I watched this film for the first time over the weekend not really knowing what t expect of it.Having watched it i still don't know what to make of it. It has some good characters in it but have to say Rob Lowe steals the show in most of the scenes he is in,although just don't believe him as a bad boy he just looks far to much like a boy full stop. Overall the film is like many coming of age movies of the time,and i don't think really offered anything new. I liked Andrew Mcarthy's story line being in love with Alley Sheedys character from a far,as i think most of us have been in this situation at some point. But Kirby chasing after Dale biberman
Posted by Mike. (Member # 7179) on :
Sorry i pressed the wrong button and posted befor i had finished. As i was saying Kirby chasing after Dale Biberman was just sad,on one hand you have Emilio Estevez looking like a little dwarf man and Andie Macdowell looking like the mature hottie you just would not believe them together.
So overall i didn't hate this movie i just really didn't care about the characters in the end,so what are your thought on it.
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
I actually agree with you Mike!
I know it's the whole "brat pack movie"....good music and actors.....but there was always something missing for me?
I do like it....I saw it many times in the 80's it's just so "drama" filled I guess....is why I can't hold it close as a an ultimate fav.
Posted by Pittsburghgirl (Member # 7514) on :
It's alright. I agree with Mike too. I liked Rob Lowe in this movie and Mare Winningham,but the rest of them I didn't really care for.
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
Average, with one of the decade's best theme songs. Maybe if they'd handed it off to Hughes instead of trusting it to the decidedly subpar Schumacher (now imagine if this arrangement had been done for the later Batman films--I'm not quite sure how the end result thus might have turned out, but certainly it would have been better than what we ended up with), it would have moved into A grade territory.
Posted by Secret Admirer (Member # 3574) on :
This movie is starting to annoy me more and more every time I watch it...actually, after some thought, I think it's just the stupid thing they do that annoys me. Boogada Boogada Boogada Ha Ha Ha! If they got rid of that, it'd be back to good for me.
Posted by Veronica Sawyer (Member # 2221) on :
It's a good movie, but a little too "cutesy" sometimes. The boogada boogada thing is annoying and the soundtrack is kinda cheesy. A friend of mine once said they liked the movie but that the soundtrack ruined it for them becuase the main theme song sounded too much like "On the Wings of Love."
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
It´s a good movie, basicly i don´t have anything against it. I also have the soundtrack cd. Nice stuff but not one of my favorites. I like the Jon Anderson song "This Time it Was Really Right" the most.
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
This thread has actually given "St. Elmo's Fire" more attention than I have ever been able to conjure up. It had so much hype back in the day, so I was expecting so much more than it offered. Overall, like several have said.. not a bad movie, just not worth several repeat viewings.
Posted by Mike. (Member # 7179) on :
Good to read the replies on here,and having started this thread i was thinking maybe it's just that we expect so much from particular films. Now St.Elmo's Fire seems to be one of those iconic 80's films you just have to of seen,so maybe not seeing it for the first time until 2010 gave it unrealistic billing to live up to. It's just that with certain 80's films i have seen recently the pacing seems very slow but that could just be that i have got so used to modern crash bang wallop films.But if you watch something like The Breakfast Club although it's not fast moving it just flows where as St.Elmo's never really gets into it's stride,maybe with a different director in charge it could of been so much different.Also having the same song as backing music got annoying after awhile,now i am on the subject of music. Rob Lowe playing the sax ok no problem with that apart from the scene with him on stage in the bar which just goes on and on far to long. Otherwise i enjoyed the film.
Posted by Kash (Member # 297) on :
Great movie, an essential companion piece and natural conclusion to the Brat Pack films.
Posted by There'll be no morning for us (Member # 5804) on :
What Kash said Posted by logan5 (Member # 1467) on :
I loved this back in the day, and I still really like it. However...
When watching this as a boy, the 'older' characters always seemed cool to me. When I was the same age as them, I kind of related even though I wasn't going through the same things. But now, as an adult (I use the term loosely), the characters seem self-involved and narcissistic. I just want to slap them in the face and say "Snap out of it!" So, I have an odd sensation when I watch it; nostalgia mixed with the same 'rejective' feelings the critics at the time did (due to my now-similar age).
Ultimately though, I still love it, largely because of nostalgia.
