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"Nice Shootin', Tex." is the thirteenth chapter on the DVDs of Ghostbusters. This chapter is where the Ghostbusters catch their first ghost, Slimer.

Cast[]

Equipment[]

Locations[]


Plot[]

Ray peaked out from brown curtains and scanned the ballroom with his Ecto Goggles. From Ray's point of view, he looked at some tables then he sighted Slimer flying around a chandelier. The Ecto Goggles pinged and the readout on the left side went green. A number "01333.5" was displayed. Ray told the others it was on the ceiling. Peter confirmed that was the one that got him. They slowly stepped out from the curtain. Ray gave the signal to open fire. All three fired at Slimer. They missed and nailed the chandelier. Slimer flew away. The chandelier fell on a table and smashed it. The Hotel Manager heard the crash and became worried. Mrs. Van Hoffman turned her head. He grabbed the door knob but the ballroom was still locked. Ray admitted it was his fault. Peter pointed out it was okay because the table broke the fall. Egon remembered something very important he forgot to tell them. Peter asked him what that was. Egon told them don't Cross the Streams. Peter looked side to side then asked why. Egon stated it would be bad. Peter countered he was fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing and asked him what he meant by "bad." Egon clarified with an example. He told them to try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light. Ray realized he was talking about total protonic reversal. Peter understood that was bad or supposed to be bad. He thanked Egon for important safety tip. He told Ray to take the left and Egon to take the right. Peter headed straight down. Slimer chugged a bottle. Peter gave Ray the order first. Slimer stopped drinking and panicked. Ray opened fire. Slimer yelped and flew away. Peter cued Egon. Egon fired. He totally destroyed crystal ware, a three layer cake, and many, many dishes. Slimer flew behind the bar. Egon opened fire. Slimer flew away. Egon kept firing into the bar. Peter and Ray looked up at Slimer. Peter yelled at Egon to hold it and in a faux Texan voice told him, "Nice shooting, Tex!" Slimer panted near the ceiling.

Outside in the hall, the Hotel Manager spoke with Mrs. Van Hoffman. He assured her there was no problem with the room and it would be ready promptly, in time, as soon as her guests all arrived. Back in the ballroom, Ray hustled. He noted the last throw took something out of Slimer, but it was going to move. He needed some room to put the Trap down. He asked Peter and Egon to give him some room. Peter and Egon threw a table aside. The crash it made could be heard outside. A trio of Asian men, young, middle, and senior, in business suits, turned and looked at the ballroom doors as they walked past the Hotel Manager and Mrs. Van Hoffman. The manager excused himself and left Van Hoffman then walked back to the doors. He tried the door knobs again then whispered something into the ears of Donald, an Hotel employee in a brown suit and bow tie, standing outside the ballroom. Van Hoffman walked back to the woman and two men she came with. Donald clumsily ran off. A brunette woman asked Van Hoffman what was going on.

Back inside, Peter and Egon threw another table. Ray held a Trap. Ray emphasized they had to the the Trap in the clear. Peter held out his hands to them to stop. Peter admitted he always wanted to do something. He pulled the white tablecloth out from under a table while Egon threw a chair aside. All the dishes and utensils were upended. But... the flowers were still standing. Ray pushed a Trap across the floor. Peter and Egon looked down at it. Ray looked up at Slimer. Ray guided Egon to fire a confinement stream on his go-signal. He gave Egon the go to fire. Egon fired and wrangled Slimer in his Proton Stream. Slimer whimpered. Ray instructed him to hold Slimer. He gave Peter the go. Peter fired and wrangled Slimer, too. Egon confirmed it was working. Ray instructed them to start bringing Slimer down. He reminded them not to cross the stream. Peter remarked maybe now it would never slime a guy with a positron collider. Egon told Peter to shorten his stream so his face would not get burned off. Peter looked down at his thrower in confusion. Ray was now wearing his Ecto Goggles. Ray announced he was opening the trap now and reminded them not to look directly into the Trap. Ray stomped the trap pedal. The Trap opened, a bright vortex shot out and started to pull in Slimer. Egon's eyes widened with worry. Egon stated he looked at the Trap. Ray told them to turn their streams off as soon as he closed the Trap. He gave the signal and stomped the pedal. The Trap began to close as Peter and Egon ceased fire and turned away. Ray shielded his vision. Slimer moaned and was trapped. Peter peeked around with one eye open. The Trap beeped and a red light blinked constantly. Egon got down on one knee and touched the Trap. Peter slightly nudged it with a foot. Blue electricity arced briefly. Egon looked up at them and confirmed it was in there. Peter aimed at the Trap. Ray was relieved and thought that wasn't such a chore. Egon was speechless.

