St. Elmo’s Fire, 1985.
Directed by Joel Schumacher.
Starring Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Mare Winningham, Andrew McCarthy, Martin Balsam, and Andie MacDowell.
SYNOPSIS:
Are you a St. Elmo’s Fire fan? I can’t say that I am, but if you are, its 4K Ultra HD debut is worth picking up. The picture and sound are solid, and while the studio didn’t commission any new bonus features for its 40th anniversary, the included extras do a good job of giving a well-rounded look at the film.
I’ll confess that I hadn’t seen St. Elmo’s Fire before now. I was 15 when it came out, so I was a little on the younger side for a coming-of-age movie about twenty-somethings trying to figure out life, but it didn’t hold much interest for me during the last 40 years.
I guess a lot of that was an aversion to the so-called “yuppie” lifestyle of the 1980s. Sure, not all of the characters in this film could be considered yuppies, but even the ones who weren’t felt one-dimensional, as if director and co-writer Joel Schumacher just went for the first trait he could think of for each one. (“This one is a tortured writer and that one is a bad boy with a heart of gold!”)
The ensemble cast includes: Emilio Estevez as Kirby Keager, an unsure-of-himself law student and waiter at St. Elmo’s Bar, where the gang likes to hang out; Rob Lowe as Billy Hicks, who’s having a hard time taking responsibility as a husband and father; Andrew McCarthy as Kevin Dolenz, a news reporter who dreams of writing The Great American Novel; Demi Moore as Jules Van Patten, a partier who gets in over her head with her lavish lifestyle; Judd Nelson as Alec Newberry, a quintessential yuppie who works in politics and finds allure in switching from Democrat to Republican; Ally Sheedy as Leslie Hunter, Alec’s girlfriend who’s unsure she wants to marry him; and Mare Winningham as Wendy Beamish, a bookish social worker from a wealthy family.
Andie MacDowell also plays a sizable role as Dale Biberman, a hospital intern who knew Kirby in college and becomes the target of his, shall we say, stalking. The two of them run into each other at the beginning of the film, as the group deals with the aftermath of Billy’s drunk driving accident with Wendy in the car. Oh, and Billy is an awesome saxophone player, so he has that going for him.
The story charts the course of the group as its members squabble with each other, break up, and go through crises. A lot of the drama feels contrived and I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likable; the soundtrack is likewise forgettable. I don’t know that I’ll ever bother to watch this one again.
However, if you’re a fan, this film’s 4K Ultra HD debut is certainly worth picking up. It looks and sounds great, so this is likely the film’s pinnacle on home video, unless Sony decides to create some new extras for a 45th or 50th anniversary edition.
Speaking of extras, I believe everything found here has been ported over from past editions. The bonus features kick off with a commentary track featuring Schumacher in an informative, lively discussion of the movie. He also pops up again in a short featurette in which he talks about the film.
Moving on, we have a dozen deleted scenes (nothing screamed “Put this back in the movie!” to me), one of those old school making-of featurettes that’s really more of a promo than anything else, a music video, and the theatrical trailer.
It’s interesting that none of the cast members show up in the newer extras. Makes me wonder if Sony simply didn’t want to pay the money to bring them in or if they’d rather forget the film. They certainly seemed excited about it in that vintage featurette, and it’s a movie that was a modest box office success, so maybe that decision came down to a budget question.
You also get a code for a digital copy.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
