ST. ELMO'S FIRE (1985) Movie Review | Brat Pack | Demi Moore | Rob Lowe

Andrew McCarthy's "Brats" documentary inspired us to revisit the ultimate Brat Pack movie, "St. Elmo's Fire." The 1985 ensemble drama follows a group of college friends as they try to navigate their careers and romances after graduation. The film was a cultural phenomenon, in large part because of its attractive cast and popular soundtrack. (We'll get that John Parr theme song out of our heads eventually.) But how does it hold up nearly 40 years later? Directed by Joel Schumacher, who co-wrote the script with Carl Kurlander. Starring Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy and Mare Winningham. What do you think of "St. Elmo's Fire"? Let us know in the comments!
#stelmosfire #bratpack #demimoore
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[@nikosvault]

"There's a candy-man quality to Rob Lowe himself. He has no weight, no density. It's not that he's a bad actor-it's that he doesn't suggest a real person." - Pauline Kael (1986)

[@BreakfastAllDay]

Gosh he was beautiful back then, though.

[@pollyking8577]

I love how at the end of the film they stop in front of "their bar" and see a group inside that is a lot like them, but pause to realize they have grown so much that they decide instead to go to brunch. Brunch was our sign we were finally adults, I guess.

[@cad2046]

What makes that scene even better is that it takes place like 8 months after they graduated lol

[@pollyking8577]

@cad2046 Right? After all we've been through.... we're still jerks, but at least we can get a bloody Mary with our brunch.

[@MrBdiddypop]

@@cad2046how awkward would that brunch be with all the stuff that went down between Judd, Ally, and Andrew.

[@TheRedart99]

Love this movie! 😊

[@angelcena759]

You had me at "Seven of the most insufferable people ever". 😅

[@BreakfastAllDay]

It's tempting, isn't it?

[@VictorDiGiovanni]

(bonus points for Alonso wearing the same shirt he probably wore when he first saw the movie) This movie was a hit for two reasons. The song, obviously. But mostly because for my generation (17 when it came out) it was the unofficial, aspirational sequel to Breakfast Club. Breakfast Club was who we were at that moment, St. Elmo's Fire was who we were going to become. When I was 17 it was amazing. At 54, when I rewatched it a few years ago, it rose to the top of my list of "I'm ashamed of my younger self" movies. This was a nightmare for all the reasons you mention. But I think this movie should be the prime example of "It was a different time back then." For a variety of reasons, but specifically for Emilio Estevez's character's actions, it demonstrates why you can't hold people accountable for attitudes of a different time. CLEARLY Emilio Estevez was doing all the stuff we now correctly label as stalker behavior. But back THEN, there was absolutely zero talk about this. It was 1000% not a thing anyone was thinking of. And as the gauzy nostalgic love of this movie proves, we all thought his behavior was the height of romantic. How better to show your true love for someone than to steal a car and follow them to a party and kiss them without their consent in front of her fiance and coworkers? That was romance. There were so many things (as this movie demonstrates) that just weren't on our radars. These behaviors have always been wrong, but it was so far off our radars that you can't judge us in a way that presumes "we should have known." It was a different time. What a disaster of a movie. 17-year-old Victor...shame for loving this. SHAME.

[@bmc868]

This movie shows 80's spirit. St Elmos's fire is about friendship, success.... but it's an illusion. Reality is different

[@sweeney60]

This movie feels like the epitome of the Regan era.

[@epbrown01]

That would be “Wall Street.”

[@angelcitystudio]

It was the fantasy that was promised. None of us lived this reality though.

[@MichaelWhyte]

This review could not be more hilariously on-the-money! Thanks for making me laugh out loud, despite triggering the hideous memory of seeing this thing in the theater (and of the ghastly '80s in general).

[@thequietrevolution3404]

Never viewed this film due to having enlisted in the Coast Guard at the time. However, there exists a myth about this movie that crosses over with "The Exorcist". Certain areas in both movies were filmed on location in Georgetown. Legend has it that if you visit the street "Exorcist" was filmed, your watch, phone, CD and other electronics will suddenly fail to function. But everything will once again function when you proceed to M Street where the "St. Elmo's Fire" bar was filmed. Today, the bar is gutted but the walls still remain.

[@dajadaze3795]

Even as a teenager, I thought all these characters were jerks. Thanks for this review!

