HoldenIsHere Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I'm very much looking forward to SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, which airs to tonight (July 21) on TCM as part of the America in the 1970s theme, with the focus tonight being New York in the 1970s. I don't think TCM has aired this movie since it was an Essential during (I think) Alec Baldwin's stint as a co-host. I'm not a big fan of John Travolta, but he is great in this movie. And the movie has one of the best opening sequences of all time with Travolta strutting down 86th Street Plus, it produced one of the greatest movie soundtracks. My mother had this album (I think it was a double album) on vinyl. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I'm very much looking forward to SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, which airs to tonight (July 21) on TCM as part of the America in the 1970s theme, with the focus tonight being New York in the 1970s. I don't think TCM has aired this movie since it was an Essential during (I think) Alec Baldwin's stint as a co-host. I'm not a big fan of John Travolta, but he is great in this movie. And the movie has one of the best opening sequences of all time with Travolta strutting down 86th Street Plus, it produced one of the greatest movie soundtracks. My mother had this album (I think it was a double album) on vinyl. If someone showed up from Mars and wanted to know what the "disco era" was, I'd just advise them to see this film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 If someone showed up from Mars and wanted to know what the "disco era" was, I'd just advise them to see this film. Presuming of course the Martian in question wasn't of the "H.G. Wells" type o' Martians, eh DGF?! I understand THOSE type are the "shoot first and ask questions later" type o' Martians. (...good point though...yep, SNF's gotta be the best movie ever made about all those times back then when people like you and I would hit that ol' dance floor in hopes that the girl you just asked to dance might later on, ah, well, YOU know) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Presuming of course the Martian in question wasn't of the "H.G. Wells" type o' Martians, eh DGF?! I understand THOSE type are the "shoot first and ask questions later" type o' Martians. (...good point though...yep, SNF's gotta be the best movie ever made about all those times back then when people like you and I would hit that ol' dance floor in hopes that the girl you just asked to dance might later on, ah, well, YOU know) Also presuming of course that there was no "disco era" on Mars, which there very well might have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Also presuming of course that there was no "disco era" on Mars, which there very well might have been. Hmmmm...yeah...seein' as how I understand they might have just found water on that planet, I suppose there IS the outside chance there might ALSO be, ahem, "watering holes" up there TOO, huh. (...with dance floors, of course...and maybe one of those ol' Pac Man and Donkey Kong tabletop games like there was in that Disco I used to frequent back in the day...and used to play...and when the "prospects" looked kind'a slight on some evenings) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Hmmmm...yeah...seein' as how I understand they might have just found water on that planet, I suppose there IS the outside chance there might ALSO be, ahem, "watering holes" up there TOO, huh. (...with dance floors, of course...and maybe one of those ol' Pac Man and Donkey Kong tabletop games like there was in that Disco I used to frequent back in the day...and used to play...and when the "prospects" looked kind'a slight on some evenings) A disco I used to frequent was big on backgammon. I always found it odd that people used to sit and play backgammon while Anita Ward was singing about having people ring her bell. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGGGerald Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 The disco era was one of the most fun times in my life. Too bad I was too young to go anywhere or do anything. I had older family members who told me all about it when they got home. Seems people were more free, less sensitive and judgmental as they are now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 The disco era was one of the most fun times in my life. Too bad I was too young to go anywhere or do anything. I had older family members who told me all about it when they got home. Seems people were more free, less sensitive and judgmental as they are now. You poor Gen-Xers. (...always DID kind'a feel sorry for you guys...missin' all the fun back then and all) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I have the RKO double album, got it when movie was released. Upgraded the movie to Paramount LaserDisc when the CED player went out. The RCA disc did not had stereo but LD did. The audio format on film was referred to as Dolby System. DiscoVision had an earlier release, like RCA's CED were monophonic Paramount updated LD Trivia, "Saturday Night Fever" were the first CED's introduced to the market in 1981. Only mono were available bearing the white jacketed protective sleeve. Stereo disc which came out a year later were blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Glad you posted that one, it shows the ugly graffiti on the subways at the time. During the 1990's New York Clean Train Movement (part of a bigger plan) went on an anti graffiti campaign. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti_in_New_York_City Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 I'm very much looking forward to SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, which airs to tonight (July 21) on TCM as part of the America in the 1970s theme, with the focus tonight being New York in the 1970s. I don't think TCM has aired this movie since it was an Essential during (I think) Alec Baldwin's stint as a co-host. Also, the fact that it's a Paramount movie. (Most of whose back 70's-80's catalog has reverted to Warner in the time since Baldwin's hosting, for them to...do nothing with.) Still, ever try to show this one to the new generations, and watch them find out...it's a Brooklyn drama, not a musical? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Movie is 1.85:1 not Cinemascope. Wish it was. Same as my Laserdisc. 