For those of us of a certain age, what are the images Saturday Night Fever evokes? Well, Travolta’s Tony Manero strutting down a Brooklyn Street (to the Bee Gees’ ’Stayin’ Alive,” of course) swinging a can of paint for one. Then there’s Tony’s solo dance at the club to “You Should Be Dancing.” And, of course, the big number in the dance competition, Tony in his white suit and black shirt and Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney) in her floaty dress, dancing to “More Than a Woman.” The movie and its soundtrack were the music of the era. I remember going to a dorm mixer fall semester of my sophomore year, after the movie had come out, with “Disco Inferno” blasting on the stereo system. Everyone knew the music, and everyone was trying to copy the look.
Watching the film again for the first time in quite a while, I was struck by how much more there is to it than just the dance scenes. Not that those aren’t still the heart of the movie, but I hadn’t remembered how much of the story is about growing up and trying to get out of the rut and into something new. Stephanie is the main embodiment of that, with her focus on remaking herself into someone much more sophisticated and glamorous, capped off by moving across the river into Manhattan. Tony comes to feel that way, too, partly because of frustration with his friends who don’t feel the need to move on, partly because of the example of his older brother who leaves the priesthood because it’s their parents’ dream, not his own, and partly just because of a feeling that there’s more to life than working in a paint store and dancing on the weekends.
John Travolta is terrific in this film. His Tony is equal parts toughness and vulnerability. Oh, and can he dance! And work that suit. And the black briefs. A younger friend of mine was talking about how easy it must have been for Travolta to play Tony after being Vinnie Barbarino. Respectfully, Tony Manero is a long way away from Vinnie. Travolta gives a multi-layered performance that really makes the film. Frankly, most everyone else fades into the background. Gorney isn’t at Travolta’s level, in either acting or dancing. Tony’s trio of friends, Bobby C (Barry Miller), Double J (Paul Pape) and Joey (Joseph Cali) are all fine in their character roles, but even the tragic Bobby C doesn’t really stand out. Best after Travolta is Donna Pescow, playing Annette, Tony’s original dance partner who wants to be much more, and who takes a wrong turn trying to get there.
As noted, there are a lot of special features. You can watch the film with commentary by director John Badham, or with a feature called “70s Discopedia,” sort of a pop-up video (though not as entertaining). If you don’t have a big screen monitor, you may have trouble reading the subtitles; they’re quite small.
There’s a multi-part “Catching the Fever,” which includes a look back at the film’s impact, how the soundtrack came together, the costuming, the disco era and a short focus on Travolta. Most feature comments from the director, producers (including executive producer Robert Stigwood) and nearly all the principal actors (with Travolta notably absent). The soundtrack discussion includes the two surviving members of the Bee Gees, Barry and Robin Gibb, the former looking hale and hearty and the latter emaciated. But, that section has some of the most interesting discussion of the whole piece.
There’s a fairly cheesy featurette called “Back to Bay Ridge,” with Joseph Cali running around Brooklyn visiting some of the locations. And, if watching the film has you ready to hit the clubs, there are two featurettes to help you with that. Dance teacher to the stars (so he says) John Cassese and a partner will teach you the competition dance, and another featurette called “Fever Challenge!” will teach you the steps to the iconic dance with the hip swivels and arm pointing. Lastly, there are three deleted scenes that could have been left off this as well since they add very little.
The music sounds great in Dolby True HD; the sound levels for the dialogue were a bit off at times on my copy. The widescreen picture seemed a little squished on my screen, although it was still fine; aspect ratio is 1.85:1. Subtitle options are English, French, Portuguese and Spanish.