What a pleasure it is to talk about this one! Saturday Night Fever was released all the way back in 1977 and it is a movie that has aged like a fine wine. A true time capsule of the disco era in New York City. This is a John Travolta classic and the movie that many people regard as the one that made him a global superstar.
How to Download Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever was released on December 16, 1977. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like John Travolta, check him out in Grease, Pulp Fiction, or Wild Hogs.
The Movie Review
It is so easy to just focus on the epic soundtrack (more on that later) and the flashy visuals and the amazing dancing. However, Saturday Night Fever is far more than just a flashy movie, hey it is flashy, but there is a lot of substance here and at its core, it is a great story. A story that I feel really grabs you and makes you connect to young Tony Manero.
Tony Manero: A Relatable Character
Tony Manero is 19 years old and lives in Brooklyn. Tony lives with his family and he has a pretty mundane job and life, but this changes at night when he goes to the discotheque and is the king of the dance floor. For people in their late teens and early 20s, it is so easy to relate to Tony in wanting more for your life and not being sure of what is next. At the same time, even as you get older, Tony is a character that is certainly flawed, but he is so easy to root for and you do want him to make the right choices.
A Darker Side to the Disco Era
While Tony has a few close friends, some knuckleheads that he goofs around with and gets into trouble with a local gang with. Tony is very serious about his dancing and ends up pairing with a talented dancer called Stephanie to enter a dancing competition. The relationship between Stephanie and Tony is interesting and it does not go the way that you would expect, it is far less predictable and I liked that it is not just your typical Hollywood happy ending.
Speaking of happy endings, Saturday Night Fever is not just this super happy disco lights, cool dancing happy movie. There is a lot of dark stuff here, the way that women are treated in the movie is pretty brutal to watch. I would say that it is even more hard hitting and uncomfortable by today’s standards and there is a certain scene later on in the movie that takes place in the back of a car which is very hard to watch.
The Legendary Soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever
I do want to take a moment here to talk about the music in Saturday Night Fever. This is well known for having some of the best Bee Gees songs of all time such as Stayin’ Alive, Night Fever, and How Deep Is Your Love to name a few. However, in addition to the stuff from the Bee Gees, Saturday Night Fever has a ton of other great songs and it is widely regarded as one of the greatest movie soundtracks of all time for a very good reason.
Disappointing 4K Release Quality
Now the music is where I want to stay for a moment. I picked up the 4K release and it was such a disappointment in regards to the visual and especially audio quality. I do not know what they did to the video transfer, but there is something very off here and I actually think I prefer the look of the Blu-Ray (which is included). The sound quality though is where the 4K really falls apart, what the heck did they do? The sound, especially the music is so weak and lacking in bass, the music is arguably the best part of the movie and it is like they have intentionally muted it a bit here.
I love Saturday Night Fever and think that it is a true classic of the 70s. I have probably seen this movie 20 times over the years and it has never gotten old for me. I just wish that Paramount did a better job with that 4K release. We are just a few years off from the 50th anniversary so perhaps they can take another stab at a 4K release and actually do a better job this time around. To be honest, it is not the worst 4K transfer I have seen, but it is still very poor.
