Review of St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) By Mike

Title: St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)

Original UK Release Date: Unknown

Original US Release Date: 28^th June 1985

UK Rating: 15

US Rating: R

Director: Joel Schumacher

Genre: Drama

Plot: Seven friends and recent graduates from University find out the hard way that life in the real world isn’t as easy as they had hoped.

Mike's Review

            In the mid 80’s there were a group of young actors known as the “Brat Pack”. It was made up of up and coming talented actors, many of them starred in a number of films together, St. Elmo’s Fire being one of them.

            The film is about seven University friends and the changes they find themselves going through once they graduate and try to make it as adults. Some thrive and others can’t handle the new responsibilities that come with adulthood.

            The cast is incredible made of Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Mare Winningham, & Andie MacDowell. All of them bring a special charm to the characters they play. Every actor is great in this film, their friendships seem genuine and come across well. The emotions each character goes through are portrayed exceptionally well. There really isn’t a stand out performance of any of the main cast. They are all perfect performances.

            The characters go through every possible emotion a person can go through, you will be able to empathise with most if not all the situations from debt, love, death, marriage, break ups and infatuation to name a few of them. Even with all seven characters having their own individual stories, the film isn’t overloaded. There is a perfect balance between the each one. Each character has their hardships and each finds a resolution in their own way.

            This is another great one of the great underrated and often overlooked 80’s movies, with a great cast, engaging story and a perfect soundtrack. This is watchable time and time again.

             For a perfect Sunday afternoon film it doesn’t get much better than this.

10 out of 10

Additional Information

Stand out performance: Everyone.

Trailer