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Amazon.co.uk Review
Stephen King wasn't exactly in peak form when he wrote Firestarter, so this 1984 movie adaptation was at a disadvantage even before the cameras rolled. There were so many King movies being made at the time the weaknesses of this one became even more apparent. In her first film role after her memorable appearance in E.T., Drew Barrymore stars as a little girl whose parents acquired strange mental powers after participating in a secret government experiment. From this genetic background she has developed the mysterious ability to set anything on fire at will, especially when she's angry. That makes her very interesting to government officials seeking to exploit her skill as a secret weapon. Her father tries to protect her by using his powers of mind-control, while George C. Scott plays an Indian who believes the girl must be destroyed. There is a routine climax involving a lot of impressive pyrotechnics, but none of this is grounded in a dramatically solid foundation, and none of the characters are developed enough for us to care about them. Director Mark L. Lester, who the following year made Commando with Schwarzenegger, keeps the pace cracking along, but nevertheless the movie gradually turns into a laughable thriller with no suspense whatsoever. It's a movie only a pyromaniac could love. --Jeff Shannon
On the DVD: This is a largely no-frills presentation, albeit with a decent anamorphic print. The only extras are the original theatrical trailer and a nicely presented menu. A fold-out booklet has informative liner notes and a reproduction of the film poster.
DVD Description
A government scientific experiment has produced enexpected results and now the last remaining victim and his young daughter are on the run. Their only defense is the psychic powers granted them by the experiment.
DVD Features
Dolby Digital Stereo Sound
115 Minutes Running Time
16:9 Widescreen Aspect Ratio
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
For a Stephen King film this is relativly tame. It's the story of little Charlie(Drew Barrymore)and her father who are being pursed by goverment agency 'The shop', due to Charlie's amazing power of being able to set things on fire with her mind when she is angered.This is a perfect senario for plenty of explosion sequences and Drew's cuteness is just right to make you feel sorry for this little girl. But don't expect something scary, or you will be disapointed!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Excellent!!
Its not really scary like you would think a Stephen King movie would be but it is really good and you do feel sorry for the little girl.
One to own
Its not really scary like you would think a Stephen King movie would be but it is really good and you do feel sorry for the little girl.
One to own
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am going to start by saying that I am no Stephen King fan, as a matter of fact, he is the most overrated author on the planet, and was often accused of writing for the movies. Well, excuse me, but that's exactly what he has always done. He constantly complained about adaptions, but it didn't stop him from raking in the dollar signs when he gave them the rights. I have read several of his books and I was not impressed at all, except for his early ones, like The Shining and Salems' Lot. I read Firestarter too, and it was awful. But the film was a major improvement and brought the story to life in incredible detail.
The cast was also unbelieveably strong, basically an allstar who's who of Hollywood and many performances were a tad over the top, but in a film such as this, larger than life performances from veterans like George C. Scott and Martin Sheen and David Keith are what you need.
For me, this film belongs totally to Drew Barrymore. She will always be the Firestarter for me, a part she was meant for and she is incredibly endearing and it makes the governement villians in this even more despicable and it makes you hate them more for what they do to her and her father. Governement agencies really do get a kick out of breaking up families like that and it's laid on heavily here, nothing short of fascism. And when Charley uses her powers, it's visually impressive and you just have to cheer the little blonde one on. It's terribly sad at times, but that makes it work so much the better. George C Scott's chilling hitman villian of course could have stolen the show, especially when he 'makes friends with her and becomes close' and nearly did when I first saw it, but Drew matched him every step of the way and (slight spoiler alert) wins in the end.
The film packs a very strong emotional punch, the stuntwork and pyrotechnics are often breathtaking and the visual effect of Charley's hair blowing and the sound effect that comes along with it is extremely clever, and wasn't in the book by the way. Logic has nothing to do with it, it's a film, which uses visual tricks and sound to tell the story, get over it.
I have always been a big fan of this film and congrats to Mark L. Lester for pulling off an unfairly mauled underrated classic. I am having to buy it again too, since the version I had is released by another company, not Universal, and so you lose a whole chunk of the beginning, which is no good to me. Big price though, but it's worth it.
The cast was also unbelieveably strong, basically an allstar who's who of Hollywood and many performances were a tad over the top, but in a film such as this, larger than life performances from veterans like George C. Scott and Martin Sheen and David Keith are what you need.
For me, this film belongs totally to Drew Barrymore. She will always be the Firestarter for me, a part she was meant for and she is incredibly endearing and it makes the governement villians in this even more despicable and it makes you hate them more for what they do to her and her father. Governement agencies really do get a kick out of breaking up families like that and it's laid on heavily here, nothing short of fascism. And when Charley uses her powers, it's visually impressive and you just have to cheer the little blonde one on. It's terribly sad at times, but that makes it work so much the better. George C Scott's chilling hitman villian of course could have stolen the show, especially when he 'makes friends with her and becomes close' and nearly did when I first saw it, but Drew matched him every step of the way and (slight spoiler alert) wins in the end.
The film packs a very strong emotional punch, the stuntwork and pyrotechnics are often breathtaking and the visual effect of Charley's hair blowing and the sound effect that comes along with it is extremely clever, and wasn't in the book by the way. Logic has nothing to do with it, it's a film, which uses visual tricks and sound to tell the story, get over it.
I have always been a big fan of this film and congrats to Mark L. Lester for pulling off an unfairly mauled underrated classic. I am having to buy it again too, since the version I had is released by another company, not Universal, and so you lose a whole chunk of the beginning, which is no good to me. Big price though, but it's worth it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Firestarter - a Classic
A Classic of it's time. The effects may not be the best but for it's day it was just wonderful. Story is good, great cast...
Published 5 months ago by Jaimie
Firestarter didn't light my fire
I love this film, but sadly this is NOT the edition I would advise anyone to buy. Its a TV version so misses a lot, and has a long advert at the start which i couldn't skip. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mr. D. Rigden
A DVD Review
Review for the Prism edition.
The back of the box states 16:9 which could either lead you to believe that it is either 1.85:1 widescreen or anamorphic. Read more
The back of the box states 16:9 which could either lead you to believe that it is either 1.85:1 widescreen or anamorphic. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jonathan E
so bad!
i tried so hard to be gripped by this, i love anything to do with Stephen King so i really wanted to like this but it was no use, life is too short to pretend i like some films, i... Read more
Published on 27 Mar 2008 by Ms. F. I. Macdonald
GREAT FUN AT BARBEQUES
This little blonde haired cutie is the offspring of a mum and dad who underwent some clinical trials, that went horribly wrong. Read more
Published on 26 Oct 2007 by Nevs
Quite different to many other movies i've watched
This is quite a hard movie to describe and definitely almost impossible to compare . It's a film you would either love or you would hate! Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2007 by crazykat
firestarter ( 1984 )
excellent!
Published on 23 Jun 2005
Kings Best
Out of all the films that have been based on novels by Stephen King I rate this to be the the best. It has everything, action, drama, suspense, as well as emotional. Read more
Published on 4 Aug 2004
For any Drew fan
I was really impressed by the acting of Drew Barrymore (who was just eight when it was made). She carried the film the whole way through, changing between cuteness and the... Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2002
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