Customer Reviews

Ghost [Blu-ray]

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3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This review refers to the Paramount DVD edition of "Ghost"....

A man is shot and killed. His body dies, but not his spirit. Before leaving this world for the next, he must find a way to warn his lover that she is in impending danger from the culprits. Sound just a little familiar? It should. The idea for this story is loosely based on none other then "Hamlet". This though is not quite as deep or complex as Shakespeare's great tragedy. It is however, a thought provoking, touching story that has a little something for everybody. It's got romance,comedy, mystery and suspense, fantasy, action and most importantly...WHOOPI!

So how does Sam(Patrick Swayze) manage to make contact with his beloved Molly(Demi Moore) after his death? Well he goes through a psychic of course. Not just any psychic though..he finds a medium who's larger than life..Oda Mae Brown(Whoopi Goldberg).
Together, they turn Molly into a believer(along with the audience) and chase down the murderous thugs out to get her.

The action, and suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat, the romance will thrill you and the special effects are dazzling. Whoopi Goldberg is fabulous, and provides the wonderful comic relief in the story, as a con artist who finds herself with a gift to give. She took home an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for this 1990 film. The film was also honored with the Best Original Screenplay. Swayze and Moore seem like they were made for each other and will have you believing in love ever after.

The DVD presents a nice clear picture in widescreen and the sound gives you the choice of DD5.1 surround or stereo surround. It may also be viewed in French(stereo) and has English subtitles for those needing them. The features include commentary by the Director(Jerry Zucker), and Writer (Bruce Joel Rubin), as well as an informative retrospective on the film(this is where I learned of the "Hamlet" connection).

The film is rated PG-13. There are some scenes of violence and of course there's the very sensuous clay sculpting scene to the tune of "Unchained Melody"(who can ever forget that?!)

If you have already seen this movie, and know it's one that you will watch over and over(and to that I would say "Ditto"), this great DVD is a bargain. If you haven't seen it, it's well worth a try and will keep everybody involved for the entire length of the film.

Go for it and enjoy....Laurie

also recommended:
Along for the Ride
Maxie [VHS]
The Color Purple

A picture-perfect modern-day romance that tells an exciting romantic story, "Ghost" is one of the best romantic films ever made. In it, we see just what lengths someone will go to for their love for someone else, and also shows us that the love we have for someone in our life goes on after death. Director Jerry Zucker, and acting by Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg, all make this movie a landmark that everybody knows about.

What is so special about the story is the connection between the two romantic leads. Swayze plays Sam Wheat, who, with his longtime girlfriend Molly, is remodeling a penthouse apartment in New York, where they soon live together, completely happy and in love. We have no reason to question the love story angle because the direction and acting tell us from the very beginning the nature of their relationship, and does it in understandable terms. Sam also works for a major banking corporation, where he has a best friend Carl, who seems more than willing to take certain workloads off of Sam's shoulders. One night, Sam and Molly are set upon by a thief, who demands Sam's wallet, and after a struggle, Sam is left with a fatal gunshot wound. Of course, being dead, he is now a ghost, and must watch as Molly comes to the realization that her lover is dead.

The acting of these two actors is what makes all of this incredibly affecting, most especially Molly's coping with Sam's sudden exit from her life. She keeps his personal things, as well as any little scrap of paper or memory she can hold onto, with Sam watching all of this from behind her shoulder and Carl trying his best to comfort and console her. Sam soon pays a visit to a con artist medium named Otta Mae Brown, played by Whoopi Goldberg, who is the only person that Sam is able to talk to. The comedy of the movie really picks up as we are given scenes of Brown walking in the streets arguing with the air, talking to the walls, and having hissy fits with Sam in public. Goldberg is really given a chance to shine in this role, playing out some of her best lines and material ever.

Comedy then mixes with drama and action as the plot reveals that Carl was a mastermind behind a murder conspiracy. Carl is in desperate need of money, and when he found out that Sam was in charge of a four million dollar bank account, he hired a hitman to have Sam killed in order to try and take over the account and steal the money. As he further tries to worm his way into Molly's life, Sam becomes more and more determined to try and find a way of reaching her aside from giving Otta Mae instructions on what to say to her. Swayze is able to give us a powerhouse performance here, as his character sits back and can do nothing to physically protect his love. He feels weak, helpless, and these emotions are played out brilliantly.

