Scene Standoff: Ghostbusters vs. Jurassic Park
The Slimer ghost from the 1984's Ghostbusters vs. the animatronic T-Rex' first on screen appearance in the original Jurassic Park.
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The Slimer scene - Ghostbusters
Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd are trying to track down a green poltergeist with an appetite. And it's Billy Murray's dry wit that makes the scene as he so candidly remarks: "He slimed me!"
- Gareth's scene
T-Rex attack - Jurassic Park
A close encounter of the prehistoric kind. As the group of dinosaur explorers encounter the Tyrannosaurus rex for the first time, all sorts of hell breaks loose. Martin Ferrero gets exposed on the toilet, the kids get trapped under an overturned car and a glass of water has a mind of its own.
- Ellis' scene
Ellis - italics
Gareth - bold
PERFORMANCE
Performances are high in Ghostbusters...even from the ghost.
And to counteract that the Tyrannosaurus rex also gives a great performance.
And it wasn't fully CGI so someone was controlling the animatronic.
Jeff Goldblum always gets an extra point too.
And the performance of the glass too; did you know that Spielberg is underneath hitting it. They couldn't get the circle of water to work right and he found that if he banged it underneath it worked well.
I still don't think the performances blow you away for either.
GHOSTBUSTERS - 8/10 JURASSIC PARK - 8/10
NECESSITY
I mean, this scene is the pivotal moment in Jurassic Park.
You don't know what the threat is without that scene.
Maybe it gets top marks.
I think the same with Ghostbusters though, you don't know the threat until that moment. But it's still not as necessary as the T-rex scene in Jurassic Park.
GHOSTBUSTERS - 8/10 JURASSIC PARK - 10/10
REFERENCABILITY
You're wiping the floor with me here.
You say that but I'm trying to think of references in Jurassic Park. I don't think I personally have ever referenced that scene.
I don't think I've referenced either scene.
So maybe they're both quite low.
Wait, what about in Jurassic you have "if they move they can't see you" or something like that.
Oh yeah!
I have said that when trying to ignore family members.
GHOSTBUSTERS - 2/10 JURASSIC PARK - 6/10
POPULARITY (using Letterboxd for reference)
The average rating for Ghostbusters is 3.8/5.
And for Jurassic Park it's 4.1.
Yeah, makes sense. You've given Ghostbusters a 3/5 and I've given it a 4.
You've given Jurassic Park a 5/5 and I've given it a 4. So there you go, we agree with the majority.
GHOSTBUSTERS - 3.8 JURASSIC PARK - 4.1
ICONIC RATING
On a scale of mobile phones. I'd say that Ghostbusters is a flip phone from the early 00's.
But that's really iconic, don't you think?
Okay, how about a Blackberry?
They were iconic but not as much anymore. Whereas Jurassic Park keeps coming back.
I'm going to suggest a Nokia 3310.
Ahh yes they've come back into fashion.
GHOSTBUSTERS - Blackberry JURASSIC PARK - Nokia 3310
THE FINAL STANDOFF
Ghostbusters 0-4 Jurassic Park
There's no beating a T-Rex. The scene is the epitome of the Hollywood blockbuster and it's big set pieces like this one that we as consumers have become so familiar with. Somehow there's nothing more menacing than watching that glass of water ripple.
What makes the scene even stronger is how much it holds up today. Even now it still looks relatively realistic and the moody, nighttime setting adds to the ambience of the scene. Sequels and reboots have happened since and there's not one single sequence that has come close to this one.
Spielberg's lineup of films is full of iconic scenes, so will there be one to knock out the T-Rex in a future round of the Scene Standoff?
Current Standings: G - 2 E - 2
NEXT BATTLE:
CAST AWAY VS. TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY
Jurassic Park available to rent or buy now