STATS: Universal Studios Home Video; 2 sides; CLV; Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1); Monaural; Chapter stops; Closed captioned; $34.98
VIDEO: I never bothered with 1984’s 'Firestarter' in theaters, but through repeated viewings on home video, the film has become somewhat of a guilty pleasure. But because I never knew what I was missing from the sides of the image, I was always satisfied with the panned-and-scanned videocassette version. Director Mark L. Lester ('Commando') keeps most of the relevant action in the center of the frame, and when characters occupy the edges, there’s usually very little that’s cropped off from the opposite edge of the frame. But this newly-remastered, letterboxed transfer of 'Firestarter' is an eye-opener. True, Lester doesn’t demonstrate a masterful command of widescreen composition, but the 2.35:1 representation of the original "J-D-C Scope" aspect ratio makes this occasionally cheesy Stephen King supernatural thriller more enjoyable. Other than one splice and some minor dirt speckles here and there, the image is great, the colors are accurate and the incendiary sequences when things are blown-up practically jump off the screen. There is a "shimmering" effect noticeable in some Venetian blinds during chapter 4, and in the stable during chapter 27, made more extreme by the inherent reduction in size from the letterboxing. Several scenes in which many government agents converge on our heroine are among the few moments when the letterboxing really pays off, and the explosive finale demands to be viewed in the proper widescreen ratio.
AUDIO: Universal Studios didn’t begin to consistently utilize stereo soundtracks for their films until 1986. Until then, most of their movies were released in plain ol’ monaural. 'Firestarter' is in monaural, but the film would definitely have benefited from a stereo mix: Tangerine Dream’s hypnotic electronic score is a standout and the climax, during which fireballs are catapulted every which way, might have been even more intense if accentuated with directional/separation sound effects. As it is, the film sounds merely okay. There’s a lot more "punch" to the audio than on the previous pan-and-scan release, but I couldn’t help thinking that even an artificially-enhanced stereo surround mix would have made the movie a lot more effective.
BREAK: The 115-minute film fits comfortably onto two sides of one disc, in CLV. The break is fine.
EXTRAS: A theatrical trailer is included at the tail-end of side 2.
COMMENTS: Based on the Stephen King bestseller, 8-year-old Charlie McGee (Drew Barrymore) has the power to start fires at will, with only a glance. She’s the spawn of two people who had participated in a government drug test gone awry, a drug that left survivors with mental powers of telepathy and hypnosis. These same government agents now want the little pyromaniac for their own dastardly purposes. The G-men types include Martin Sheen and George C. Scott, whose own mysterious agenda with Charlie first hints uncomfortably at paedophilia and then reveals itself to be a preposterous scheme to acquire her powers (don’t ask). And there are enough big-name and has-been cameos and bit-parts to make you think you’re watching an Irwin Allen disaster flick. The film’s not good enough (or bad enough?) to be considered a cult classic, but there are ample moments of pure cheese and enough insufferably bad acting to provide an evening’s worth of unintentional chuckles. Poor Drew Barrymore, so sweet in 'E.T.', is forced to stand around a lot and look threatening, breath heavily and sweat, while a low-angle fan blows her hair, a portent to her preparing to start a fire. And Oscar® winners Scott, Art Carney and Louise Fletcher all look dumbfounded. But the effects are first-rate and, even by today’s standards, the dare-devil stunt work is exhilarating, elevating this big-budget blockbuster-wannabe to a higher level. Most Stephen King films are either very good ('The Shining', 'Misery', 'The Shawshank Redemption', 'Christine') or very bad ('Maximum Overdrive', 'Thinner', 'Pet Semetery', 'Graveyard Shift'). It’s the rare case that a King adaptation can be both at the same time—as 'Firestarter' is.
S. Damien Segal.
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