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Saturday Night Fever
Studio: Paramount
Year: 1977
Rated: R
Film Length: 118 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (1.85:1)
Subtitles:
Where do you go when the record is over
Though fans have been haunting Paramount for such
titles as Grease and Raiders of the Lost
Ark, it is actually Saturday Night Fever
that has been the object of my desire since Paramount
entered DVD nearly 5 years ago.
With the release a mere week away, I went through
my own little hell trying to get my hands on a copy
for review. Paramount was very late in getting
screener copies out to the Press, and as a result,
members were posting the earliest reviews of this
title. You need to understand how important this
film is to me. It ranks as one of my top three
favorite films, and no matter what, I wanted to
review this film as soon as possible. That prompted
me to find an alternate means of getting a copy of
the DVD in my hands, and I really need to thank
Moderator Steve Simon for loaning me his copy.
In 1976, Dick Clark interviewed an up and coming
singer named John Travolta who told the American
Bandstand host that he was currently working on
his first feature film, promising it would hot.
Little did anyone know that a year later, Travolta
would rise to superstar status as Tony Monero, in
this coming-of-age film tale about a guy who
struggles to be the disco king at a local disco
and learns the value of life in 1977 Brooklyn.
The film opens in Brooklyn's Bay Ridge section.
A teenage Tony Monero (John Travolta) struts his
way through the dreary streets of Brooklyn, as he
swings a paint can to the beat of The Bee Gees. We
follow him to work as he contends with a menial
job at a paint store and comes home to constant
harassment from his Mother and Father who wish
he were more like his brother Frank (Martin Shakar)
who turned to the priesthood -- or has he? At night,
Tony is the boss as he dons a polyester suit and
takes control of the local disco with his hordes of
followers. When Tony is dancing on the dance floor,
his problems are forgotten and his limitations soar.
While he has no problem attracting women like Annette
(Donna Peskow) who will do anything for him, Tony's
attraction turns towards Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney),
a beautiful but snobbish woman who represents his dream
of class.
Saturday Night Fever prompted a cultural
revolution making white polyester suits an instant
fashion craze, defined a generation of disco dancers
and put the music of The Bee Gees in just about every
household with the largest-selling soundtrack in
history. It was a film that defined the 70s era with
its portrayal of youth and rebellion.
Saturday Night Fever arrives in a very
unique digipack box. I generally hate these damn
flimsy cardboard packages, but for once, I can
forgive Paramount for choosing it. I was quite
surprised by the box's cover art that features
a posing Travolta against a glittering dance floor
background that almost looks totally holographic.
This is a wonderful packaging idea and I give thanks
to Paramount for adding something special to the
cover art.
It took a little bit of time to figure out how
I could pull the inside packaging out without
damaging the box sleeve, but I managed to do it.
The cardboard innards opens to a 2-pane gatefold
with plastic hub housing that holds the DVD. The
artwork inside is exceptional, featuring Tony
Monero sitting alone in a graffiti-adorned subway
car with cigarette in his mouth. On the left pane
is a pop-out pocket of Tony Monero which holds a
single-page chapter listing.
How is the transfer?
I think I died and went to heaven. This transfer
is everything I had only dreamed it would be.
There is no doubt that Paramount spent a lot of
time and effort in making this DVD transfer look
as exceptional as it does. In fact, it looks and
sounds like a totally brand new film.
Let me talk a little about the picture and sound
together, as both go hand in hand in making this
a totally satisfying movie experience.
As the film begins, and the camera pans over the
span of the Verazzano bridge, you can hear the
distinct noises of boat horns in the front channels
and the sound of city bound traffic in the rears.
Suddenly we catch an incoming Brooklyn-bound "B"
train as The Gibb Brothers' vocals rise from the
sounds of the train's brakes as it comes to a
screeching halt. Suddenly we find ourselves
immersed in 5 channels of Bee Gees music. Tony's
vividly red-collared dress shirt peaks out beneath
his jet black leather jacket as he struts with paint
can in hand to the heart-pounding LFE channel beats
of "Staying Alive".
As you sit back and watch these opening moments,
you can't help but gape at the visual and audio
presentation that plays before you. Here is a
film that looks as good as it sounds.
The transfer is nothing short of incredible when
you consider how lackluster this film has looked
through repeated cable broadcasts, and how similar
films of this period have transferred over to the
DVD format. I swear to you, the film looks as if
it was shot yesterday. Images are razor-sharp and
immaculately detailed. There is not a single bit
of film grain or noise to be seen anywhere. Colors
look vivid and extremely well balanced. Night scenes
on the dark lamp lit streets of Brooklyn never lose
any detail whatsoever. Most of all, for the first
time on any format, the colors inside the Odyssey
2001 dance club no longer look smeared with its
colors breaking through the smoke-filled room.
There is far sharper detail and color balance here
than ever seen before.
If you think you never saw Saturday Night
Fever look this good -- wait until you
hear the new 5.1 Dolby Digital mix. You of
course realize that the sound has been totally
re-engineered to take advantage of the 5.1
spectrum -- and while it's not as perfect as
it would have sounded today, it comes very close.
