Hacker Cinema
Saturday Night Fever
1977 · Film · 118 min
Part of Tony Manero Collection
Directed by John Badham
Tony spends his Saturdays at a disco where his stylish moves raise his popularity among the patrons. But his life outside the disco is not easy and things change when he gets attracted to Stephanie.
2 positive1 mixed7 neutralfrom 10 commenters
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11 comments on Hacker News
There's high praise in some movies or animation where they depict the mundane; the long sequence in Ghost in the Shell just showing the city as it is, away from the main story (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARTLckN9e7I), most of Studio Ghibli's films, a lot of Breaking Bad and especially Better Call Saul, where there's a lot of scenes of people just going about their day, John Travolta getting a can of paint and a pizza in the opening of Saturday Night Fever (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfwQ_7xqO7Y), etc.
Such a cheesy film, but it has moments that just work so well. "Warriors come out to play" is such a great scene. In some ways I don't think you could even write it, it just has to happen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRM2YcGpmxg
>I didn’t get along with the people who ran Paramount and we got off to a poor start. They saw it as some kind of sequel to Saturday Night Fever. It’s pretty hard to imagine more disparate storylines.
I feel like I see this issue all the time now. Some idea, some ill fitting franchise gets slapped on it (let's do a story about a messed up childhood / identity issues / kidnapping ... in Star Wars), and even a poorly fitting format (let's turn this movie into a multi season series) gets thrown on it and nobody is brave enough or able to somehow separate the mismatching pieces ...
The hype around Disco and the resulting backlash were so intense that people lost sight of what actually happened. Discotheques were a cultural trend that started in the 60's and went big in the 70's, and it was an international phenomenon that included Europe and Latin America before it spread into the US.
If you watch Saturday Night Fever and pay attention, you will notice that people tend to forget what the movie was actually about: A group of Italian American teenagers living in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn in the late 70's who used the then-vibrant Disco scene as an escape from their otherwise problematic lives. It's a pretty messed-up movie.
And Disco didn't die, it just evolved into the 1980's club scene. When Michael Jackson worked with Quincy Jones to make Off The Wall, he pointed the way for an entire decade that was still in the future.
The only reason I find it interesting is because she started that company when people were still thinking any new tech will change the world.
You guys were still drooling over Zuckerburg, and that movie. (Some claim different, but for many Zuck was John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever for a generation of nerds. Yes, it's embarrassing now, because they All sold out. Facebook, Google, etc. were going to make society better. The story is still unfolding, but greed rules when you get out of school? I guess?
She copied Steve Jobs with her rediculious attire, and we all were afaraid to ask the tough questions because of her gender. Everytime I questioned her company, someone would accuse me of misogyney in a subtle ways.
In the end, she blamed her actions on that little fat guy who followed her around like a hungry puppy dog.
In a way, I'm glad we had a Holmes. Getting that gold rush money was irritating for those that didn't have the inside friends, or the wealthy parents.
I've always felt Bond's success was due to Sir. Sean Connery.
I don't think it was about race at all, it was about charisma.
I even go further and say we would probally not have a Bond theatrical legacy, if it wasen't for Connery's decision to be an actor.
Oh yea, Rolex owes so much advertising dollars to the estate of Connery.
That iconic wrist shot sold millions of Oyster Subs.
I repair watches part time. There are guys who bring me their overpriced broken watch, and when we meet at the door, I would swear they were brought up watching Bond movies.
Most sub owners just want a working quality watch, but there are others that take on Connery's persona in little ways.
Kinda like the young guys who wanted to be fighter pilots after watching Top Gun, or be Bud in Urban Coyboy, or living Tony's life after watching Saturday Night Fever. Most of you are probally to young, but after Saturday Night Fever, America became disco dancers. After Urban Cowboy, Stock brokers were doing the two step, and had a slight accent overnight. It was funny. And yes--I bought a polyester shirt. And yes--I bought cowboy boots. I let it go though. I'm embarrassed even writing about it.
My point is certain charismatic actors are the reason certain films are great.
The color of America is changing, and there will be actors that out shine some of our greats.
(I am a total movie snob. I don't think Bond movies are magic. I do think Connery, and Travolta, had huge natural star power though. All my great movies were are in black, and white. I've noticed The Last Picture Show is on tv today. If you haven't seen it you must. Peter Bogdonovich captured a certain time in Texas brilliantly. All the actors did a phenomenal job. Billy is Timothy Bottons brother in real life. Have a good weekend guys.)
I know a fair few of those people, except they didn't walk to the west, they sailed. Basically my parents, and my aunts and uncles.
Like I said elsewhere, it's a good attitude that you can do it, but it's not actually realistic that you can. People learn this the hard way in sports for example. We aren't all going to starting QB, there's only 32 of those jobs.
> "Dirty Dancing", "Saturday Night Fever"
Movies from back before the drawbridge came up.
> Complaining about not being a billionaire's son is a waste of your life.
