41 replies to this topic

[Loomis]

Believe it or not, I've never seen SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, or its sequel STAYING ALIVE. Should I?

Well? C'mon, guys, time is money. Answer me!

More to the point, how to extend this series? A reboot? Prequel? Straight-up sequel? D'yer wanna see Travolta return to the role?

[Mister Asterix]

Never seen either either. I plan for it to stay that way.

[Eurospy]

Maybe they should avoid any kind of remakes or sequels for this one.

Still, I never really understood why Travolta is an A-list star.

[dodge]

Well, as I remember it: SNF is still riveting watching for the dancing...but I think the rest of it is pretty dated. SA shows Stallone at his worst as a director: it seems mainly to have been a vanity production, a chance for him to show off the Travolta he whipped into shape. The dancing sequences are botched by his obsession with shooting Travolta's ripped torso, from the waist up--can't even see most of the moves.

[Santa]

Oh. My. God. Now I understand why people react as they do when I say I have never seen Grease. You have to see Saturday Night Fever. I vaguely remember SA and I wouldn't say that's a must in the same way, but you simply MUST see SNF. It's brilliant, genius. I cannot watch that film sitting down and silent, it takes over my legs and makes me dance and sing along to it. I hope you do the same.

[Judo chop]

I cannot watch that film sitting down and silent, it takes over my legs and makes me dance and sing along to it. I hope you do the same.

I will.

I will take over your legs and make you dance and sing.

[Mister Asterix]

I cannot watch that film sitting down and silent, it takes over my legs and makes me dance and sing along to it. I hope you do the same.

I will.

I will take over your legs and make you dance and sing.

Please. Please! Make sure that makes it on to YouTube.

[Judo chop]

I cannot watch that film sitting down and silent, it takes over my legs and makes me dance and sing along to it. I hope you do the same.

I will.

I will take over your legs and make you dance and sing.

Please. Please! Make sure that makes it on to YouTube.

Will do. And this time we’ll make sure the editing is nice and leisurely, so as we’re not to miss a thing.

[Santa]

Judo Chop, have you not noticed my threats to kill you when you post things of me? Because I will do it. Staying alllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvveeee.

[Safari Suit]

Saturday Night Fever, quite aside from it's massive pop cultural significance, is just a great, gritty urban drama; one of the best portraits of young life in Hollywood history. It was Gene Siskel's favourite movie. See it!

Staying Alive is increadibly watered-down (only PG!), and ultimately rather forgettable. It's not quite as bad as critics made out though, and the musical at the end is campy fun. And yes there is a Stallone cameo . And guess who turns up on the soundtrack?

The only way this series could possibly be continued is with a Balboa-esque sequel, not that I'm saying that would be a good idea.

[Judo chop]

This thread scares me.

And that's not even considering the public death threats I'm receiving.

[Loomis]

And guess who turns up on the soundtrack?

Seriously?

I'm sold!

And, yes, I know that you know that I know who you mean.

As for a ROCKY BALBOA-esque sequel, hopefully Travolta will get round to TONY MANERO* at some point soon. And who better to direct than You Know Who?

I did read rumours back in the '80s that Travolta would be doing a third flick in the franchise, entitled FAR FROM OVER, but, sadly, no such thing came to pass.

*Although TONY MANERO is, I gather, the title of a Chilean serial killer movie about a nutcase who's obsessed with SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (!):

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1223975/

[Tarl_Cabot]

You haven't seen SNF? Wow. Your street cred just got lowered a peg...it's Roger Ebert's favorite movie for what it's worth. It's entertaining...the movie takes place in the 70s when 18 and over was the drinking age and so NY was more like Europe/latin america...anyway, I'd say it's worth a look. I do have the soundtrack, which rules.

The sequel was a disaster...it was direced by some hack named STALLONE.


And...this is not a franchise! Taco Bell is a franchise.

[Safari Suit]

I did read rumours back in the '80s that Travolta would be doing a third flick in the franchise, entitled FAR FROM OVER, but, sadly, no such thing came to pass.

Far From Over was the name of the biggest hit from the soundtrack to the second movie, by a certain someone who lets just say was guaranteed a soundtrack spot if Sly directed the third one.

