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 biggest comedy hits of the decade, reuniting the original cast under Ivan Reitman five years after the Ghostbusters first captured New York's imagination. It never matched its predecessor's cultural lightning strike, but it remains a fixture of franchise history, extending the mythology into a new decade and giving audiences another round with the team's familiar chemistry and Manhattan-set supernatural mayhem.
This cell pairs Louis Tully and Janine Melnitz, two of the franchise's most beloved supporting players, prized by collectors precisely because they are rarely framed together. Louis, the accountant turned reluctant Ghostbuster, and Janine, the sharp-tongued receptionist, represent the series' comic backbone rather than its heroics. A cell built around this pairing suggests a shared scene of ordinary office rapport, the kind of grounded, character-driven beat that gave the franchise its warmth between the special effects.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour release print of Ghostbusters II (1989).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern; Dolby Digital data blocks are also visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, indicating a hybrid optical/Dolby Digital soundtrack.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
Base appears warm-amber to golden in tone, consistent with a colour dye coupler print; dye image shows warm, saturated colour with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light longitudinal scratches are visible running parallel to the film edge, consistent with projection through a gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of Ghostbusters II (1989).
Era check
The hybrid variable-area optical plus Dolby Digital soundtrack format was introduced in the early 1990s and used on re-release prints, which is consistent with a theatrical release or re-release print of a 1989 film.
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 000063281
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