The film won an Academy Award, one of two, for Best Original Screenplay for 1990. The script is a melting pot of many different elements: comedy that comes from the relationship of Otta Mae and Sam's collaboration, supernatural elements stemming from the ghost angle, thriller techniques that reside in the mystery of Sam's death and Carl's intentions, and most important, the love story that Molly and Sam live out, which serves as the basis for everything that happens. It has a little bit of everything for everyone, which gave diverse audiences what they wanted and made it a sheer success among people.

Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze both give excellent performances that keep the love story going. They both have a chemistry that never stops or staggers the film, but keeps it going. Whoopi Goldberg is Otta Mae Brown, a role she was born to play and for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her comic genius and diverse areas of acting play a major role, and sometimes become the heart of the film. Tony Goldwyn plays the conniving Carl, and does so effectively. He is one of those few people in a movie that the audience can truly despise for his crimes, and when the ending comes, it is pure satisfaction to watch him get what's coming to him.

"Ghost" is nothing short of a successful movie, keeping us enthralled with comedic, romantic and thrilling elements, making us believe in things beyond this world. It never stops moving, it is utterly original, and it keeps us at the edge of our seats as well as tugging at our hearts.

Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze are a couple madly in love with each other when Swayze is murdered - but just won't entirely go away. His ghost is hanging around, protecting Moore from some bad guys and trying to figure out a way to give someone the information needed to nail his killer. The movie veers between genres: horror, sci-fi, romance, mystery. And then, there's Whoopi Goldberg in another signature role (she won an Oscar for this one); she plays a medium who is shocked to find that she really IS gifted with second sight - and her confusion as she comes to grips with her newfound power is hilarious to watch as she works with Swayze to pass on the incriminating criminal information.
It's a tear jerker, especially the scene in which ghost and Goldberg revisit Moore in a passionate, loving, romantic sayonara interlude set to the music of the Righteous brothers.
Marvelous sentimental schmaltz that works perfectly in every way.

God Bless the family and fans of Patrick Swayze he will not be forgotten and we were hoping for a miracle. He was a strong and beautiful man and fought a long fight (which is rare for pancreatic cancer and very painful).

The movie itself is a favorite so I was looking forward to getting it in blu-ray. The video is a step up from the sd dvd but definitely not one of the better blu-ray transfers for a catalog title. There is some grain in the picture and at times the picture is a little soft but overall better than the sd. The CGI effects however are hurt by HD and don't look as seamless as in the sd dvd. The audio is TrueHD. It is clear and crisp but since this movie is mostly about dialogue the lossless codec doesn't add a lot. Surrounds are easily heard during the action sequences. Overall if you don't have this in sd in your collection I would get it over the sd. If you have it in sd you might want to rent it in blu-ray before deciding to purchase it.

I would have to say this this is one of, if not the, greatest love story of all time. I also think that it is without a doubt the greatest romance film of all time. This movie personifies the feeling of the song for which it is well-known, "Unchained Melody" by the rightous brothers. I am not a person who is easily moved. This movie moved me so much that I cried. Definatley a classic.

I'm not sure why I never watched "Ghost" before until last night. For some reason, I didn't pay much heed to it when it was first released and never thought it was worth watching on TV. I'm glad I gave it a chance because this is a GOOD movie. What makes it good is its' skillful mixture of suspense, romance, comedy, and the supernatural. That would seem to be too much to tackle for one movie but we get it all in the right balance. I was drawn rather quickly into the movie and got to where I couldn't wait to see what was coming next. There were a few "convenient" capabilities that these ghosts had that were necessary for the story to work. I'm a rather pragmatic person but, by the time these things came up, I was so caught up in the story that I WANTED these things to be possible.

Obviously, the writer and director deserve accolades for their work and the actors do as well. I wanted to make note of the quality of acting because it was probably the cast that left me uninterested in watching "Ghost". I was prepared to be unimpressed in particular with Whoopie Goldberg so I want to confess that I thought her Best Supporting Actress Oscar was well-deserved. I figure that I was one of the last persons in America to see "Ghost" but if there are others of you out there who still haven't seen it, give it a look; it's well worth it.

