St. Elmo’s Fire

Summary

“You break my heart. Then again, you break everyone’s heart.”

Joel Schumacher died in 2020 at the age of 80. In the last half decade, fans of the director have seen his films Flatliners, The Lost Boys, Batman Forever, and the inferior Batman and Robin all come to 4K UHD. I imagine he would be happy to see all the love his films have received on the format. To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Sony has now given St. Elmo’s Fire a 4K UHD release. I hope it is just a matter of time before Warner brings my favorite film by Schumacher, Falling Down, to the format. I had never seen St. Elmo’s Fire, but I was excited to check it out. This film had recently been brought back into the limelight when Andrew McCarthy wrote and directed a documentary called Brats about catching up with other members of the Brat Pack, which earned its name from the reviews of this picture. I was definitely curious about the film and checked it out the other night.

Seven friends graduate from Georgetown together. Billy Hicks (Rob Lowe) is a saxophone playing rock and roll musician who struggles to make good decisions. He is a philanderer, a heavy drinker, and has been left by his wife and young child. Wendy Beamish (Mare Winningham) is a sweet natured virgin who is in love with Billy. She lives at home with her wealthy parents and works for DHS. Her parents want her to marry a nice boy and join the family business. Alec Newbary (Judd Nelson) is an up and coming political aide. He desperately wants to marry his girlfriend Leslie Hunter (Ally Sheedy,) and feels justified in fooling around with other girls until he is wed. Alec was a leader of the young Democrats, and now he is going against his collegiate idealism to get a job working for a Republican Senator. Kevin Dolenz (Andrew McCarthy) is a struggling writer who is secretly in love with Leslie. Jules (Demi Moore) is struggling to maintain her career as she lives beyond her means and does a bunch of cocaine. Kirby Keger (Emilio Estevez) is struggling to figure out whether he should pursue law or medicine, but a chance encounter with Dr. Dale Biberman (Andie MacDowell) makes him hopelessly obsessed with her despite her lack of interest in him. The friends have all been meeting up at a bar called St. Elmo’s since their college days, and the film traces their relationships as they inevitably drift apart.

St. Elmo’s Fire was essentially eviscerated by the press upon its release. Aside from praising the excellent score by David Foster and the hit song “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” by David Foster and John Parr, critics viciously attacked the film. I had never seen the movie, so I did not have nostalgia to rely on while viewing the picture, but I found myself landing somewhere in the middle on St. Elmo’s Fire. I can completely understand the criticisms thrown at the picture – the writing relies on caricatures; the characters are self-involved, narcissistic, and unlikable; the film is melodramatic; the picture takes itself very seriously while not really saying anything truly profound. The critics were ruthless with the picture. But …. the picture did $37 million against a $10 million budget and has continued to find fans for forty years. Obviously, the picture struck a chord with more than just a few people. 

After reading all the criticisms, I somewhat agree with everything that was said. The film is melodramatic, hokey, and sometimes underwritten, but the film may actually be more realistic than the critics picked up on. This film was made at the height of the superficial Eighties. The characters are meant to be rich, selfish Georgetown graduates who manage to create problems for themselves despite being given more than any generation that had come before them. This picture may have been disliked simply because it held up a mirror to the way that people graduating from the Ivy League were actually acting at the time. Keep in mind that screenwriter Karl Curlander knew the world of the Ivy League well, having graduated from Duke University. The movie, intentionally or not, manages to nail the malaise of the yuppie class in the mid-Eighties. I honestly can’t think of another picture in its era that accomplished as much on this subject as St. Elmo’s Fire may have done unintentionally.

St. Elmo’s Fire has a stacked cast of some of the hottest stars of its time. Judd Nelson probably plays the least likable character, whereas Rob Lowe manages to be charming as a character that is a true train wreck for all the women he ensnares. Emilio Estevez is funny and entertaining in a role that borders on taking a positive take on stalking? Demi Moore is a perfectly fabulous glam 80’s cokehead. Ally Sheedy is given the most dramatic material and handles herself well. Mare Winningham draws sympathy from the audience as she continues to be in love with the least responsible person on Earth.  Andie MacDowell is enjoyable in her small part. Andrew McCarthy does his thing in the film playing the tortured artist writer who pines for his friend’s girl. McCarthy sometimes felt almost too sincere in these roles which could make me feel somewhat uncomfortable, but that may just be me. My family rewatches Weekend at Bernie’s every year, so I’m a fan. Joel Schumacher does the best that he can with a script that has some tonal issues. The performances are earnest, even if the results are sometimes cartoonish. As is always the case with Schumacher’s work, I enjoyed the cinematography. In this case the cinematogeaphy is provided by Stephen H. Burum who collaborated with De Palma on numerous films. As I mentioned earlier, the score is excellent.

Overall – St. Elmo’s Fire definitely has issues that all stem from the script itself. It is melodramatic, and the characters are superficial and for the most part unlikable. That said, this film (intentionally or not) actually nails the narcissism of the yuppie class and Ivy League in the Eighties. Whether or not that makes this film enjoyable is up to the viewer. It is certainly not a perfect film, but there still seems to be more to it than critics felt at the time.

Video

Presented in Native 4K in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1, St. Elmo’s Fire for the most part looks very good in this UHD presentation. Fine detail is excellent and the cinematography by Stephen H. Burum really shines on the format. That said – whether or not the cinematography presented on this release is true to Stephen H. Burum’s intent, is definitely debatable. In certain outdoor scenes, the color scheme has a yellow tint that highlights the autumnal settings. Reviewers have pointed towards this being inaccurate. For myself, I thought the film looked pretty great, but it was my first time viewing the picture. I deducted 1/2 a point to be safe, but I think overwhelmingly fans will be pleased.

Audio 

Sony has presented a great sounding True-HD MA 7.1 track for St. Elmo’s Fire. The film’s dialogue comes through clearly, and the fantastic score by David Foster (and the iconic theme song) sounded great in this presentation. I don’t necessarily think that Atmos would be a huge improvement over this expansive 7.1 track. I was impressed with the current presentation. Fans should be pleased.

Supplements:

• Commentary with co-writer/director Joel Schumacher. 
• “Joel Schumacher Remembers ‘St. Elmo’s Fire'” Interview 
• Deleted Scenes
• Original Making Of Featurette
• “Man in Motion” music video performed by John Parr. 
• Theatrical Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5 

Audio – 4.75/5

Supplements – 3/5

Overall – 3.75/5

St. Elmo’s Fire was completely dismissed by critics upon its release in 1985. That said, the film was a big hit and has continued to be enjoyed by audiences for the last four decades. I think the critics had good reasons for disliking the picture – it is melodramatic, the characters are superficial and fairly unlikable, and the film has moments where its humor falls flat. It is a little hokey. That said, the film (intentionally or not) manages to really highlight the narcissistic qualities of the yuppie class in the Eighties (specifically Ivy League graduates.) I can’t think of any other film that does this as effectively. There is definitely some merit there. The star studded ensemble cast does their best to elevate the material, and the cinematography and music in the film are both excellent. Joel Schumacher would go on to make The Lost Boys, Flatliners, and Falling Down after making St. Elmo’s Fire, and those films are an improvement from St. Elmo’s Fire, but I am glad that fans can own the film on 4K. Sony’s 4K UHD release looked good to my eyes, but the new restoration has introduced a new color palette for the outdoor scenes that fans of the film may find jarring since it strays from the original color timing. The new TrueHD MA 7.1 track is really well done. Overall, as long as fans can get over the moments with new color schemes, this is a satisfying 4K release.