Firestarter (1984 film)

Firestarter is a 1984 science fiction thriller film about a young girl who develops pyrokinesis and the secret government agency which seeks to control her. Directed by Mark L. Lester. Written by Stanley Mann, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. If you get on her bad side...YOU'RE TOAST.taglines Charlie McGee [to her power] Back off! Just back off! [to Andy] If I do something bad, will you still love me? Irv Manders I got some tall apologizing to do. There's a line of cars coming up the road. I'll stand with you, if you want. I'll get my deer gun. I don't care if they're wanted for assassinating the president. Show me a warrant or get the hell off my land! Norma, those men came here without any warrants at all. Tried to take them off our land. One of them shot me. What do you want me to do? Sit here and turn them over to the secret police, if they ever get their peckers up enough to come back? Be a good Nazi? Dialogue Irv Manders: You men are tresspassin. Show me a warrant or get off my land. Agent: We don't need a warrant. Irv Manders: You do unless I woke up in Russia this morning! Captain Hollister: Welcome back, Rainbird. How was Venice? John Rainbird: Hm. Sinking. Captain Hollister: Is our problem there solved? John Rainbird: Our problem there... is solved. Dr. Wanless is here. Captain Hollister: [Dr. Wanless enters the room] Oh, Christ. There goes a beautiful day.[Rainbird chuckles]Captain Hollister: Ah, the good doctor. What do you want, Joe? Doctor Joseph Wanless: Have you caught them yet? Captain Hollister: We'll catch 'em. What do you want? Doctor Joseph Wanless: What do I always want? Why do I stay alive? To try to persuade you to sanction them both, expunge them, wipe them from the face of the Earth. Andrew McGee and his daughter constitute the greatest threat that's ever confronted this nation. Captain Hollister: That's a lot of crap. Doctor Joseph Wanless: You feel guilt! Because eight out of ten of our young volunteers have died, committed suicide! You want to justify your participation! Captain Hollister: You were all in favor of it at the time. Doctor Joseph Wanless: I know. I didn't realize. None of us did. Lot Six was nothing more than a synthetic copy of pituitary extract. A powerful painkiller hallucinogen. Captain Hollister: For God sakes, Joe. Don't start again. Come on.[gives Dr. Wanless a drink] Doctor Joseph Wanless: [after finishing his drink] You see... You see, uh... this pituitary extract is responsible for the occasional flashes of psi ability which most human beings demonstrate from time to time. Precognition, telekinesis, mental domination. The kind of domination that this experiment brought out in Andrew McGee. John Rainbird: What is the point, Doctor? Doctor Joseph Wanless: Ever since this child was born, her father has been trying to inhibit her use of those powers. But what if his control had weakened now? Captain Hollister: Why would he lose control, now, after all those years? Doctor Joseph Wanless: Ask yourself this question. How exhausting must it have been for Victoria and Andrew McGee when this child was an infant? The bottle is late, the baby cries, and at that moment, one of her toys right there in the crib beside her bursts into smokey flame. Captain Hollister: Joe, she's just a little girl. She can light fires, yes. But you're making her sound like Armageddon! Doctor Joseph Wanless: Yes!... and that's what it might well be. Suppose lighting fires is just the tip of the iceberg? Captain Hollister: I don't know what you're talking about. Doctor Joseph Wanless: I am talking about a talent that is directly linked to this child's pituitary gland; undeveloped pituitary gland. What happens when she becomes adolescent and that sleeping gland wakes and becomes, for 20 months, the most powerful force in the human body? Suppose we have a child here who, someday, is capable of creating a nuclear explosion simply by the power of her will? Captain Hollister: [Laughs] That's insane. Doctor Joseph Wanless: Is it? Is it? Then allow me to progress from insanity to utter lunacy. Suppose there is a little girl out there, somewhere today... this morning!... who has within her, lying dormant at present... the power someday to crack the very planet in two like a China plate in a shooting gallery? Captain Hollister: [after a brief moment of silence] What if we could train this little girl and others