Perfectly adorable

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The story is good for this film and for the time the special effects are good. But it lacks acting and it does get boring at times. Its worth a watch!

Although the script hits all the major beats and is a reasonably faithful adaptation, for those who have read the novel upon which the movie is based the story will feel rushed and frequently awkward. On its own merits, though, it's a decent enough thriller. Drew Barrymore gives a good performance for one so young, and the casting choices for Rainbird, Wanless, and "Cap" are perfect. I do miss Rainbird's backstory; his feelings toward Charlie would make much more sense, but that's a relatively minor thing. It's always tough to cut a novel of that scope down to a two hour film, but if the film has one major flaw it is the soundtrack, a hopelessly dated synth score that was "awesome" in my high school years, but seriously distracts now.

Drew makes this movie. "Back off, back off!" George C. Scott as John Rain man is so good that you just can't help but to despise him. It's only a movie, but just the same, weird that John would believe that by killing little Charlie, he could take her power with him when he dies, although native Indian tribes probably had some of those same beliefs. It's also hard to believe that secret associations/companies like that of "The Shop" exist in the real world, but that could be true for whatever purpose or reason. The musical score was good too, particularly eerie during the scene where Charlie decimates the Shop/mansion and affiliates in the house and grounds.

The timing of this movie was bad, as bad as the Blue Bird that Shirley Temple did. Although the Blue Bird was worse than Firestarter by far, people did not want to see Drew setting CIA agents on fire. They were more into Irreconcilable Differences, a much better movie starring Ryan O'neal and Shelley Long. I loved Firestarter later when it came out on VHS. Drew Barrymore is not a very good actress at all, she and Mandy Moore have the worst speech impedement since Garry Hixon herself. They live in glass houses, Mandy Moore is a complete nobody, and Drew disses her father , and is now back with Jade, John Barrymore was great, Lionel Barrymore was great, Ethel Barrymore was great, and in I love Jennie or Peggy or whatever. Steven Spielberg, thats a good one. Instead of hiring 16 year old Garry Hixon for ET he hired cry baby Henry Thomas. A total sissy.