DVDFile

Despite the infusion of music and style, Saturday Night Fever is not a disco movie; it’s a character drama about a young man named Tony Manero, his family, and his friends living Brooklyn in the late ‘70s. Tony’s one true expressive freedom is dance, and through it he achieves social status, recognition, and a feeling of success in the otherwise stagnant life of his Brooklyn borough. Saturday Night Fever is a bold film showcasing the cast’s stellar acting (John Travola is in top form here) and doesn’t feel like an “acted” movie at all; the film plays more like a cinematically shot documentary with an emotionally involving core. Unlike many other dance movies that followed (Grease, Flashdance, Breakin’ and others), Saturday Night Fever isn’t a feel-good flick with a predictable win-the-dance-prize plot that culminates in a boy-gets-girl happy ending. The ending is unconventionally touching, speaks to real-life experiences, and leaves the viewer with a warm yet uncomfortably wary sensation much like the final scene in The Graduate.

I’m very fond of this entertaining, thought provoking and touching film. In Pete's words from his 2002 of the 25th Anniversary Edition:

“I suppose it is a rather sad fact these days that anything even remotely dated in terms of dress, demeanor, or mannerism is instantly considered camp by young audiences. Mention Saturday Night Fever to anyone and the response is likely to be, "Oh, the disco movie!" It is hard to fault the assumption, of course, because the film is so tied to the era, the music, and the clothes that it is more than just subtext, but organic to the narrative itself. Yet Saturday Night Fever is so much more than bad polyester set to Bee Gees music that its subsequent reduction to camp cultural artifact is almost . . . criminal.

“Tony Manero (John Travolta) is a young dreamer from the wrong side of the tracks, stuck in Brooklyn with a dead-end job, overbearing parents, and a brother in the priesthood he'll never measure up to. But on the weekends he's the king of the disco. He's got the moves, the bod, and the adulation: All the girls want to sleep with him and all the guys want to be like him. But Tony's got his eye set on life across the bridge, and thinks got-it-all-together social climber Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney) is his ticket out. But the all-night disco inferno can't last forever. As the tag line says, where do you go when the music's over?

“Based on the magazine article "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night" by Nik Cohn, Saturday Night Fever is everything you think it wouldn't be, a tough, hard-hitting look at low-rent opportunities and big-time dreams. It has plenty of dancing, but isn't a dance movie. It's got great disco music, but it isn't a disco movie. It's got that bad white polyester suit, but it's not clean, polished, or pure. The tight script by Norman Wexler doesn't offer the characters any quick solutions or sitcom-easy outs, and the fact that it became such a smash sometimes feels like cultural myopia. America went gaga over bottom-lit dance floors and ear-piercing Bee Gees falsettos, as if they weren't seeing a movie that critiqued the very culture that the fawning audiences glamorized.

“I love films that become subversive by the very nature of their success. Saturday Night Fever was a phenomenon that achieved a rare kind of cultural importance, defining people's attitudes and hopes at the time and also in retrospect. It would be easy to reduce the film to simple morals or platitudes, to simply admire Travolta's great dancing and John Badham's inspired direction. Or rave over the rest of the cast who are “uniformly terrific, especially Julie Bovasso as the long-suffering Mrs. Manero and Barry Miller as Tony's doomed best buddy. Or just dig the great Bee Gees tunes, long underappreciated amid all the "Disco Sucks!" backlash of the 1980s. But cherish Saturday Night Fever for more than just its camp, its decadence, its perseverance. Cherish it because it is still one of the best damn movies of the '70s.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The 1.85:1 anamorphic image is first-rate given the film style and late ‘70s film stock, and offers a visible improvement over the previous 25th Anniversary Edition released just five years previously. This improvement looks to my eyes like a slightly more detailed image free from some of the excesses of grain and noise, as well as improved depth in some scenes that may result from an improvement in dynamic range along with the improved detail. I don’t know if these (slight but noticeable) improvements resulted from a new film-to-digital transfer that may have utilized a better print or scanner, or if the previous transfer had merely been expertly digitally cleaned. Whatever the case, it doesn’t bear the hallmarks of the dreaded Digital Noise Reduction often employed by studios trying to minimize grain despite the myriad of other problems it may introduce. Instead, despite a few mosquito noise MPEG-2 artifacts surrounding the opening credits, the image looks astonishing free from electronic or digital artifacts. Well done.

Now, despite my praise of the natural and film-like presentation on this new DVD edition, keep your expectations in check. This DVD preserves with great accuracy the look and feel of the original 1970s print which, itself, might garner some criticism from “we want eye candy” audiences. If you can respect the artistic and stylistic look of this historic film, which includes many low contrast scenes, soft-focus filters applied to many of the dance numbers, and occasional instances of noticeable film-grain, you’ll be fine.