as well? Could we ever have more powerful weapons? Doctor Joseph Wanless: No! No more experiments! Don't force me to go above your head because I swear to you, I will if I have to! I'll have you and this entire establishment eliminated![storms out of the room in anger]John Rainbird: An excitable man. Captain Hollister: What's to stop me from having you erased right here and now? John Rainbird: My word - that I've already made certain provisions that should I "disappear", The Shop will cease to exist within six weeks. And within six months, you will stand in front of a judge awaiting sentence for crimes serious enough to keep you behind bars for the rest of your life. Charlie McGee: What have you done to my father? Captain Hollister: He's resting, and he's fine, just like you. And he knows you're alright, and he sends his love, and he wants you to cooperate with us. Charlie McGee: You're a liar! Captain Hollister: Now, what kinda talk is that from a nice little girl like you? Charlie McGee: GO TO HELL! Captain Hollister: Oh. A very stubborn nice little girl. That's alright, I understand. I know you're tired, and you're not quite sure where you are, or why you're here, so I just wanna ease your mind, Charlie. Do you mind if I call you Charlie?[Charlie glares at Hollister with murderous hatred]Captain Hollister: Alright, Charlene... John Rainbird: It's just... The dark. I can't stand it. It's just like the place they put me when I was captured. Charlie McGee: Who put you? John Rainbird: The Cong. Charlie McGee: Who's "the Cong"? John Rainbird: You mean to tell me... Oh, no, of course not, you're too young. It was the war, see. Vietnam. The Cong were the bad guys. They wore black pajamas. In the jungle we were on patrol. Walked into an ambush. Only about six of us got out. We ran. Went the wrong way. They caught me. Threw me in a hole in the ground. Like being buried alive. It was always dark like this. Charlie McGee: What did you eat? John Rainbird: They threw down rotted rice. Sometimes I'd eat spiders. Live ones. Great, big spiders. I'd chase them around in the dark... and kill them and eat them. Charlie McGee: Gross. John Rainbird: They turned me into an animal. You got it a little easier than me, kid, but it all comes down to the same thing. Like a rat in a trap. Captain Hollister: When we find out all we need to know from her... John Rainbird: When you give her to me. Captain Hollister: [after a pause] What are you going to do with her? John Rainbird: John, the friendly orderly, will come in. He will greet her, talk to her, get her to smile... John, the friendly orderly, will make her happy because he's the only one who can. And when John feels she has reached the moment of her greatest happiness, he will strike her across the bridge of the nose, breaking it explosively and sending bone fragments into her brain. It'll be quick. And he'll be looking at her face at the time. He will know her power. And when he dies, which I hope is very soon, perhaps he can take that power with him... into the other world. Captain Hollister: [finishes off his drink and heads for the door]'' You are crazy! Taglines If you get on her bad side...YOU'RE TOAST. She has the power . . . an evil destructive force. Charlie McGee is a happy, healthy eight-year-old little girl. Normal in every way but one. She has the power to set objects afire with just one glance. It's a power she does not want. It's a power she can't control. And, each night, Charlie prays to be just like every other child. But there are those who will do everything in their power to find her... or destroy her. Cast Drew Barrymore - Charlie McGee David Keith - Andy McGee George C. Scott - John Rainbird Freddie Jones - Dr. Joseph Wanless Heather Locklear - Vicky Tomlinson McGee Martin Sheen - Captain "Cap" Hollister Moses Gunn - Dr. Pynchot Art Carney - Irv Manders Louise Fletcher - Norma Manders Jack Magner - young serviceman External links 0087262 Firestarter firestarter Firestarter Category:American action films Category:Films based on American novels Category:American thriller films Category:Films based on works by Stephen King Category:Films about psychic powers Category:1984 American films Category:1984 English-language films Category:American science fiction horror films Category:English-language science fiction horror films Category:Films set in Connecticut Category:Films set in Tennessee Category:Films set on lakes