Written by James M. Tate / 6/17/2014 / No comments / barry miller , cynthia rhodes , frank stallone , john travolta , sequel , seventies , sylvester stallone
JOHN TRAVOLTA IN 'SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER' AND 'STAYING ALIVE'
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John Travolta (facing unseen talent agent Estelle Getty) YEAR: 1983 |
It belongs entirely to writer/director Sylvester Stallone, rehashing the ROCKY storyline of a diamond in the rough fighting to survive, and given a miraculous chance at quick fame (much like Stallone himself)...
Only here he's a dancer, not a boxer... and unlike the Oscar-winning southpaw tale, it's a pretty bad movie/great guilty pleasure, and fun as hell! Travolta struggles to make it from the streets to lead dancer in the cheesiest Broadway musical ever created, SATAN'S ALLEY (a title derived from Stallone's own b-movie, PARADISE ALLEY), a cross between CATS and a surreal flu dream...
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"Dancing So Close... To... The Fire!" |
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Cynthia's "Rocky" Rhodes |
All the while he uses his loyal girlfriend played by Cynthia Rhodes, a cross between FEVER originals Karen Lynn Gorney (talented) and Donna Pescow (sympathetic): Rhode's Jackie just can't help but to love the bad boy. And, like Rocky Balboa, our dancing hero, sculpted with mapped-out body muscles yet looking strangely gaunt, facially, strives for heights never thought possible: Tony, having "grown up," is now going for gold.
The new, geared-for-the-1980's Bee Gee's Soundtrack, unlike the classically catchy disco romps of the late-70's (which had seemed a thousand years earlier but was only six), is full of breezy, filler, forgettable pop tunes. Meanwhile, Frank Stallone's muscular fanfare, Far From Over, captures the "drive" a whole lot better, serving as a victorious anthem much like Bill Conti's Gonna Fly Now in ROCKY...
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"Demented Paratroop;er" |
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Staying Alive Normal Movie Score: *** Bad Movie Cult Status: **** |
And last but not least but definitely the most obscure pop culture Easter Egg for Cinefiles (years before we used banal movie-geek catchphrases like Easter Eggs... or Cinefiles): If you listen closely towards the end of the movie during the halfway point of the musical where, backstage, you'll hear someone say: "Yo, Adrian... Showtime!"
disco year of: 1977 |
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Serpico Night Fever |
No news here, but it's the music on the million dollar soundtrack that's the real deal, headlined by the Bee Gees Stayin’ Alive, a funky shuffling anthem impossible not to move around to...
Other songs include How Deep is your Love, obviously providing the love theme throughout despite an unrequited romance: The established playboy has finally met a chick he can't melt with his usual sly charm... More Than A Woman is the soulful dance groove while Night Fever, a backbeat rendition of Stayin’ Alive, is a far better tune. Of course tracks by other artists also keep the ball rolling including Disco Inferno, Boogie Shoes and A Fifth of Beethoven, all taking place within the 2001 ODYSSEY nightclub, a location director John Badham captures in all its glittery glory.
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The Rea Goldmine was the Album |
Back to basics... the friendship between Tony and his gang could have meant more, overall, like in GREASE where each "T-Bird" had a purpose other than propping up their leader's overall significance. But with an expectation of the doomed Bobby (played by Barry Miller, who turns in a much better performance as a whizkid in PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED), none of the fellas really stand out. One scene where they, goading their leader, bark like dogs at a White Castle is downright embarrassing: to Tony and the audience. And a sidestory about a local rival gang seems completely tacked on.
Meanwhile, Tony's fangirls, including Donna Pescow’s starry eyed Annette, who hangs around street corners just to watch Tony walk, or Fran Drescher as the non-rhythmic Connie, are useful idiots showing how uncaring our lead character is...
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"One day you'll direct me!" |
But no matter how hard it tries being a gritty urban melodrama, FEVER winds up a soundtrack film with an intentionally pointless anti-hero looking to strike an egocentric claim on existence... Yet his only real motivation, overriding even the desire to win the climactic dance contest, is when Tony tries for sexual action with his dance partner – the catch being only he’s interested in romance, which ironically winds up making him a more interesting character throughout.
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