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Saturday Night Fever

Saturday Night Fever

List Price: $14.99
Your Price: $11.24
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: every woman has had a man like this in her life
Review: Part of why I love this movie is because I believe every woman has been like Annette at one time or another in her life and wanted a "Tony Manero"; a guy she finds incredible at the time she knows him(and sometimes even later on, despite his efforts to convince her-okay,me- otherwise.) I also love the music("If I can't have you" could have been my theme song when I knew my "Tony Manero") It's also fun to see what life was like during the 70's since I was only 3 when this movie came out.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A five star movie and a five star DVD!!!
Review: This is a great five star DVD of a five star movie. This 70's classic looks and sounds great on DVD!!! Far superior to those old VHS versions out there!!! The movie is in Widescreen and the extras are top notch too!!! Five stars!!! Two thumbs up!!! A+

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: not worth buying
Review: this fiml woz VERRY disapointing its verry dated and the end is so rubish!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This 1977 Classic Sparkles On DVD!
Review: I love this movie. Everything about it is letter-perfect. In between the incredible dance numbers, we get quite a bit of character development to boot.

To my SNF-loving eyes, this is a gorgeous-looking anamorphic widescreen transfer on this DVD version of the film. The disco scenes are alive with the sights and sounds and vivid color of the New York discotheque (circa 1977). And the exterior shots of New York City look great as well.

I can't imagine how it would have been possible to make this film any better than it is already. Director John Badham deserves high praise for weaving a gritty, realistic story together with some of the most amazing dance sequences ever committed to film.

This classy DVD version of "Saturday Night Fever" also sports some noteworthy bonus features. .... There's a very informative and enlightening audio commentary by Director Badham. I'm not usually too keen on watching an entire movie just to listen to an audio commentary track. But this one by Mr. Badham is truly first-rate. He provides the listener with a wealth of "behind-the-scenes" type of information, and really seems like he's having a good time "re-living" the experiences he had while making the film. Mr. Badham also tells us about the unique methods he and his filming crew employed to "dupe" John Travolta's legions of clinging fans during the several scenes that were physically shot on the streets of New York City. This is a rare commentary track that is actually fun to re-visit time and again.

This 25th Anniversary DVD edition also contains the VH-1 documentary, "Behind The Music", a fantastic (and detailed) "Making-Of" type of featurette. Great stuff here.

There are also three deleted scenes included, all of which are very interesting to view.

The disc emits the toe-tapping soundtrack in full 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound, which even sounds great when utilizing just a two-speaker set-up. There's also a Dolby Digital 2-Channel Surround track as well, which serves its purpose very nicely too.

About the only blemish on this DVD release would be the lack of the original theatrical trailer for the movie. But, that's a minor issue.

Paramount has given us "SNF" in an odd type of package. But I kind of like it (although this type of "DigiPack" case seems to be a bit of a waste for only a one-disc product like this one). But it's kinda fun and different nonetheless. There's a separate "slipcase" which houses an inner fold-out box, which has some nice pics of Mr. Travolta doing his thing on the dance floor. The outer slipcase is rather attractive -- with a glittering, 3-D look to it.

Oh, yeah...lest I forget: The DVD Menus are top-drawer too! Whoever programmed this menu design did an A-1 job.

Paramount Studios has done this film up right for its 25th Anniversary DVD release. No self-respecting fan of John Travolta, disco music, or of films with great views of The Big Apple should be caught without a copy of this Digital Disc.

(And once you get this disc, be prepared to play Chapter #6 to death! It's a winning chapter of an even-greater motion picture.)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Live from New York, it's Saturday Night...waitta minute!
Review: I love this movie.

I love the way it focuses on dancing, yet it isn't about dancing at all. Yes, long amounts of time are given to showing John Travolta light up the dance floor, but the story's fundamental point is the most subtle: Trying to escape from your boring daily routine, even if it is just for an hour.

That's exactly what Tony Manero does. He saves up his weekly earnings from where he works in downtown Brooklyn at a crummy hardware store, then blows it all in one day at the local disco joint, where he reigns as king. His female dance partner calls him a walking cliché. In a sad sort of way, it's true.