[@MrBdiddypop]

Another hard to believe moment. When Rob Lowe’s character Billy tells Wendy, a social worker, that it’s cool if he moves away from his baby daughter because having him around “would just confuse her”. And then Wendy just nods and then they sleep together. WTF. For people who went to a great university, there is very little critical thinking happening here.

[@BreakfastAllDay]

Ha, that is an excellent point!

[@jreadswell904]

Billy Hicks is the embodiment of Peter Pan and the girl he probably really likes is named Wendy. Sure he exploited her at times, but he is aware that it’s wrong. The scene where he leaves the 💰💰 behind she was giving him to pay his rent is point in case. I believe he really cared for her. When his life would spin out of control he could spend time with her to feel loved

[@patriciaarodriguez6641]

I was also just entering my teens at this time so too young to understand any of it but remember getting the movie soundtrack and playing it over and over. The music still brings me back to this day!

[@lukenarlee8118]

Please do The Breakfast Club next! That would make my day :)

[@BreakfastAllDay]

Actually we're doing Beverly Hills Cop next week before the Axel F sequel comes out on Netflix!

[@billdavies9970]

I feel like Schumacher’s main contribution to cinema was casting hot young guys in lead roles.

[@cristianacevedo178]

I love reviews of movies released before I was born. Keep reviewing 80's movies 👏👏👏👏👏

[@BreakfastAllDay]

Our pleasure! We're doing the original Beverly Hills Cop next week, so stay tuned.

[@ChrisOliver4307]

I also love when you go back to revisit these movies. My request is "Goonies," because I believe Alonso hasn't watched it.

[@suswik3682]

I was 15, when I saw it. I am from Edinburgh and I guess at the time I saw it as 'typical american' in comparison to my life, which was pretty good at 15. It was pretty far fetched as much as one could relate to a the characters a wee smidgen. My fav was Andrew Mccarthy? Rob Lowe was too beautiful. I wish I could remember more clearly what I thought at the time. I liked the music I think. Thanks.

[@theylied1776]

I hope people don't take this the wrong way, but watching this movie as a black male teenager, this just looked like white privilege to me. It was not aspirational, it was just pure fantasy.

[@marcwa74]

I'm a child of the 80's so I didn't get a chance to watch SEF until an edited PG version (a lot less cocaine, less sex and hilariously dubbed network safe cursing) aired on ABC's Sunday Night Movies. I grew up in NW DC and Silver Spring, MD so I always get the nostalgia vibes whenever I watch movies and TV shows that are filmed/shot in that area. I live in Nashville now and these archetypes and post grad young adults are very much alive and thriving in the city I currently live in. What's old is new "Y'all". The major thing that I noticed in my recent rewatch of the film is much like the sitcom Friends (the less toxic comedic version of SEF) is that I can almost count the number of black and brown people on screen on one hand. In a city, affectionally called Chocolate City, Joel Schumacher managed to hide all of us colored folk. Now to be fair Georgetown is socially and economically segregated but geez Louise, would it have hurt to bring in Denzel's character from St Elsewhere? I'm joking... not really. This movie is very much a part of my childhood/ adolescence. I still have a crush on Demi. My high school guidance counselor picked the theme to the soundtrack for my high school graduation. So, there are things that I have nostalgia for, but I also recognize the time period in which it was made. I agree Alonso, none of these people are really redeemable, with the exception of Wendy and Kevin. Rob Lowes character seemed to mimic his offscreen shenanigans. The gay character Ron, which is not quite as offensive as Mickey Rooney's character (?) in Breakfast at Tiffanys, it is stereotypical of 80s culture in regard to how gay men were and, in some cases, still portrayed in Hollywood, WTF Joel?! So, while I do still have a bizarre 80s fondness for SEF, I think the movie should've named (it has also been my personal guide), What not to do After College.

[@djpatron100]

I’m glad everyone is catching up on how bad this movie is. I was born in 1983 and saw this when I was 15 and hated it. Then gave it a second chance after I watched Brat…still terrible 😂

[@1UpJohn]

The whole storyline with Emilio Estevez and Andie MacDowell was completely unnecessary and didn't connect to the other storylines. The whole thing could've been cut.

[@MrBdiddypop]

Two words for how I felt when I saw you were reviewing this movie: Let’s Rock!