Of course there's also that Sly/Travolta Godfather III story

Staying Alive was actually in the Top 10 biggest grossers of 83 in the states, I believe, so certainly they could have made a third if they'd wanted to despite the awful reputation.

Your street cred just got lowered a peg...it's Roger Ebert's favorite movie for what it's worth.

It was Gene Siskel's favourite movie, as far as I know it's not Roger's. Certainly, it was Gene who bought the tuxedo at an auction.

Tony Manero sounds like sleazy "fun" a la Joe Spinell's Maniac.

[Loomis]

Well.

Well, well, well.

So I took the Tony Manero challenge, renting STAYING ALIVE. And it was something of a letdown, to be frank.

Initially, I thought it was gonna be like a Rocky flick, but the problem is that Tony Manero is like a combination of Rocky and Paulie. On the surface, the character's got quite a bit of goofy charm, and Stallion-style homespun wisdom, and when he's all kitted out with bandana wrapped around his shoulder-length bouffant mullet and sporting a physique-flaunting tight vest (eerily foreshadowing writer/producer/director Stallone's look in the subsequent RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II), I thought I'd hit a rich seam of pure Stallone gold. Trouble is, though, inside Travolta's Italian-American dancing Balboa, there's trying to get out an unshaven fat slob who prowls his apartment in a sweaty wifebeater and boxer shorts, shouting and jabbing the air with a cheap cigar. Bluntly, Manero is - at least on the strength of STAYING ALIVE - something of a jerk. As well as incredibly dumb.

He is, mind you, a pretty good dancer, although that's something that one gleans mostly from the dialogue, since Stallone seems curiously uninterested in his protagonist's moves. There's an awful lot of telling, but surprisingly little showing, with Sly preferring to concentrate on an almost exquisitely tedious and predictable love triangle to the strains of one excruciating "song" after another. STAYING ALIVE was his fourth directorial effort (and, barring 1985's ROCKY IV, his last until 2006's ROCKY BALBOA), but it totally lacks the pace, excitement and slickness he brought to ROCKYs II and III. It is, in fact, bizarrely amateurish and clunky stuff, hampered further by peculiarly ugly cinematography. It's the sort of flick Rocky Balboa himself might have made, i.e. heart in right place but pretty darned awful. Stallone seems more of an enthusiastic dabbler sitting in the director's chair as a favour (although that word hardly seems appropriate) to friends, and it's hard to fathom precisely what he was trying to do with STAYING ALIVE. There's no evident passion or vision.

It's pretty much only in one scene that the thing flickers into some kind of life, namely when Tony goes home to visit his ma. It's here that Sly appears to acknowledge the importance of characterisation and allowing those characters to breathe, but it's an episode that has precious little relevance to the rest of the film.

Disappointing.

[zencat]

I like Saturday Night Fever. Never seen Staying Alive.

I think it's time for a third movie. Friday Night Hayfever.

[Turn]

Well.

Well, well, well.

So I took the Tony Manero challenge, renting STAYING ALIVE. And it was something of a letdown, to be frank.

Initially, I thought it was gonna be like a Rocky flick, but the problem is that Tony Manero is like a combination of Rocky and Paulie. On the surface, the character's got quite a bit of goofy charm, and Stallion-style homespun wisdom, and when he's all kitted out with bandana wrapped around his shoulder-length bouffant mullet and sporting a physique-flaunting tight vest (eerily foreshadowing writer/producer/director Stallone's look in the subsequent RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II), I thought I'd hit a rich seam of pure Stallone gold. Trouble is, though, inside Travolta's Italian-American dancing Balboa, there's trying to get out an unshaven fat slob who prowls his apartment in a sweaty wifebeater and boxer shorts, shouting and jabbing the air with a cheap cigar. Bluntly, Manero is - at least on the strength of STAYING ALIVE - something of a jerk. As well as incredibly dumb.