Ghost is a magical movie. The top grossing film of 1990 is also one of the best movies of the decade, no question. Here is a rare film that can be watched over and over and still make the viewer feel the same emotion every time--you wanna laugh and cry all at once. The film combines elements of almost every film genre--fantasy, ghost story, mystery, horror, romance, drama, thriller, and comedy blend together seamlessly for a touching, emotional, and suspenseful roller coaster ride.

Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore are fantastic and Whoopi Goldberg definitely deserves that Oscar for her hilarious supporting role as psychic Oda Mae Brown. She successfully brings a light touch to an otherwise dark and brooding film.

Directing his first film on his own, Jerry Zucker (who was partnered with his brother David and Jim Abrahams on the Airplane! movies and other spoofs) has done an impressive job, with considerable help from a brilliant editor, Walter Murch, and Oscar winning screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin.

Rubin has crafted a well-paced and entertaining tale. He is a born storyteller, with a gift for weaving an intricate, involving narrative as well as an ability to tap into some of our deepest hopes and fears. What makes Ghost special is the way it takes what might have been an unbearably sentimental story and turns it into a powerfully romantic drama with a positive message about life, death and love. He manages to make us feel a flurry of emotions while we stare dumbfounded at the unbelievable events unfolding before us, making them extremely plausible. He sucks us into the tightly knit tale from the very first frame, and doesn't let go until the end credits begin to roll.

Ghost WILL make you believe.

Ghost originally came out when I was 10 years old. I missed it in the theatrical run. But when it came out on video, my older sister rented it and made me watch it. Even then, I was sucked in and LOVED it. I rented it again a little bit later and once more, watched it maybe 3 times that weekend. Years passed, I hadn't seen the movie in it's entirity since then (early 1991) tho I'd seen clips on TBS and the like. But once I heard it was coming on DVD, I knew it was a must to get. Well, I watched the movie last night for the first time in literally 10 years and I must say. It is still a superb movie. You felt so much emotion the entire time.

Patrick Swayze gave the performance of his career as Sam. It's a shame his career would never be the same afterwards by taking lackluster after lackluster for the rest of the decade (save To Wong Foo).

Demi Moore's career went from semi-popular Brat Pack refugee to a bonafide superstar with this role. She is not a great actress in the least (for every Ghost and A Few Good Men, she had 4 or 5 Scarlett Letter's and Striptease's), but she was excellent as Molly.

Whoopi Goldberg, what can you say? Color Purple had already proved the naysayers that she could act. And next to her part as Celie in Color Purple (still a shame both her, and that movie were snubbed by Oscars), her role as Oda May Brown is definately her signature role. She steals every single scene she is in. The bank scene and the nun scene are two of the funniest scenes ever put on celluloid. She totally deserved her Oscar.

Also look for Stephen Root (better known for his role in Newsradio, as well as his part as Milton in Office Space) as the police detective who Demi goes to halfway through it.

This movie is a great classic. And on DVD, you totally will be able to rediscover the movie you loved a decade ago. This movie, along with Pretty Woman, are my absolute fave movies of 1990, and possibly of the early 90's period.

And to those who have never seen the movie before, prepare to bring some kleenex.

I doubt very much if very many people have not heard of this movie. If you haven't, welcome back from the Moon and boy are you in for a treat! One of the greatest Date Flicks of all time, this movie is MANDATORY SEEING as a couple, especially DVD with surround, the lights low, the scented candles on, and plenty of Kleenex! Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore play roles you have never seen before, as does Whoopi Goldberg. The range of emotions displayed are breathtaking, and many scenes will make you have tears in your eyes.

Yes, it is a moving story, one that will make you cheer and will make you cry, but in the end, it will leave something behind in you. The story is original, fast paced and well crafted. You not will not get lost in this movie, and the timing is perfect.

This is the movie that re-made the Righteous Brothers "Unchained Melody" hit for them a second time. This song is perfect for this movie, and delivers the added puch to the scene it is in.

If you have not seen this move - SEE IT! If you have a DVD, this is mandatory for any collection. Is this for children? It is in my opinion too intense for under 14. This is a modern love story, and should be seen with the one you love or intend to.

In DVD Format, the soundtrack surrounds you and adds something that you can't get from network TV - and un-interrupted. It is a vital part of this movie

A "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"