Saturday Night Fever Reviews

Will openly admit to having very fond memories of school discos, singing along (often forgetting words) and dancing (with some energy if not such a discernible beat) to music, a music college graduate has to start somewhere, that was great then and still is now.

'Saturday Night Fever' may not be a perfect film, or a masterpiece, but to me and many others it is high-energy and hugely enjoyable entertainment that took me back to nostalgic, and happier, times in my life. This was the late 90s-early 2000s, just to make things clear, memories of the 70s are none due to not having been born yet. 'Saturday Night Fever' is one of those films where it is easy to sit back and forget any problems and relax after a hard day (am hardly any stranger to those, so 'Saturday Night Fever' was a much needed distraction).

There are imperfections sure. Anybody looking for one of the all-time great scripts or a great story and iconic characters better look elsewhere. This said, the script is not all bad, but does have some cheesiness that will make one cringe, regardless of whether they are demanding much or not. The story and characterisation is somewhat more patchy though better than given credit for, the story does absorb but a couple of the subplots are silly and don't feel as resolved as they should, particularly that for the rival gang.

One of 'Saturday Night Fever's' biggest problems is how the character of Stephanie is written and how Karen Lynn Gorney plays her. The character is very underwritten and often very annoying, giving Gorney little to do and failing to inject much charm or likability, outside of some great dancing.

However, the production values are great with lots of glorious colour and style. John Bradham directs with a clear affectionate love for the period and subject, and the film does offer a more complex view of disco than one might think with some easy to relate to themes.

Best assets are the music, dancing and John Travolta. The soundtrack, with some of the most memorable contributions being from the Bee Gees, is one of the best, most unforgettable and iconic soundtracks of any film from the 70s, and great music in its own right. Music is a real passion and something that is always talked about in my prolific reviews here, and something that mostly garners a lot of praise but have also been known to be picky. The dancing is full of high-octane energy, snazz and pizazz, Travolta especially though the dancing is the best thing about Gorney's performance.

John Travolta is a revelation in the role that made him an overnight star and pop-culture icon. Danny from 'Grease' may be the slightly more famous role but to me Travolta is better here.

In conclusion, very enjoyable though not without its imperfections. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Saturday Night Fever es de esas películas que las recordás más por su estilo y lo ocurre con los personajes que por los personajes en sí.
No me quiero explayar mucho, diré que la medida de la música disco utilizada en la película es entendible, el film quiere tener ese estilo de la era disco y lo logra, destaco el uso de las canciones de los Bee Gees ya que, al fin y al cabo, son los que mejor referencia hacen a este estilo musical.
Y hablando de estilo, sí, la película se basa mucho en esto, los movimientos de los personajes acompañados de la música, sumado a las geniales coreografías plasmadas en las escenas en las que bailan en la discoteca, y es que la verdad y siendo sincero, muchas son muy ingeniosas y bien planeadas y coordinadas, y esto no solo es divertido de mirar, sino que además, puedo decir que hacen que a uno al escuchar la música y ver esos fabulosos pasos de baile, sumado a toda la ambientación setentera que se posee, le dan ganas de meterse a la pista y ponerse a bailar con ellos. También me gustó que al menos dediquen un tiempo a ver como el protagonista y su pareja de baile, deben ensayar y practicar para mejorar para la competencia, no es la gran cosa, pero me agradó ese detalle ya que al menos humaniza un poco más el contexto, y ya de paso esto se utiliza para que se generen lindas interaciones que, no son realmente profundas, pero son entretenidas de mirar.
Y hasta acá, no puedo decir más de la cinta, es entretenida, tiene un muy atrayente estilo, pero eso es todo. Literalmente la historia y los personajes se sienten muy planos en su mayoría si sacamos a Tony, lo de Bobby no lleva a ninguna parte así como lo del hermano de Tony y su sacerdocio, son temas que son planteados y ya, no se va a ningún lado con estos y nada es realmente explorado a fondo.
Supongo que el conflicto con Annette no fue algo muy tocado teniendo en cuenta que sus interacciones son puras seducciones y nada de exploración, pero me gustó al menos que el protagonista haya usado la lógica al final y se haya sacado de arriba a semejante loca desesperada.
Pero fuera de ello, no creo que la película sea mala, solo es una obra que busca ser divertida y listo, lo consigue, no es algo que busque ser muy complejo, sus ambiciones llegan hasta donde le da y poco más.

