‹ All movies
Saturday Night Fever poster

Saturday Night Fever

year 1977decade 70sdirector John Badhamgenre Dramagenre Dance

119 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

John Travolta Anthony "Tony" Manero
Karen Lynn Gorney Stephanie Mangano
Barry Miller Bobby C.
Paul Pape Double J.
Donna Pescow Annette
Val Bisoglio Frank Manero Sr.
Julie Bovasso Flo Manero
Martin Shakar Frank Manero Jr.
Denny Dillon Doreen
Fran Drescher Connie
Robert Costanzo Paint store customer
Ann Travolta Pizza girl

Saturday Night Fever | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonsguest Jimmy Kimmelproducer Craig Horlbeck
Explore episodeClose episode

Most Rewatchable Scene

You Should Be Dancing solo; opening credits

In the discussion (14)
Approx. transcript time · 00:29:55Read transcript
  • The opening credits are indelible and endlessly parodied; most people have only seen the first minute.
  • In the opening Tony carries a paint can, stacks two pizza slices and eats them at once, and hits on two women, blocking one from passing in a point-of-view shot; the music makes the scene.
  • Travolta gives a one-of-one unicorn performance; no actor of the last 50 years could pull off the opening walk, with only a young Mario Lopez or a young Pacino floated.
  • Magic Mike and Channing Tatum are named the closest current-era equivalent for driving women crazy.
  • The first disco sequence brings Disco Inferno, an "I love to watch you dance" cameo by a Saturday Night Live alum, and the Night Fever group line dance.
  • Tony popping out of his bedroom in his underwear doing "Al Pacino, Attica" for his grandmother is a funny, real moment rooted in 1977.
  • The first coffee scene, where Tony is called a cliche on his way to no place, is praised as well written and well acted.
  • The Father Frank Jr. disco visit includes the Fran Drescher cameo, and she is called the best-looking girl in the club.
  • In the You Should Be Dancing scene Travolta takes over the floor; he threatened to quit unless it was shot wide instead of in close-ups, and it plays like a sports movie.
  • The solo scene is called one of the five most iconic scenes of the 1970s and announced in advance as this participant's category winner.
  • The first Brooklyn Bridge scene was filmed about 600 feet up with few safety precautions.
  • The dance contest is enjoyable because it is infuriating, with Caesar and Maria excelling; the other view is that the final dance is underwhelming compared with the solo scene.
  • The You Should Be Dancing scene is picked as most rewatchable.
  • The opening scene with the credits is the other pick, accepted as fair.

What’s Aged the Best?

Soundtrack; Tony's bedroom posters; Donna Pescow; white-suit poster pose; Annette and Tony dynamic; friend-group chemistry; mid-70s New York locations; Brooklyn versus Manhattan; Airplane parody; Mad Magazine parody; Dance Fever; pork chop dinner

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:57Read transcript
  • The soundtrack remains great 45 years later; any of those songs will be played in their entirety, even though the band never seemed cool.
  • The soundtrack is an all-time murderers row including Yvonne Elliman, Tavares, A Fifth of Beethoven, Manhattan Skyline, Boogie Shoes and Disco Inferno.
  • Tony's room has posters of Serpico, Bruce Lee, Wonder Woman, Rocky and Farrah Fawcett.
  • The sudden close-up insert on the Farrah Fawcett poster when the father enters is called seriously bad directing.
  • The white-suit poster pose was not planned; Travolta did it as a joke at the end of a long photo shoot.
  • Donna Pescow's performance and the realistic Annette and Tony dynamic, including her watching him walk down the street, hold up.
  • Tony's racist meathead buddies feel like they have known each other for years, which may be why they were hard to picture in other movies.
  • Mid-70s distressed New York as a location, alongside Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Death Wish, The Warriors, Dog Day Afternoon and others, holds up.
  • The film captures how far Bay Ridge and lower Brooklyn were from the city, from a participant who grew up in Mill Basin; the two places have merged over 20 years.
  • The Airplane parody of the dance scene and Mad Magazine's parody are lasting references; Dance Fever is added as a TV attempt to cash in.
  • The pork chop dinner, where the out-of-work father rants and Tony takes a second chop, is confusing but very real.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Treatment of women; sexual assault; racism; homophobia; misogyny; Nick Cohn's fabricated article; Staying Alive; Barracudas fight; Tony's quick recovery; Karen Lynn Gorney's casting; PG TV edits

