Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Studio: Sony Pictures, Ghost Corps
Release Date: Digital - May 7, 2024, 4K, Blu-ray, DVD - June 25, 2024
Synopsis: In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who've developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.
Directed By: Gil Kenan
Written By: Gil Kenan & Jason Reitman
Produced by: Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, and Jason Blumenfeld
Executive Producers: Dan Aykroyd, Gil Kenan, JoAnn Perritano, Amie Karp, Erica Mills, and Eric Reich
Cast: Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, Kumail Nanjiani, James Acaster, Patton Oswalt, Emily Alyn Lind, Annie Potts. Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray
Run Time: 115 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Blu-ray™: Feature: 1080p High Definition 2.39:1, Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital
DVD: Feature: 2.39:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital
Score Album: On Sony Classical
Audio
- English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
- French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
- Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Audio Descriptive Track 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles
- English
- English SDH
- French
- Spanish
Special Features
- Return to the Firehouse: Making Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (21:40)
- Busted: Capturing the Ghosts of Frozen Empire (11:30)
- Easter Eggs Unleashed (6:30)
- Commentary with Director, Co-Writer Gil Kenan
- Manifesting Garraka (3:55)
- New York, New Gear (7:05)
- Welcome to the Paranormal Discovery Center (6:33)
- Knowing the Score (6:33)
- Deleted & Extended Scenes
- Headlines (1:19)
- Ghost Chopper (2:51)
- I am a Doctor (2:51)
- Rooftop Consolation (1:49)
- News Report (1:03)
- Slime Bath (1:00)
- Previews: The Garfield Movie, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, Gran Turismo, and Madame Web
- Note: The DVD only has Return to the Firehouse and Busted
The following review is only for the Blu-ray/DVD/Digital home entertainment release and not the actual movie itself. Starting with presentation, the Blu-ray case cover is reminiscent of theatrical poster variants posted in the lead up to the theatrical release (but the 4K and Blu-ray uses new art by artist Cryssy Cheung of the Ghostbusters in their parkas facing Garraka and Wal-Mart's exclusive is a pop art rendition by artist Bella Grace, respectively). Product pages online depict the Blu-ray cover featuring the original team and new team in front of the New York Public Library but actual release's cover has the two teams in front of a frozen New York with the Sewer Dragon, Garraka, and Garraka's Ghost Army in the background. There's also less Proton Streams, Phoebe and Trevor have swapped places, and the shot of the Ghostbusters is more zoomed in. The Blu-ray disc sports the theatrical poster of a Mini-Puft's tongue getting stuck to one of Garraka's ice spikes while the DVD disc is standard with no artwork. Like most disc releases nowadays, the paper insert in the case is only the instructions for how to access the free digital version of Movies Anywhere. The spines of the slipcase and disc case features one of the more humorously movie posters of three Mini-Pufts frozen in ice cubes.
The Blu-ray audio and video transfers are a modest presentation. Audio and video aficionados would contest the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is nothing compared to the Dolby Atmos or Dolby TrueHD 7.1 and 1080p has nothing on 4K but for the most part, there are no spots to complain about despite it being a movie largely shot on sets in the United Kingdom with a couple days of second unit photography in New York City. Like Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the scene selection is split up into 16 chapters but no special titles like with the 1984 and 1989 movies. Moving onto the special features, there are nine total along with previews. On the main menu, toggling between special features on the right hand side of the screen, you can see the run time listed for each one.
The special features are an informative look into the production of the movie and a wealth of behind the scenes footage, more so with the lack of an The Art and Making of The Movie book to accompany the home entertainment release. There is a decent selection ranging from easter eggs, a feature on the big bad, the new equipment, one of the new locations, the movie score, deleted and extended scenes, and a commentary track. While these features run too short and are just the tip of the iceberg, during promotion of the theatrical run to the home entertainment release dates, there have also been a large offering of social media spots, online material like article features and video interviews, set visit videos, and Adam Savage's Tested episodes. Together, they all compliment each other and provide a diverse peek into what it took to make the movie. This release improves in two areas specifically that Afterlife's release left us wanting more: one deleted scene and no commentary track.
Return to the Firehouse: Making Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire runs 21 minutes and 40 seconds. Return to the Firehouse is the second longest of the special features, the longest being the commentary, and reflects on the making of the movie, returning cast and elements, and the new. It begins with shots of the Firehouse set used for principal production in the United Kingdom, Gil Kenan talking about how the Firehouse is really a character in the movie, too, as well as a symbol for the importance of home and having something to fight for. Jason Reitman talks about how in the first and second movies, the Firehouse exterior consisted of Hook and Ladder 8 in New York and the interior was a fire station in Los Angeles. The feature then delves into the making of the Frozen Empire set and the filmmaker's desire to feel the interconnectivity of the set and wanting to build a full set in which the cast would go from floor to floor as well as the audience feeling these characters are living there. Kenan recounts how the 1984 movie was the first movie he saw in his youth and transitioning to how the thread of family established in Afterlife continues into Frozen Empire. The feature then catches up with Podcast and Lucky, introducing the three new comedic actors of Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, and James Acaster. The feature ends on the return of the original cast.
Busted: Capturing the Ghosts of Frozen Empire runs 11 minutes and 30 seconds. Busted gives a fast and easy-to-digest rundown of the named ghosts and entities that appear in the movie: Sewer Dragon, Phosphor (actually Bonesy due to a last minute change), Pukey, Possessor, Melody, the Mini-Pufts, Garraka, the Library ghost, and Slimer.
