# Just watched "St. Elmo's Fire" - Wow. That Sucked. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661 "2011-08-14T06:02:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/1 "2011-08-14T06:02:09Z")
The movie, [St. Elmo’s Fire](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090060/) from 1985. My husband and I are children of the 80’s, but damn, that sucked. A movie full of terrible people doing terrible things for terrible reasons - yeah, that’s entertainment. Are we missing something here? On the other hand, I vaguely recall watching it decades ago and being amused - were we all terrible people in the 80’s and I’ve just forgotten? ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/2 "2011-08-14T06:09:24Z")
In fairness, it wasn’t exactly a box office smash back then. I think it has gotten a greater prominence long after it came out then it did when it first came out. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/3 "2011-08-14T07:19:16Z")
I remember it getting a lot of advance hype, because it had what was then seen as an all-star cast. (Yes, really.) Didn’t seem to live up to it, though. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/4 "2011-08-14T08:06:35Z")
It was meant to be the definitive “Brat Pack” movie, standing out amongst all the John Hughes films. But I think the only reason it gained any popularity was the annoying song by some guy nobody remembers. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/5 "2011-08-14T13:40:10Z")
Ugh, St. Elmo’s Fire. God I hate that movie BUT when it comes on, I find myself watching it as it makes me feel good to watch something so wretched. I was in college at the time the movie came out (a few scenes were filmed at my alma mater for that matter) I didn’t know a single person remotely similar to any of the superficial caricatures depicted. Random snippets of suckitude: Rob Lowe belts his wife across the face and then a few seconds later they’re doing a full-on liplock smooch. Right. Demi’s character is such an over-the-top, insufferable douche nozzle she stinks up every scene she is in. And how about the what’s her face character decked out in the wardrobe from 1876? I mean, come on. Oddly my sister cites this as one of her all-time favorites. It goes without saying that we have different tastes when it comes to cinema. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/6 "2011-08-14T14:48:15Z")
“Step-Monster”! Ha-ha! Good times… Although this movie taught me that hairspray makes a mini-flamethrower so it wasn’t a total loss. My sister’s hairspray budget suddenly increased by 50%. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/7 "2011-08-14T14:53:13Z")
You want to fathom a guess at what I have burnin’ in me? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/8 "2011-08-14T15:45:56Z")
Never seen the film, but I did share a dining car table with the screenwriter on the Amtrak train from Chicago to Los Angeles, and he was an insufferable prick. Didn’t fill me with the desire to fill in this hole in my 80s film history. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/9 "2011-08-14T16:48:39Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Never seen the film, but I did share a dining car table with the screenwriter on the Amtrak train from Chicago to Los Angeles, and he was an insufferable prick. Didn’t fill me with the desire to fill in this hole in my 80s film history. Well, that explains A LOT! We were watching for a few minutes and I turned to my husband and said, “Who wrote this dialogue? George Lucas?” I have to say, though, Rob Lowe really was one gorgeous hunk of man meat. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/10 "2011-08-15T10:52:39Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > You want to fathom a guess at what I have burnin’ in me? You should probably see a doctor about that, hon. Yeah, I saw this in the theaters when I was in college and I wondered if that’s what my friends and I were going to be like in a few years. _Thank God_ the answer was: no. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/11 "2011-08-15T14:50:39Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > “Step-Monster”! Ha-ha! Good times… > > Although this movie taught me that hairspray makes a mini-flamethrower so it wasn’t a total loss. My sister’s hairspray budget suddenly increased by 50%. That term is the only thing useful that came outta that movie. I loved it when I saw it in the 80s and I’ve watched it maybe once since then. I can’t remember why I ever liked it. Even the soundtrack sucks. Must have been lust over Rob Lowe, who is still smokin’ hot, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/12 "2011-08-15T14:58:36Z")
I can honestly say that i thought it sucked the first time i saw it… I had an overall feeling that people did it for the loot$$ (Lumpy gravy). Emilio Estevez’s entire character… made no fucking sense… Rob Lowe was a tool… as was Judd Nelson… effectively i hated everyone in this fucked up stew… THough my boy John Parr rocked a mean ass mullet… ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/13 "2011-08-15T15:02:55Z")
It’s one of the great “spoiled college douchebags coming to terms with the transition to spoiled 20-something post adolescent douchebags” films. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/14 "2011-08-15T16:04:08Z")
I think I too was blinded by Rob Lowe lust at the time. I saw part of it not long ago and couldn’t believe the stupid scene where Demi Moore holes up in her apartment. I think it wanted to be a _Big Chill_ for the next generation and failed. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/15 "2011-08-15T16:38:59Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > were we all terrible people in the 80’s and I’ve just forgotten? Yes. Yes we were. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/16 "2011-08-15T17:08:16Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > It’s one of the great “spoiled college douchebags coming to terms with the transition to spoiled 20-something post adolescent douchebags” films. It really, really is. > [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > \ I saw part of it not long ago and couldn’t believe the stupid scene where Demi Moore holes up in her apartment.\ But they had to have long, flowy curtains blowing in the wind! It was required! > [@kunilou](#): > > Yes. Yes we were. Aw, dammit! Yeah, what was up with Emilio Estevez’ character? He stalks Andie McDowell, and ends up kissing her and her getting all moony over him instead of _in jail_, where he belonged? Her character’s patience with him was completely unbelievable - I think his character was actually supposed to be mentally handicapped - that’s the only way it makes sense. And Wendy and Billie - “Can I have your virginity before I go away?” “Sure, no problem - you’re a complete douchebag who is just about to abandon your first kid and his baby momma, and probably lousy with every STD known to man, but why not?” It occurs to me that you can just watch the [Man In Motion video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOlLA4jZVNw&feature=related) and not waste two hours of your life. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/17 "2011-08-15T17:08:36Z")
Yep-pretty incomprehensible plot, and nonsensical story line. This is the school of “image” movies-that holds that if you shove enough pretty faces into something, and crown in a lot of unconnected subplots, than kids will pay to see it. Was this movie a financial flop? I don’t think it set any records. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/18 "2011-08-15T17:11:56Z")
I hate this movie with a violent passion but whenever it’s on I watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/19 "2011-08-15T17:16:07Z")
I remember seeing it when it first came out and wondering who the movie was aimed at. I should have been right in the wheelhouse of the target audience, I was a college freshman at the time, but the movie didn’t work for me - at all. About the only thing I remember thinking during the movie was, are we going to get to see Demi Moores’ breasts? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661/20 "2011-08-15T17:18:38Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > It’s one of the great “spoiled college douchebags coming to terms with the transition to spoiled 20-something post adolescent douchebags” films. I lump this movie in with _Less than Zero_ and others of the genre because they’re about spoiled college and post-college douchebags who assume that life is easy because they’re pretty people with money and are shocked SHOCKED! to find out that they’ve got problems like everyone else. Although I did like it when I was in high school. I’ve matured since then. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-watched-st-elmos-fire-wow-that-sucked/592661.md?page=2)