[@tlovehater]

😆😆

[@stevenhaase]

I think I was 15 or 16 when this came out and I just remember it being so glamorous. Oy 😳 Thanks for doing this re-review, C&A! Love y'all.

[@johnoates3791]

I’m happy I didn’t see this until my late 20s. I didn’t like it, but if I were a teenager and had seen it then, I would have been obsessed. I know this doesn’t apply to everyone, but it’s funny how for some of us our age can really affect how we enjoy the films we watch.

[@BreakfastAllDay]

That's exactly the point of our Was It Great or Were You 8? series. Thanks for your thoughts!

[@dantesebastian1777]

Growing up gay, I never liked the gay subplot in "St. Elmo's Fire". I grew up at a time where any gay representation was good and the Andrew McCarthy subplot about his character being gay or not and then the reveal, it felt insulting and dismissive. Demi Moore's gay friend showing up and then being used as a joke so Andrew McCarthy can feel smug about himself. It's just gross. But then again, if you're gay and you're going to have a crush on a guy from the Brat Pack, it's going to be Emilio Estevez, not Judd Nelson (!!).

[@jasonraschen1109]

I tried watching it about 15 years ago. About 30-35 minutes in, I turned it off. Never revisited it. Alonso had me laughing at 5:00. Thanks for this video!

[@BreakfastAllDay]

Ha, thanks Jason! You had the right idea, it seems.

[@SoulStylistJukeBox]

I predict lots of pissy comments. Kinda like when Molly Ringwald dared to point out how problematic those mid 80s John Hughes were. Fans of a certain age were furious at her.

[@BreakfastAllDay]

She was right!

[@angelthman1659]

@@BreakfastAllDay No she wasn't right. She was talking about the scene where Judd Nelson peeks at her underwear under the desk. Judd's character is a troublemaker, a hoodlum. So we know from this that his action is wrong. If it was done by Emilio's character, a goody two-shoes, then you'd have the point. Not to mention that Molly fights back. She smacks him several times and calls him an asshole. Things like this happen, especially in high school and college settings, so why not feature reality? We're going backwards if characters can't have flaws anymore, even nasty flaws. Every male character must be woke and respect everyone perfectly. That's not real life.

[@Charliehund100]

Do you also predict a collection of overgrown children who judge films not on their artistic merit (or lack thereof), but on whether the movie in question caters to their unexamined and infantile political ideology? Cause you'd have been like Nostradamus with that one!

[@angelthman1659]

@@Charliehund100 They seem to have no problem with the misogyny and horrible people in Kinds of Kindness.

[@KennethPalmer10]

Omg that Ally Sheedy impersonation was hilarious! I had to watch that a few time! 😂 At 48 I saw this movie for the very first time. I never understood why this was such a classic. 🙅🏾‍♂️🤷🏾

[@OldBluesChapterandVerse]

Alonso’s Ally Sheedy impression gave me a much-needed laugh. 😄 I was 10 when it came out, but never saw it until this year, at 49. I also had lots of problems with it.

[@jamesonstalanthasyu]

yeah, I saw it when it came out, latch-key kid who loved movies and tv. Teeny-bopper me had vastly differing impressions of what was good/acceptable about these characters vs me in my 20's+.

[@benbryan7754]

Yeah thats point of the movie. You love it when you are living it. Once you grow up, and stop self focusing, you realize you hate it for what you were.

[@cad2046]

You guys are right on the money about how insufferable these characters are! Definitely felt differently about this film rewatching it after all this time. I wonder if you were a bit too rough on Ally Sheedy -- she does give a good performance and it's not really like her introspective weirdo from Breakfast Club (she has a lot of likability and bounce in her scene, for example, at the soup kitchen w/Mare and Demi)

[@user-io4vx2pn4i]

I was 19 when it came out and hated it and most of the young actors at the time. Today I appeciate them a icon of my era.

[@Jacob-nu4nd]

What I don’t understand about the movie. Is how they’re all burnt out by the age of 22, if this was set in their late 20s, it would make more sense

[@alfredoma5015]

That’s Ivy League for ya 😂

[@BottleConcreteBlond]

I saw this when I was in college and truly hated it. I feel very much like Alonso on this.

