Film hailed ‘one of the greatest comedies of all time’ now available to stream

Who you gonna call? (Picture: Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock)

A horror comedy lauded a ‘classic’ by fans is streaming for free now on BBC iPlayer.

Released in 1984, Ghostbusters follows the titular team of parapsychologists who start a ghost-catching business in New York City.

It stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis as the Ghostbusters themselves, with a cast rounded out by Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, William Atherton, and Ernie Hudson.

Directed by Ivan Reitman, Ghostbusters was a huge box office hit at the time of its release, grossing $282million (£208m) worldwide during its initial theatrical run.

Ghostbusters quickly became the highest grossing comedy ever in the US and Canada, and the highest grossing film in 1984.

It spawned a further four films with the latest, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, being released last year.

Ghostbusters was released in 1984 following a group of parapsychologists opening their business in New York (Picture: Col Pics/Everett/REX/Shutterstock) The film features an all-star cast (Picture: Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock)

Ghostbusters also received a wildly popular animated series in 1986, The Real Ghostbusters, Extreme Ghostbusters a year later, and various pieces of merchandise and even haunted attractions.

It boasts a whopping 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critics’ consensus reading: ‘An infectiously fun blend of special effects and comedy, with Bill Murray’s hilarious deadpan performance leading a cast of great comic turns.’

In their review, The Times said: ‘Ivan Reitman’s enjoyably silly (and occasionally genuinely scary) supernatural blockbuster about a team of amateurish ectoplasmic exorcists rescuing New York from a plague of ghouls was the most expensive comedy of its time.’

The Hollywood Reporter wrote: ‘The plotting may be primitive, but it’s all carried off with far more style and finesse than one might expect from the creators of Animal House and Meatballs.’

Medium dubbed Ghostbusters ‘the Godfather of comedy films’ while Houston Press lauded it the ‘best movie ever.’

The film holds a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (Picture: THA/Shutterstock) The latest Ghostbusters film was released in 2024 to lacklustre reviews (Picture: Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock)

Time Out said: ‘Thirty years on, bustin’ still makes us feel good. In fact, few movies have the power to make us feel good-er.’

Meanwhile, Empire wrote: ‘As entertaining today as it ever was, a classic to be treasured by all.’

After Frozen Empire received harsh reviews, star McKenna Grace had stern words for critics.

‘Everybody can say whatever they want about a film. Everybody’s gonna watch a film and have a different takeaway,’ she told Metro.

‘Whenever I read a review – I love Letterboxd (a social and cataloguing site for film fans) and so I’m always reading Letterboxd reviews – but I think whenever there’s a review, and it’s like, “Stop making Ghostbusters movies!” or “stop, just let the franchise die!”, because people say that, I’m not just like – I’m gonna be honest, people say that.

‘But if you’re going into the movie with that attitude, then you were never gonna give it a chance in the first place. If you want to go to the theatre, and have a fun time and enjoy a fun action Ghostbusters movie, then go to the theatre and watch Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire! If you think that you don’t like the franchise and you don’t want to watch the movie, then don’t watch the movie. It’s not for you!’

Ghostbusters is streaming now on BBC iPlayer

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