But this is Tony's dream. I quote an aspiring comedian named Rupert Pupkin: "Better to be king for a night than a schmuck for a lifetime." "Saturday Night Fever" is based entirely on this idea. In an odd sort of way, Rupert Pupkin is a lot like Tony Manero. He just has a different dream. We all do.

"Saturday Night Fever's" theme tune, "Staying Alive" (the title of the horrendous Sylvester Stallone-directed sequel), speaks as much truth about life as the film itself. "I'm goin' nowhere, somebody help me, I'm goin' nowhere, somebody help me yeah" chants a voice in the Bee Gee's universally known disco hit. As I listen to it right now, I realize just how perfect it is for the movie. It's a legendary song, and for good reason.

I didn't grow up during the disco generation. But "Saturday Night Fever" makes me feel as if I had--and that is one of the fundamental keys to a film so incredibly outdated and yet still poignant in our memories. It was the film that solidified John Travolta as an icon, and the film that eventually led to him being regarded as the King of Cinema Disco. (In the Travolta film "Get Shorty," a criminal threatens a producer by saying that, if he doesn't pay up, he'll be "dead as disco." Ironic.)

Travolta is in his prime spotlight as Manero, a Brooklyn kid aiming to make it big on the dance floor. There isn't much to the movie other than the need for fame--as brief as it may be--and the most obvious theme of the film, which is learning to treat women as something more than just sex objects.

Tony and his pals all join together at 2001 Odyssey, a crummy disco club with dizzying strobe lights and a constantly-waxed dance floor where Tony is often encouraged to let loose and show everyone his moves. When he's not doing that, he's sitting at the bar watching a topless stripper do her thing. And he's only 19.

Part of this movie is learning to grow up, and treat women as something more than Tony is used to treating them. But that's one of two primary plots--the other is, of course, trying to break away from a boring life. Tony comes from an Italian background, and he lives in a bad area of town. His mother is proud of her eldest son, who became a priest, and she's discouraged by the fact that her other son doesn't seem to care about making anything out of his life. We get the feeling that Tony's parents once had the same outlook as their son, and fear he may be going down their own path. After Tony gets a raise from $3 to $4, his father tells him that $4 can't even buy $3. His son swears at him and storms away.

Some of my favorite scenes in "Saturday Night Fever" are the human ones, such as when Tony stares in his bedroom mirror, bare-chested, and combs his hair forever, looking over himself with the same pride that Travis Bickle displayed in the famous "You talkin' to me?" scene in "Taxi Driver," released a year earlier. In the background of the shot are posters of Al Pacino from "Serpico" and Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa. (Just think, Sly directed the sequel and did a cameo, yet he was, in a way, in the first film, too.)

I also like when Tony is interacting with his dysfunctional family. He's nice to his little sister when he walks through the door after work, but after working for quite some time on his now-out-of-date hairstyle, he barks at his father when he is slapped during dinner (in one of the rare scenes that made me laugh). He yells at him: "Would you just watch the hair? I work a long time on my hair, and you hit it!" I know that scene has been quoted before, but I quoted it again since it made me laugh so hard.

In one of the finest scenes in the entire movie, and certainly one of the most touching, Tony has lunch with an older girl (who later becomes his dance partner) and tries to impress her by acting mature. But his immaturity shines through--he doesn't have a clue what he's talking about half the time, and when he tries to act smart she counters his moves with true brainpower. In a way, this is the first time Tony realizes that women aren't as dumb as he thought they were.

