lear@topaz.ARPA (eliot lear) (06/29/85)
Saint Elmo's Fire left me with many impressions. I believe the idea
to produce it as a movie must have stemmed from the success of Breakfast
Club. The Breakfast Club successfully stirred fealings about many problems
[such as "parents" as the BC sees it]. Saint Elmo's Fire tries to do the
same with different problems such as friends getting involved with each
other, one's best friend getting involved with one's girlfriend, etc. This
movie even borrows the stars from Breakfast Club!
"So why should I see this movie if it is a Breakfast Club takeoff?"
I didn't say that. The themes in The Breakfast Club were very
simple. Namely, girl meets boy, boy hates girl, girl hates boy, and they
fall in love after discovering that they enjoy each other's differences.
Saint Elmo's Fire is not that simple. Saint Elmo's Fire deals with what
happens AFTER Boy and Girl fall in love and boy meets another girl or Girl
has boy or BOTH! The characters in The Breakfast Club were seniors in High
School and The Breakfast Club dealt mostly with high school issues such as
"That old Class Tease." Saint Elmo's deals with issues that many of us will
deal with VERY SOON. These issues hit closer to the heart and, in my
opinion, stronger emotions. This movie deals with a group of friends that
go through thick and thick together. Many otherwise unrelated scenes were
strung together to make a very emotionally strong story. In this I applaud
the writers' effort but the story is too loose after a while and very hard
to follow.
"So was it good or bad?!?!?!"
Discover for yourself. This movie was good enough so that I would
want to see it again sometime. I personally rate such movies B+. (A movies
are those where I rush back to see it again.) Still, my rating is for
myself. Go see Saint Elmo's Fire.
eliot lear
p.s. Thank God for emacs whether it be GNU or Gosling!
--
uucp: [{allegra,seismo,ihnp4}!topaz!lear]
arpa: [Lear@RU-BLUE.arpa]bobw@ncrcae.UUCP (Bob Williamson) (07/01/85)
I too found St. Elmo's Fire to be very moving. Having not too long ago left the cozy and "out of hand" confines of university life, I find myself with some of the same doubts and fears that the characters in the movie expressed. The film did a VERY good job of capturing these emotions. I don't want to give any of the film away. But I do recommend that any of you who enjoy movies that can make you both laugh and cry see this one.
folta@yale.ARPA (Stephen Folta) (07/02/85)
> Saint Elmo's deals with issues that many of us will > deal with VERY SOON. Oh really? As I saw it, St. Elmo's fire was about a group of preppies becoming yuppies, struggling to deal with the Real World. I saw it with some friends and we all agreed that the characters were too spoiled to care about. I suppose there will be lots of people here who will end up like the characters in the movie, but I certainly don't intend to be one of them. Stephen Folta decvax!yale!folta
barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) (07/02/85)
In article <2438@topaz.ARPA> lear@topaz.ARPA (eliot lear) writes: > I believe the idea >to produce it as a movie must have stemmed from the success of Breakfast >Club. Then they must have had a time machine, as filming of "Saint Elmo's Fire" had already begun by the time "The Breakfast Club" opened. The only success they might have been playing off would have been the current popularity of its young stars. -- Barry Margolin ARPA: barmar@MIT-Multics UUCP: ..!genrad!mit-eddie!barmar
waltt@tekecs.UUCP (Walt Tucker) (07/03/85)
I saw "Saint Elmos Fire" recently in a double feature with "The Big Chill."
Good pairing of films. I enjoyed both, and they went together nicely. I'd
seen TBC before, but enjoyed seeing it again. I kept threatening to leave
TBC, as it was getting late, but told myself "I'll go after the funeral
scene. I'll go after the kitchen scene. I'll go after . . ." I ended up
staying for the whole movie. After viewing TBC a second time, I'm almost
motivated to go buy the sound track. But, I digress.
I would recommend SEF on a discount night or in a double-feature (I paid
$4 for both), but it depends on your value on this sort of thing. For once,
the actors in SEF get to play their real ages. You will probably enjoy SEF
more if you are nearing the end of college or have recently left college for
employment in the "real world."
I didn't really think of this when I watched SEF, but a later review I read
postulated that SEF looked as if it could be TV sitcom fodder. After thinking
about it, I'll have to agree. SEF does not come across as a made-for-TV
movie, but the potential is there for a series, much the same as movies such
as "9-to-5", "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore", or "M*A*S*H" had similar
potential.
I'd rate SEF **1/2 on a **** scale if seen by itself and having graduated
a long time (x > 10 years) ago, or *** with a pairing with TBC or recently
college graduated.
-- Walt Tucker
Tektronix, Inc.
Dale: Kirby, How are you?
Kirby: Obsessed, thank you.