[@25DoubleDare]

I have heard of this movie but never saw it. After seeing your review I'm patting myself on the back for going with my instincts. Thanks for saving me. 😉

[@jreadswell904]

“You can’t take the Pretenders first album. Take all the Billy Joel’s!” “I will be taking Thriller!” “NO SPRINGSTEEN LEAVES THIS HOUSE !” 😂😂

[@BreakfastAllDay]

That is a pretty funny scene.

[@CMinorOp67]

The most memorable line in that movie was Andrew McCarthy saying, “do not hand that man a blow torch.”

[@evelynwilson1566]

I thought it was so grown up when I was ten in 85 ( in Scotland). Watched it a few weeks ago, for the first time in 39 years and realised that they were all terrible except for the social worker and the two doctors. It looks pretty and the music is good, but in the same way that I now empathise with the teacher and janitor in The Breakfast Club, I hate these jerks. But in 85 them driving about in their jeep while that song blasted out looked SO cool😅. Ach to be fair, the brat pack films were bubblegum escapism for the most part I was a Ralph Macchio fan😍

[@BreakfastAllDay]

Right? It seemed so grown-up when we were kids. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@jedmelvin6422]

I just watched this movie again (the first time 17 y/o). I agree with everything you just stated in your review.

[@DCibener]

It’s Friends…if you didn’t like anyone on Friends (also cocaine). I would do a double bill of this with The Big Chill, so as to compare generations.

[@xtian1688]

Hahaha this review rocked! Gaggle of sociopaths haha I’ll be stealing this.

[@BreakfastAllDay]

All yours :)

[@bearfedway]

Once in a while, I watch a movie from previous decades to confirm and/or reassess my initial feelings. The film was released in my early 20s, and I didn't like it then for many of the reasons mentioned. (FYI: I gave the film a 3 as well.)

[@toycamera6112]

As a filmmaker and Demi Moore fan, I really enjoyed your review! Thanks for sharing! Dropping you a like!

[@BreakfastAllDay]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@Alazoom76]

I was 8 when I saw this in the theater no less...watching it recently it is in my opinion to be nothing more than a relic of 1985. It's better to just leave it there.

[@BreakfastAllDay]

It definitely has not aged well!

[@AJ-rg6bl]

The 80’s nostalgia, the attractive actors and the soundtrack draws you in but the horrible characters can’t save the movie.

[@Flashbagfolly]

I actually was 8, but didn't see it until I was 40-something. Didn't care for it. I seriously doubt I would have liked it when I was 8 unless Arnie came in and blew them all away. C'est la vie. EDIT: I do miss that 80s era film stock. though.

[@dfa3366]

Check out the old Siskel and Elbert’s 1985 review of this from 1985. They crucified it.

[@dfa3366]

This movie is more nostalgic but very very dated. I loved it as a teen but as an adult it’s kinda cringe worthy. I still would love a reunion movie as them older.

[@angelcitystudio]

This was the IDEAL life promised to us by Reagan the era. That NONE of us actually experienced. And the reason why "GRUNGE" was invented. This was not real life at all. Most of us ended up like the lesser character Felice. Single, unwed, with a kid.

[@rodbacote8607]

The film is reflective of the time and the behavior of the "Me" decade which is why it was very popular. Also, the underlying theme of what to do after college and having no clue was what many related to, thus making the characters less likable upon reflection. My favorite character was the hooker that Andrew McCarthy was running into outside his apartment. She was funny and also told a couple of truths about love and sex to him.

[@theblondebomber]

I’ve never seen this film but have always heard that it’s about beautiful people and their ugly behavior. Is this the ‘80’s version of The Thomas Crown Affair where it was apparently rock n roll zeitgeist to fantasize burning the world down in high gloss style?

[@paradisecity0406able]

On this week's episode of 'Is it great or were you eight'...

[@keysersose9328]

Can you do "haunted mansion"? For the memory of great gene wilder?

