Rating: 
Summary: A fantastic movie gets a quality release on DVD.
Review: "Saturday Night Fever" is often credited as having started the disco revolution, whether or not that is a good thing depends on your taste. But having dismissed this movie when I first saw it, I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed it have seen it on DVD years later. While the costumes, music, and decor are unquestionably dated (and tacky at times), the impact of the movie is not lost today.John Travolta is excellent as young Tony, a working-class kid from Brooklyn with the talen for disco dance, but not much ambition for anything else. He's a womanizer, a racist, and a simpleton in the ways of the world. That is until he meets a woman who challenges him, and partners with him to win a dance competition at the local disco. In between, we learn of his family problems, his hoodlum friends, and his other troubles he encounters (and no doubt causes). He lives for Saturday Night, where he is king of the dance floor. The dance scenes are exciting as ever, with Travolta giving 110% in his role. Evvery aspect of this movie fits. The Paramount DVD, while not exactly packed with extras, makes for a quality Special Edition. There is a 30 minute "Highlight" from VH1's Behind the Music, which is always fun to watch, but I would have loved to have the extra 30 minutes included (it's a 1 hour show). The deleted scenes fill in where they are needed, but the real gem is the Director's commentary, which gives valuable insight into the trails and successes that went into making this film. The transfer itself is nice, but is a bit grainy in parts, showing the limitations of the source print. But that is not a serious flaw. Anyone who loved "Saturday Night Fever" will no doubt be interested in this special edition. The relevant issues of wasted youth, violence, racism, and dysfunctional family life are all key to this movie, and should make it appealing to those who think of it as "a campy disco flick". It is a great story with a killer soundtrack which is, while dated, still fun to watch and listen to. The DVD brings it back to life and adds some quality extras.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant performances rescue uneven direction
Review: Here is a film that achieved greatness in popularity, but could have been an indisputably great film with better direction and plausibility. There is inherent potential for a great story when dealing with a young man struggling to find meaning in life by overcoming the low expectations bred by environment and dysfunctional family life. But it becomes almost disconcertingly anti-climatic to place this character, who becomes a more sympathetic figure throughout the film, in situations where he reverts to some pretty shameful behavior near the end, just prior to a final epiphany. Thanks only to the touching performances of John Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney, the final scene provides a redeeming grace. Tony Manero (Travolta) works at a dead end job in a paint store, takes joyrides with friends to act out an aimless bravado walking the cables on the nearby bridge, and lives for weekends when he can impress his friends at the neighborhood disco with his considerable gift for dancing. One night he spots a beautiful and talented Stephanie Mangano (Gorney) whom he sees as a potential dance partner for an upcoming contest. After meeting her again at a rehearsal studio and after some teasing banter, he convinces her to join him for coffee. Stephanie is enamored with her job working at a Manhattan talent agency, and although she is more than a little pretentious, which drives Tony crazy, he starts to develop a hidden admiration for her wanting to live a better life. Tony is also developing a gradual disgust with the manner in which most everyone takes out their despair by "dumping on each other," particularly as sexual predators, and this reflects a lot of the movie's unevenness. Staging this message in such a heavy handed sexual environment causes it to almost get lost. Throughout the film there is hardly a moment when a female character demonstrates any offense at torrentially constant sexual suggestiveness. Even barroom conversations between men and women are staged at a topless bar. Add to this Tony's inconsistencies. He is as vulgar as his less determined friends and not consistently solicitous towards the emotional and self-esteem problems of an insecure friend, Bobby, who's trying to deal with a pregnant girlfriend. Tony and Stephanie are intended as sympathetic but the film has Tony ignoring promises to call the stressed out Bobby and has Stephanie deliver a viciously insulting remark to him. When they're allowed to display warmth, the film excels. Tony is not able to get a day off to help Stephanie move some of her things from her old Brooklyn residence, so he quits rather than leave her hanging. After