Saturday Night Fever (1977)
93%RT Audience Score: 96%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
4 wins & 12 nominations total
Boasting a smart, poignant story, a classic soundtrack, and a starmaking performance from John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever ranks among the finest dramas of the 1970s.
Saturday Night Fever is a movie that will make you want to put on your dancing shoes and hit the disco floor. Sure, the script may be a bit foul-mouthed and the setting may be stagnant, but John Travolta’s performance as Tony Manero is nothing short of amazing. He’s tough, punkish, and yet still manages to be vulnerable and appealing. Plus, who can resist those iconic posters of Farrah Fawcett-Majors, Rocky, and Al Pacino? It’s a cultural phenomenon that’s worth watching, even if it leaves you with a bit of a broken aftertaste. So, grab your polyester suit and get ready to boogie!
Production Company(ies)
FM Productions, Last Waltz Inc.,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
86th Street, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong language, sexuality/nudity and some drug content
Year of Release
1977
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 59m
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Language(s):English, Italian
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 16, 1977 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 8, 2002
Genre(s)
Drama/Music
Keyword(s)
starring John Travolta, directed by John Badham, written by Nik Cohn and Norman Wexler, drama, music, box office success, budget, reviewed by Gene Siskel, Gary Arnold, Kathleen Carroll, Eric Henderson, Dave Kehr, A.D Murphy,
Worldwide gross: $237,113,184
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,257,257,286
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 70
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 137,105,484
US/Canada gross: $94,213,184
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $499,551,354
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 78
US/Canada opening weekend: $3,878,099
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $20,563,041
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 641
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $3,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $15,907,052
Production budget ranking: 1,490
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $8,565,948
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $1,232,784,286
ROI to date (est.): 5,037%
ROI ranking: 18
Karen Lynn Gorney – Stephanie Mangano
Barry Miller – Bobby C.
Joseph Cali – Joey
Paul Pape – Double J
Bruce Ornstein – Gus
Director(s)
John Badham
Writer(s)
Nik Cohn, Norman Wexler
Producer(s)
Robert Stigwood
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
4 wins & 12 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (50) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (9)
Saturday Night Fever makes good moviemaking seem easy.
January 8, 2018 | Rating: 3.5/4
Gene Siskel
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Saturday Night Fever assaults you with a flagrantly foul-mouthed script and coarse viewpoint.
December 21, 2015
Gary Arnold
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Saturday Night Fever is wonderfully honest and completely accurate when it comes to depicting that stagnant environment that keeps young people like Tony pinned down.
April 7, 2015
Kathleen Carroll
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
Saturday Night Fever’s heart is actually in the right place. It’s ears, though? That’s another story.
May 10, 2009 | Rating: 2/4
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
A small, solid film, made with craft if not resonance.
April 27, 2009
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Travolta’s characterization, given the script and directorial demands, is okay. It will please the already-committed; but it won’t win him any new fans.
March 5, 2009
A.D. Murphy
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Unfairly remembered in some quarters as a kitschy celebration of the disco era (no, that would be Thank God It’s Friday), this is actually a hard-hitting drama with an Oscar-nominated performance by John Travolta.
April 10, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
John Travolta is far better than any previous exposure would indicate; his Tony Manero is suitably tough and punkish, but there is also a warmth and vulnerability that make him very appealing.
May 6, 2020
Donald McLean
Bay Area Reporter
Leaving aside any social commentary that the film does not address, this Saturday night is not safe from reproducing well-known cliches. Despite its silly and happy ending, it leaves us with a frustrated and broken aftertaste. [Full Review in Spanish]
July 30, 2019
Jesús Fernández Santos
El Pais (Spain)
Most details of character and setting, finally, are reduced to simplistic icons, mingling with such over-emphasised bric-a-brac as posters of Farrah Fawcett-Majors, Rocky and Al Pacino.
January 8, 2018
Richard Combs
Monthly Film Bulletin
Not many movies are genuine cultural phenomena, and John Badham’s Saturday Night Fever is without doubt one of the most memorable.
May 6, 2017 | Rating: 3.5/4
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk
Contemptuous of the community it phonily purports to depict.
November 9, 2016
Henry Stewart
Brooklyn Magazine…
Plot
Nineteen-year-old Brooklyn native Tony Manero lives for Saturday nights at the local disco, where he’s king of the club, thanks to his stylish moves on the dance floor. But outside of the club, things don’t look so rosy. At home, Tony fights constantly with his father and has to compete with his family’s starry-eyed view of his older brother, a priest. Nor can he find satisfaction at his dead-end job at a small paint store. However, things begin to change when he spies Stephanie Mangano in the disco and starts training with her for the club’s dance competition. Stephanie dreams of the world beyond Brooklyn, and her plans to move to Manhattan just over the bridge soon change Tony’s life forever.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
John Travolta’s performance in Saturday Night Fever earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
John-Badham.jpg