This is one of my favorite guilty pleasures for all the right and wrong reasons. The wrong reasons include the dance floor numbers--I love them, and I probably shouldn't. As for the right reasons...I think we already know what they are. It's all about dreams. Everyone has some. Whether it's dancing or whatever, we all have dreams. And that's why I think "Saturday Night Fever" relates to so many different people on so many different levels.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Non lovers of this movie are fools or Gerald Ford
Review: This movie changed my life, it is in the top 10 greatest movies of all time. Any one who dares to disagree with me will be severly punished via me resurecting Charlie Bronson, Fed Exing him to your house, then he will aproach your door, ring your door bell, once you answer the door he will slap you in the face with a hoaggie roll then steal your kitty. Once you awake from massive hoaggie injury to your face you will most likely pull a Charelston Heston by dropping to your knees knowing that you are a retard, and shoot yourself before dissing Saturday Night Fever.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Disco and Desperation in 70¿s
Review: Peering back into the distant past to the 70's, Travolta shines as Tony, paint shop clerk slash off hour dance machine. Against the backdrop of a low Brooklyn neighborhood, Tony goes out dancing every weekend, his only defense against a life of stifling mediocrity. Travolta gives a bravura performance, imbuing Tony at once with sleek Italian machismo and a tender vulnerability at times. There are many storylines, unrequited love for and by Tony with his prior and current dance partners respectively and Tony's interactions with his parents, fallen priest brother, and friends. The music you will get or you will not get, the Bee Gees are singularly represented and tower over the film, there are some other great period pieces to be seen as well. It's easy to say SNF has become clichéd with age, but taken as a period piece and on its own as a tight compact story, it succeeds, appealing across the decades. Recommended.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A shockingly good picture
Review: It's a surprise to me personally that this movie was as good as it was. Honestly, I figured it was a vehicle for Travotla's sex appeal, but, no, there are some serious issues going on in this film. Some heavy things get worked out--or not--right in from of us. It's gritty, realistic, harsh, vulernable, and captivating. See it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Why do I love this movie so much???
Review: I'm an 80's girl but I love this movie SO much. I'm not a disco music lover or a big John Travolta fan but there is something about this movie that gets me everytime that I watch it. I love how the characters relate (or don't relate) to one another and the wonderful scenes of New York.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: They don't make them like this anymore....
Review: The year was 1977 (26 years ago) and I remember having mom my take a group of us to see this movie because we were way too young to get in as we were in our very early teens. I remember loving this movie and feeling like I was watching something special. At said time I mostly enjoyed the great music, outstanding dance sequences, and a virtuoso performance by one of the Sweathogs from "Welcome Back Kotter".

Having watched it several times since (just saw it again last night), I realize that this movie not only reflected a dance/music craze, but at the core is a thoughtful character study at both micro and macro levels. It is truly reflective of the best of the tradition of movies of the 1970's like "Alice Does Not Live Here Anymore" as it's mostly character and not plot driven, unlike most of today's releases.

All the characters feel so true to life, mostly due to excellent writing and superb acting, that you can feel like you are one of them or at least sitting next to them. The movie also touches on so many issues in the most naturalistic way. No neat "Lifetime" movie touches to be found, and although you don't feel beaten over the head with it, the movie touches on racism, economic disparity, the role of women in the family and in the whole madonna/whore context, religion, and homophobia just to name a few.

Lest you think that this movie will feel like a John Cassavettes movie (who I also enjoy most of the movie) this movie tackles its themes in one of the most entertaining ways ever filmed without the sometimes self-indulgent touches of some other favorites of mine.

The dance sequences are masterful as are those involving family and friends, and director John Badham has not made a better movie. The acting is flawless, especially the Oscar-nominated performance by John Travolta. He never takes a false step in the entire movie. He's sexy, confident about what's on the outside, scared to death about where his life is going, and manages to say so much with his eyes and posture. And the man can dance as there is a sequence without the MTV cuts to shows true dancing rather than images that pass for dancing by today's standards.

All of the supporting characters (even those with a single line) are outstanding, especially Donna Pescow and "Tony's" entire family. The only minor quibble that I have with the movie (with does not take away from this 5-Star Review) is Karen Gorney's performance. In a movie with such strong performances all around, she hits all the right notes in most of her scenes, but there are a couple of scenes where she is the weak link. By no means do I think that it is a weak performance, but when there is such talent all around, you tend to notice all that is not perfect.

To me this is one of the better movies ever to come out of Hollywood and after seeing it you may agree with me. Without giving too much of it away, the movie does not lead to where you think it's leading to and what would be the big finish today only serves as the beginning for the character's arc. Also, although I saw this movie when I was 12/13, this is a without a doubt movie for adults as it is frank and raw, and I would only recommend that it be seen by mature teens and beyond.

In an era of test groups, sequelitis, and competing entertaining alternatives you are not likely to see a movie as entertaining and thoughtful as this one so buy/rent it, and I think that you'll be sure to love it.


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