Saturday Night Fever is one of those movies that comes along and seems to change the cultural temperature in a flash. After the movie's release in 1977, disco ruled the dance floors, and a blow-dried member of a TV-sitcom ensemble became the hottest star in the country. For all that, the story is conventional: a 19-year-old Italian-American from Brooklyn, Tony Manero (John Travolta), works in a humble paint store and lives with his family. After dark, he becomes the polyester-clad stallion of the local nightclub; Tony's brother, a priest, observes that when Tony hits the dance floor, the crowd parts like the Red Sea before Moses. Director John Badham captures the electric connection between music and dance, and also the desperation that lies beneath Tony's ambitions to break out of his limited world. The soundtrack, which spawned a massively successful album, is dominated by the disco classics of the Bee Gees, including "Staying Alive" (Travolta's theme during the strutting opening) and "Night Fever." The Oscar-nominated Travolta, plucked from the cast of Welcome Back, Kotter, for his first starring role, is incandescent and unbelievably confident, and his dancing is terrific. Oh, and the white suit rules. (Note: Saturday Night Fever was cut from its original R-rated version after its initial release in order to obtain a PG rating. The PG version is 11 minutes shorter and is missing parts of scenes and some street talk. Both versions are available on video.) --Robert Horton
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Perennial Favorite Comment: I must've seen this moved at least 20 times before I decided to buy it. Travolta at his very best. Plus the music and dancing are spectacular. All with a believable coming-of-age story. Worth every penny. I'll show it to my grandkids when they're old enough. One, at 3, is already into music big time. Customer Rating: Summary: Nice Music, Lousy Story Comment: I am a Bee Gees fan, and I loved the music! The dancing was good but not great. The story and acting were terribe! The foul language was unnecessary. Customer Rating: Summary: Great Movie Comment: Still powerful 31 years later. A peek into another world ...Brooklyn and NYC in the 70's. Enjoyable from beginning to end Customer Rating: Summary: Saturday Night Fever Comment: John Travolta and The Bee Gees team up, and the result is the biggest selling soundtrack in history. Travolta's feverish dancing put a face on the Gibb Brothers' disco beat. We still imitate him in his white suit, our fingers pointing to the sky. For awhile, I thought The Bee Gees were singing "Bald Headed Woman." I was informed that it was "More Than A Woman." It is unlikely that the movie would have done much without the music. I particularly like Yvonne Elliman's rendition of If I Can't Have You. It was painful to watch The Bee Gees renounce the disco era a few years later. They apologized for their best work.
Customer Rating: Summary: Great purchase!! Comment: This movie speaks for itself. The soundtrack alone is worth having! Couldn't believe such a reasonable price for Saturday Night Fever's 30th Anniversary special and liked the option of receiving the sequel for a relatively low additional price. Very happy with Amazon's customer service and will definitely make future purchases through Amazon.com.