The Hotel Manager snapped his left fingers. Another employee had arrived. The manager told Mr. Smith he wanted the door opened quickly. He told Donald to stand over on the side. The Hotel Manager bent and closely observed Smith. Just as Mr. Smith was about the open the door, the Ghostbusters came out. Mr. Smith backed away to the manager's left. The Hotel Manager backed up. Donald's eyes got big. Peter declared, "We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!" The manager asked them if they saw it and what it was. Outside in the hall, there was now a sizable crowd. Ray confirmed they got it. Peter turned away from Mrs. Van Hoffman and got out a blue notepad and pen from the pocket under his name tag. The manager again asked what it was and if there would be any more of them. Egon held his electrical gloves. Ray looked at the smoking Trap. The Hotel Manager took out his handkerchief and covered his nose and mouth. Ray coughed then classified Slimer as a focused, non-terminal repeating phantasm, or a Class 5 full roaming vapor. He remarked it was a real nasty one, too.

Peter eyed Egon as he spoke. Peter cleared his throat twice then signaled it was time to talk seriously. As Peter talked about the cost of entrapment, Egon flashed four fingers against his left cheek to Peter. Peter stated it would cost $4000. He then informed the manager they were having a special that week on proton charging and storage of the beast. Egon nodded and touched the tip of his nose with his right index finger. Peter revealed that was only going to come to $1000. The Manager stiffened up and refused to pay them $5000. The Manager stuffed his handkerchief back in his suit pocket. Peter told him that was all right and they could just put it right back in there. Ray confirmed that was true. They turned back towards the ballroom. The manager ran to them and caved. He ran up to Ray and grabbed his arm then stated he would pay anything. The manager patted Ray's left arm. Peter ripped an invoice out of his notepad. Peter thanked the manager and handed him the bill, patted his arm, and walked down the hall with Ray close behind. Donald turned his head and watched them leave. Egon started walking down the hall. Ray shouted thank you and hoped they could help the hotel again. He yelled he was coming through and to watch out.

Trivia[]

Ghostbusters (1984) Trivia[]