He is, mind you, a pretty good dancer, although that's something that one gleans mostly from the dialogue, since Stallone seems curiously uninterested in his protagonist's moves. There's an awful lot of telling, but surprisingly little showing, with Sly preferring to concentrate on an almost exquisitely tedious and predictable love triangle to the strains of one excruciating "song" after another. STAYING ALIVE was his fourth directorial effort (and, barring 1985's ROCKY IV, his last until 2006's ROCKY BALBOA), but it totally lacks the pace, excitement and slickness he brought to ROCKYs II and III. It is, in fact, bizarrely amateurish and clunky stuff, hampered further by peculiarly ugly cinematography. It's the sort of flick Rocky Balboa himself might have made, i.e. heart in right place but pretty darned awful. Stallone seems more of an enthusiastic dabbler sitting in the director's chair as a favour (although that word hardly seems appropriate) to friends, and it's hard to fathom precisely what he was trying to do with STAYING ALIVE. There's no evident passion or vision.

It's pretty much only in one scene that the thing flickers into some kind of life, namely when Tony goes home to visit his ma. It's here that Sly appears to acknowledge the importance of characterisation and allowing those characters to breathe, but it's an episode that has precious little relevance to the rest of the film.

Disappointing.

You should have seen Saturday Night Fever first. It still holds up as a pretty nice character study and portrait of the times. And the music is better too. Check it out. It's easy to see why Travolta was the hottest actor on the planet in the late '70s.

I still rememember when Siskel and Ebert reviewed Stayin' Alive and talking about how disappointed they were with it, only their favorite scene was the end when he does his walk.

I hope they never do any kind of remake or reboot of it. They'd stick somebody like Zac Effron or some Disney Channel star in the lead. No thanks.

[Harmsway]

You should have seen Saturday Night Fever first. It still holds up as a pretty nice character study and portrait of the times. And the music is better too. Check it out.

I'm with Turn.

[Loomis]

I still rememember when Siskel and Ebert reviewed Stayin' Alive and talking about how disappointed they were with it, only their favorite scene was the end when he does his walk.

Actually, that is a very cool moment. And, admittedly, the Broadway finale, shot and edited like a Rocky movie bout, and every bit as absurd, is pretty pulse-pounding stuff and guaranteed to raise a smile from Stallone fans.

I dunno, maybe I'm being too harsh on STAYING ALIVE. Perhaps I expected more from Sly (and, when he's on form, Travolta's no slouch either). It's just that, for most of the movie, Stallone seems to be attempting to remake FAME, but his occasional shots at a dark tone (and, as I understand it, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER is fairly dark) just keep misfiring wildly because the script is just so darn hokey and predictable, and the characters so ludicrous (although they're certainly played by talented people - the writing and directing are the problem here) that precious little of STAYING ALIVE has any real impact. For the most part, it's a flick that's all over the place, and, worse, it's boring. It's certainly no FLASHDANCE, I'll tell you that.

But, hey, it has its moments - a few. And I shall certainly be checking out SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER.

Curiously enough, STAYING ALIVE also has me pumped for THE EXPENDABLES, for judging by ROCKY BALBOA and RAMBO (2008) it's clear that Stallone's come on in leaps and bounds as a director.

On another side note, I wonder what happened to STAYING ALIVE's female leads, Finola Hughes and Cynthia Rhodes. I know that the latter was in DIRTY DANCING, but apart from that....

[Loomis]

You should have seen Saturday Night Fever first.

I'm glad I didn't. I'd have been even more disappointed by STAYING ALIVE.

I've just looked up Ebert's STAYING ALIVE review, and I agree with virtually every single word:

http://rogerebert.su.../307150301/1023

Staying Alive

Movies / Roger Ebert / July 15, 1983

Staying Alive" is a big disappointment. This sequel to the gutsy, electric "Saturday Night Fever" is a slick, commercial cinematic jukebox, a series of self-contained song-and-dance sequences that could be cut apart and played forever on MTV -- which is probably what will happen. Like "Flashdance," it isn't really a movie at all, but an endless series of musical interludes between dramatic scenes that aren't there. It's not even as good as "Flashdance," but it may appeal to the same audience; it's a Walkman for the eyes.

The movie has an extremely simple plot. Extremely. Six years have passed since Tony Manero (John Travolta) gazed longingly at the lights of Manhattan at the end of "Saturday Night Fever." Now he lives in a fleabag Manhattan hotel, works as a waiter and a dance instructor and dates a young dancer (Cynthia Rhodes) with the patience of a saint. He's still a woman-chaser. But he meets a long-haired British dancer (Finola Hughes) who's his match. She's a queen bitch who takes him to bed and jilts him. Meanwhile, he gets a job as a dancer in her new show and when her lead dancer falters, Tony gets the job. Does this all sound familiar?

