St. Elmo's Fire (1985)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Joel Schumacher

Writers:

Joel Schumacher (written by) &
Carl Kurlander (written by)

Release Date:

28 June 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The passion burns deep.

Plot:

A Group of friends, just out of college, struggle with adulthood. Their main problem is that they're all self-centered and obnoxious. |

Plot Keywords:

Husband Wife Relationship | Extramarital Affair | Graduation | Drug Addiction | Drugs

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Oct. 11

8:00 AM

OXYGEN

Cast

Emilio Estevez	...	Kirby Keger
Rob Lowe	...	Billy Hicks
Andrew McCarthy	...	Kevin Dolenz
Demi Moore	...	Jules
Judd Nelson	...	Alec Newbary
Ally Sheedy	...	Leslie Hunter
Mare Winningham	...	Wendy Beamish
Martin Balsam	...	Mr. Beamish
Andie MacDowell	...	Dale Biberman
Joyce Van Patten	...	Mrs. Beamish
Jenny Wright	...	Felicia
Blake Clark	...	Wally
Jon Cutler	...	Howie Krantz
Matthew Laurance	...	Ron Dellasandro
Gina Hecht	...	Judith

Runtime:

110 min | Canada:108 min (Ontario)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:18A (Ontario) | Australia:M | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Georgetown, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Demi Moore had a drug problem, much like her character when she was cast in the film. One day, director Joel Schumacher actually demanded that she leave the set because she was really high. Moore actually had to go through rehab and promise to stay clean in order to play a character with a drug problem.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dale looks at the photograph taken of her and Kirby, the perspective of the photograph looks as if it was taken by the movie camera (from the profile) rather than from her boyfriend who took the photo, which would be from the front.

Quotes:

Dale: Kirby! How are you?
Kirby: I'm obsessed thank you very much.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Still Standing: Still Spending (#1.11)" (2002)

Soundtrack:

(MEET) THE FLINTSTONES

Self-absorbed?

St. Elmo's fire has been on constant play on HBO lately. I turned it on the other night and watched the whole thing. Yeah, it was a nostalgia trip (I remember watching it a few times on cable ten years ago) but it also has some decent scenes and it really captures a "moment," both for recent college grads and for those of us who were enchanted by the brat pack in the 80s.

I've been reading other people's reviews; several of them whine about how "self-absorbed" these characters are.

Well...um... duh. Yeah. Most movies are about self-absorbed people. Self-absorbed people are more interesting, because they don't care what other people think: self absorbed people feel deeply, they make huge mistakes, and they're generally fun to watch. Some of the greatest movies of all time are about self-absorbed people: Annie Hall (Alvy Singer), Amadeus (Mozart), Leaving Las Vegas (Nic Cage), Goodfellas (Every single mobster in the movie). Mother Theresa was completely giving, completely SELFLESS, and yet I haven't seen a great movie about her. That's not the point.

I'm not saying St. Elmo's Fire is a classic. I'm just saying, calm down people. Take the movie for what it is, a stylized look into one moment in life, and don't be so preachy about what kinds of characters are "appropriate" to focus on.