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:29Read transcript
  • The relationships with the women have aged poorly: sexual assaults, racism, homophobia and misogyny.
  • The random homophobic harassment of two gay men under the bridge is cited; whether the film is self-aware or simply saw no problem is debated, with realism offered as the reason it was included.
  • Nick Cohn acknowledged in the mid-90s that he fabricated most of the article after the real-life model for Tony sued for profits.
  • The sequel Staying Alive is listed.
  • The Barracudas fight is a B minus that should have been the best 90-second fight of 1977.
  • Tony has an apparent concussion yet looks fine 10 hours later and for the contest a week later.
  • Karen Lynn Gorney is rated a below-average dancer with a weak New York accent and weak acting, and she struggled to keep up because of earlier motorcycle-accident injuries.
  • Her casting is so baffling that a half hour of Googling found no explanation; she was older than Travolta while lecturing him about going nowhere.
  • Watching the PG version on TV with dubbed-in swears was painful.

Apex Mountain

Travolta at Grease; Karen Lynn Gorney (Apex Hill); Welcome Back, Kotter for old Brooklyn; Brooklyn Bridge; 1977; disco; John Badham; dysfunctional Italian family dinners (permanent apex); Barry Miller, Paul Pape and Joseph Cali

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:52Read transcript
  • Apex Mountain is defined as a person or thing at the peak of its powers and popularity.
  • Travolta's apex is Grease, perhaps one week after it opened, following this film; a couple of points come off because Grease was an existing musical.
  • With an Olivia Newton-John-caliber co-star this film would have been different.
  • Karen Lynn Gorney gets a yes, since she did not act for 14 years afterward, downgraded to Apex Hill.
  • For old Brooklyn as a pop-culture location, the Travolta TV show is picked over this film and The Warriors, partly for its credits.
  • This is Apex Mountain for the Brooklyn Bridge, with Woody Allen as the only competitor.
  • 1977, disco (revived by the film despite worries it was too late, and criticized for whitewashing), and the director are all affirmed.
  • Dysfunctional Italian family dinners are a permanent apex that never goes away, as in Goodfellas.
  • The guys in the movie, Barry Miller, Paul Pape and the actor transcribed as Joseph Kelly, were definitely at their apex.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Could be done but unwanted; no

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:17:49Read transcript
  • It could be remade as a series, though the hope is that it does not happen.
  • A 1977 setting would feel like a costume party and lose the sense of being current.
  • No: two hours with these people is enough, without an Annette episode.
  • The formula has been remade with different dancing, music or stand-up comics, and All the Right Moves follows it.
  • Tony's win is a functional relationship with a woman; his best case is teaching at the dance studio or opening a club with the DJ.

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

White suit

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:42Read transcript
  • It has to be the suit; three were made, two disappeared, and the one Siskel bought and sold is now with an unknown owner.
  • Other objects considered: the car, the paint can, the hairbrush, the 2001 disco ball, and the condoms Annette holds in an overly long close-up; the white suit is still the thing.

Who Won the Movie?

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:03Read transcript
  • The question is called about as easy as it gets, and Travolta wins going away.
  • Cases are also made for the band behind the songs and for Robert Stigwood, who made about a billion dollars from the properties.
  • Travolta is still chosen; he might have become a star through Grease anyway, but the part seemed written for him.
  • Moving from Barbarino to this role surprised audiences and showed he was a real actor; this is flagged as a point forgotten in an earlier category.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
John Travolta