The movie was co-authored and directed by Sylvester Stallone, and is the first bad movie he's made. He remembers all the moves from his Rocky plots, but he leaves out the heart -- and, even worse, he leaves out the characters. Everybody in "Staying Alive" is Identikit. The characters are clichés, their lives are clichés and God knows their dialogue is clichés. The big musical climaxes are interrupted only long enough for people to shout prepackaged emotional countercharges at each other. There is little attempt to approximate human speech.

Like the Rocky movies, "Staying Alive" ends with a big, visually explosive climax. It is so ludicrous it has to be seen to be believed. It's opening night on Broadway: Tony Manero not only dances like a hero, he survives a production number of fire, ice, smoke, flashing lights and laser beams, throws in an improvised solo -- and ends triumphantly by holding Finola Hughes above his head with one arm, like a quarry he has tracked and killed. The musical he is allegedly starring in is something called "Satan's Alley," but it's so laughably gauche it should have been called "Springtime for Tony." Stallone makes little effort to convince us we're watching a real stage presentation; there are camera effects the audience could never see, montages that create impossible physical moves and -- most inexplicable of all -- a vocal track, even though nobody on stage is singing. It's a mess. Travolta's big dance number looks like a high-tech TV auto commercial that, got sick to its stomach.

What I really missed in "Staying Alive" was the sense of reality in "Saturday Night Fever" -- the sense that Tony came from someplace and was somebody particular. There's no old neighborhood, no vulgar showdowns with his family (he apologizes to his mother for his "attitude"!) and no Brooklyn eccentricity. Tony's world has been cloned into a backstage musical. And not a good one.

The movie has one great moment. A victorious Tony says "I want to strut!" and struts across Times Square while the Bee Gees sing "Stayin' Alive." That could have been the first shot of a great movie. It's the last shot of this one.

The opening is also great, mind you. How's this for a blast of pure '80s cheesy fun:



If only Kurtwood (ROBOCOP) Smith had been given a larger role, but, alas, he isn't in the movie after this.

[Blofeld's Cat]

I think it's time for a third movie. Friday Night Hayfever.

Sounds like Urban Cowboy.

[Santa]

You should have seen Saturday Night Fever first. It still holds up as a pretty nice character study and portrait of the times. And the music is better too. Check it out.

I'm with Turn.

And I. Can't work out why you did it the wrong way round, was there a reason?

[Loomis]

Actually, there were three:

1. I'm a Stallone fan.

2. I suspected SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER to be by some distance the superior film, and so I thought I'd leave the best till last, as they say.

3. I'd put both films on my online DVD rental list, but STAYING ALIVE was sent to me first. Still waiting for SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER.

[Santa]

1. I'm a Stallone fan.

Nooooo, are you really? You learn something new every day.

[Loomis]

Well, I try to keep fairly quiet about it.

[baerrtt]

I still rememember when Siskel and Ebert reviewed Stayin' Alive and talking about how disappointed they were with it, only their favorite scene was the end when he does his walk.

Actually, that is a very cool moment. And, admittedly, the Broadway finale, shot and edited like a Rocky movie bout, and every bit as absurd, is pretty pulse-pounding stuff and guaranteed to raise a smile from Stallone fans.

I dunno, maybe I'm being too harsh on STAYING ALIVE. Perhaps I expected more from Sly (and, when he's on form, Travolta's no slouch either). It's just that, for most of the movie, Stallone seems to be attempting to remake FAME, but his occasional shots at a dark tone (and, as I understand it, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER is fairly dark) just keep misfiring wildly because the script is just so darn hokey and predictable, and the characters so ludicrous (although they're certainly played by talented people - the writing and directing are the problem here) that precious little of STAYING ALIVE has any real impact. For the most part, it's a flick that's all over the place, and, worse, it's boring. It's certainly no FLASHDANCE, I'll tell you that.

But, hey, it has its moments - a few. And I shall certainly be checking out SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER.

