Barry Miller, Bruce Ornstein, Donna Pescow

Slice-of-life tale about a working-class young Brooklyn Italian-American who finds an escape from his mundane neighborhood existence at the local discotheque, where he is the king of the dance floor.

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67% liked it

159,489 ratings

Critics

94% liked it

31 critics

PG, 120

Directed by: John Badham

Release Date: December 19, 1977

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DVD Release Date: August 10, 2002

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Stats: 4,524 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (4,524)


  • September 28, 2009
    If I had a time machine I would definitely go back to 1970's New York and Disco dance my butt off. I haven?t though so watching this movie is just going to have to do!
  • May 17, 2009
    I loved the dancing. It kept me watching the entire time. I can't believe it's taken me until now to see it!
  • March 19, 2009
    The gimic is the dancing, but the movie is actually about much more.
  • May 24, 2008
    Quite simply one of the greatest "musicals" ever made. I only put it in quotations because musicals are usually thought of involving singing and this movie focuses on dancing...and has some of the best dancing ever seen in it courtesy of one of the best at the time...John Travolt...( read more)a. It's a period piece, but doesn't seem as dated as it should. There are underlying stories here within the music and sequences, but most people just remember it for the disco score and soundtrack. An importantpiece of American cinema history and kudos to the Puerto Ricans, who should've rightfully won that contest!
  • January 4, 2008
    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 rout...( read more)ine, 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 Live'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 Live" 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
  • November 12, 2009
    The music movie that irrevocably changed music movies and pop culture astutely balances galvanizing dance numbers with a gritty sense of contemporary economic malaise, with its dance numbers, the Bee Gees soundtrack, and John Travolta's white-suited presence, Fever crystalizes th...( read more)e once-underground disco movement forever into late-'70s mainstream pop phenomenon.
  • November 6, 2009
    The film became a cultural phenomenon and a box office mega hit. John Travolta's sexy, super-cool Oscar nominated performance as disco king Tony Manero made him into an overnight sensation. The Bee Gees great music and Travolta's amazing dance scenes, which are some of the best e...( read more)ver filmed makes this movie a highly enjoyable trip back to the disco era of the late 1970's.
  • November 3, 2009
    FUNNY!!

    BUT JOHN TRAVOLTA IS OBSESSED WTH HIS HAIR IN THE MOVIE
  • October 30, 2009
    Where do you go when the record is over? Once a week, after six full days at work in a Brooklyn paint store, Tony Manero douses himself with Brut cologne, dons a floral bodyshirt, gabardine pants, and platform shoes - and ritualistically prepares himself for Saturday Night Fev...( read more)er at the local discotheque. Through the influence of Stephanie - his more sophisticated dance partner - and his brother - a disillusioned priest - Tony begins to question the way he views life and the narrowness of his perspective.

    Directed by John Badham, Saturday Night Fever features excellent acting performances from the following cast:
    1.) John Travolta (Tony Manero)
    2.) Karen Lynn Gorney (Stephanie)
    3.) Barry Miller (Bobby C.)
    4.) Joseph Cali (Joey)

    Although not exactly a musical, Saturday Night Fever features great disco dancing and a great acting performance from former teen idol John Travolta whose dance moves made them into the mainstream phenomenon during the late '70s. Tony Manero sees disco as the best escape from the city life with his Italian-American street entourage, and I can say it really helped him a lot. The Grammy-winning film's soundtrack which features music from The Bee Gees ("Stayin' Alive", "Night Fever") is so impressive and entertaining that it makes me want to dance. It was, in fact, the best-selling album of that time (at least until Thriller) and I still have it on audio cassette after more than 10 years.
  • October 29, 2009
    !Comercial or Stupid! :|

Critic Reviews


October 13, 2007
Edward Havens, FilmJerk.com

The omission of John Travolta in any of the commentaries or documentaries is a major shadow that the new disc cannot get out from. full review

View more Saturday Night Fever reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • novelproto
    June 10, 2007
    i love this movie. john travolta is cool!
  • smc121
    May 20, 2007
    What can I say, when you got it, you got it and WHOA BOY did John Travolta have it!
  • tomkinsman
    August 13, 2006
    John Travolta never looked cooler - i want his wardrobe!!!

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Saturday Night Fever Trivia


  • John Travolta ran two hours a day and danced for three hours daily to get in shape for which film?  Answer »
  • John Travolta early Bird Film, Dancing Fever  Answer »
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  • Which actor has starred in all of the following:- - Saturday Night Fever - Get Shorty - The Thin Red Line - Swordfish - Basic  Answer »

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