Dialogue does stay mostly in the center channel,
though it does somewhat bleed to the fronts. There's
also an equal amount of front action distributed
between the front and center channels. The rear
channels are constantly filled with the sounds of
the city, making the film's listening environment
more realistic. All the music in this film has
been souped-up and remixed. Fortunately, the dialogue
to music mix has been engineered very well in that
one never overpowers the other. The disco sounds
of The Bee Gees music along with artists such
as The Trammps, Kool and the Gang and
Walter Murphy come across the front channels
with immense beat-pounding sonic force unlike I have
ever heard before, supplemented by a very aggressive
LFE channel that pounds away to every musical beat.
I was extremely happy with the dynamic range and
subwoofer response of this film's soundtrack.
Special Features
The DVD begins with the pulsating sounds of
Disco Inferno as the multi-colored lights
of the 2001 Odyssey dance floor reveal window
shots containing snippets of scenes from the film.
This is the kind of menu that really sets the mood
for the film. A wonderful job by Paramount!
There's a full length commentary by
Director John Badham, who is a pleasure to
listen to simply because he is very enthusiastic
about talking about his film. Through the film's
opening we learn that Travolta's sister had a cameo
as the pizza vender, and that his brother Joey
stood in for him during some of the paint can
shots while John was away grieving the loss of
his girlfriend. Badham talks about the experience
of shooting on the streets of Brooklyn rather than
on a studio back lot, and the difficulties they had
with mobs of fans that showed up to the film shoots.
Searching from disco to disco through the city of
New York, Badham kept coming back to the 2001
Odyssey simply because it represented Brooklyn.
The club was much simpler than what presented.
A company came in and built a $15,000 dance floor,
while the set designer bought roles of aluminum
foil and hung it on the walls to give a glittering
effect to the film. Suffice to say, the club owner
was very happy with what was done. Badham reveals
that throughout the film, the original music was
played to the actors, but a mistake in a timing
synch almost caused the film to be released in
mono rather than stereo. Though I was a little
disappointed that the Director remained silent
during the sequence on the Verazzano Narrows Bridge,
he does manage to make it up later during the
second climatic bridge sequence where we learn
why Travolta was determined to stay out of certain
shots.
It's a joy listening to Badham talk. You can tell
how much he loved this film as well as the music
that became a part of it.
Highlights from VH1's Behind The Music,
concentrates on the filming of Saturday Night
Fever, which we are told was anything but
magical. Before the documentary's opening credits
has a chance to roll, a recent interview with
Travolta reveals that he never thought he'd ever
get through it all. First there was the huge
amount of choreography that had to be learned,
some of which we see here briefly in John Avidsen's
home movies. Then there were the mobs of fans
that showed up on the set, almost halting film
production. In the middle of filming, Travolta
lost his real-life girlfriend to breast cancer.
Featured interviews with cast members John
Travolta, Donna Peskow, Paul Pape and Barry Miller
as well as critics like Gene Siskel, talk about
how the film triggered a new social movement in
America. People were suddenly finding something
new in their lives as they danced to a whole new
disco beat. It was talented Producer Robert
Stigwood that laid out the money and bought the
film rights to a trendy 1975 magazine article
written by Nik Cohn. Through many script and
character revisions as well as the firing of an
initial Director, John Badham came on board to
take over a project that most doubted would ever
be completed. Alongside home movies, we watch
dance coach Denny Terrio talk about teaching an
enthusiastic Travolta floor splits and knee drops.
Being an experienced dancer, Travolta was able to
easily learn the new dance moves. We even get to
see Travolta having a humorous moment watching
this seemingly lost home video footage for the
first time. Director John Badham talked about
the crisis he faced as he came aboard a dying
project -- one without a leading actress. A recent
interview with Karen Lynn Gorney reveals how she
got the role from a chance taxi cab interview.
We learn that once the film was completed and
Travolta saw the rough cut, he was devastated by
the fact that his favorite dance sequence had been
wrongly cut -- especially since he worked so hard
on it. A contact to Robert Stigwood gave Travolta
final say to how a dance sequence would be edited.
There was also great fear that this film was being
made at a time when the disco trend was dying off.
Little did the filmmakers know that this would be
the film that would bring a brand new awakening to
the disco movement. A really superb documentary
that I am so happy to see included on this DVD.
(length: approx. 30 minutes)
Three deleted scenes have made their way
to this explosive DVD release. They include...
* Tony driving Stephanie to the front steps of
her suburban home as he attempts to make out with
her in the front seat, despite Stephanie's harsh
objections. (1:28)
* Tony accepts a telegram for his father. His
father learns that he is being called back to work
as he banters with his son about household money.
(1:06)
* An extension of the film's final scene finds
Tony arriving at Stephanie's home as he apologizes
to her over an intercom. (:58)
All of these scenes are in finished form.
Now here's a question....where the heck is the
film's trailer? How on earth did Paramount
overlook this small detail?
Final Thoughts
Saturday Night Fever is a film that set
trends and captured imaginations. Two decades
after its release it has lost none of its appeal.
Paramount has done a tremendous job with this
film's transfer. It was almost worth waiting
5 years for this, as I don't think such care would
have been given to this DVD back in 1997. With
the exception of not including the film's original
trailer, I am very happy with the quantity of
supplemental material that has been included on
this DVD.
Perhaps after seeing the amount of screenshots
I have included here and the enthusiasm in my
words, you'll realize how proud I am that one of
my top three favorite films has been done right
on DVD.
Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
you deserve to own the hottest DVD of the year! Pop
it in your player and literally feel the city breakin'
and everybody shakin'.
Release Date: October 8, 2002