Well I actually went to school with a billionaire's kid, and I never thought I'd rather have his life. Nor did anyone else.
There's also a fair bit of gap between "oh why am I not a prince" and "everything I'm good at or want to do will cost me a huge amount of debt".
> What do they know that you don't?
People are mistaken about how other countries are all the time. Do you think Western defectors to the communist blocks were never disappointed?
Keep in mind not everyone knows everything, even after they turn 18.
If you think there's so much opportunity, why is it that people are complaining about the lack of it? Perhaps they've actually tried to search for them and couldn't find any?
It's their choice, not their destiny.
Young people reject their parents all the time. A pervasive issue in parenting is the kids refuse to listen to the parents. Movies about it are quite popular - see "Dirty Dancing", "Saturday Night Fever", on and on and on.
I'm not buying the lack of agency of young people. It's just another excuse for choosing the easy way.
If you are not where you want to be in life, have you done anything today to move towards that goal? If you've done nothing, then choose better. It's your life, not mine. Complaining about not being a billionaire's son is a waste of your life.
If you're in the US, of sound mind and body, and over 18, there's never been a time in history with more opportunity for you. If you refuse to see it, nobody can help you. But just think about all those migrants with nothing walking thousands of miles with the hope of getting into the US.
What do they know that you don't?
Well, to the best of my knowledge, these are nice additions to my list of recommendations :-)
1. I agree, that final scene in An American in Paris is just mindblowing (for the lack of a better word). I've seen it at least 20 times and it still amazes me. Vincente Minnelli was a one of a kind genius. Another highlight for me was Astair's Puttin' on the Ritz from Blue Skies. And as for Gershwin - I myself prefer his Piano concerto.
2. As far as I know, musicals were the most popular genre in 1930s-40s and a lot of talent was put in their creation (and it shows). That said, I just don't like the genre for two reasons:
- Astair/Rogers-style, where actors suddenly transition from dialog to dancing, just seem too weird and far fetched to me;
- Busby Berkeley-style extravaganzas are, indeed, better and, as a rule, visually stunning. But for me they fail as films simply because there is usually not enough plot/dialogues (that is, the whole plot is just a vehicle to show dancing sequences). These type of films are better enjoyed as short clips on youtube :-) Uncharacteristically, I've enjoyed much later Saturday Night Fever and Dirty Dancing, both made in this style. Although I think these two films could have been even better if their creators were more ambitious. There were a lot of unused potential in them.
3. I have no objections to the westerns as a genre. I've included both Destry Rides Again and Stagecoach. It's just that I've seen ~10 westerns from 50s and 60s, didn't like any of them and decided to skip the genre altogether. I might return to them some time in the future.
My favorite movies, but for no particuliar reason:
Platoon
Wall street
Three days of the condor
Chinatown
Sunset Boulevard
The Stranger(actually all of Orson Wells movies)
Any Andy Griffith episode
Bicycle thieves 1948
Niagara
Double indemnity (actually most billy wilder films)
The Misfits (last film for Marilyn and Rhett Butler--forgot his name.)
Giant
Rebal without a cause
Leaving Las Vegas
Blow out (all three)
Saturday night fever
Yes, even Urban Cowboy
One flew over the cocos nest
Deliverance
Hanna and her sisters
East of Eden
Dr. Strange love
Back to the future
Jaws
In cold blood(with Robert Blake)
In cold blood (with Eric Roberts, and forget his name)
The asphalt jungle 1948?
All about eve
The hot rock
Little Haus Big Halsey (Redford said it was his worst movie. Yes, it's masagonistic. Yes, he plays a jerk. But the movie captures the 70's I recall as a kid. The filming is great. His side kick in the movie did a great job playing a sweet, innocent, country teen.)
A lot of foreign films I have yet to see.
In 1977, the movie "Saturday Night Fever" was link bait for Robert Stigwood to sell the sound track album. That same year, George Lucas released "Star Wars," and one of his business goals from the start was to "Build a Real Company," which he did by exploiting merchandising tie-ins.
"Link baiting" to sell a book is a kind of tie-in, just like sound track albums and toys. If what you say is true, then this post is an example of the pop culture it depicts. That would be pleasingly self-referential.
Alas, it isn't true. I wrote a different post yesterday, one about the I Combinator in CoffeeScript. That one was a deliberate tie-in to my book. Some of the feedback I got from /r/javascript was that the idioms were unfamiliar to the JavaScript culture, which provoked this post.
So yes, I do write posts with the thought of promoting my book, but no, this wasn't one of them. But yes, as long as I'm writing a post I include a link to my book. Why not? I read a lot of posts with advertisements on them. Why advertise someone else's dream?
And Close Encounters, and Saturday Night Fever, which both have blue-ish posters here: http://www.imdb.com/list/_EcfN1DMzJQ/
Also The Deep, which isn't on that list but did pretty well so likely had a lot of posters. All of which would be mostly ocean. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075925/