Director John Badham's hit film propelled John Travolta to stardom, made white polyester suits an instant fashion craze, and garnered praise for its portrayal of blue-collar life. Nineteen-year-old Brooklyn native Tony Manero (Travolta) lives for Saturday nights at the local disco, where he's king of the club, thanks to his stylish moves on the dance floor. But outside of the club, things don't look so rosy. At home, Tony fights constantly with his father and has to compete with his family's starry-eyed view of his older brother, a priest. Nor can he find satisfaction at his dead-end job at a paint store. However, things begin to change when he spies Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney) in the disco and starts training with her for the club's dance competition. Stephanie dreams of the world beyond Brooklyn, and her plans to move to the big city just over the bridge soon change Tony's life forever. This portrait of young Brooklyn natives struggling to escape their sheltered lives for freedom and adventure in the big city of Manhattan defined a generation of disco dancers and 1970s youths rebelling against the more traditional expectations of their parents. Set to the popular dance music of the Bee Gees, this instant cinematic sensation revealed the fashions and aspirations of an underground culture to the world.
The film that made John Travolta a household name is set in Brooklyn to the popular dance music of the Bee Gees. Tony Manero (Travolta) is a paint-store clerk who becomes the king of the discotheque when he puts on his polyester and gets down, with a little help from a social-climbing Manhattan secretary (Karen Lynn Gorney). This definitive portrait of a generation of disco dancers in the 1970s skyrocketed its young star to fame and further propelled the disco inferno infatutation.
Theatrical release: December 16, 1977.
Shot on location in Brooklyn, New York.
Although John Travolta was already a teenage heartthrob due to his role as Vinnie Barbarino on the WELCOME BACK, KOTTER television series, it was SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER that made him a superstar.
In 1983, Sylvester Stallone directed John Travolta in STAYING ALIVE, the sequel to SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER.
Nik Cohen, who wrote the allegedly non-fiction magazine article on which SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER is based, admitted in 1996 that the piece was a "total fabrication." Cohen originally claimed to have met and interviewed the patrons of a real Brooklyn disco; but it turned out that his British friends were the story's true inspiration.
John Travolta's sister appears as the pizza lady and his mother appears as the woman for whom he gets paint.
Excerpt: "Would ya watch the hair! Ya know, I spend a long time on my hair and he hit it--he hit my hair."--Tony Manero (John Travolta) to his family
"Maybe if you ain't so good, I ain't so bad."--Tony Manero to Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney)
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Letterbox - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Mono - English, French, Spanish
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Mono - English, French, Spanish
Subtitles - English, French, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentary: John Badham - Director
Featurette:
1. Catching The Fever
2. A 30-Year Legacy
3. Making Soundtrack History
4. Platforms & Polyester
5. Deejays & Discos
6. Spotlight On Travolta
7. Back to Bayridge
8. Dance Like Travolta With John Cassese
9. Fever Challenge
10. 70's Discopedia
Distributor Notes: From John Travolta's electrifying OscarĀ®-nominated performance to the Bee Gees' top 10 soundtrack to the unforgettable dancing, Saturday Night Fever is a movie sensation that captured the world's attention like never before. Now catch the fever all over again with this 30th Anniversary Special Collector's Edition that goes behind-the-scenes with special features on the history, culture and fashion of disco, the smash-hit soundtrack, an exclusive look at Hollywood legend John Travolta, and so much more. Now more than ever before, Saturday Night Fever is the one film that'll make you feel like dancing.
Source - Paramount Home Entertainment
Director of Photography
Ralf D. Bode: German- American DOP
Production Designer
Charles Bailey: Production Designer
Review 1:
4 stars out of 5 -- "[Travolta] pure, chest-out charisma. The camera loves him -- and he loves it right back."
Source: Empire
p.202 11/01/2007
Review 2:
"...Travolta is deft and vibrant and he never condescends to the character....The music moves with a real spring it is step, and the movie does too."
Source: New York Times
p.C10 12/16/1977
Review 3:
"...Among the definitive time-capsule pics of any era....It looks and sounds snappy..."
Source: USA Today
p.7E 10/11/2002
Review 4:
"...Travolta melds brute machismo and hidden yearning; it's little surprise FEVER made him a superstar and earned him an Oscar nomination..."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.95 10/18/2002
Review 5:
"[G]iven a subtle sweetness and vulnerability by Travolta's layered performance."
Source: Premiere
p.58 04/01/2004
Review 6:
4 stars out of 5 -- "[The film] still plays like an impossibly bleak slice of kitchen-sink realism..."
Source: Uncut
p.152 11/01/2007
Review 7:
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] mesmerizing portrait from Travolta ensures it stays evergreen."
Source: Ultimate DVD
p.95 12/01/2007