Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex · Library of Congress. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Ghostbusters II arrived in 1989 as Columbia Pictures' sequel to one of the highest-grossing comedies of the decade, reuniting Ivan Reitman with his original cast five years after the Ghostbusters phenomenon reshaped studio comedy and special-effects filmmaking. Though it never matched the cultural saturation of its predecessor, the film remains a fixture of late-80s blockbuster history, notable for bringing back the full ensemble and extending the Ghostbusters mythology into New York's underground and a river of slime beneath the city.
This cell preserves Dr. Peter Venkman, Bill Murray's wisecracking parapsychologist and the franchise's most recognizable face. Venkman anchors the Ghostbusters as their reluctant showman, the character whose sardonic delivery defined the series' tone as much as its special effects did. A cell bearing his name draws collectors seeking a direct link to Murray's performance, one of the era's defining comic turns, held here on 35mm as a physical fragment of the print that once ran through theater projectors nationwide.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour theatrical release print of Ghostbusters II (1989).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as two bilateral variable-area tracks.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer text or key numbers.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-yellow tint typical of colour print stock; the dye image reads as a warm, saturated colour positive with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible running through the picture area, consistent with a projected print.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, consistent with a live-action colour feature matching the film on record.
Era check
The bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack, colour positive print stock with warm base tint, and perforation layout are all consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print from the late 1980s, matching the 1989 release date on record.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063278
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
