Firestarter (1984)

the first half of the film is boring but the second half liked me a lot. Plus I liked seeing a very young Drew Barrymore. I liked the figure of my present father and even more, the bad figure, John Rainbird (George C.Scott), an actor already seen in the movie "Dr. Strangelove". The story is a bit banal in some places, but the scene of the farm is unforgettable.

Film versions of Stephen King novels can be a tricky thing. Often they're half assed, clunky miniseries (ever tried to sit down and watch The Langoliers??), and when they're given the lofty cinema treatment, he has famously turned his nose in the face of Kubrick's might. I feel like Firestarter escaped unscathed, and still holds to this day, if a bit achingly retro now. It's a thriller perceived in a childlike manner by its young protagonist, Charlie Mcgee (Drew Barrymore). Charlie can start fires with her mind, and certain shadowy agencies just can't wait to get their hands on her. Her father (David Keith) once participated in some scary drug testing related to telekinesis back in the day, and some of whatever altered his DNA has been passed on to her. He will do anything to protect her, as the two frantically race across the country to safety, pursued by forces working for Hollister (Martin Sheen), a spook with too much power and nasty ideas about what to do with it. Also on their trail is pseudo spiritual whacko John Rainbird, who wants to absorb Charlie's abilities, man what a freak. Rainbird is a native American in King's novel, so white haired yankee boy Scott is an odd choice, but he does a fine job all the same. Two things are what makes this one really stand out in a special way. Tangerine Dream provides yet another ultrasonic, elemental synth score that has since become legendary. It accents the story in an almost fairy tale like way, gilding the danger with a fable style sound, but never stamping out the real menace. Barrymore is the other leg of the table, giving one hell of a fierce and vulnerable performance for such a young girl, her childlike honesty a prism for the audience to see the evil around her through innocent eyes. It's great stuff, and one of the most solid King adaptations out there. Now there is a sequel (not sure if the man wrote a second book?) called Firestarter 2: Rekindled, which pales in comparison and runs about 45 minutes too long (!), but it's worth a look for the casting of Marguerite Moreau as a grown up Charlie, Malcolm McDowell taking over from Scott as Rainbird, and Dennis Hopper as well.

Andrew McGee (David Keith) is on the run with his daughter Charlie (Drew Barrymore) from a secret government agency called 'The Shop'. He has the power of suggestion. She sets fires. Back in college, he was in Dr. Joseph Wanless (Freddie Jones)'s experiment with Vicky Tomlinson (Heather Locklear) taking an injection called Lot 6. They start communicating telepathically. Everybody hallucinates and they are the only two survivors. Later they got married and had Charlie. After they killed Vicky and tried to kidnap Charlie, Andrew goes on the run. Dr. Wanless wants to kill off the family fearing the powers of the little girl. Captain Hollister (Martin Sheen) scoffs at the possibilities with the support of John Rainbird (George C. Scott). They want to experiment and use her as a weapon.This is such a nicely made sci-fi giving child star Drew Barrymore the staring role. It doesn't have the big flash and the sizzle. It's mostly a road movie. There are some nice fire work. The explosions could be more impressive. The flashbacks work well. The acting is generally very good with some terrific actors. Drew does an exceptional job as a child actor. It probably could use more shoot outs and high speed chases. However it works very well without them.

Yesterday I was talking to someone about movie remakes: which movies would do well remade and which movies should never be touched. I think Firestarter would do well as a remake. Firestarter relied heavily on little Charlie Mcgee and her abilities, so with today's CGI and special effects another Firestarter would be really nice.Firestarter was about a clandestine government program in which they were giving psychotropic drugs to some participants to see their effects upon the patients. Two participants hooked up, got married and gave birth to Charlene Mcgee (Drew Barrymore). The government operation, known as "The Shop", caught wind of this and pursued the family.I remember the movie being a lot better in 1980-whatever when I first saw it. Today, the movie was OK. The acting wasn't that good and the action was very unnatural; meaning that fire and heat can do certain things and some of the things Charlie Mcgee was doing was out of the realm of possibility. Furthermore, the victims of Charlie's wrath were doing things that a person wouldn't ordinarily do in the given situation. I know Drew Barrymore was just a child but yikes! She was almost unbearable to watch her acting was so forced.I think a remake would be cool. In fact, they could have Drew Barrymore play the role of Vicky Mcgee (Heather Locklear), the mother of Charlene Mcgee. I was also thinking they could do a Firestarter 2 with Charlie being a grown-up, played by Drew Barrymore, and having a little supernatural kid of her own. Then I saw here on IMDb that a Firestarter 2 was done in 2002. That went under the radar. So that leads me back to my original idea of a Firestarter remake. It could work.