Saturday Night Fever (1977)

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Director: John Badham

Writers: Norman Wexler, from the story "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night," by Nik Cohn

Stars: John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Barry Miller, Joseph Cali, Paul Pape, Donna Pescow, Bruce Ornstein, Julie Bovasso, Martin Shakar



I remember people really being knocked out by the dancing when this film was first released.

 


Seen today, it is really not very impressive and the whole 70s disco scene is ridiculous anyway. 



However, this only serves to improve the dramatic aspects of the film, making the little world of Tony Manero a little bit sadder and seedier than it may have seemed when the film first came out. 



John Travolta is excellent as the 19-year-old kid who doesn't realize how empty his life is until his world is rocked by a traumatic series of events that forces him to see everything in a new light.



This film, which was released when I was 14 years old, holds some fond memories for me.



I snuck into the drive-in in the trunk of my cousin's car to see it. It was the first film I had ever been to that featured nudity, but since this was in the days before I got glasses, all I could do was lament, "I can't see it! I can't see it!" while my friends were expressing their appreciation.



I loved the music in this film, and still do, but as a Led Zeppelin/Black Sabbath maniac and a confirmed member of the "Disco Sucks!" crowd, I could never reveal that I had a copy of the soundtrack album at home.

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