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| This bright and persuasive poster for Jerry Zucker's Ghost promises eroticism between two of its time's hottest stars, who meet in orgiastic ecstasy under the word; BELIEVE |
When the man in a young, beautiful New-Yorker couple get brutally shot to death in the city, his soul is not finished on earth: As a ghost he then fights to save his loved one from suffering the same violent fate that he did.
Ghost is written by Bruce Joel Rubin (Deep Impact (1998)) and directed by great Wisconsinite filmmaker Jerry Zucker (Airplane! (1980)).
It has a good many cheesy moments, - like the legendary clay pot-making scene in the beginning. But once it gets clear that Rubin's script seriously wants to establish a ghost movie universe, it also becomes increasingly evident that he succeeds with flying colors, and not least due to the film's terrific cast:
Demi Moore (Bunraku (2010)) is outstanding; Patrick Swayze (11:14 (2003)) radiates sincerity; Whoopi Goldberg (Homie Spumoni (2006)) is amusing as the psychic helper character, and Tony Goldwyn (Reckless (1995)) is a great villain. SPOILER The ending, in which Swayze's character lets go and ascends to heaven, is very very beautiful.
There is real movie magic in Ghost, which joins sensual romanticism with a religious crime drama with great success.
Related posts:
Jerry Zucker: Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Airplane! (1980) - The deadpan/spoof/crazy-comedy classic!
Watch a VHS trailer for the film here
Cost: 22 mil. $
Box office: 505.8 mil. $
= Blockbuster (returned 22.99 times its cost)
[Ghost was released 13 July (North America) and runs 128 minutes. Zucker reportedly increased the pacing in Rubin's script. Swayze was paid 2 mil. $; Moore 750k $. Shooting took place in New York and Los Angeles from July - December 1989. The film opened #2, behind hold-over hit Die Hard 2, to a 12.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it took the #1 spot in its 2nd week, which it held for another 3 weeks; it was in the top 5 for 18 weekends in total and grossed 217.6 mil. $ (43 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 52.3 mil. $ (10.3 %) and Japan with 48.4 mil. $ (9.6 %). It was the highest-grossing film of the year and reportedly sold incredible 51.46 mil. tickets in the US. It was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning 2; for Best Supporting Actress (Goldberg) and Original Script. It lost Best Editing to Dances with Wolves, Score (Maurice Jarre) to John Barry for Dances with Wolves and Picture to Dances with Wolves. It also won 1/4 Golden Globe nominations, 1/4 BAFTA noms and several other awards. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, translating to 2 notches harder than this one. The film additionally made more than 40 mil. $ on video rentals and 25 mil. $ on video sales domestically alone. The film was remade in India in 1991 and in Japan in 2010. A musical stage adaptation was made in England in 2011. A TV-series adaptation was announced by Paramount Television in 2013 which hasn't come to fruition. Zucker returned with First Knight (1995). Swayze returned in Point Break (1991); Moore in Nothing But Trouble (1991). Ghost is certified fresh at 73 % with a 6.86/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
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