driving to her Manhattan apartment, they run into a male ex-roommate she expected to be out of town but who is now completing his move out. In a brief exchange with him, Stephanie endures a condescending criticism of her speech and then a particularly phony criticism about having read the wrong book rather than the one that trendy intellectuals are suppose to have read. Her embarrassment before Tony is palpable. Back in the car after Tony challenges her to explain her interest in the man, she admits to having had a relationship and having helped him hide some of his assets from his divorcing wife. She tries at first to feign a casual, adult indifference about what the dissolved relationship means, but because she's beginning to trust the honest albeit blunt concern by Tony, she allows herself to surrender some of her denials of her having been used as her disguise of confident sophistication starts to collapse, and she breaks down, displaying a scared and vulnerable sweetness. Ms. Gorney gives as moving a display of sorrow as ever captured on film, very tearful but not hysterical or contrived. As he comforts her, Tony is beginning to learn how to be a friend to a woman and learning to actually like his more sensitive and decent side. Travolta even allowed his eyes to moisten for the scene. In a sub-plot Tony's family is devastated by his brother's decision to leave the priesthood, who pontificates about the phoniness of the Church. Billions of words have been written by saintly scholars articulating this creed, but Hollywood seldomly passes up an opportunity to depict Catholicism as anything more than a cult for neurotics where the only good Catholic is an ex-Catholic. Also way out of place in this film, is a scene where Tony and his buddies get into a gang fight where, in B movie fashion, lethal weapons fly around but no one gets seriously hurt. Nearing the film's climax, Tony is still struggling to cultivate his decent side, which includes surrendering the ill-gained first prize in the dance contest to a more talented Puerto Rican couple. Yet a few minutes later he acts out his frustrations on Stephanie with a near rape, then takes another joy-ride with friends back to the bridge, is revolted by but does nothing to stop a two man gang rape occurring in the back seat during the trip, but castigates the girl for her promiscuous affectations when it's over. At the same time, in an attempt to finally prove his manhood with a risky climb on the bridge's cabling, Bobby finally gets everyone's attention, too late, as he loses his grip and plunges to his death. Witnessing the quasi-suicide and rape provokes a night of subway riding soul-searching for Tony culminating in a morning visit to Stephanie's apartment. Reluctantly, she lets him in, and Tony bears a vulnerable soul in wanting to start leading a more honest and decent life. It is a tribute to the acknowledged acting of Travolta and the equally touching performance of Gorney that they carry off a very tender scene, expressing a mutual respect and a commitment to be kind and supportive to each other. This is a good film that should have been great. Travolta achieved enormous acclaim, and Ms.Gorney should have had much better subsequent career offers than she did.
Rating: 
Summary: Definately A Historical Piece!
Review: While some reviews I've seen call the movie boring, I think it has to be looked as a cultural movie, reflecting the time it was made. If you watch an Astaire and Rodgers movie, and see the dancing, and hear the music, you are looking at a movie that was made in the 1930's. It showed the entertainment of that time. Saturday Night Fever was a break-thru movie not only for Travolta, but for the disco era.
Rating:
Summary: Hits you where you breathe... Italian style
Review: This is one of my all time favorite movies so I`m always dismayed when people dismiss it as kitsch, disco fluff. Maybe it`s because we only ever see the horrendously edited, barely comprehensible version on T.V. Or maybe people are put off by the ubiquitous nature of the soundtrack. Whatever the reason, I urge those people to check out the DVD and be amazed at how little they know the film. Travolta`s performance is just astounding. What other movie gives you gritty urban drama AND floor burnin` disco moves? I defy anyone not to punch the air when Travolta does the `funky cossack.`
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie, great sound, terrible print
Review: Let me first state that I love this movie. Absolutely. I have seen it no fewer than 10 times. I naturally was thrilled to hear it was re-released on DVD. Though Paramount has put a great deal of care into the 5.1 dts upgrade, the picture quality really stinks. The print is faded, and there is minimal color saturation. This movie's colors should be jumping out at you! The contrast ratio stinks. So despite the re-issue, the film sadly still looks old.