  • Slimer flying around the chandelier in the hotel ballroom is one of Ivan Reitman's least favorite effects.[1][2][3]
  • The ballroom sequence took about three to four days to film at the actual Biltmore Hotel's ballroom in Los Angeles.[4]
  • The ballroom was only modified with a breakaway chandelier and a set of prefabricated replacement walls.[5][6][7]
  • Egon warned everyone not to cross the streams. He will propose it to save the world from Gozer in Chapter 27: Stay Puft Man. Peter recalls Egon's warning from this chapter. They ultimately perform the move in Chapter 28: Crossing Streams.
  • The replacement walls were constructed by Chuck Gaspar and his crew. Each one was embedded with fuses and pyrotechnic materials that were ignited on cue. The Proton Streams were animated and inserted later on by Entertainment Effects Group.[8]
  • Guests at the Biltmore Hotel had no idea what was going on in the ballroom during filming.[9]
  • At around the 38:57 mark of the Preview Cut, included first in the 2022 Ghostbusters Ultimate Edition, after Peter says the table broke the chandelier's fall, Ray notes they can fix it. Egon warning them about crossing the streams follows.
  • A casting was made by Mark Siegel specifically for the ballroom scene when Slimer is drinking a bottle of champagne. When test footage was taken, Jon Berg helped with puppetering while he was consulting at the creature shop. However, someone on the production team thought it would confuse the audience into thinking there was another ghost because the expression made him look entirely different. The drinking prosthetic was never used for filming.[10][11][12]
  • For the shot of Slimer dodging the Proton Streams at the table, a three inch tall rubber puppet made by Mark Siegel was used.[13]
  • The crew gave a lot of thought in justifying a midnight buffet and came up with the fictitious theatre association and the sign outside the banquet room.[14]
  • At around the 41:02 mark of the Preview Cut, after Egon tells Ray he is looking into the Trap, Peter tells Slimer he shouldn't have slimed him. Ray instructing them he is going to close the Trap follows.
  • The smoke made from after the Trap captures a ghost was made from fabric strips socked in smoke-generating liquid.[15]
  • After Slimer is confined in streams, Peter refers to being slimed in the Chapter 12: "He Slimed Me!".
  • In the August 5, 1983 draft, on pages 53-61, after Egon warns against crossing the streams, Winston takes charge and orders everyone when to fire on the vapor. They open fire and form a loose trapezoidal configuration around the vapor. Peter throws out the trap. Peter doesn't think that was so bad but Winston likens it to pushing smoke into a bottle with a baseball bat. They charge $5000 for entrapment plus $500 for proton recharge and storage. The Ghostbusters are interviewed by reporters outside. A punk asks Egon if they could beat Superman and he asserts they could on Krypton. They sing a Ghostbusters jingle.
  • In the September 30, 1983 draft, Egon now handles the trap. The Hotel manager waits outside the banquet room nervously. Ray now says the line saying it wasn't such a chore and Peter is the one who looks at him askance then speaks the baseball bat line Winston had in the previous drafts. The conversation with the manager is mostly like in the movie then the scene with the reporters, the song, and the punk with the Superman question are essentially kept from the previous draft.
  • The sequence of Peter exiting the ballroom and making his declaration had 10 takes each with alternate lines.[16]
  • At around the 41:34 mark of the Preview Cut, when Peter steps out of the ballroom, Peter instead shouts, "We had some fun, but we gotta go. It's all taken care of." instead of the "We came, we saw..." line.
  • At around the 42:00 mark of the Preview Cut, after Ray calls Slimer a real nasty one, Peter adds it was so nasty that was the only reason they're charging for it. Peter calculating the cost of entrapment follows.
  • Newly recovered dailies from a Kansas mine revealed some of the alternate takes and discarded material:[17]
    • When Peter emerges from the ballroom upon trapping Slimer:
      • We came, we saw, we came again
      • I need a tall cold one
      • What a lot of fun. All taken care of!
    • When Peter segways to the fee
      • Let's talk fees and tortillas
      • It's the weekend and it's late
    • After the manager takes the bill from Peter, Ray says "Thank you, sign us a check" then asks everyone to clear a path because he has a Class 5.
  • Ray fully classified Slimer as a focused, non-terminal repeating phantasm, or a Class 5 full roaming vapor.
  • At around the 42:36 mark of the Preview Cut, the Ghostbusters head outside back to Ecto-1 and talk to the reporters waiting outside. Pieces of this scene show up during the first montage in the final version of the movie. Reporters asks to see what is in the Trap and what happened. When asked for proof, Peter states the Sedgewick Hotel is paying them $5000 for the job then goes into pitchman mode and states ghosts exist they are everywhere, are providing their service to all the people in the tristate area 24 hours a day, seven days7 a week, no job is too big, no fee is too big, and are ready for everything. He states, "We have the tools, we have the talent. We are the brave, the best, the only..." and the Ghostbusters in unison shout, "Ghostbusters!"

Ghostbusters: Afterlife Trivia[]

  • Gary Grooberson admits "I always wanted to do this," in reference to using a Ghost Trap. In the first movie, Peter had a similar line when he performed the 'the flowers are still standing' trick.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game Trivia[]

The Real Ghostbusters Trivia[]

IDW Comics Trivia[]

