Ghost is one of those films that appears to cross several genres quite successfully. With the direction of Jerry Zucker, it’s no surprise that the film would contain some golden comedy. Most of the film is a murder mystery. This one’s a no brainer, and you should have it figured out in minutes, if not sooner. The emphasis isn’t on who done it, rather more on why he done it and how is he going to go down for it. Still, it works pretty well in that style. Finally, Ghost is best remembered as a romantic film. Even if you’ve never seen the film, you’ve likely seen the pottery love scene. It’s been often spoofed and is without a doubt a staple of our pop culture.
Film 
The story isn’t all that complicated. When first we meet Sam Wheat (Swayze) and Molly Jensen (Moore) they are just about to start their lives together in a spacious studio apartment. Sam works as a Wall Street advisor, and Molly is a sculptor who works in clay. We are treated, or subjected, depending on your tastes, to a rather messy love scene between the two to establish just how much they are into each other. Once we’ve got that down the inevitable hammer falls, and Sam is shot dead by an apparently random robbery while the young lovebirds are returning from a show. They might be in love, but aren’t smart enough to avoid dark alleys at night in downtown New York. (Remember this is pre-Rudy.) Upon his death Sam opts not to take the white light express to the Pearly Gates. He’s confused and ends sticking around in a spiritual state. While he wanders about experimenting with his present state of being, he happens into the parlor of Oda Mae Brown (Goldberg), a con artist psychic. He observes one of her cons, and it becomes apparent that she can actually hear him. No one is more surprised than Oda Mae. Here Whoopi Goldberg supplies the best and considerably humorous role. Sam finagles her into helping him communicate with Molly by badgering her until she agrees. (Didn’t I just see that in Ghost Town?) Of course, Molly’s not falling for it, at least until Oda Mae comes across with some pretty private information. Sam has also discovered his killer, who has let himself into the apartment with his stolen keys. When he follows the murderer he discovers that his death might not have been so random after all. Now Sam has a more urgent reason for communicating with Molly. Molly’s in danger, and so is Oda Mae, because now they know too much. Sam has to discover new abilities, learned from a rather amusing encounter with another spirit played quite well by character actor Vincent Schiavelli. In the end the syrup flows and love conquers all.
The film has earned an almost classic status since 1990. It was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It did take home two statues for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Goldberg. I have to tell you that I absolutely hate Whoopi Goldberg. I think she’s crass, tasteless, and a total idiot, and those are what I consider to be her endearing characteristics. I do have to admit that she was the best performer in the film here and obviously deserved the accolades. Her character is by far the most interesting, and a refreshing change from the Shakespearian romantic tragedy that is Sam and Molly. While most remember the movie for its romance, I’m here to tell you, it would never have worked without Goldberg. Mark the date and time, because you might never hear me say another kind word about her again. For Patrick Swayze his part was relegated to looking sexy for the woman. It’s no small part, since this is more than anything else a “chick flick”. Demi Moore was pretty much an unknown at the time, and Ghost was her breakout role. She does a fine enough job here, but it wasn’t to be her best performance. Rick Aviles plays Willie, the bad guy in the film, and he is actually quite good. His role is rather limited, but it requires him to play several kinds of character in one. He pulls it off, but not enough to throw you off his trail.
Finally one must consider the f/x of Ghost. By 1990 we were beginning to get more sophisticated with what we could do on-screen. The CG world was still a short time in the future, however. Most of the f/x deal with Swayze and how he interacts, or fails to interact, with the world around him. By today’s standards passing through doors and people is pretty much child’s play. Here it was done with a rather stylish grace. When Swayze first attempts to pass through a door we see the structure and hue of the door creep into his body. It’s that little extra push that makes it that more interesting to watch. The only flaw in the f/x presentation were the demons that take the souls of the bad guys. They looked rather silly to me, but I suspect it was intended to be creepy and a little unnerving. Oh, wait a minute, that was the pottery scene.
Video 
Ghost is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This is not now nor ever has been a visually good looking film. Flesh tones are spoiled by a weird bluish tint that I never quite figured out. Colors are often too soft or too washed out. I suppose this is all artistic decisions, but they make Ghost not so much a candidate for the high definition treatment. You do get a true 1080p image provided through a standard AVC/MPEG-4 codec. What you don’t get is a particularly sharp or pristine image. I don’t see any evidence that any restoration was performed. There are some obvious defects in the print including dirt and minor scratches. Black levels are average at best here. I suppose you do get a bit more detail, but I don’t expect many folks will find this to be much of an upgrade.
Audio
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is likely only another minor improvement over the standard DVD release. There isn’t much here in the way of surrounds, and your sub might as well not even be hooked up. Dialog is fine, and I guess that’s pretty important here. The trouble is that I suspect the previous DVD or even laserdisc versions offered clear dialog. What is worse and almost unforgivable in a Blu-ray release is the evidence of some high end distortion. You should never experience anything approaching splatter in an uncompressed presentation. This film isn’t that old, so I can’t really blame the original recording equipment.
There is an Audio Commentary with Jerry Zucker and writer Bruce Joel Rubin. You get the impression this was somewhat of an emotional experience for them. I could swear Rubin was going to cry a couple of times.
Special Features
All of the bonus features are in standard definition and are a retread from earlier release.
- Ghost Stories – The Making Of A Classic: Rubin talks a lot about the source material and where he got many of the ideas for the award winning screenplay. Most of the 13 minutes looks at the unlikely combinations that came together to make the film. With Zucker’s reputation for cornball comedies like Airplane and Police Squad films, it’s no wonder there was resistance. Demi Moore appears in her clips with more makeup than an Estee Lauder counter.
- Inside The Paranormal: Meet some “real” psychics. Hey, some of these guys will even help you communicate with your dead pet. It’s good for a little over 8 minutes of laughter. You’ll be happy to know that 9 out of 10 psychics think Ghost got it just right. The tenth was too busy trying to remember if it was two woofs for yes or just one.
- Alchemy Of A Love Scene: Yes, we know the pottery scene was hot. But just in case you needed to be reminded, you can get a 6 minute refresher. One good tidbit was that the original script had Molly working with stone using a chisel. I wonder what that would have looked like.
- Cinema’s Greatest Romances: AFO did one of their 100 lists on passionate moments. Here’s a 20 minute look at some of them.
The Trailer and Photo Gallery are the only things presented in HD.
Final Thoughts
Make sure you’ve got a steady supply of insulin nearby, because this movie is disgustingly sweet. It’s no wonder the next time I saw this plot one of the characters was a dentist. This film is sooooooooooooo sweet it will give you cavities. I don’t mean that mm mm good sensation of a Reese’s Pieces Sundae; I’m talking the gag reflex sweet of being force fed a 5 pound bag of raw sugar. I won’t deny a certain bias against romance films. They tend to leave me a little nauseous. It might have been better to get a “chick” to review the film, but most of them were crying so much they kept shorting out the keyboard. The task fell to me. I’ve managed to avoid seeing this film for almost 20 years. My luck ran out when Paramount asked me to review the title and my wife wanted to see it. So they sent the film, and I have it in my collection. “Now that I have it, I don’t think I want it.”