If you already have the previous 25th Anniversary Edition, is the improvement in image quality worth an upgrade? I’d say no. I think there is improvement, but it’s slight and certainly not worth an upgrade all on its own (and I’m saying this after watched the film projected on my 106-inch screen). Perhaps combined with some of the new bonus features, a serious fan might be tempted. However, anyone serious enough about picture quality to consider upgrading on merits of image fidelity alone should hang tight for the eventual high defintion release.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The audio has been beautifully remixed in a Dolby Digital 5.1 track that is head-and-shoulders better than the original (mono?) mix of the film’s theatrical release. This new mix is identical to the one found on the 25th Anniversary Edition and is tastefully done. Musical numbers have a natural stereo spread and maintain their open, airy sound from the studio recordings. Dialog, especially when overdubbed via ADR, often sounds muffled and out-of-context. You’ll notice those scenes without any trouble. Surround use offers a surprising degree of rear-effects during the film (birds chirping in the park, etc) which never stand out to the point of distraction. A very nicely done 5.1 mix: one that respects the integrity of the original film while improving fidelity.

A French 2.0 and a Spanish mono audio track are also provided, along with English, French, and Spanish Subtitles.

Pete wrote, “In addition to a great new transfer, Paramount has also done a little boogie woogie and anted up for a pretty stellar new Dolby Digital 5.1 remix. Most impressive is the expanded dynamic range; this movie sounded pretty terrible on every single previous video release, with muffed dialogue and terrible music reproduction. Now, the film sounds far more alive and spacious, with no noticeable source element defects such as hiss or distortion, and a relatively lush, full midrange. Sure, it can't compare to the latest action extravaganza, but it sounds great for a flick now 25 years old.

“Even better is the nice sense of separation and envelopment. Dialogue is directed largely to the center channel save for some minor vocal effects, and the music and score is nicely spread out across the entire front soundstage. Surround use is also surprisingly aggressive, at least in terms of the effects. We get a nice bit of ambiance in interior scenes, and even a few noticeable discrete effects in the disco numbers. The hit-filled soundtrack is still confined primarily to the front, but as overblown 5.1 mixes of old songs annoys me, I was thankful for it. Finally, the bottom end adds considerable kick to the tunes, finishing off what is a very nice new remix. Shake your groove thang, indeed."

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Since this was released so soon after the 25th Anniversary Edition, I’m sure many collectors are wondering if the bonus material on the new disc offers a compelling (frustrating) reason to upgrade. My quick answer is sort of. Yes folks, it’s never easy, especially when Paramount is involved (grin). What the market experts decided to do for you this time was offer a great new collection of featurettes (all anamorphic widescreen), but drop the three deleted scenes found on the 25th Anniversary Edition.

Why can’t we just have it all ?! Really now.

First, you get the same great audio commentary by Director John Badham. This scene-specific commentary offers some really fascinating behind-the-scenes insights and really expanded my respect for the film, actors, and artistic team. The new documentaries and featurettes are all presented in anamorphic widescreen and have the look of video shot in HD (my bet is they were prepared in expectation of a forthcoming high definition video release).

Catching The Fever (51 minutes) is divided into five sub-parts that can be played sequntially or individually: 30 Year Legacy; Making Soundtrack History; Platforms & Polyester; Deejays & Discos; and, Spotlight on Travolta. There’s lots of great interview segments with cast and crew (oddly, never with Travolta) and I thoroughly enjoyed this material even without being a hard-core disco fan. This is really the bonus feature that makes the grade for this new release.

Back To Bay Ridge (9 minutes) is an interesting segment where we follow the actor who played Joe, Tony’s friend, back to the original locations where the film was shot to see how times have changed over the last 30 years. Dance Like Travolta (10 minutes) offers a video dance lesson with dubious results, and I’d much rather have sacrificed this feature to have made room for the deleted scenes from the previous DVD. Fever Challenge (4 minutes) mimics Dance Revolution by having you follow patterns that light up on an image of a disco dance floor (sans dancing mat to actually gauge your skill). ‘70s Discopedia is a feature that engages the audio commentary and also a facts-pop-up feature during disc play. I’d recommend watching these pop-up facts if you decide to listen to the audio commentary.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.

Final Thoughts

Saturday Night Fever is an unexpectedly good film. Its disco themes are actually more peripheral to the heart of what makes this film a true classic: the believable struggles of a young man amid the difficulties of his family, friends, and urban environment. Travola’s acting is outstanding, the supporting cast equally skilled, and the story beautifully filmed and edited. Paramount’s 30th Anniversary Edition improves image quality slightly over the previous 25th Anniversary Edition, provides the same great 5.1 mix as the previous edition, and except for the omission of the three deleted scenes from the 25th Anniversary Edition, has a wealth of new bonus features sure to please fans. I’m not convinced that the new DVD release should compel an upgrade for those already comfortably watching the 25th Anniversary Edition, but for those of you eager to add Saturday Night Fever to your DVD collection, the choice has never been easier.