Curiously enough, STAYING ALIVE also has me pumped for THE EXPENDABLES, for judging by ROCKY BALBOA and RAMBO (2008) it's clear that Stallone's come on in leaps and bounds as a director.

On another side note, I wonder what happened to STAYING ALIVE's female leads, Finola Hughes and Cynthia Rhodes. I know that the latter was in DIRTY DANCING, but apart from that....

From what I recall Sly completely rewrote the film when he came on board(not the last time he would do that with, imo, awful results) turning it into the gaudy hymn to body facism people saw in '83.

Finola Hughes was nominated for a Razzie as 'Worst New Star' of 1983 which, despite the film's commercial success, is the kind of publicity/association that can kill any burgeoning acting career (she's been mostly in US soaps since then).

Rhodes went on to do DIRTY DANCING and did little since, largely because I suspect her abilities as a dancer (moreso than an actress) were in short supply when, come the 1990s, Hollywood wasn't making that many dance-oriented films anymore.

Edited by baerrtt, 04 March 2009 - 01:36 PM.

[Loomis]

You should have seen Saturday Night Fever first. It still holds up as a pretty nice character study and portrait of the times. And the music is better too. Check it out.

I'm with Turn.

Yeah, caught up with SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER today. Excellent film. The story's pretty thin, of course, and it is something of a '70s museum piece in places, but Travolta's charisma is enough to carry the show, and the music is great fun. And I was surprised and delighted by the ROCKY poster displayed prominently in Tony's bedroom!

[Turn]

You should have seen Saturday Night Fever first. It still holds up as a pretty nice character study and portrait of the times. And the music is better too. Check it out.

I'm with Turn.

Yeah, caught up with SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER today. Excellent film. The story's pretty thin, of course, and it is something of a '70s museum piece in places, but Travolta's charisma is enough to carry the show, and the music is great fun. And I was surprised and delighted by the ROCKY poster displayed prominently in Tony's bedroom!

Glad you liked it. It's one of those films that could be easy to dismiss as a sort of museum piece, but it's a good film when it comes down to it, powered by that star-making turn by Travolta.

A lot of people probably never got the Rocky-Stallone connection from SNF and Stayin' Alive. It's one of those fun trivial things. Personally, I like the Al Pacino "Attica, Attica" scene.

[Loomis]

Well, I'm not going to count my chickens, but it seems as though plans are indeed afoot for a ROCKY BALBOA-style SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER 3 starring Travolta. From Ain't It Cool News:

Possibly inspired by Mr. Stallone's recent resuscitation of his Rambo and Rocky characters, John Travolta is said to be toying with developing another Tony Manero film that would catch up with the (real-time aged) character he established in John Badham's SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER back in 1977. We last saw Tony back in 1983's STAYING ALIVE - directed by Sylvester Stallone - which widely regarded as one of the most tragic and humorous sequel misfires in film history (I really. truly dig Sly as a whole, but...damn...) A third Tony Manero film...could be quite a stretch. But, I could see it working if age issues are addressed, and the character is (perhaps) forced to return back to the frustrating and limiting roots he escaped from in the first installment.
Sure do love that character, though. So much truth about him...

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/46467

[Turn]

Well, I'm not going to count my chickens, but it seems as though plans are indeed afoot for a ROCKY BALBOA-style SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER 3 starring Travolta. From Ain't It Cool News:

Possibly inspired by Mr. Stallone's recent resuscitation of his Rambo and Rocky characters, John Travolta is said to be toying with developing another Tony Manero film that would catch up with the (real-time aged) character he established in John Badham's SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER back in 1977. We last saw Tony back in 1983's STAYING ALIVE - directed by Sylvester Stallone - which widely regarded as one of the most tragic and humorous sequel misfires in film history (I really. truly dig Sly as a whole, but...damn...) A third Tony Manero film...could be quite a stretch. But, I could see it working if age issues are addressed, and the character is (perhaps) forced to return back to the frustrating and limiting roots he escaped from in the first installment.
Sure do love that character, though. So much truth about him...

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/46467

I'd like to see this. I'm curious who they'd have direct it, though. You know who'd be a weird but fun choice would be Tarantino. You know he has to be a fan.