I used to use St. Elmo's as an example piece for how unfairly criticised mainstream US movies (particularly 80's movies) were. I always said that if it had been French, and hadn't had the 'big' theme, it would have been praised to high heaven. Hypotheticals FTW!
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
ok sooooooooooo
Was at my mom's today and she got a new huge HD tv.....i'm messing with it and St. Elmo's Fire is on so i'm watching it......holy crap!!
My first HD movie and whoa.....I think....I think even less of this movie now.....it made it look cheaply made and almost "indie like".
Now is that just the effect of watching HD?
St. Elmo's just isn't a strong 80's flick for some reason? It has the most awesome cast.....but in HD did I really need to see Emilio's sweaty face up close and Ally Sheedy's teeth....whoa!
I feel like an old fart getting transplanted in the future......"what's this there HD tv'rs....what's they messing with my tv'rs for?"
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Sadly, that´s the impact on some old movies Muffy.
This is one reason why i have a regular tv and VHS set in the other room, so i can keep my feet on the ground.
Posted by Logan 5 (Member # 1467) on :
quote:Now is that just the effect of watching HD?
Yes.
Just to check; you were watching the movie on a HD TV, but was it being broadcast in HD? If it wasn't, then it would look terrible.
Posted by The Good Package (Member # 9492) on :
no springsteen is leaving this house!
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
it was presented in HD so I was watching it in HD.........it's just plain trippy! still not sure if I liked it?
Posted by The Good Package (Member # 9492) on :
im waiting for the next big 80's weekend on encore
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
i have never cared for st. elmo's fire. i know it had all pack actors in it, but it just didn't do anything for me. i was annoyed with the majority of the characters, especially sheedy, mccarthy and emilio's character, kirby.
Posted by The Good Package (Member # 9492) on :
i thought kirby was one of the best characters
Posted by Veronica Sawyer (Member # 2221) on :
I liked Demi Moore's character the best...She had some great lines in this and her apartment was awesome! I liked Kirby too, he was cute.
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
i agree with the original poster on the kirby plot line.
quote:Originally posted by Pittsburghgirl: I agree with Mike too. I liked Rob Lowe in this movie and Mare Winningham,but the rest of them I didn't really care for.
agreed. rob and mare, i didn't mind.
Posted by Pittsburghgirl (Member # 7514) on :
I just re-read this thread. I absolutely hated that boogety- boogety thing too! My husband cannot watch this movie at all. He had a friend in college who watched it at least once a week!
Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
i always quite liked st elmos fire,i have the blu ray,got it for just £5 pounds brand new,picture and sound are a big step up from standard dvd. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GET3B_fRqLc .
Posted by oneyedwilly (Member # 8730) on :
quote:the characters seem self-involved and narcissistic
Yes, agreed. I watched this again recently showing it to a friend who had not seen it. I dont think i can watch it now without wanting to smack rob lowes character up the side of the head, throw a glass of water in Jules' face and say to Alec - your an arrogant w%$ker who has too much money and no personality.
At one time i did like this film but have long forgotten why really. I do share most thoughts with everyone else whos posted but there is one thing which i do like - the music.
Im ultimately concluding, i dont really see the point of this movie either now although there are a couple of scenes involving andrew Mc and emileo which do make me laugh. Too many actors competing for our attention using nothing method acting. Not one of the characters were able to pull of a convincing act for me sorry, now iv had a chance to look at it again and make another judgement. There are far too many other movies which put this to shame.
Posted by Logan 5 (Member # 1467) on :
I think it's easy to forget as adults just how much narcissism and a know-it-all attitude passes for cool and grown up in movies when you're younger. This movie is for people who haven't started college, or are just going through it.
It's worth pointing out that all the criticisms we are making of the movie now (as grown-ups) are more-or-less the same criticisms critics made of it at the time: Self indulgent, narcissistic, overacting, unbelievable, all style no substance, etc. Remember, it was during the shooting of this movie that the phrase 'brat pack' was coined.
When I watched it as a kid, the character flaws meant nothing to me. As a teenager / young adult, I saw the flaws but ignored them and just went with it. As an adult... let's just say I can breathe in the nostalgia and watch the movie with one eye closed seeing only what I saw when I was younger.
So I'll just leave you with something I used to say to people (and meant): If St. Elmo's Fire had been a French language film - it would be considered a masterpiece.