Easter Eggs Unleashed runs 6 minutes and 30 seconds. Easter Eggs Unleashed is a beginner's lesson of sorts that points out several of the easter eggs hidden or otherwise, easy and blink-or-miss, in the movie. It is nowhere conclusive and viewers are even invited to look for more.
The commentary with director and co-writer Gil Kenan is, suffice to say, an all inclusive and informative 2 hour insight into the making of the movie, the various inspirations and influences, the thought process of the filmmakers when it comes to the big and minute details, the new characters and cast, the themes of the movie, and he also occasionally points out easter eggs, props, and set dressing.
Manifesting Garraka runs 3 minutes and 55 seconds. The feature is a brief peek at the challenges of practical and visual effects surrounding Garraka like the ice spikes and making his icy breath look dangerous enough on-screen.
New York, New Gear runs 7 minutes and 5 seconds. Like Busted, this special feature gives a quick run-down on the new equipment and some of the upgraded ones. The feature spotlights the Drone Trap, the upgraded Proton Pack, the Compact Thrower, Ecto-1, and Ecto-C.
Welcome to the Paranormal Discovery Center runs 6 minutes and 33 seconds. The feature is a behind-the-scenes look at the Paranormal Research Center set as well as costume designer Alexis Forte talking about the clothing of the Ghostbusters Engineer Corps, their flight suits and the red parka.
Knowing the Score runs 6 minutes and 33 seconds. The feature explores the movie score. Composer Dario Marianelli talks about learning from the late Elmer Bernstein's score for the 1984 movie, building on it, and making his own. Peter Bernstein, son of Elmer Bernstein and orchestrator for the 1984 movie, is also featured for his role as a consultant on the score. The feature then shows recording sessions of the orchestra and the choir and explores some of the unique instruments: a lot of percussion, the waterphone, and the Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer.
There are a total of six scenes in the Deleted & Extended Scenes section. Headlines (1:19) is an extended version of when Trevor first investigates the attic. He is startled and trips on some boxes. He pulls out TIME magazine from 1984 seen in the first movie then discovers Slimer's trash pile. I am a Doctor (2:51) is a deleted scene of Peter and Gary in the basement before Callie wakes up Phoebe to give her assessment. Gary demonstrates the odd nature of the ice that has manifested, they grow back if broken off. Gary tries to get some advice but Peter points out this sort of thing was not his purvey; Ray would go to the library, Egon would go to the lab, Winston would make sure they were armed and dangerous, and he would go out and romance women. Gary is surprised when Peter gets a page. Peter reiterates he is a doctor. Ghost Chopper (2:51) is a deleted scene of nearly everyone gathered on the second floor before the Death Chill hits Chinatown and Coney Island. Dr. Hubert Wartzki tells Nadeem about the Fire Masters and Nadeem recognizes a detail from a story his Dadi used to tell him when he was a child. To Janine's chagrin, Ray admits the Ghostbusters unwittingly helped build Garraka's prophetic army. After the notion of moving the Containment Unit is shot down, Callie asks what the plan actually is. Janine states there is no plan. News Report (1:03) is a deleted scene of the characters watching a reporter named Shelby Blutarsky reported weird incidents around the city. It segways into Lars and Lucky unloading equipment from Ecto-Z. Rooftop Consolation (1:49) is a deleted scene of Trevor and Lucky playing look out on the roof right before the final battle. Trevor wonders what his role on the team is compared to his mother, sister, and Gary. Lucky eventually lands on him being a good driver then gets a little dark about their current predicament. Slime Bath (1:00) is an extended scene of Lars encountering Pukey on the third floor ending with him on the floor covering in ectoplasm trying to reach in vain for anything to use to stand up with. While there are much more deleted content, this selection drives home the hard choices that had to be made. Trevor's arc of finding his identity on the team was trimmed. Or how really funny scenes could be chopped for the sake of pacing in order to head into the final act without too much pause.
Another improvement over the Afterlife release is that fans get not one but two different Steelbook releases for Frozen Empire to pick from whereas Afterlife had no U.S. Steelbook release. In addition, there are several bonus sets: there is a Walmart Exclusive 4K, Blu-ray, and Digital with an "Extremely Limited Wall Art Skateboard" and an Afterlife/Frozen Empire 2 movie collection with a limited edition Ice Cube Mold. The mold is in the shape of the No Ghost logo while the skateboard uses the pop art seen on the cover of the Walmart Exclusive Blu-ray Steelbook. The 4K Steelbook retails for $59.99, the standard 4K edition is $49.99, the standard Blu-ray is $40.99, digital edition is $34.99, the Walmart exclusive Steelbook is $29.96, the Walmart exclusive 4K/Blu-ray set with Extremely Limited Wall Art Skateboard is $149.96, the Afterlife/Frozen Empire 2 movie collection is $49.99 (Blu-ray and digital) and $45.99 (DVD and digital), and the Aftelife/Frozen Empire 2 movie set with the limited edition ice cube mold is $85.99.
The Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Blu-ray is a feast for the senses with a dazzling audio and video presentation and is a smorgasbord of bonus content. Sony Home Entertainment has served up a cool home entertainment release (I just had to use one cold pun in this review!). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is already out on digital in the U.S. and will release this week on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 25, 2024. Verdict: Highly recommended purchase.
The sizzle reel for the special features can be viewed here.
Please note that while Sony Home Entertainment provided Ghostbusters Wiki with a Blu-ray copy of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire to review, that had no bearing on the product's final assessment.
