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Ghost

Episode - 163

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September 23, 2014 Genres, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Transcribed

Craig loves the 1990 blockbuster Ghost. John? Ditto. Written by Bruce Joel Rubin and directed by Jerry Zucker, Ghost set the template for the modern romantic drama. It was Twilight before Twilight, Titanic before Titanic. It won hearts, weekends and Oscars, including best screenplay.

We tackle Ghost scene-by-scene, imagining all the terrible notes that must have come up in development, and how fixing some of the film’s shortcomings would have created new problems. Ghost isn’t perfect, but it’s remarkably good — and worth taking a closer look.

Links:

* Our episodes on [Raiders of the Lost Ark](http://johnaugust.com/2013/raiders-of-the-lost-ark), [The Little Mermaid](http://johnaugust.com/2013/the-little-mermaid), [Frozen](http://johnaugust.com/2014/frozen-with-jennifer-lee) and [Groundhog Day](http://johnaugust.com/2014/groundhog-day)
* New shirts are [available for pre-order now through September 30th in the John August Store](http://store.johnaugust.com/)
* [Get tickets now](http://www.slate.com/live/la-culturefest.html) for October 8th’s live Slate Culture Gabfest with guests John and Craig
* Planet Money’s [T-Shirt Project](http://www.npr.org/series/248799434/planet-moneys-t-shirt-project) and the [Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt web app](http://apps.npr.org/tshirt/#/title)
* Get premium Scriptnotes access at [scriptnotes.net](http://scriptnotes.net/) and hear our 1,000th subscriber special
* Ghost on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_(1990_film)), [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099653/), [Netflix](http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/60010395?strkid=619431081_0_0&trkid=222336&movieid=60010395), [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001B2CPH2/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) and [iTunes](https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/ghost/id218725367)
* Ghost on [Box Office Mojo](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ghost.htm)
* Reviews by [Peter Travers](http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/ghost-19900713) and [Roger Ebert](http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ghost-1990)
* [In the Blink of an Eye](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1879505622/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) by Walter Murch
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes editor Matthew Chilelli ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_163.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_163.mp3).

**UPDATE 9-25-14:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-163-ghost-transcript).

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