Discuss all things Ghostbusters here, unless they would be better suited in one of the few forums below.
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By One time
#4908034
For me it has to be Michael Ensign (the Sedgewick hotel manager).

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The scene where the Ghostbusters walk into the Sedgewick hotel, just look at his eyes. The way his eyes communicate his feelings. He is so absolutely convincing that he IS the manager of that hotel. Just pay attention to his eyes throughout that scene.

Also the way he changes his demeanor when Venkman puts his arm around him (most likely an ad-libbed performance), just look at the way his face changes. Also look at his smile at the very end. Great performance. If I ever owned a hotel I'd want THIS guy to manage it.

And he's still kickin it at 74 years old.

Who is your best actor/actress in Ghostbusters 1984?
Last edited by One time on September 9th, 2018, 9:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By Photon Guy
#4908422
Hard to say. Back in the day I would've said Bill Murrey as Peter Venkman was and still sorta is one of my favorite Ghostbusters and Bill has some great lines and really hilarious scenes, "Somebody blows your nose and you want to keep it?", "Egon, your mucus," or when just as he's leaving Dana's apartment how he pops back in and says, "No kiss?" before she pushes him out and closes the door. But now I also like Ernie Hudson who plays Winston. Along with Peter, Winston is my favorite ghostbuster and in some ways I like him even more than Peter. Hudson comes across as a tough no nonsense guy and that's what I like about him. Also, his character doesn't get enough attention as he doesn't appear until about halfway through the movie. I met Ernie twice, quite a cool guy. And although he definitely ranks high up there but he's not my favorite, who can forget Rick Moranis? He does awesome playing a nerdy dweeby accountant. Bummer he didn't make a cameo in the 2016 remake unlike most of the other actors who played major characters in the first film. So for me Rick Moranis would definitely be an honorable mention as would Casey Kasem who takes on his standard role as a disk jockey and Harold Ramis in his role as the socially inept but scientifically genius Egon Spengler. RIP Casey Kasem and Harold Ramis.
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By One time
#4908441
They are all great. But Ensign, Moranis, and MacNicol in GBII, are the best over the top, out of left field, performances IMO. They are different from the other main actors. Their performances are like a punch to the face, you're like where did that come from. Out of all of them the best is MacNicol in my view. He added an entire dimension to GB2 that none of the others did.
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By Esbe77
#4908502
Man that's a tough one. I wanna name so many actors and actresses such as Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Dan Aykroyd, Rick Moranis, etc. But after a long consideration I have to hand it to Sigourney Weaver.

In her first scene, you can see a young strong woman, confident and who has to deal with Louis. Next scene is her fragile self when confronted to the first glimpse of the supernatural. Then, refusing Venkman's advances makes her stand on her own while slowly falling for him a few scenes (weeks in the movie) after. She becomes sweeter, warmer and much more charming.

Then, she becomes this wild flaming demon from Hell who's only means of communications are dirty second-degree one-liners. She exudes an overdosed sexuality with a certain restrain and yet, her acting is still very solid as she has Murray's witty remarks. But I digress. Here, her acting becomes softer, a lot more loose, yet subtly agressive. She's a dangerous character not to mess around with. Plus, her "supernatural" wardrobe may indicate Dana could have been a model in her early years and retired to concentrate on her orchestral career (you'll notice her makeup disappears when Gozer's banished, but not the dress).

Both sides of Dana Barrett are tough to play. And yet Sigourney Weaver catches that perfect harmony between "timid and strong Dana" and "agressive and lustful Zuul". A lesser actress may have shined in one or the other side of her personality, but Sigourney managed to get all the necessary nuances to make this a role with an ever-lasting impression. Sigourney will always be the core best actress. She displayed drama, horror, comedy, love, suspense, eroticism and several more subtle notes in between.

P.S.: the way I graded the "acting" was with knowledge of the actor's background, his/her previous projects, how his/her role in Ghostbusters 1984 gave a few more acting chops, what the role demanded, etc. There's no "bad actor" in GB 84, and most of them are brilliant beyond the call of duty, which helps make Ghostbusters a diamond that keeps on shining.
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