Product Details

• Actors: Drew Barrymore, David Keith, Freddie Jones, Heather Locklear, Martin Sheen
• Directors: Mark L. Lester
• Writers: Stanley Mann, Stephen King
• Producers: Frank Capra Jr., Martha De Laurentiis
• Format: Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: April 1, 1998
• Run Time: 114 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305078157
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,253 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Firestarter" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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 that this one's weaknesses 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 seeks to protect her by using his powers of mind-control, and George C. Scott plays an Indian who believes the girl must be destroyed. There's 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. So the movie gradually turns into a laughable thriller with no suspense whatsoever. It's a movie only a pyromaniac could love. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

Drew Barrymore stars as an eight-year-old girl with the amazing ability to start fires with just a glance. Can her power and the love of her father save her from the clandestine government agency, "The Shop," that wants her destroyed? From the Stephen King novel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent thriller, August 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Firestarter (DVD)

I had first seen this film in bits and pieces when I was four. I thought it was okay. Recently, I rented the film and found that I really, really like it. I just bought the book and was shocked to discover how faithful the movie stays to it.

I love little Drew Barrymore. Watching her in this movie when she was eight years old, I wish that she was my little sister. David Keith is excellent as Charlie McGee's father. I've never seen him in anything else besides this film. George C. Scott portrays John Rainbird very well. He steals every scene he's in with a wonderfully twisted performance, whether it be trying to be friendly with Charlie, or talking to Martin Sheen about disposing of her.

I've heard many comments about laughable dialogue and acting. I'll admit that I have chuckled once or twice at some of the lines, but that's because I like those lines; I don't hate them. I especially chuckled a lot at the scene in which Rainbird fakes that he is afraid of the dark. My most favorite line is spoken by Freddie Jones (Dr. Wanless), which regards Charlie's power and how it could destroy the earth.

After reading comments by people in which they say that the film is silly and laughable (especially Leonard Maltin's review), I cannot understand that these people do not feel any emotion towards Charlie McGee. What I mean is, after all the trouble she's been through, her parents are both dead, you just can't help feeling sorry for her. Every time I watch the film, I am in tears at the end because nothing left in her life. The music during the end credits is what really gets me. It's a beautiful, sad tune that makes you think of Charlie's face.

I wonder exactly how this film was received upon its theatrical release in 1984. I was only two at the time, and I don't remember a thing from 1984. I really wish I had seen it in the theater. How did the film do at the box office? I imagine that it was not a big hit, given the fact that it is so underrated and virtually unheard-of today. I imagine this is the reason why Universal gave the home video rights to Image Entertainment. Image produced the DVD, which unfortunately is a simple re-packaging of the 1997 letterboxed laserdisc. The transfer is not anamorphic, and the audio remains mono. It just does not do justice for the film. I feel that the film would greatly benefit from a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, especially in scenes where Charlie blows things up. I had also hoped for deleted scenes and outtakes. Stephen King's novel offers many scenes that may have been filmed and cut, given the fact that the film stays nearly 90% faithful to the novel. I have always felt, as do some other people, that the ending in the movie was too brief. The book's ending is much longer. I would be really interested in seeing footage cut from the ending.

In closing, I recommend this film to all Sci-Fi buffs. Try to look past the so-called "laughable acting and dialogue" and try to let your emotions through. I hope that this film regains its popularity. It is very good, but it is too underrated.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Movie and book are underated and misunderstood, September 27, 2002

By 

Natalie (Thousand Oaks, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Firestarter (DVD)

What I think people don't understand about this story is that in
the year 1984, alot of the "Big Brother" theories were coming to life, meaning there were alot more authors writing stories about the secret factions of the United States Government. The Shop is the faction that Stephen King created, and the novel Firestarter takes you on the complete ride of what it feels like to have nowhere to hide. The movie is terrific, but in some parts I do feel like it may have been quickly knocked together, so they left out some important parts in the script. In the novel, Andy and Vicki McGee naively take part in a government experiment in college, but have no idea what they've gotten themselves into. The Shop is portrayed as diabolical, cold, and heartless. 'Either you be brainwashed, or you'll be exterminated. It's your choice.'
And THAT was what made it scary. Charlie and her power was not meant to be the frightening part at all (even though it is at times (: ) The frightening part is that a little girl is born into a situation in which there is no way out. So that's why I think that the movie and the book are underated by most critics.
But Firestarter is my all time favorite King book next to The Shining.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, October 31, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Firestarter [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The Book Firestarter is great and so is the movie. Though some of the stuff from the book wasn't in the movie I feel that it was pretty faithful to the book and I can understand why they didn't include the garbage disposal incident, it just would have been too gross! Drew Barrymore was great as Charlie and even at around 8 years old you could tell what a wonderful gifted actress she was, she really inherited the famous Barrymore acting skills! Well, really at around 5 or 6 years old she proved what an amazing actress she was in E.T.! David Keith was very good as her father Andy and I also really liked George C. Scott he was a perfectly creepy Rainbird. I didn't find the book or movie very scary, I found both as more mystery/suspense which is what I like and it also had Drama. I too found it sad what was done to Charlie and her father, especially Charlie she was just a little girl and what The Shop did to her was despicable, and afterall they made her what she was, because of an experiment they did they caused her to be born with the ability to start fires with her mind and she couldn't always control it! I highly recommend this movie!