Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Firestarter Blu-ray Movie Review

Burn, baby, burn.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 29, 2014

In terms of where Firestrater fits into the Stephen King film adaptation ranking (all subjective, of course), it's probably middle-of-the-pack, well behind a long list of great titles including The Shining, The Mist, Stand By Me, and The Shawshank Redemption that sit atop the heap. But even lower-tier King tends to impress, and Firestarter is no exception. While no classic within the genre and not one of the top standouts in King's own literary canon, the story is beautifully simple on the surface with plenty of room for deeper human interest, relationship, and societal complications and implications to analyze and enjoy below the fiery exterior. It's classic King in many ways, a story with multiple layers, the best of which exist just beyond the top and serve completely different purposes when compared to the superficial story drivers and scares.

You've got me burning!

Andy (David Keith) and his daughter Charlie (Drew Barrymore) are on the run from a government organization known as "The Shop." He has the power to manipulate people's actions. She can start fires with a stare. He was once a participant in a shadowy government test in which he and his future spouse were injected with a serum that made them "special." Their daughter inherited the ability to telekinetically control fire. Andy's wife is now dead, leaving him to care for Charlie, which doesn't mean making sure she gets to school on time but ensuring her safety from government spooks. When it's decided that she could become a powerful weapon, they're hunted down without remorse, leaving them no choice but to make use of their powers in the most deadly of ways.

In essence, both of the main characters have superpowers, one with the ability to influence the thoughts and actions of others and the second with a more crude power that allows her to set objects ablaze, both with merely a hard stare. Yet they're not superheroes. Firestarter depicts individuals with superhero-like powers on the complete other end of the scale. They don't leap tall buildings in a single bound or sling around the city. They use their powers for raw survival, as a means of escaping dangerous situations, situations brought upon them by the actions of others, the very people that would hunt them down and who, in fact, so frequently become "victims" of those powers they helped to create. The superpowers, then, become instruments that carry out a necessary evil, things that put the lives of both the wielder and the target in jeopardy, all, originally, in the name of science on one side and in the name of making a few extra bucks on the other. Sometimes, it's best to leave nature alone, lest one is prepared to deal with the unforeseen consequences, in this case a sweet little girl who can turn devilishly evil if she must.

It's this sort of "inside baseball" element that keeps the movie afloat during a lengthy middle stretch that may not see Charlie running around and setting people and environments on fire but that does light a fire in the subconscious. The picture leans heavily on the interplay between Charlie and John (George C. Scott); he's trying to warm up to her for his own nefarious purposes, and she's closing him off out of anger and spite. She misses her father, who is tucked away at another part of a compound, and he becomes something of a pawn which the bad guys use to get closer to Charlie. The film does a good job of building and exploring the isolation both characters feel and shaping the narrative that will eventually graduate to the explosive climax. The film takes its time to explore the inner workings of several minds on edge and bodies in harm's way. The outward lethargy is countered by an inward mind game that slowly sees the characters evolve towards their own ends, which is in many ways infinitely more satisfying than if the film were little more than 90 or 100 minutes of a little girl telepathically blowing stuff up. It's sort of the same device used in Carrie, where a slow boil builds up to an epic finale. Firestarter isn't in the same league in terms of execution, but the idea remains the same. Like Carrie, then, this film's climax -- and the actions from the first half in hindsight -- take on much more depth when the inevitable finally occurs.

Visually, the film is presented in a rather straightforward manner but does impress with its practical visual effects which work much better than digital, even if it's clear that people and surfaces are slathered in fire-retardant gel and that there quite a few obvious dummies standing in for real people in key shots. Still, all that real fire makes for a significantly more intense experience than anything Hollywood could, or maybe better said would, throw at audiences today. More, the cast is stellar. There's a ton of talent here: Martin Sheen, George C. Scott, Art Carney, Heather Locklear, and David Keith all play significant roles in the film. It's little Drew Barrymore, however, that rightly steals the show. Fresh off her breakthrough in E.T. (and getting ready to star in another Stephen King film, Cat's Eye), the young actress demonstrates a commendable command of a complex part. Her character undergoes enormous stress and must perform terrible acts in order to survive, both of which take a toll on the character and both of which are handled brilliantly for someone of her age. Barrymore is more than a trooper; she seems to have a solid grasp of the character, the character's powers, and the character's emotional upheavals. That's critical to the film and Barrymore is one of the main reasons why it works as well as it does.

Firestarter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Firestarter's Blu-ray presentation is by no means awful, but it's by no means what it should be. Universal's 1080p release offers a clean, well-defined image that showcases solid image detail and clarity. But it's also been the victim of heavy-handed noise reduction. The image is distractingly pasty and sterile, certainly not what something photographed on film should look like. There's a smoothness to practically every texture, notably faces, but everything from furniture to leather jackets falls victim to the vigorous scrubbing. Colors do find some spunk and vibrance, but black levels are prone to crush. Facial hues all share some level of that pastiness that overpowers natural shadings. The image does show a few errant splotches and stray lines and remnants of grain, but it's fairly clean otherwise. The picture certainly benefits from the 1080p resolution -- it's better than the DVD and will hold up well enough on large display surfaces -- but it's a shame it's not more representative of its original filmic appearance.

Firestarter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Firestarter won't set sound systems ablaze with its rather puny DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Dialogue is terribly shallow at film's start, borderline inaudible even at reference level. Fortunately, the spoken word picks up in stage presence and clarity of delivery after the establishing moments. The same cannot be said for the rest of the track. There's precious little verve and vigor to music. It's never distractingly muddy, but it's never full or rich, either. It's stuck dead-center in the middle of the stage with no room to spread and better immerse the listening audience. Explosions and gunshots and other heavy action-oriented effects also lack oomph, range, and clarity. Smaller ambient effects are present but just as background noise, not as immersive elements. Much like the video, this soundtrack will carry listeners through the film but won't accomplish much more.

Firestarter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Firestarter contains no supplements, and the disc features no main menu screen (a small pop-up menu is included). A UV digital copy code is included in the case.

Firestarter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Firestarter doesn't dominate the Stephen King film landscape, but it's a pretty solid mid- to back-end player that has a lot to offer under the surface, some of which the film fully realizes and some of which is best left to the audience's imagination. A well-paced open and a frenetic finale sandwich a visually drab but thematically intriguing and dramatically complex middle stretch. Performances from an all-star cast are solid all-around. Universal's Blu-ray, however, leaves quite a bit to be desired. Iffy video, bland audio, and no supplements leave the presentation wanting. Recommended on the strength of the film and at a bargain price point.