missing (and they are). It would have been nice to see their input and impressions on the film, but there was a fair amount of bonuses without them present.
The audio commentary includes opinions from Jerry Zucker and the film’s screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin. There is a lot to hear in this track although there are occasional bouts of dead air that really slow down the commentary until it becomes pointless to listen at all. It’s good while it lasts but once it ends, you should get out while you still can. Interesting points can be heard when they discuss choosing cast and crew. For example, Swayze wasn’t the first choice for this male lead and the director wasn’t the first choice (no surprise there considering the film genre) either.
“The Making of a Classic” is a nice featurette that has some newer intereviews with the screenwriter, director, and Patrick Swayze. Sadly, Whoopi Goldberg and Demi Moore are not shown in newer interviews so instead, previous clips have been used. This goes by pretty fast and if you do not consider this to be a classic then you probably won’t by into the hype that it so readily offers.
“Alchemy of a Love Scene” talks about the all too famous love scene in the film. This is a scene that has been done over a million times in comedy and parody movies, but still it’s quite popular with fans. The discussion here is rather serious and it’s obvious people are proud of their work on the scene and in the film.
“Inside the Paranormal” offers interviews with psychics and mediums that try and back the idea of ghosts and the work that they do. If you are unwilling to believe in ghosts you still might want to watch this featurette to laugh at it. If you believe though you might find one of those Unsolved Mysteries qualities about this. It’s worth a watch at least once.
“100 Years…100 Passions” was taken from AFI’s 100 Greatest…. It seems funny that this was included, because while Ghost is shown it’s really not for very long. Meanwhile, the actual special feature goes for nearly 20 minutes. It’s a fair watch, but nothing entirely relevant to Ghost or this Blu-ray disc. Other than that the only thing to enjoy is a still gallery and the theatrical trailer that has been re-done in HD.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
I’ve always liked the movie Ghost, so I’m glad I finally own it. While the Blu Ray quality is good, it’s not superb, or exactly like I would expect from Blu Ray. Still, it is better than past standard releases of the film on DVD. Since there are a decent amount of bonuses and the movie looks good for it’s age, if you already own this on standard DVD, you’ll have to decide based on this review, whether it is worth it to upgrade. If you are a fan of Ghost or have never seen it, I recommend picking this up in either Blu Ray or standard DVD. Both versions are good, though Blu Ray is just a bit better. This release is recommended.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: Blu-ray, Movie, Ghost, Paranormal, Psychic, Love Story, Romance, Thriller, Drama
Written by Ashtyn Evans – Visit Website
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Ashtyn is in her early 30s. She is a mother, writer, college student, and music lover. Ashtyn has had a successful career as a writer since 2003. She turned to blogging in 2005. Ashtyn attends Wright State where she is getting a degree in Psychology. She has extensive knowledge in SEO and Social Media Development.