[@samkaranja5709]

I love that Billy learns that he should abandon his daughter, Kirby learns that stalking is aok, Alec & Kevin learn nothing, Leslie learns that both of these guys suck but she isn't ready to find a new friend group, Jules learns that cocaine is a hell of a drug, Wendy learns that she shouldn't pull away from this 5'10 toxic slab of hair gel and Dale doesn't learn to tell Kirby to get bent which she probably won't learn until she walks up 15 years later married to him with two kids. I hate all these insufferable uppies

[@crithon]

so like... is it forgiven if like he made Flatliners with the SAME CHARACTERS? Also, there's a Rob Lowe pin up poster in Lost Boys.... YEAH! Joel Schumacher is so OVERLY PRODUCED, and maybe you don't notice the teenage boy has a sexy Rob Lowe abs poster. Production design, fill it up with so much stuff, that you don't really question it but there's so much STUFF it has to mean something.

[@cirugo7042]

I barely remember anything about it. It's been years since I watched. I remember not hating it. Not sure I want to rewatch it. I just saw another KZbinr totally trashing it after a recent watch.

[@BottleConcreteBlond]

But, I loved Mare Winningham and Demi Moore.

[@kristenskaff1669]

I really appreciated your reaction to this - I was in high school when this came out, and feel like I am the ultimate 80s/brat pack fan....but watching this movie as an adult I can say (and agree w/ you, Alonzo) that this is such a completely unlikeable group of characters....every one of them! Not only do I want to say, "Stop whining!" (Insert Arnold Schwarzenegger voice a la Kindergarten Cop) but am just bowled over by how NOT tough all of the lives they have are. Zero nostalgia watching this one back

[@PassiveAgressive319]

I loved David Fosters score for this movie

[@BreakfastAllDay]

That love theme takes you right back.

[@itsreelydalin]

I just rewatched this a few days ago and totally agree that the sparkle it has when you're a teen really fades away as an adult. It's one of the handful of movies where you really have to force yourself to separate the charm of the actors from how disgusting their character's are on the page - and I think that's why many people don't realize how bad they are on first viewing. Also, while the title song is fun, they go HEAVY on using it in almost every single scene.

[@BreakfastAllDay]

And if they were disgusting in an interesting way, that would be OK, but they're all so shallow. Thanks for watching along with us!

[@teppeiando]

Lol. I don't know if you guys are making me want to watch it or avoid it. Sounds very dramatic

[@BreakfastAllDay]

Ha, we're here to guide you in the right direction!

[@bryantsfx10]

We need a sequel with the original cast including Andie MacDowell

[@christopherfelipe60]

I didn't like this movie when I saw this in my late teens 😅

[@nicolee1395]

It is a movie! I loved it and always will. Yes, the characters are awful - that is the point of it.

[@BobSullivanAKABuffy]

I haven't seen it since it first came out but I don't remember liking these people but I'm a little older than you guys. I still think I had fun watching it back then. They really were brats, weren't they?

[@BreakfastAllDay]

At least the characters were!

[@Bozek10]

If you want to see a much better Rob Lowe's movie. Go watch Bad Influence instead.

[@arthurzeigar2092]

Stop bagging on Gordon Bombay, all he wanted was a little play from Andie, he went for it. KUDOS Gordon, it didn't work out but you laid a nice one on her lips. 💋

[@paddydoublems]

I watched in again after Brats and it still doesn't hold up (I am a child of the 80s and was a year younger than Christy when I watched it in 1986). It's depressing, immature, and none of the characters are likeable. Jules lives in excess, Kirby is a stalker, Billy can't get past his frat boy days (How did he even graduate?), and Kevin is a morose whiner. I was just hoping someone would put them all out of their misery. Even by the ending, I still disliked them. By the way, Christy, that "terrible" song that goes on forever is called One Love. It wasn't on the soundtrack, but it was released as the B-side to the "St. Elmo's Fire" single.

[@BreakfastAllDay]

It will never end! We forgot to mention that Kenny Ortega was the choreographer on this movie.

[@paddydoublems]

@@BreakfastAllDay Since there are things we are forgetting to mention. I forgot to mention that the only character I feel sorry for is Kim Sung Ho. He can't keep an attaché. First Billy, then Kirby. That'll teach him not to hire Brat Packers 😆.

[@ryancrrich]

I’m not an expert, but I’ve seen a lot of movies, and I truly believe the ‘80s were the worst decade of cinema

[@l.p.7359]

I saw the movie back in the day. For those of us who wanted a slightly older version of The Breakfast Club, it was a disappointment. For those of us who just wanted a good movie, it was a disappointment. Basically, it was a disappointment.

