Firestarter (2022)

[DR Herbert West]

Firestarter Blu-ray

In a new adaptation of Stephen King's classic thriller from the producers of The Invisible Man, a girl with extraordinary pyrokinetic powers fights to protect her family and herself from sinister forces that seek to capture and control her.

For more than a decade, parents Andy (Zac Efron; Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile; The Greatest Showman) and Vicky (Sydney Lemmon; Fear the Walking Dead, Succession) have been on the run, desperate to hide their daughter Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong; American Horror Story: Double Feature, The Tomorrow War) from a shadowy federal agency that wants to harness her unprecedented gift for creating fire into a weapon of mass destruction.

Andy has taught Charlie how to defuse her power, which is triggered by anger or pain. But as Charlie turns 11, the fire becomes harder and harder to control. After an incident reveals the family's location, a mysterious operative (Michael Greyeyes; Wild Indian, Rutherford Falls) is deployed to hunt down the family and seize Charlie once and for all. Charlie has other plans.

The film also stars Kurtwood Smith (Amityville: The Awakening, Hitchcock), John Beasley (The Purge: Anarchy, The Sum of All Fears) and Gloria Reuben (Lincoln, Mr. Robot). The Firestarter score is composed by the legendary John Carpenter (Halloween, Christine, The Fog) and his fellow Halloween franchise composers Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies.

[DR Herbert West]

[willo007]

The best part of this movie is John Carpenter’s score.

[Bubbles-11]

I was certainly not expecting this to come out on Blu-ray only over a month after release!

[Zillamon51]

My review:

Originally Posted by Zillamon51

I saw this in theater Friday. Under ten people total. Ouch.

It was underwhelming. Why remake Firestarter? For the spectacle of course! To burn and blow shit up in a cacophony of destruction that wasn't possible in 1984. But this was the more subdued version. Less action, less destruction, Rainbird is a much more generic assassin (despite

[Show spoiler]having some poorly-defined "powers" in this one

), and instead of a beautiful plantation with sinister things underneath, the Shop (I don't even think they use that term) is just a generic concrete bunker. Kirkwood Smith has one scene, that goes nowhere. And I hated the ending:

[Show spoiler] I believe in Tony Stark rules. If someone kills your mom, they're done

.

Zac Efron, and the young lady in the titular role, are good. The Carpenter score is good. It's a mediocre time waster if you have Peacock.

Originally Posted by Bubbles-11

I was certainly not expecting this to come out on Blu-ray only over a month after release!

It's already on streaming on Peacock, and flopped at the box office, so why not? Get it out while it can still benefit from the theatrical ad campaign.

[bigdaddyhorse]

It is times like this that make me sad I have to disregard what everyone says and find out myself. It started with some promise and quickly went nowhere, then to frustration, then to clock watching. Music was good, **** the rest.

[bryantburnette]

It's a bad movie, and one of the most visually unappealing major-studio releases I've ever seen. Some scenes are so dark as to be nearly unseeable.

Just one of the many problems. It's got decent acting here and there, and the score is okay; that's about the best I'd say for it, though.

[Zillamon51]

Originally Posted by bigdaddyhorse

It is times like this that make me sad I have to disregard what everyone says and find out myself. It started with some promise and quickly went nowhere, then to frustration, then to clock watching. Music was good, **** the rest.

That's the right way to do it. If you're interested in something (like both of us are into horror), check it out regardless of what people say, and make up your own mind.

Now rom-coms or arty dramas? Those I need some good recommendations to motivate me to watch!

[Maximux]

I'm interested to get that bluray after reading the above comments, look like it ain't that bad and I love ppls having superpowers movies

[deltatauhobbit]

Watched it on Peacock for free. I was expecting a trainwreck but ended up enjoying it. Could have used some extra time with her

[Show spoiler]practicing her powers than the one montage we got though

. Also, I think they should have

[Show spoiler] role reversed the parents instead of fridging the female like usual. Zac Efron did fine as the dad though even if I kept thinking back to David Keith. The changes with Rainbird were interesting although I'm not sure the motivation switch really worked

. I'll pick this up when it's cheap since I pretty much buy any blu-ray with a Stephen King connection, even ones he's disowned.

The score was excellent, glad I got the vinyl on pre-order already.

[Mushi Minion]

I can't believe they didn't cast Jared Padalecki as the dad for the remake.

[DaylightsEnd]

Hello? Brightburn Part 2: Angry Sister? Did they make a total mess out of Firestarter, trying to attract a wide younger comic book audience by leaving horror behind, and throwing together some cheesy "dark superhero/anti-hero" film? Kinda felt like it. Ouch. "I'm bad but it feels good?" Ungh. None of the charm, intrigue, star appeal, talent, or style of the original. Just fell totally flat for me.

[mysticwaterfall]

[Repost from movie thread]

I'm big fan of the book and the original movie, so I was excited to see this today. That it is, until I watched it. The movie is just terrible and makes no sense at all. Things just happen with no explanation or reason. Beyond that, you would think, hey at least the special effects and fire attacks would be better right? But no, they're not, and she actually does less of them. It's really just a failure in every way. I'm at least glad it was on Peacock so I didn't pay extra for it.

[DaylightsEnd]

The new film just made me want the original film on 4k uhd, please.....

[charlieray1]

Saw it last night. Not great, but not really bad either. Starts off quite well - the set-up was excellent. It falters a bit and the pacing is off, and a few things didn't make much sense. (For example, this girl has been kept from using her powers all these years, and has trouble controlling them. So how does she suddenly become so accomplished later in the film?) Can't compare it to the book (never read it) or the first film, since I haven't seen it since the 80's.

Over-all, forgettable ... but not nearly the train wreck I expected. A run of the mill horror movie that starts well, had some potential, and some plot holes. Worthy of one viewing, but not a purchase. C+ from me.

[LycanHD]

Boooooooo! No 4k

[1924]

Love how so many of these new King adaptations end up being worse than the original when the original wasn’t even that great to begin with

[50strat54]

Originally Posted by 1924

Love how so many of these new King adaptations end up being worse than the original when the original wasn’t even that great to begin with

It Parts One and Two were excellent. The It mini series was also very good.

You are correct when it comes to The Stand remake, it sucked the original was very good.

[A Tortured Duckling]

Saw the trailer for this before The Northman. This looked so awful I couldn't help but chuckle. The CGI in particular is just spectacularly terrible. They should have just left this alone.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by A Tortured Duckling

Saw the trailer for this before The Northman. This looked so awful I couldn't help but chuckle. The CGI in particular is just spectacularly terrible. They should have just left this alone.

Surprisingly, nearly all the fire in the film is real. Some of it is enhanced by VFX, but it's still impressive they sought to go with practical effects.

https://bloody-disgusting.com/interv...ohn-carpenter/