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' answer to five years of audience demand, reuniting Ivan Reitman with his original cast for a sequel that carried the weight of one of the previous decade's biggest comedy hits. The film brought back the core ensemble amid a changed Hollywood landscape, where high concept franchise filmmaking was becoming the norm rather than the exception. While it never matched the cultural lightning of the first film, it remains a fixture of the era, valued by collectors as the last theatrical outing for the full original team before decades of false starts and eventual legacy sequels.
This cell preserves the Ghostbusters team itself, the assembled group whose chemistry defined the franchise. A frame identified simply by the team's presence speaks to collectors who prize ensemble unity over any single star, since it is the group dynamic, not one performer, that made the property endure. Such a cell would typically originate from a credits or promotional reel, the kind of footage built to showcase the whole roster together. For archivists, it represents the franchise's core identity distilled into one physical artifact.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour optical 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 each edge, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-bilateral (two-track) waveform pattern.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
Base appears warm-yellow to cream in the clear margins, consistent with an acetate safety base; the dye image reads as a warm, slightly amber-shifted colour positive.
Projection history
Light vertical lines consistent with projection wear are faintly visible across the frame area; no splices or cue marks seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the interior setting with period-appropriate costuming is consistent with a late-1980s studio production matching the film on record.
Era check
The dual-bilateral variable-area optical track, warm acetate base tint, and colour dye characteristics are all consistent with a 35mm release print from the late 1980s to early 1990s, matching the 1989 production date of the film 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 000063286
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