[@SoulStylistJukeBox]

Woke Comment Alert: Haven’t watched this film in a really long time but I think the only person of colour with a speaking role is an African American sex worker who is a Yoda for the Andrew McCarthy character. I love you, 1985!

[@alfredoma5015]

Growth is part of the human experience. If we could all watch a movie of our entire past, I’m sure there would be moments we’d be ashamed of too

[@commandZee]

"Gaggle of Sociopaths" Alonso rocks!

[@Ranger4645]

They smoked like chimneys in this movie. Andrew McCarthy was smoking in every scene and could barely act. Odd rewatching it after all these years.

[@akais2022]

I recently saw this for the first time and was surprised it's considered a classic, yikes! Then I saw Brian De Palma's "Body Double" for the first time and oooh boy... i guess the 80s had a thing for having creepers as protagonists

[@BreakfastAllDay]

Ha, it was a different time!

[@RichardHannay]

I’ve never seen the movie but I love the theme song and the love theme 😬

[@BreakfastAllDay]

That John Parr song has been stuck in our heads for weeks!

[@RichardHannay]

@@BreakfastAllDay and Robert Foster’s love theme for the movie sounds so out of place after hearing you guys talk about how horrible the characters are.

[@ChrisVCrawford]

Movie: Bad. Song: Wonderful. You guys: the latter.

[@niktour352]

Dude stalking that lady made me cut it off on the second watch

[@BreakfastAllDay]

It plays differently now, for sure.

[@SoulStylistJukeBox]

Funny to think that this was directed by the same man who made Car Wash nine years earlier. And the less said about Falling Down the better.

[@angelthman1659]

He wrote Car Wash. Michael Schultz directed it.

[@SoulStylistJukeBox]

I guess this is the bit where I say “thank you.”

[@jasoncarrick5461]

Oh come on guys, it is right with all that made the 80's "great", stop being so jealous.....lol.

[@epbrown01]

We see them as awful people now because 20-somethings ARE awful people, to a large extent, whatever the time period; the audience consisting of people that age and younger didn’t notice because they shared that reality. I’m betting you two knew people just as bad in your 20s; I sure did. And we definitely know the current batch is as bad since they post video evidence.

[@mmmab1]

I just watched this movie for the first time a few days ago, and I can’t agree with Christy and Alfonso more. I’m in my 50’s, but this was one of those movies I somehow missed at the time, and now having seen it I wish I could reclaim those two hours of my life. Awful in every way.

[@itchystitchy]

Your imitations of Ally Sheedy's character. Lol. Yar axtracarricalar activatays, Alec.

[@BreakfastAllDay]

Ha, we aim to entertain :)

[@ursaminorjim]

Just go full-on 2020s 80s revival and make the *_St. Elmo’s Fire_* sequel a remake of *_The Big Chill._* I hated this movie as a 16-year-old SO FREAKING MUCH. It was all just a depressing confirmation of what my world was heading into as a squirmy punk rock closeted gayboy in the thick of the Reagan era suburbia hellscape. It was very upsetting. Probably very funny now! 😀

[@tacocanada1888]

you should have watched repo man instead :P

[@ursaminorjim]

@@tacocanada1888 Oh, believe me. I did. 😀 *_Repo Man, Eating Raoul,_* and *_Parting Glances_* were my three defining films from sophomore to senior year. And beyond.

[@tacocanada1888]

@@ursaminorjim i havent seen parting glacxes...i'll have to check it out,,,but repo man has been one of my all time favs

[@basquat76]

Gaggle of sociopaths. Lol. There's your tag line

[@JesseSaintJesse]

Is that your whole review - the characters are awful? A movie isn't good or bad depending on how morally reprehensible the characters are. There is a lot of interesting things you could have said about this movie and just hating on it because you don't like the characters is a pretty shallow review.

[@BreakfastAllDay]

Hi Jesse, thanks so much for watching our review. Since you did watch it, you probably also noticed that we discussed the screenplay, the performances, the cinematography, and the costume and production design.

[@rachzen]

Saw this as an adult, boy, was that a mistake.

[@BreakfastAllDay]

Ha, you didn't like it?

[@rachzen]

@BreakfastAllDay I was born the last possible year to be included as Gen X. It made me question my own generation.

