Staying Alive (1983)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Anthony L

  
  I actually liked this sequel. Seems like I?m the only one though! I had no idea Sylvester Stallone directed it though. I suppose it's quite similar to Rocky in many ways!

• Cassandra M

  
  I usually expect sequels to pale in comparison to the original. I have lowered expectations when watching such movies. For instance, one of my favorite movies of the 80s was Karate Kid. The Karate Kid part II, while not nearly as good, was a worthy sequel. Same thing with Rambo, First… More
  I usually expect sequels to pale in comparison to the original. I have lowered expectations when watching such movies. For instance, one of my favorite movies of the 80s was Karate Kid. The Karate Kid part II, while not nearly as good, was a worthy sequel. Same thing with Rambo, First Blood Part 1 and II, Godfather part 1 and 2, etc... This sequel however was unwatchable. Quite frankly, there was no reason to ever make this movie. Tony Manero's life in the first one was not that interesting. What made the movie "cool" was it capitalized on the disco craze and had up and comer Vinnie Barbarino (ok John Travlota) as the lead. The success of the movie was more about the timing than anything else. So now its six years later and we have Tony Manero back on the big screen, dancing yet again. Problem is, dancing is no longer as cool as it was in the 70s. John Travolta is beginning a decade long downswing of his career, and quite frankly, nobody cares about the character Tony Manero. Nobody left the original Saturday Night Fever saying, "I wonder what happens to Tony Manero". Nobody cared, it was simply a movie about the music and dancing with a marginal plot squeezed in. The plot of Staying Alive is utterly ridiculous: Dance instructor trying to become a "dance pro", while managing dual love interests. All this culminates in a Broadway show that is unwatchable. It was simply a bad movie in the early 80s. Today, its almost comical to watch. I'll give Travlota credit though, many actors would have been exiled after such a catastrophe...he fought his way back to stardom. I have to believe when this comes on cable, he has the ability to laugh at himself.

• Lafe F

  
  From the gritty electricity of "Saturday Night Fever" to sweaty Broadway dancing? It just doesn't carry over very well as a sequel. It felt a bit gay. I liked some of the music in it.

• RJ M

  
  Saturday Night Fever is more of a time capsule than a movie. The characters don't so much tell a story as they simply exist in it. It so perfectly captured late 1970's America, that it had once been the 12th highest grossing movie of all time. The filmmakers here must… More
  Saturday Night Fever is more of a time capsule than a movie. The characters don't so much tell a story as they simply exist in it. It so perfectly captured late 1970's America, that it had once been the 12th highest grossing movie of all time. The filmmakers here must have never seen the original. Everything that made Fever what is was is gone here. Sure John Travolta returns, but he's bears no resemblence to the Tony Manero of the previous film. Not in attitude, and certainly not physically. One a pencil thin, polyester wearing street punk, he's been tranformed into ripped abs, loincloth wearing Tarzan who leaps around the stage in hopes of becoming a Broadway dancer. Should the blame be placed on writer/director Sylvester Stallone? That's right...Stallone. No. In fact, the blame should be placed on Travolta. As history tells it, after seeing Rocky III, Travolta demanded the studio pursue Sly to helm the sequel to what was then, his biggest box office hit. Without Travolta, there would be no sequel. The studio agreed, made Stallone the offer...and there you are. Staying Alive is typical of the 80's sequel. All style, no substance. The "story" exists only to string together several flashy, fog filled dance sequence pieced together with 80's power rock music, to create not scenes, but videos that ran endlessly on MTV. I've never seen a Broadway show, but if this is what is typical of them, I'll stick to movies. Yet for all that, it's strangely watchable. It's like a car crash that you simply can't turn away from. Travolta tries. He flashes his million dollar smile and once in a while shows a brief flash of the things that made him a star with Fever. The two leading ladies are also fine in their limited, and stereotypical roles. Cynthia Rhodes is the long suffering girlfriend with a heart of gold, and Finola Hughes is that star dancer with a heart of ice. A love triangle ensues, but do you need a slide rule to figure out how it's going to end? Stallone does direct with energy. As co-writer, he must've known how weak the script was, and never lets the audience go too long without another high powered dance number. It may be weak, but it's never boring. The other thing that most seperates this from the original is the music. The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever is one of the biggest selling albums of all time. Producing four number one hits, and going platinum 15 times over, it was as much a phenomenon as the movie, and made The Bee Gees the biggest band in the world. This movie has songs by....Frank Stallone. Oh sure the The Bee Gees throw one or two new songs in there, but this soundtrack is all about nepetism, and the slightly more clearly talking Stallone brother gets his 15 minutes. Is it the worst sequel ever made? Despite what many critics think, no it isn't. However this is the last movie in the world for anyone who ranks Saturday Night Fever as one of their favorite movies. For everyone else, it's a harmless way to kill 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon if there's nothing else on tv but golf. Hey...that's what I did.

• Andre T

  
  Six years after the events of Saturday Night Fever, 25-year-old former disco king Anthony "Tony" Manero, has left Brooklyn and is now living in Manhattan, staying in a flophouse while he works as a dance instructor and as a waiter at a dance club, looking for his big break… More
  Six years after the events of Saturday Night Fever, 25-year-old former disco king Anthony "Tony" Manero, has left Brooklyn and is now living in Manhattan, staying in a flophouse while he works as a dance instructor and as a waiter at a dance club, looking for his big break in the modern dance productions on Broadway.Well, i saw the first,and didn't like it.What expect about this?The same but with a little Stallone's touch of Rocky.A lot of sentimentalism, poor performances and totally meanigless sreenplay.

• Lee K

  
  Just re-watched this today on tln. A great sequel none the less that shows that travolta at that time really didnt need movies if he wanted a career in dance! The broadway show at the end was fantastic!

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