Ultimately, there is little difference between this print & the older VHS issue(other than the letterboxing). The main positive point for me is the great sound upgrade (fab!) But I'm mad at Paramount. They could have done more with the print. I mean, if you're gonna do it, do it right. If you want a great example of an older movie receiving good print treatment, check out Stanley Kubrick's 2001. All this said, SNF is a great movie, a perfect slice if the 70's disco scene. I still love it anyway. It'll be watching of course. But if anyone at the Paramount DVD department is reading this...
:( 2 u
Rating:
Summary: Get the fever every night !!
Review: This dvd is fantastic ! From the vh1 "behind the scenes" segment, to the other option on the dvd itself , Saturday Night Fever is an energetic time capsule , that harnesses the innocense , bravado , and indestructability that we all feel as teenagers (especially , us guys) , regardless of what year it is.The sound and picture are maintained in it's crispest form. Being a dvd fanatic , I enjoy the commentary from dvd's, and this one is no exception. As for the movie , itself ? Wonderful. Saturday Night Fever doesn't miss a beat. It's decribed by some as a John Travolta vehicle. However , in actuality, it's a vehicle for anyone with angst and a youthful heart, that yearns to be not only accepted , but placed on a pedastal by his/her peers. In this case , on the dance floor. The soudtrack is historic in it's own preportions and I often found myself dancing to music that is older than I am. I highly recommend the anniversary version for the bonus info., if not , the regular version is great ,too. I could say more, but I have a disco dance class to go to.
Rating:
Summary: A Star is Born!!
Review: John Travolta was just getting started with Welcome Back, Kotter when he was tapped for the role of Tony Manero, a guy who could only find solace in dancing at a discoteque. I was so impressed with his performance that I've watched it many times over. The DVD also has two scenes that were not in the original movie. It still holds up after 25 years. Finally, this movie is on DVD and it was worth the wait!!
Rating: 
Summary: Fevered
Review: I'm going against the grain on this one. I hated it. Sure, the music is great, but the characters are truly some of the worst people I've ever seen. John Travolta plays a spineless wuss who lives at home then struts about on the disco floor like a girl. But, it's the girls he's after, and he lays them, and leaves them like he's making a deposit in a human sperm-bank. His wish to attach himself to another human being is parallel to the lack of actual physical contact on the dancefloor. His friends are a bunch of jerks, one of whom tries to prove his manhood by falling off a bridge. But, all this garbage is set to a great soundtrack!
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: What a great movie. I just saw it for the first time...and I gotta say, it was awesome. It was a lot deeper than I thought it could ever be. Travolta puts on a star performance. It is really an unbelievable performance, when you think about the tragic death of his girlfriend during the shoot. Overall, this movie is more about one man/boy trying to find himself in the big city than it is about everything else. The working class hero who seemingly has it all but really doesn't have anything at all. Except on the dance floor. The DVD is nice. It comes in a cheap case, which isn't bad, and there's 3 deleted scenes and a VH1 Behind the Music special, which has some cool behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the stars (some that have aged well, others that really, really haven't).
Rating:
Summary: The Funniest Movie Ever Made (Unintentionally)
Review: Not much else to add about this classic except for the utterly hilarious dialogue, mostly provided by Tony Manero (Travolta). Here are my top five funniest lines(there are hundreds of others) from the film: 1) "My Hair! You know I work on my hair for a really long time and then he goes and smacks it...he hits my hair" - Tony 2) "Stephanie, what were you doing with that guy, he's the biggest (expletive) hound in Bay Ridge, he's a..." - Tony 3) "Go ahead,... I knew you would. A raise means like your good." Tony 4) "I mean what are you anyway Annette? Are you a nice girl or a (expletive)?" Tony 5) Tony's boss: well, if you take the afternoon then your fired!
Tony: Fired... If you don't own this on DVD you must buy it now, it's an absolute classic. Highest Recommendation.
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