  • In Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression #1, on page 13, Peter quotes a line he made in the first film, "Nice shootin', Tex.
  • On page 3 of Ghostbusters Volume 1 Issue #10, Peter refers to his "bad" line from the first movie when Egon first explains crossing the streams.
  • On page 10 of Ghostbusters: Times Scare!, Egon looks in the Trap like in the first movie.
  • On page 18 of Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #8, Winston Zeddemore refers to the others talking about stingy hotel managers. A similar showdown occurred between the three and the manager of the Sedgewick Hotel.
  • In Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #18:
    • On Page 6, Winston's handkerchief bears the Sedgewick Hotel logo, like the one used by the Hotel manager in the first movie.
    • On page 12, there is a plaque with the 'Today Eastside Theatre Guild Midnight Buffet' sign from the Sedgewick Hotel in the first movie.
  • On page 11 of Ghostbusters International Issue #1, Erland Vinter mentions the refusal as grounds to release the trapped ghost. This dates back to the Ghostbusters' first call seen in the first movie when they almost released Slimer back into the ballroom.
  • On page 6 of Ghostbusters International Issue #3, in panel 3, on the drawer cabinet Janine Melnitz pulls from, the label ends with 013335 which was the reading on Ray's Ecto Goggles when he sighted Slimer in the Sedgewick Hotel ballroom.
  • On page 8 of Ghostbusters International Issue #4, Ray falls "victim" to the classic 'don't look in the Trap' gag.
  • The What Came Before page of Ghostbusters 101 Issue #6 contains a quote of Egon's "It would be bad" line when he explained the danger of crossing the streams to Peter.
  • On Cover A of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #1, the Ninja Turtles look into the Trap, a nod to Egon's warning in the first movie not to.
  • On page 19 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #5, in panel 1, Ray's "Don't look into the Trap" warning comes up between Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello.
  • On page 20 of Ghostbusters IDW 20/20, Gabriel Sitter brings up the warning about not looking into an open Trap.
  • On page 11 of Transformers/Ghostbusters: Ghosts of Cybertron Issue #3, Egon replies "That would be bad," similar to when he informed the team about crossing the streams.
  • On page one of Ghostbusters Year One Issue #1, in panel 8, Bennett Davis mentions the capture of Slimer.
  • On page 18 of Ghostbusters Year One Issue #1, at the last second, they warn Winston not to look in the Trap when it's open like in Chapter 13: "Nice Shootin', Tex."
  • On page 19 of Ghostbusters Year One Issue #1, Peter mentions when Egon looked in the Trap during Slimer's capture in Chapter 13.
  • On page 7 of Ghostbusters Year One Issue #4, Egon refers to the capture of Slimer at the Sedgewick Hotel.
  • On page 8 of Ghostbusters Year One Issue #4:
    • Peter brings up when Egon looked in the Trap in Chapter 13 as they captured Slimer.
    • Peter alludes to all the damage they did to the Alhambra Ballroom in Chapter 13.
  • On page 9 of Ghostbusters Year One Issue #4, Peter's invoice references when he gave to the bill in Chapter 13, entrapment for $4000 and a special on proton charging and storage cost $1000.
  • On page 13 of Ghostbusters Year One Issue #4, Rebecca correctly recalls it took the three Ghostbusters to catch Slimer in Chapter 13.
  • On page 16 of Ghostbusters Year One Issue #4, Egon mentions the Sedgewick Hotel and the bust in Chapter 13.
  • On page 17 of Ghostbusters Year One Issue #4, Rebecca brings up when he looked in the Trap in Chapter 13.

Tertiary Canon Trivia[]

  • On page 5 of Egon's Journal, a supplement of the Hasbro Haslab Ghostbusters Plasma Series Spengler's Proton Pack, there is a reference to Chapter 13: "Nice Shootin', Tex.":
    • The extensive collateral damage done to the ballroom.
  • On page 29 of Egon's Journal, there is a reference to Chapter 13: "Nice Shootin', Tex.":
    • The destruction of the ballroom reserved by the Eastside Theatre Guild.

Quotes[]

Peter: OK, alright, alright, hold it, hold it, whoa, whoa, nice shootin' Tex.
Ray: Well, that wasn't such a chore, now was it?
Peter: We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!