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Great post Logan, i still like St Elmo´s. Awesome soundtrack!
Posted by oneyedwilly (Member # 8730) on :
Yeah, Logan, you pretty much nailed it with that post to be fair mate.
I kinda see where your going with the french film route . . .I think if it was more melencoly, left of centre with a couple of unknowns and a little more thought in the cinematography this movie could have been more arthouse/successful rather than an 80s movie with no sustainability - so it seems looking at everyones posts.
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
"St. Elmo's Fire" was on Encore today.. I remembered this thread and tried to give it another chance. I'm sorry to say that I still struggle to find any character that appeals to me in it.
I noticed that it made a few of the Rewinders Top 20 list.. so if it was on yours or you appreciate this movie.. please give me some insight because I want to like it.
"I'm obsessed thank you very much."
Posted by The Good Package (Member # 9492) on :
val, sometimes movies are just middle of the road, not great but not terrible either, this movie i think is in that zone.
Posted by Kash (Member # 297) on :
Val dude, those people were driven by fear IMO, and that manifested itself in different ways (e.g. obsession, whoredom, frustration, nostalgia /delusion etc). But since they were all self-obsessed navel gazers, their common front or shared defence was hubris and egomania.
Its a familiar narrative template about being unprepared to face the challenges ahead. And conform to the arguably unreasonable or outmoded expectations that society hands down from one generation to the next.
These guys are basically trying to get by as best they can. Putting on a brave face, putting up their defences and essentially turning themselves into clichés and stereotypes along the way.
As Billy puts it:
quote: "Jules, y'know, honey... this isn't real. You know what it is? It's St. Elmo's Fire. Electric flashes of light that appear in dark skies out of nowhere. Sailors would guide entire journeys by it, but the joke was on them... there was no fire. There wasn't even a St. Elmo. They made it up. They made it up because they thought they needed it to keep them going when times got tough, just like you're making up all of this. We're all going through this. It's our time at the edge."
Posted by The Good Package (Member # 9492) on :
good post kash
Posted by Nostalgic for the '80's (Member # 37454) on :
I completely missed "St. Elmo's Fire" when it came out in 1985. Not sure why, but I guess part of this was because the film was about post-college students, and I didn't feel I could relate to this - being a H.S. kid at the time.
I did watch film years later for the first time, circa 2004-ish - when I was in my 30's. And, I could definitely relate to the film a lot more at the time, since I could easily remember the feelings of angst/uncertainty associated with graduating college, not being sure what you wanted to do with the rest of your life, etc. I actually think the film is one of the best movies about this time in many people's lives.
I could also really relate to the fact that friendships you have in college aren't necessarily the friendships you'll have forever. The film starts out with a very close-knit group of friends hanging out, commiserating, etc. However, it ends with the group obviously drifting apart - which is somewhat sad, but realistic. After you graduate college, you will sometimes move to another part of the state/country for work - or - even if you live in the same area as your friends, people will start focusing on their careers/families & not spend as much time on friendships. This occurs even moreso when you get into your 30's (and beyond).
So, SEF is an especially bittersweet film about growing up and having to embrace adult responsibilities - even if you don't want to
I also like the locale - it's filmed (and set) in D.C.'s ritzy Georgetown area. I never lived there, but did grow up in Baltimore/D.C. back in the '80's, and do remember that area to some extent. Very nostalgic.
All in all, SEF is a great film that I appreciated a lot more when watching it as an older adult - than I would have seeing it as a kid.
[ 31. October 2016, 17:07: Message edited by: Nostalgic for the '80's ]
Posted by skatexedge (Member # 5712) on :
I guess I'm the only one who really likes this movie more than anyone! Of course, the nostalgic feeling of that time is there. I was a freshman in college when it came out. I saw it then and liked it.
It's not without flaws though. I thought that Judd Nelson and Rob Lowe should have swapped character roles. Kirby was a borderline psycho, stalker who would have been slapped with a restraining order and arrested at some point with his insane obsession of Dale.
I knew these people like all these characters at school too. I too was completely self absorbed in those years and after for a long time. My life, wants and needs was the most important thing in the world! I grew out of it eventually. Now, many, many years later I realize how shallow I was and had no thoughts of anything other than good times and H-U-M-O-R...
I still watch it frequently and long for those basically carefree days before career stuff, family and responsibilities came to the forefront.
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