Worst film score; greatest movie death; why no sequel? Firestarter

So I popped this disc in on a whim since there's been such a SK resurgence on film. "Firestarter" stars Drew CBarrymore (amazing) David Keith (quite good) Martin Sheen (playing Martin Sheen) and George C. Scott as one of the overlooked badass badies in the cinema. What a presence. What teeth! But he's a great looney with a dead-fish eye that makes craggy-faced George C. Scott a monumental visage, for sure.

The film chugs along nicely (I'm not here to review it) but the ending is a hoot! When Drew Barrymore starts shooting off fireballs, it's hollering time! I was cracking up. I can only imagine seeing this with an audience. I bet they went wild. People get blasted across lawns and their burning flesh drapes from trees., with sweet little Drew breaking a little sweat as she sums hellfire to obliterate her captors. It's mad! In some ways it's better than Kubrick's "The Shining." This is what King is really about - GORE! It really pays off in a supremely cheesy way that actually doesn't feel cheesy. There's great fire action! The burn a lot of stuff. You can buy into it!

I have to say George C. Scott's death has to among the top film deaths of all time. Among the funniest gruesome deaths ever put on film -- like Yaphet Kotto inflated in "Live and Let Die" or Arnold nearly exploding on Mars in "Total Recall" -- George gets turned into a wiggling flaming shish kabob hurled by little Drew. It's great. Old school SPFX.

Oh, yes. But what has probably hurt the film over time and what makes the film almost unbearable and cries out for maybe a first in the cinema: re-scoring a movie. I mean, little bits of the ambient and action stingers here and there work, but overall this film score has to be among Tangerine Dream's worst works. It's a syrupy, lousy-sound 80s synth-fest. Instead of hammering a little Bernard Herman-esque drama into the opening titles, there's this awful turgid "The Dark Crystal Meets John Carpenter at the Keyboard" ballad. You want to go to sleep at the start of a horror movie! Who at the studio didn't notice this? You never realized Tangerine Dream could sound so bad. They must have been piling up with too many martinis at their manse on Coldwater Canyon in LA.

Oh, yes. Man, you want to do a sequel? Why not a "Firestarter" sequel, SK? What happens after she walks into Rolling Stone magazine to tell her story (why would I not put my life in the hands of a bunch of stoners at Rolling Stone? Maybe a place more lawyered-up like the New York Times? (Actually in the movie they change it to the New York Times.)

I think this has great sequel potential. Re-score, re-release, re-make! That's my new "Firestarter" mantra. Bring back Drew!

 

There was a sequel for television (sans Drew): Firestarter: Rekindled - Wikipedia

Haven't seen it, though. Can't say how it is.

 

Seem to remember this being quite good.

 

Aside from the severely dated score, it's really not bad.

 

Tangerine Dream.
Never even seen the film.
Sent the Director various soundtracks, let the Director decide.

 

I had forgot George C. Scott’s death scene, so I just looked it up on YouTube. No way that tops John Cassavetes in The Fury.

 

I've never been much for sequels, but have to admit that Stephen King film adaptations are the cinematic equivalent of comfort food for me. Have just about all of 'em on DVD.

 

Wow! No wonder!

 

Saying that the score they did for Sorcerer was brilliant.

 

Yep. That's a goody.

 

Funny you should mention the TD score.... I just picked up a copy of the soundtrack on CD recently, and I actually thought it was pretty good.

 

TD: Germany's Pink Floyd( nearest comparison ) ..better at soundtracks at least.

 

Think I prefer the original Wages Of Fear( film wise ),

 

I have the opposite opinion. I've never seen the film, yet have loved the soundtrack for decades.

 

Didn’t they score Sorcerer without seeing that one as well?

 

I'm sure they were familiar with the original.
Lovely fat/phat synths though.

 

Great movie. I'm up for a sequel - middle-aged Drew thought she had it under control, but now she's having hot flashes!

 

I'm going to say I really enjoyed this when I saw it in theatres. I don't remember much of it except Drew going nuts with fireballs. I met this very lovely girl at the movie, we talked, we got high on something I had never tried before so I remember the experience of the movie fondly but I don't remember the movie. It happens - the movie could have been garbage but I didn't care. She was just lovely.

 

Correct. Per Wikipedia:
"Froese called Friedkin back and asked for video material to be worked on,[74] but Friedkin suggested the band create the score based solely on their impressions of the script, without seeing a single minute of video footage." This is cited from Friedkin's memoirs, but I think it's also on the soundtrack notes.

Sorcerer (film) - Wikipedia

I've never seen Sorcerer either. I used to love the soundtrack when a friend had the LP in the 70s. When I bought the CD about 10 years ago, I realized I don't like it that much.

But, the TD score that I like least is Thief. I do love Near Dark, but only within the film. Listening to the soundtrack separately is a bit boring.

 

It's a great movie. I love it.

 

REally? To each their own, I guess, as I pretty much can't stand any Stephen King translations to film, since a film can't bring out the inner dialogue that is so central to King's works. (My two exceptions are The Shining which Kubrick turned into a terrifying film but not really like the book, and the scary Silver Bullet which was extended from a shorter story not so dependent on inner dialogue). IIRC, Firestarter deleted perhaps the coolest scene in the book, where the FBI? agent puts on a dress or something and grinds his arm up in the garbage disposal...and the movie flames were not as cool as the description in the book of a wave of heat radiating out from her. But hey if folks enjoy the movies, what the heck.
Oh, Firestarter fans should read Arthur C. Clarke and Michael Kube-McDowell's The Trigger

 

have a DVD with both

 

I agree although I'm not always a fan of the director's staging of scenes and the lighting is TV movie generic looking. It doesn't compliment the dark mood at the heart of the film and, yep, Tangerine Dream's score is pretty bad.

 

Well made films by a talented director and writer can provide structural or visual equivalents of that missing inner dialog. I would argue that films allow us to watch what was happening as if it was real life in some alternate universe while a book, no matter how well written, takes place in YOUR mind. One is an external way of telling stories while the other focuses much more on the human dimension. They can achieve the same results as a film in the right hands.

 

The Fury is a very underrated film. One of the very best faux-Stephen King films out there.