5/10

In the 70's New York Tony Manero is a young man of Italian descent who lives in Brooklyn.
Tony is an extrovert but impulsive and shallow, he works in a paint shop and attends a group of compatriots. Manero lives at home with his parents, a 7 months unemployed dad, a very religious mom, granny and a minor sister, his major brother, Frank jr, is a priest in crises for a lack of vocation. The gang together do not lose the opportunity to perform stunts, take advantage of their naive friend Annette and turn fights with rival gang, first of all the Puerto Ricans who beat hard their friend Gus. Tony has a single, great talent: dancing in the disco, where no rivals and earns the respect of his peers and the admiration of women, while not taking advantage of her sexually. In the dance school that he attended, Tony knows Stephanie Mangano, Italian/American like Tony, but also more mature and strongwilled. Stephanie lives in Manhattan and only goes as a journalist. Despite the differences in age and character, the two are approaching and begin a more or less regular attendance to participate in a dance competition disco 2001 Odyssey, in which Tony dancing on Saturday night. After various vicissitudes, the couple performs the memorable scene on the Bee Gees' song "More than a woman", icon of the same movie. Thanks to the sympathies of the audience the two snatch victory in the Puerto Rican, the most deserving couple. Tony, disgusted, refuses the prize dishonest and, realizing that his end is Stephanie, I'll demonstrate in a very brutal, but she more sober and judicious, unable to defend themselves and escape. Tony and friends, now drunk, promote yet another stunt on the Verrazzano Bridge, doing stunts between cables and pylons, but something goes wrong and the expense is the young Bobby, apparently the most balanced but marginalized by his Puerto Rican descent, for its economic well-being and because, in the general indifference, must soon marry his pregnant girlfriend. Tony helplessly the death of the boy, who falls into the river. Tragedy brings the protagonist to revise its superficial attitude towards life and so, having left the gang and after a night on the subway, he reaches Stephanie to her house to apologize, getting to her forgiveness, as long as you nurture a sincere friendship.

John Travolta as Anthony "Tony" Manero
Karen Lynn Gorney as Stephanie Mangano
Barry Miller as Bobby C.
Joseph Cali as Joey
Paul Pape as Double J.
Donna Pescow as Annette
Bruce Ornstein as Gus
Val Bisoglio as Frank Manero, Sr.
Julie Bovasso as Flo Manero
Martin Shakar as Father Frank Manero, Jr.
Nina Hansen as Tony's grandmother
Lisa Peluso as Linda Manero
Sam Coppola as Dan Fusco
Denny Dillon as Doreen
Robert Weil as Becker
Fran Drescher as Connie
Monti Rock III as the deejay
Ann Travolta as pizza girl
Helen Travolta as customer in paint store

Saturday Night Fever is poorly based on a journalistic investigation of the New Yorker magazine about the night life of poor communities subways, as opposed to the social life of the upper classes in Manhattan, the magnificent evenings in the historic temples of disco music as Studio 54.
The plot is, however, subject series, addressing youth problems are still present, such as migration, drug use in clubs, racism, that does not save the Italian/American protagonists, branded with the stereotypes of laziness and sloppiness and gang violence.
They are shipped to the history of cinema sequences of dances, enriched by the success of the 70's disco, among which the original songs by the Bee Gees, who found the film a new season of glory. A certain effect are some scenes filmed at the Verrazano Bridge.
Shooting in disco were carried out in a real club in New York, 2001 Odyssey, between July and August 1977.