KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Michael_Elliott St. Elmo's Fire (1985) ** (out of 4) Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy and Mare Winningham are seven friends who graduate and soon realize that being adults isn't nearly as much fun as they thought. We follow their various ups and downs with much drama in between.ST. ELMO'S FIRE has a rather amazing cast and especially when you look back on the picture. Not only do you have the seven main leads but there's also Martin Balsam and Andie MacDowell so there's no denying the star power. I've never really liked this picture yet for some reason I usually go back and revisit it ever so often. Obviously the main reason to watch the picture is because of the terrific cast and I thought all of them delivered great performances. It's just too bad they weren't given much to work with.As I get older I think these characters are all the more shallow. Some might say they were people in their 20s so they were supposed to be annoying and shallow but I don't buy that at all. To me the characters are very poorly written here and there's just no real development with any of them. None of them are very believable and for the most part they are all single motivated characters with no development and there's not much charm to any of them. It's really too bad because the cast is excellent but they just didn't have anything here. You can watch any of these actors in much better films from this period.The film remains watchable thanks to the cast but when the final credits come on you can't help but think you've just wasted your time. I mean, this cast ends up with these results? It's really a shame but there's more issues than just the screenplay. I'd argue that Joel Schumacher's direction is pretty bland and there's nothing good looking about the picture. You do get a great score and a catchy main song but none of this is enough to save the picture.

Dandy_Desmond Just like Rob Lowes speech at the end to try and sum up the movie- about St Elmos Fire not really being there and nothing really matters etc - I don't think my review will make sense...However I find St Elmos Fire very watchable. I have nothing in common with any of the characters, but isn't a movie a kind of escapism? I'm English and this is a time and place in America that I like to think existed, but know really didn't. So now and again I whack it in the DVD player and transport myself to a time you could run off to New York with just your sax and a head full of dreams while your gaggle of quirky friends cry and wave you goodbye... ah the 80s. Such a film would not be made now. If I could however I would find a way to cut Emilio Estevez out of the film. Like completely. The character creeps me out and don't understand the point of him or his ridiculous celebration following his awful pouncing on poor Andie McDowell.Other than that the other characters and their various intertwining stories are interesting enough and are made better by the brat pack themselves. I really can't explain why but I hated this film back in the day... maybe I realise that sometimes you need that earnest type of film only the 80s can deliver. And St Elmos does that. See? Total nonsense.