[@nevetsny1]

Hated the song. It was on the radio so much turned it off or switched stations Wasn’t crazy about the movie either was in high school at the time. The Breakfast Club was an excuse to watch Molly Ringwald but the rest yuck.

[@BreakfastAllDay]

It is darn catchy though.

[@nevetsny1]

@@BreakfastAllDay it is an earworm!

[@nevetsny1]

@@BreakfastAllDay the love theme is great.

[@marcusinfinity9386]

I never seen this one

[@chupa63]

Keep it that way

[@stuffallthetime]

This movie is everything i hated about the 80"s.

[@keim73]

I never Liked SEF lol

[@Charliehund100]

I heard very little about the quality of the movie itself, just that the characters aren't likable. Okay, stipulated, so what? Your movie characters have to be candidates for sainthood for you to enjoy watching it? How on earth did the two of you ever suffer through No Country for Old Men, or Soapdish, or Big Lebowski? Since when is the purpose of art to validate the zeitgeist?

[@BreakfastAllDay]

Hi Phil, we love all of those movies. These people are horrible in a shallow way, which doesn’t make them terribly compelling. Stick around and you’ll see how often we reference Lebowski around here. Thanks for watching.

[@angelthman1659]

The attitudes of the 70s and 80s is complex. You have to understand that there was the sexual liberation that started in the 60s by the left, or liberalism, to oppose the puritanism and sexual repression pushed by the religious right. So after this revolution, people felt more free to express themselves sexually, and that included men. What you see in movies from the 70s through the 90s is people being more comfortable with each other. Women no longer being held to standards of purity, and that included men feeling more loose with how they interacted with them. This was seen as a positive thing by liberals. Of course, now the left is backpedaling. They appear to be returning women to some sort of puritan box. Women can no longer be treated like one of the guys. I'm an old school liberal and don't necessarily see this as progress. I think attitudes will change again in years to come.

[@angelthman1659]

A review chuck full of presentism. It's using modern ideology, which could change btw, to judge movies from a different time. In 20 years this review might seem outdated and out of touch because our sensibilities might change completely. You can apply presentism to just about any old movie, even classics. I say review the movie's quality rather then its ideology.

[@VictorDiGiovanni]

Theirs was an even-handed review. They weren't judging the filmmakers or actors for making this ghastly film. Even discounting the presentism, this movie is still not good. The writing is laughable. The filmmaking was accurately described as like a perfume commercial. The acting was par for the day, but Demi Moore easily shone. But there's no way you can watch this film as utterly cold and clinical as you'd need to in order to ignore the horrific characters and their horrific actions, presentism or no. These are all people who are actively despicable, and the mental leap we have to make in 2024 to consider them normal is just too great.

[@angelthman1659]

@@VictorDiGiovanni The characters are only "horrible" by today's standards. In the 80s they would have been called flawed.

[@VictorDiGiovanni]

@@angelthman1659 in the 80s these characters would have been (and were) called "heroes." But yes, by today's standards they are horrible. The difference here with this review is that unlike many who rail against problematic TV and films from the past, Alonso and Christy aren't calling for St. Elmo's Fire to be cancelled or boycotted. They are commenting on it in 2024, with modern eyes, and more accurately accessing the movie's place in the history of movies and how things have changed since its release. This commentary is a valid and interesting addition to the discussion around movies, movies from the 80s, and movies from the 80s that are now problematic in hindsight. There was not one incorrect thing they said in this review. There are plenty of hot take reviews out there that your concerns definitely apply to, though!

[@angelthman1659]

@@VictorDiGiovanni These characters would not have been called 'heroes' in the 80s. Maybe you're young and wasn't around back then, but I was. In the 70s and 80s, writers attempted to write flawed characters. Imagine if we could now only have characters that are sanctioned by the far left. That's no different than government-sanctioned movies and fiction in North Korea or the like. Let's just have perfectly nice progressive characters that don't reflect real people 🤦

[@VictorDiGiovanni]

@angelthman1659 methinks you're drinking a bit too much of the kool-aid of the Cult of It-Was-Better-When. Things change. Times change. People mature and realize that younger ways of thinking weren't always best. It takes more strength to change than it does to cling to the walls of old decaying fortresses. Take care

[@kevinbowen6182]

This woke performative outrage makes me like the movie more. White Boy Summer!

[@dirty06maggot]

I actually love jules apartment. But all these characters are aweful.