Trailer Image Comparison

Below are some frame comparisons between different home video versions of "Ghostbusters II" trailers. Before each image is a brief introduction on what to look for between the images. I made a very concerted effort to get the exact frame from all versions. Some 4:3 letterbox images may have had their black bars removed in order to make them "widescreen" so they can match other images a little better.

Each frame has a few rollover images. The image displayed by default is the first one listed in the caption above the image. Mouse over the captions to swap the images back and forth. Keep in mind that these are large screenshots, so viewers with slow Internet connections should expect to wait a while for images to load.

#1: Slime On The Museum - This is a shot that actually doesn't appear in the finished film, though there are other similar shots. You can clearly see that in the DVD we lose both of the lights on the side. The 2014 Blu-ray actually shows us a tiny bit more image on all sides, especially the top - but what's lost on the 2019 Blu-ray is nothing to complain about.

1999 DVD    2014 Blu-Ray    2019 Blu-Ray

#2: Crystal Readings - Although the Orrefors Crystal Shop scene appears in the film, this shot of Egon taking readings of the floating crystal objects does not. Besides being cropped, the DVD is also a tad darker than either of the Blu-rays. The 2014 Blu-ray shows very slightly more picture on the sides, but there is a tiny sliver of blackness at the very top.

1999 DVD    2014 Blu-Ray    2019 Blu-Ray

#3: Two-Legged Logo - The 2014 Blu-ray image is the best one here. The DVD is a tad on the soft side, and the 2019 Blu-ray is a tad dark. If the 2019 Blu-ray team would have used some color correction here, that could have been the winner (or at least tied with the other Blu-ray).

1999 DVD    2014 Blu-Ray    2019 Blu-Ray

#4: Coming June 16th - The DVD and 2019 Blu-ray are tied with each other, pretty much. The 2014 Blu-ray isn't even in the race as it cut out the end card altogether.

1999 DVD    2014 Blu-Ray    2019 Blu-Ray

The comparison here is between the 2014 and 2019 Blu-rays, which both present a 16:9 HD widescreen version. The 2014 Blu-Ray presents a fake trailer (named "Theatrical Trailer #2") that uses footage from the restored HD movie instead of the original trailer video footage. As the original trailer footage contains shots that are not in the final film, there are a few instances where the shots are different. Also, the trailer is in a 1.78:1 (16:9) aspect ratio, while the movie is 2.40:1. As such, you will notice that the real trailer on the 2019 Blu-ray crops off image on the sides. This is normal and is not consider a "loss".

#5: Walking Through Slime - In the 2014 Blu-ray (as in the movie), the woman walks from left to right. The real trailer on the 2019 Blu-ray flips the footage so that she's going from right to left.

2014 Blu-Ray    2019 Blu-Ray

#6: River of Slime - This is the first clear clue that the trailer on the 2014 Blu-ray is faked using movie footage instead of the trailer's real footage. All of the pink slime scenes in that movie on that disc are very dark, and that's what we see here. The 2019 Blu-ray image is light at the bottom, but very dark at top. That's because there is this dark haze over the image on the 2019 Blu-ray, which is better seen in the next comparison.

2014 Blu-Ray    2019 Blu-Ray

#7: Mood Slime - This shot of Ray yelling at the tub of slime is a good example of the "dark haze" that appears over the image on the 2019 Blu-ray. Notice how the top half of the image is unusually dark?

2014 Blu-Ray    2019 Blu-Ray

#8: Slime On Museum Lamps - Here we get another instance where the 2014 Blu-ray team had to "show their hand" because the real trailer footage doesn't exist in the final film. Yes, in both shots there's slime going down one of the lamps outside the museum, but in the fake trailer/final film, it's a slow run; while in the unused real trailer footage it's a wild splashing.

2014 Blu-Ray    2019 Blu-Ray

#9: Slime On Museum Steps - Yet again the fake trailer has to use a different shot because the real footage doesn't exist in the movie. In the fake/movie, it's a far shot, while an extreme close-up is used in the real trailer on the 2019 Blu-ray.

2014 Blu-Ray    2019 Blu-Ray