Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Ghostbusters: Afterlife 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 27, 2022

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the end product of literally decades of effort to return the fan-favorite Ghostbusters franchise to the big screen. Following on the classic original and the serviceable sequel, work was underway for a third picture that, for any number of reasons (a quick web search will point to several), never materialized. Ignoring the awful reboot-thing, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the sequel the franchise needed, a true torch passing picture that is well versed in both franchise mythos and well capable or forging its own identity and path forward for the Ghostbusters universe.

Callie (Carrie Coon), mother of Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), has just learned that her father has passed away. She never had much of a relationship with him, and neither have her children. Broke and desperate, they leave their broken life in the city for the old, run-down farm he has left them. As they try to make the best of their new life, the children quickly discover that all is not right with the house, or the town. The gradually piece together that the truth that their grandfather was a Ghostbuster, that he has left various tools of the trade behind, and that a powerful, long-dormant evil exists just beyond the realm of reality where the family's destiny awaits.

Following on that aforementioned 2016 film, most anything with a pulse and the Ghostbusters name on it would be an upgrade. This is an upgrade, and then some (quite a bit "some," actually). Afterlife just nails it. The filmmakers could not have made a much better movie to cross the streams and bridge the gap between the 80s version and today. The pacing is right, the story is right, the characters are right, and the level of connection to the original film is just right. This is, in many ways, the Ghostbusters franchise answer to The Force Awakens (may whatever follows be better than The Last Jedi!). Afterlife is touching and fun. Its characters are unique yet...familiar without necessarily hiding the familiarity. It knows its franchise history and lore and builds upon the Ghostbusters universe in tasteful ways. The picture refuses to dabble, never mind swim, in nonsensical stabs at needless humor. That is not to say the film is humorless, but it doesn't push for the sake of pushing. Everything about it is just right.

Is this a perfect movie? No, not really. Is this a perfect Ghostbusters continuation now almost four decades removed from the original? Absolutely yes. Afterlife is very conscious about what made the original a success (and what made the 2016 film a mess) and is cognizant to build on that success rather than supplant it or, worse redefine it. The connections to the original are many but they are not forced. The various references to the original film -- some large, some small, some obvious, some tucked away in backgrounds, some making an appearance almost right out of the gate, some waiting until the final minutes -- make sense in the larger context, and the smaller ones are just nice background pleasantries. It's difficult to break it all down without approaching major spoiler territory but suffice it to say that a good memory for, or a recent watch of, the original film is a must, not only to get a grasp on how this plot connects to that plot but to marvel at how well young star Mckenna Grace inhabits the essence of her counterpart character, and not just because she wears a similar-looking pair of glasses. The entire cast is terrific, and they get to act and have fun, not just wait around for the next brain-dead gag. This is a refreshing film and everything Ghostbusters fans could have wanted to wash the bad taste of the 2016 film away while celebrating everything that's so good about the original.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife arrives on the UHD format with a 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD presentation. Texturally, the resolution bump reveals only modest gains over the concurrently released counterpart Blu-ray. The picture is slightly sharper, evident in essentials like clothing and faces. The picture has a bit more crispness about it, a slightly enhanced feel of overall clarity and definition, but expect to find only small -- yet nevertheless welcome -- gains to both core characteristics and support elements. That still means viewers are going to find complex skin textures, well defined clothes, superbly detailed environments, and plenty of life to well-worn Ghostbusting gear of yore. The Dolby Vison color grading does not yield a razzle-dazzle sort of upgrade, either, but the net effect are brighter, more vivid colors, but also more stable colors. Look at some fluorescent lights at the 12:15 mark. The color stability improvements are in evidence on the UHD, showing more balance and exactness to the light proper and the reflectivity on the surfaces around them. Of course, the big gains here are the bright proton pack blasts, the colorful ghostly swirls and streaks, and other color explosions specific to the Ghostbusters world. The Dolby Vision grading allows for gains to intensity, clarity, and stability. The Dolby Vision grading offers superior whites, blacks, and skin tones, too. The UHD further manages noise slightly better (not that it was much of an issue on the Blu-ray). In short, this is the superior image, but it's not so vastly superior as to render the Blu-ray unwatchable. This is, generally speaking, a fine tuning of the visual experience and well worth it, especially for the Dolby Vision colors.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sony brings Ghostbusters: Afterlife to the UHD format with an insanely satisfying Dolby Atmos soundtrack. It essentially takes everything that made the Blu-ray's 5.1 track so wonderful -- which is to say everything about it -- and amplifies it. It amplifies the sense of spacing, it amplifies the depth, the total clarity, everything. This is a beast of a soundtrack that is full throttle and relentless every time opportunity opens for high intensity audio delight. Every action scene is packed with impressively deep and detailed, immersive and captivating, audio. The extra surround channels offer a fuller stage. The overheads bring a larger sense of space to the proceedings and offer sound effects that are both discrete and spatially amplified. Clarity to all elements -- action, music, ambience -- cannot be better. Dialogue is pure and clear and center focused for the duration. UHD audio does not get any better than this.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This UHD release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife contains no extras on the UHD disc beyond a few trailers for other films. The bundled Blu-ray includes several extras. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Summoning the Spirit: Making Ghostbusters: Afterlife (1080p, 19:50): Jason Reitman looks at the original idea, explores the original film's magic, making use of old-fashioned special effects, characters and performances, locations and production design, costumes, and more.
• The Gearhead's Guide to Ghostbusters Gadgets (1080p, 6:12): Looking at some of the iconic props and some new to this film.
• Special Effects: The Ghosts of Afterlife (1080p, 6:29): Exploring the film's new ghost as well as some returning characters: purpose, design, and how they were made.
• Bringing Ecto-1 Back to Life (1080p, 4:49): Reviving the franchise's famous car nearly four decades later.
• We Got One! Easter Eggs Revealed (1080p, 7:49): A look at all of the obvious, and not so obvious, secrets the filmmakers have put into the film.
• Ghostbusters: A Look Back (1080p, 10:37): Cast and crew reflect on the original film.
• A Look Ahead (1080p, 3:44): Another quick look at connecting this film to the previous films.
• Deleted Scene (1080p, 1:24): Is It Ever Too Late?
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ghostbusters: Afterlife doesn't necessarily scream out for a sequel -- it doesn't end with an obvious push for another movie -- but it is certainly fixed in a comfortable position where a new generation of films might reasonably be born. As this film develops and ends, there's plenty of opportunity for a few interesting directions and turns for an Afterlife sequel to take. Everything is in place for the possibility of something special. Sony's UHD release of Afterlife features solid 2160p/Dolby Vision video, a reference Folby Atmos audio presentation, and a nice assortment of extra content on the Blu-ray disc. Highly recommended.