Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters should not work. It is a comedy about nuclear-powered proton packs, a Sumerian demigod named Gozer, and a hundred-foot marshmallow man destroying Manhattan. The script — originally written by Dan Aykroyd as a sprawling, expensive sci-fi epic set in the future — was rewritten by Harold Ramis into something that actually functioned as both a comedy and a blockbuster. The result is the most commercially successful comedy of the 1980s and one of the most perfectly balanced genre films ever made.

Bill Murray's Peter Venkman is the engine. He treats the apocalypse the way he treats everything — with detached, sardonic amusement. While Aykroyd's Ray Stantz geeks out over the supernatural and Ramis's Egon Spengler analyzes it, Venkman just wants to know if it will help him get a date. This dynamic — enthusiasm, intellect, and cynicism — makes the Ghostbusters the most likable ensemble in 80s cinema.

The film's special effects were groundbreaking for 1984, but the comedy has aged even better than the visuals. The library ghost opening. 'He slimed me.' 'Back off, man — I'm a scientist.' The EPA inspector showdown. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Ray Parker Jr.'s theme song became inescapable. Ghostbusters is the rare film where every element — script, cast, effects, music — operates at peak level simultaneously.