References[]

  1. Ivan Reitman (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 35:05-35:10). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "One of my least favorite special effects. "
  2. Harold Ramis (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 35:06-35:07). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Harold Ramis says: "Him going around the chandelier?"
  3. Ivan Reitman (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 35:08-35:09). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "Yeah. That was a really lousy effect."
  4. Ivan Reitman (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 35:32-35:37). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "We ended up shooting I guess in the hotel for three or four days on this sequence. "
  5. Ivan Reitman (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 35:32-35:37). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "We ended up shooting I guess in the hotel for three or four days on this sequence. "
  6. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 81 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Though the hallway action took place on a soundstage, the sequence which follows was shot at the Biltmore Hotel. Modified with a breakaway chandelier and a set of prefabricated replacement walls, the ornate banquet facility was taken over by the film crew and occupied for two days."
  7. Ivan Reitman (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 35:20-35:29). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "This was actually done in the ballroom of the Biltmore Hotel which had the spectacular ceiling, uh, to which we added, of course, this chandelier that we ruined."
  8. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 83 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Filmed on location at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, the scenes required that Chuck Gaspar and his crew prepare a series of replacement walls, each embedded with fuses and pyrotechnic materials which could be ignited on cue. These fake walls were then erected over the actual wall surfaces in the Biltmore. The incendiary nutrona beams were produced later at Entertainment Effects Group through a variety of animation techniques."
  9. Ivan Reitman (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 35:36-35:40). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "And I remember the guests going by just outside in the hallway wondering what the hell we were doing."
  10. TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 40:25-40:44 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "Well, the way Steve conceived it, he said we should have a drinking face puppet so that the puppet would--and that's the finished puppet--so that the puppet could have his mouth puppeteered as if he was actually sucking on a bottle."
  11. TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 40:48-41:01 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "Once again I sculpted it as a appliance, took a casting as part of the original puppet that was cut away, and then sculpted it as an appliance that we could stick on to the main puppet."
  12. TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 41:29-42:28 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "Sadly, you probably head the story that somebody saw—I don't know who if it was—saw it on the set or if we've done some test footage but somebody in production said, "Well, it's just too much a change from the original puppet and it's gonna confuse audiences, too. Is it like a different ghost?" And we were thinking, "Why, there's two green ghosts who are eating and drinking things and a change of expression is going to confuse..." anyway we never shot it for the film but we did do puppet tests. This is Jon Berg-you know, legendary creature guy/stop motion animator and creature consultant. Jon came up to work with the puppeteering and I think that's Mark wearing the suit sitting down behind him but I designed the mouth so that a puppeteer could reach up inside the suit and the inside of those big foam lips were just carved out. So you could fit a hand in there."
  13. TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 55:28-55:48 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "I also sculpted this one. You can see about the same scale, a little more than three inches tall and this was also used in the ballroom scene and there he is. I sculpted little arms, so we had a little rubber puppet and I think that's a still frame for where that little puppet was used when they shoot him in the ballroom scene."
  14. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 81 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Michael Gross says: "But how could we justify a completely laid out banquet room this late at night? We finally solved the problem with a single billboard, outside the room, announcing a midnight buffet for a nonexistent theatre association -- the implication being that the group was having a banquet after attending the theatre. I doubt if anyone in the audience ever gave it a thought, but we certainly did."
  15. Wallace, Daniel (2015). Ghostbusters The Ultimate Visual History, p. 57. Insight Editions, San Rafael CA USA, ISBN 9781608875108. Line reads: "Fabric strips soaked in smoke-generating liquid produced the effect during filming."
  16. Joe Medjuck (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 38:23-38:42). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Joe Medjuck says: "Because even though it's a comedy, they want these guys to triumph. I remember that scene where Bill comes up and says,"We came. We saw. We kicked its ass." The three of you, the three actors sat there and you kept saying, Ivan would say, "Do it again." You wouldn't tell him what you were gonna say. You'd stand together, think about it, go in. I think we shot it about ten times. About eight of them are really funny."
  17. Slash Film YouTube "Lost Ghostbusters Footage Revealed by Jason Reitman and Ivan Reitman at Ghostbusters Fan Fest" 6/9/19
  18. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Boogieman Cometh" (1986) (DVD ts. 05:23-05:26). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "Well, our usual fee for a standard capture and containment is $1500."
  19. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters- Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Ghost? (1987) (DVD ts. 3:03-3:04). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "I've always wanted to do this."
  20. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Loose Screws" (1989) (DVD ts. 20:23-20:24). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "Nice shootin', Tex!"

Gallery[]

Selected Screengrabs[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Secondary Canon[]

 
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