I enjoyed this movie when it was released I enjoy it even more now for different reasons. In my teens it was fascinating and focused on decisions I would be making in a few years. In my 40s there's a poignant melancholy as I remember very similar situations faced by my own group of hometown friends. All of the individual components of the film are solid with my only negative criticism being the slightly overblown intensity of some of the relationships. It's all very much a 6 out of 10 experience, but what elevates to a 7 for me is one particular scene that still resonates powerfully... In the film the characters have a regular table at their favourite bar. The last scene of the movie sees them standing outside the bar looking at a younger crowd at 'their' table. The characters linger for only a moment as they explain they each have various reasons for not going for a beer. I had exactly this experience the week before I left home to work overseas and start my career. This scene punches me hard, I miss those days and 'our' table in that bar

Yeah, if you ever had a train wreck group of friends in your twenties....I wanted to hate this movie, but I just can't. I thought I had it all figured out, and was met with a series of fails time and time again. It wasn't pretty, and neither was these peoples lives post grad and post not fun childhoods. Yeah some of us had parents who bought us cars and paid the rent sometimes, but do we need bleed? The criticism aimed at this movie that these people were shallow because they have money.....IS A SHALLOW CRITIQUE. Simply because having money or not having it has nothing to do with the person you become. If anything it could exacerbate problems. A cringe inducing movie but fun. The music is terrible! That poor sax. Has this person never heard of Stan Getz? If anyone else was a confused wreck in their twenties, its kinda hard to hate! I liiiikee a giirl whooo driiiinkkksss!

St. Elmo's Fire (1985) ** (out of 4) Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy and Mare Winningham are seven friends who graduate and soon realize that being adults isn't nearly as much fun as they thought. We follow their various ups and downs with much drama in between.ST. ELMO'S FIRE has a rather amazing cast and especially when you look back on the picture. Not only do you have the seven main leads but there's also Martin Balsam and Andie MacDowell so there's no denying the star power. I've never really liked this picture yet for some reason I usually go back and revisit it ever so often. Obviously the main reason to watch the picture is because of the terrific cast and I thought all of them delivered great performances. It's just too bad they weren't given much to work with.As I get older I think these characters are all the more shallow. Some might say they were people in their 20s so they were supposed to be annoying and shallow but I don't buy that at all. To me the characters are very poorly written here and there's just no real development with any of them. None of them are very believable and for the most part they are all single motivated characters with no development and there's not much charm to any of them. It's really too bad because the cast is excellent but they just didn't have anything here. You can watch any of these actors in much better films from this period.The film remains watchable thanks to the cast but when the final credits come on you can't help but think you've just wasted your time. I mean, this cast ends up with these results? It's really a shame but there's more issues than just the screenplay. I'd argue that Joel Schumacher's direction is pretty bland and there's nothing good looking about the picture. You do get a great score and a catchy main song but none of this is enough to save the picture.

St. Elmo's Fire is a decent movie with a reasonably well developed plot and a stellar cast. We really get to see some of the most famous Brat Pack actors shine in this film, one of the more serious in their series of 80s teen movies, with the likes of Rob Lowe, Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy really giving it all in their roles, delivering complicated characters who have a lot going on after graduating college. However, it is underwhelming as a film. It is not light hearted enough to make you smile, nor is it dramatic enough to have you at the edge of your seat. The dialogue is quite bland and it feels like Joel Schumacher was really going through the motions during filming. As well as that, the characters are very unlikeable. It does not portray either sides as villains, letting us as audiences decide who we support in the conflict in different plots, but I did not sympathise with any of them. I found every character to be in the wrong, all proving to be disloyal, selfish people, insincere human beings. You finish this movie unsure whether it was genuinely trying to make you feel. Do not let the cast fool you, it is not another Breakfast Club, as a matter of fact, St Elmos Fire is somewhat of a layered mess, better off giving this one a miss. A group of college graduates struggle with adulthood and new found responsibilities. Best Performance: Rob Lowe / Worst Performance: Demi Moore