rossmcfarlen I have seen this definitive 80s brat pack movie many, many times and it never ceases to fascinate me. I believe the film has a power and magic all on its own - the characters and their stories stay on the mind long after the credits roll. Last night, I saw Elmo's as if I had seen it for the very first time. I tried to forget all previous viewings (difficult as I know so many lines of dialogue) and after sipping two glasses of wine saw the film with a fresh perspective. It helps to have a slightly altered state of consciousness when watching this flick in keeping with the youthful euphoria of the film. Did I say euphoria? Yes. Very few films manage to capture the euphoria of youth - that fleeting feeling of joy that people coming out of adolescence feel most days, believing that only good things are AHEAD of them. Critics (and this film has many) never understand the popular appeal of this movie. This is not a once-you-see-it-then- forget-it flick this film has a profound impact on the public zeitgeist, so many people relate to the individual stories. This is the definitive 'brat pack' movie of the mid 80s and the vehicle that launched many young acting careers - actors with great on-screen charm and charisma.There is rough road ahead for most people and most of us settle for Thoreau's quiet life of desperation. Being an adult is about being a serious human being (as Billy alludes to on the roof with a quiet gesture - and no words) and ready to face the everyday mundane reality of work, keeping a roof over your head, many bills to be paid, raising a family, juggling all those balls in the air and hoping and praying not to sink in the process. Billy Hicks knows this and his fake attempt at suicide on the roof of Wendy's house betrays deeper feelings of despair and a sense that adult life may not be all it's cracked up to be - and certainly nothing to do with the content of the textbooks he studied (hard to imagine him reading a book let alone revising before finals) before exams at Georgetown. This is why Schumacher has Billy comfort Jules during her 'cry of the heart' hour, her dark moment. Jules and Billy are party people but damaged people; and they are party people for a reason; to escape from personal demons and also they're aged 22 they want to have a good time. They want to escape from themselves, if only momentarily.On the surface the movie seems supremely shallow; the lives of recent Georgetown graduates in a glossy Hollywood flick negotiating jobs, new apartments, infidelity, major credit card debt, out-of-reach dreams and ambitions and as such the characters represent a lot of dreams of 80s youth. Yet, below this glossy surface (and the oh-so-glossy David Foster soundtrack) we witness the frailties of the human condition: close friendship and its potential/inevitable loss, self-delusion and obsession; relationships and their inherent dysfunction; the questioning of one's very existence with suicidal thoughts and a suicide attempt - this is deep stuff. Perhaps St. Elmo's Fire isn't as shallow as its critics seem to think it is. The critics want to see the PERFECT screenplay with PERFECT characters spouting PERFECT dialogue in a perfect story line, but the critics needs to wake up. Life isn't PERFECT and we shouldn't be watching movies about PERFECT people living PERFECT lives - they don't exist. In Elmo's Fire all the characters are flawed in their own way: Jules has deep rooted abandonment issues as a child of divorce/remarriage; Kirby Keager is clearly a stalker with mental health issues; Kevin is obsessed with Leslie and has naive expectations about their future (more delusion); Alec Newberry (brilliantly played by Judd Nelson) is an obnoxious, irascible arrogant young man with anger issues who has an exaggerated sense of entitlement and seems to want to control Leslie's life to the point of being chauvinistic and overbearing; Wendy, is way too innocent for her own good and Leslie is quietly deluded (trying to ignore Alec's extra-curricular activities) about Alec and their future together, naively thinking he'll stick around while she gets her career as a young architect together.I remember the first time I watched this movie and it went over my head, I just found too much going on. But now I relish the busyness of it all - each frame seems to capture a moment so well and there is choice dialogue in nearly every scene. My own view is that nearly all the scenes are 'classic' in their own way and the movie may not be the whole sum of its 'classic' parts but it certainly is classic enough for me. I'll always want to see it again and again.We return to this 'flawed' movie, with its flawed characters and its flawed story because in a bizarre way it captures real life in an artificial way. This is not a movie to forget and Schumacher was insightful to make a movie that people want to watch over and over again - there's a genius to this type of film-making.In the same way the late Derek Jarman caught the moment of punk with his finger-on-the-pulse movie 'Jubilee' (a must-see if you want to know the roots of the punk movement in the UK in the mid 70s); Schumacher manages to capture the mood of young people in this mid 80s zeitgeist - Elmo's is a touchstone for that yuppie culture celebrated 30 years ago. St Elmo's Fire is so FAKE it is real!

marlahumphreys This movie is hilarious, and it's not even a comedy!It follows 7 recent college grads, trying to transition into the real world. The caricatures... er, characters, are: Billy - the greasy musician who's finding that monogamy and fatherhood are not his thing. Alec - the aspiring politician who's finding monogamy to his fiancée is not his thing. Leslie - Alec's fiancée, who wants to establish a career before marriage. Wendy - the philanthropic virgin in granny duds. Kirby - the waiter pining for a fellow alumna. Kevin - the sensitive writer pining for Leslie. Jules - the "Like A Virgin"-clad, coke-addled mess.How are these people even friends? What do Leslie and Billy have in common? Or Wendy and anyone else? The only interaction between "Kirbo" and Jules is his requesting her expertise on ordering fine wine to impress a date. More importantly, how did some of these idiots attend Georgetown?Joel Schumacher may be a fine director, but his dialogue for this age group is highly contrived. Some doozies:Billy - "Let's Rock!" Alec - "Wasted love!" Leslie & Wendy - " Men... can't live with 'em; can't shoot 'em." Kirby - "Soon as I make it really big, I'm going Fluff-n-Fold." Kevin - "Love is an illusion." Jules - "You were always the couple most likely to couple, and don't you forget it!" Group - "Booga Booga Booga, Ah Ah Ahhh!"I've watched this movie many times since my teens (when it premiered), and I always laugh, cringe, facepalm, stare in wonderment at the screen as to how such nonsense was even filmed. The ridiculousness of Jules' breakdown near the end, by opening her windows to allow in some cold air, perfectly sums up this masterpiece. And then the cherry on top: after Billy's departure to hit it big in NYC, the gang decides to convene at Houlihan's the next day, because now they're grown-ups.