Ghostbusters (1984) - 36 mistakes

Audio problem: In the scene after Dana's orchestra rehearsal, when Dana sees Venkman skipping by, she asks the "stiff" to wait there a moment. The "stiff" replies with "What? Oh, sure", however his lips do not move.

Continuity: At the end of the movie when everyone is waving to the Ghostbusters and Ray is backing up the car, on the light bar on Ecto 1, the outer lens is a solid blue light bar. When the car goes to drive away, it's a clear light bar with blue lens covers over each individual rotator.

Revealing: There's a scene where Dana's building is falling apart and stones and stuff are falling to the street below. One of the huge boulders bounces off a wooden police barricade in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.

Continuity: At about the middle of the film, when the Ghostbusters are rising to fame and are appearing on the front of newspapers and magazines, the photograph on the front of the New York Post is taken from the end of the film, just before the four of them cross the streams from their proton packs.

Visible crew/equipment: When Dana is "strapped" to the chair and pulled into the kitchen, you can clearly see the track in the floor upon which the chair is riding.

Revealing: In the earthquake scene where the road is cracked, you can see the cloth on the side of one of the cracks flapping in the wind.

Continuity: When the eggs pop out of her bag and start cooking on the counter, they're in different positions depending on whether it's a close up or wide shot.

Visible crew/equipment: When the eggs are popping out onto the counter in Dana's apartment, if you look closely you can see the the levers in the egg carton flipping each one out.

Visible crew/equipment: Towards the end, when the ground is shaking and breaking up, a police car falls halfway into a hole in the road. When the smoke clears a little you can clearly see two white poles, one on either side of the back left wheel, holding the car in place.

Continuity: The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man has a red bow tie on as he walks down the streets of New York, which disappears in one shot as the Ghostbusters fire at him.

Revealing: In the ballroom scene, when Slimer is flying around the chandelier, he disappears for a few frames when he reaches the far side. [This animation is mentioned in the DVD commentary. The film makers were generally unhappy with the entire animation and the fact that the representation of the apparition did not resemble those previous and that the movement was very unconvincing.]

Revealing: Near the end of the film when the Ghostbusters take cover in a small corner and come up with the "cross the streams" plan, look closely at Peter's proton pack, you can see that it is a foam "stunt" pack as there is a small sticking out part that keeps squashing against the wall behind him.

Revealing: In almost all the aerial shots of Dana's apartment block, the traffic on the ground is stationary (NB - this is explained in the SFX documentary on the Special Edition DVD/video - matte paintings were used for those shots)

Continuity: When the police car falls into the hole, if you watch the ground thats rising up in front of it, when it finally comes to a stop, you can see how light it is because it bounces.

Continuity: At 00:39:38, the Ghostbusters' logo in the right door of the car is looking to one side and then, a little bit later, it is looking to the other side (has changed its direction).

Revealing: When the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man is walking through the city, in several shots you can see outlines of people and buildings through the marshmallow man, who was added in optically.

Revealing: The first time the heroes use their proton weapons (in the hotel sequence), you can see (using slow-motion) that the rays don't actually come of the weapon, but from their target. The rays were "drawn" during post-production and, apparently, it's easier to start drawing from the target to the weapon. (According to MM rules the use of slow motion IS permitted for viewing something significant, such as a 'revealing' mistake.)

Continuity: When Winston gets hired, Venkman and Stantz have just come back from a job. They're covered in slime and Venkman's smoking. Ray gives Winston an armful of traps. We then cut to Venkman chatting to Dana after a rehearsal, so we assume it's later, maybe even a different day. After that scene though, we then cut back to Stantz showing Winston (wearing the same shirt) what to do with the traps, and Venkman talking to the guy from the EPA. Venkman's got the same slime pattern on his shoulder, and is still smoking. Looks like the Dana/Venkman scene was in the wrong place.

Factual error: At the very end of the movie, Ray is telling Louis about the Tunguska Blast of 1909, but the famous blast actually occurred in 1908. Given his oft-demonstrated levels of knowledge, he'd know better.

Revealing: As Dana's apartment crumbles apart to present the temple of Gozer, there is a tight shot of a gargoyle falling off an exterior corner. Carefully lined up with features on the gargoyle's face - but still readily visible - are the black strings that pull the gargoyle face off its mount.

Continuity: In the scene when they are emerging after the Stay-Puft explosion, we see Ray with marshmallow on his face and a small amount on his chest. He wipes his face, but in the shot following his apology for the burnt dog hair comment, his front side is completely covered in the stuff.

Visible crew/equipment: In the library scene, when the ghostbusters are walking towards the old lady to ask her questions, if you look behind Ray's head to the right you can see a set light with a white tarp in front of it on the second floor of the library.

Continuity: When Venkman is going into Dana's apartment for the first time, he plays a few notes on the piano. He does not fully open the piano key cover (just enough to play the notes). The next shot (or a few later) you can see the piano key cover completely off.

Continuity: At one point in the movie we see the end of the hallway in Dana's apartment and the end is of a window and the wall around it is red like the end near Dana's door. However, (either when the Ghostbusters arrive at the end or when Louis is being attacked by the terror-hound) the whole hallway (even the other end) is all white.

Continuity: As the earthquake happens and the ghostbusters fall in the crack, the close-up shot shows Ray holding his gloves, yet in the immediate cut away he is wearing them.

Continuity: In the first scene the librarian is pushing a cart of books. In one shot both her hands are gripping the back but in the next shot her left hand is holding the top shelf.

Revealing: When the earthquake scene is occuring, the last piece of the road lifting up stops and shakes up and down with the momentum of the hydraulic machines underneath.

Continuity: When the demon breaks out of the statue on Dana's apartment building, it breaks away the right paw. When we see the statue after the demon is out, both paws are intact.

Continuity: When the heros arrive at Dana's building, they're saluted by a crowd. If you pay close attention, you'll see the same extra in two different positions (he's the young - and very "happy" - guy wearing a grey suit and a purple tie).

Revealing: During the "montage" there is a reversed shot of the guys driving their "ghost-mobile" - you can notice it because the Ghostbusters logo is reversed.

Continuity: At the Lincoln Center (that place Dana's orchestra plays at) the nerd with her has his case and they're leaving when Peter is there. Nerd-boy goes off to the side and waits. When they start off again, his case pops back and forth unhumanly between being carried under his arm and in his hand between long and close shots about 3 times.

Continuity: The large blue book that Peter drops on the table to startle Egon disappears off the table in the next shot.

Continuity: When Dana returns to her apartment (the first time we see her do so) she is carrying a bag of groceries. The contents at the top of the grocery bag change with each shot: one time celery, then bread, then eggs, etc.

Other: We see Mr. Stay-Puft melting in the explosion from the Ghostbusters crossing the streams. He is being blown backwards away from the building by it. A second later another scene shows the explosion radiating outward from the roof. The only part of him shown over the edge of the building is his head and his right hand. To get all over the Ghostbusters, marshmallow would have to be blown in the opposite direction against the force of the blast. It makes sense that there was marshmallow all over the street, but how did it land on the Ghostbusters?

Visible crew/equipment: When Ray blasts the little green ghost in the hotel he hits a room service cart and it flies back into the wall. The wall then bends and pushes back a bit like a set piece.

Visible crew/equipment: When the guys are looking down at Stay Puft, as he is about to crush the church, Stay Puft approaches Dana's apartment and you can see a support structure to the right of Stay Puft's right leg.