1.85 is red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 The disco era was one of the most fun times in my life. Too bad I was too young to go anywhere or do anything. I had older family members who told me all about it when they got home. Seems people were more free, less sensitive and judgmental as they are now. Let me get this straight. You find not going anywhere and not dong anything to be fun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Let me get this straight. You find not going anywhere and not dong anything to be fun? Heh, yeah. Not using the dong for anything is NEVER fun! Plus, I think one admitting they used to hang out and/or frequent discos back in "the day" to be the EPITOME of courage! Now, my ex pestered me into taking her to see this movie once it hit the "dollar show" and I went under protest. I don't, never did and never will like disco music. And really wasn't impressed by Travolta, nor anything about "Welcome Back Kotter", so I was prepared to be bored to the bottom of my bowels. To my surprise, I wound up LIKING the movie, in spite of the music, and WAS impressed by Travolta's performance. And it was a good story. But it COULD have been done in ANY era( and might have been, and think it WAS, but can think of no examples) but disco was relevant at the time of it's making. Travolta's character's growth from being self centered to being more introspective was handled pretty well I thought, and it turned out to be more than about the music or dancing, and it turned out to be not such a bad night out. Sepiatone 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Heh, yeah. Not using the dong for anything is NEVER fun! Plus, I think one admitting they used to hang out and/or frequent discos back in "the day" to be the EPITOME of courage! Now, my ex pestered me into taking her to see this movie once it hit the "dollar show" and I went under protest. I don't, never did and never will like disco music. And really wasn't impressed by Travolta, nor anything about "Welcome Back Kotter", so I was prepared to be bored to the bottom of my bowels. To my surprise, I wound up LIKING the movie, in spite of the music, and WAS impressed by Travolta's performance. And it was a good story. But it COULD have been done in ANY era( and might have been, and think it WAS, but can think of no examples) but disco was relevant at the time of it's making. Travolta's character's growth from being self centered to being more introspective was handled pretty well I thought, and it turned out to be more than about the music or dancing, and it turned out to be not such a bad night out. Sepiatone What was really great was when I lived in NYC circa 1980, and I would go to the uptown discos and the downtown punk and new wave clubs, sometimes in the same weekend. I liked both scenes ,Still like both genres of music, though disco has fallen behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyCronin Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 By the time I moved to New York City in 1981 the discos had been renamed "dance clubs" and the music was called "dance music", the term disco being anathema. Palladium, Danceteria, Pyrimid Club....people still wanted to dance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 By the time I moved to New York City in 1981 the discos had been renamed "dance clubs" and the music was called "dance music", the term disco being anathema. Palladium, Danceteria, Pyrimid Club....people still wanted to dance. I went to Danceteria. It was a punk and new wave club, not a disco or "dance club". It wasn't all the way downtown, but it still was just like the downtown clubs like the Mudd Club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misswonderly3 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 So, since the original post, Saturday Night Fever has been aired. There are lots of fond reminiscences and nostalgic comments about the disco era here (which I remember too), but not many posts about the actual movie. Any thoughts about that? The movie, I mean. Anyone know what ever happened to "Stephanie" ? (Karen Lynne Gorney). This movie should have been her big break to stardom, but I never saw or heard of her again. Of course, not the case for John Travolta. I have to admit, I enjoy the music in the film. More than I did at the time it came out, at which time I "hated" disco, and looked down on anyone who liked it. But I'm older and wiser. and actually like quite a lot of disco now. But even at the time, I took a guilty pleasure in the BeeGees' "Staying Alive". Who didn't? (take pleasure in the song, whether guiltily or not.) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LornaHansonForbes Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 So, Saturday Night Fever Any thoughts about that? The movie, I mean. Anyone know what ever happened to "Stephanie" ? (Karen Lynne Gorney). This movie should have been her big break to stardom, but I never saw or heard of her again. Of course, not the case for John Travolta. She made the mistake of bursting out into uncontrollable laughter when she first got told the story of Xenu and the volcano. I think she's still breaking rocks beneath the Celebrity Center. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 So, since the original post, Saturday Night Fever has been aired. There are lots of fond reminiscences and nostalgic comments about the disco era here (which I remember too), but not many posts about the actual movie. Any thoughts about that? The movie, I mean. Yeah, I'VE got a thought about the movie for ya here, MissW. As I watched it last night, I somehow began to feel REALLY REALLY old. And especially once I did the calculations and realized that most of my earlier stated memories of this era and this movie, and which kind'a sort'a paralleled my own but were more a west coast version of it, happened almost FORTY FREAKIN' YEARS AGO!!!! Although after a good night's sleep, I DID awaken this morning somewhat refreshed and to feel as though all that stuff might've ONLY happened maybe TWENTY years ago. (...but then I looked into that bathroom mirror while brushing my teeth...nope, it was DEFINITELY forty years ago, alright) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 I've never liked the movie. I thought it was a tedious depiction of vapid, uninteresting people, one of whom becomes slightly less vapid but no less uninteresting by film's end. The film looks grimy and ugly, most of the people look clownish, and the disco music is awful. I didn't like Travolta, and he has remained one of my least-liked movie stars. If you enjoyed it, more power to you. The more you find to like in this world, the better. But for me this remains one of my least liked major films of the 1970's. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 ...The film looks grimy and ugly... Well Lawrence, then ya gotta AT LEAST admit this flick realistically depicts the New York City of the 1970s then, RIGHT?! (...and before Rudy cleaned it all up...and before rents went through the roof...and before..........) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Well Lawrence, then ya gotta AT LEAST admit this flick realistically depicts the New York City of the 1970s then, RIGHT?! (...and before Rudy cleaned it all up...and before rents went through the roof...and before..........) That is true, but if I want to see pre-clean-up NYC, I can see it in movies that I enjoy more, like Mean Streets, French Connection, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Taxi Driver, etc etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LornaHansonForbes Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 I've never liked the movie. I thought it was a tedious depiction of vapid, uninteresting people, one of whom becomes slightly less vapid but no less uninteresting by film's end. The film looks grimy and ugly, most of the people look clownish, and the disco music is awful. I didn't like Travolta, and he has remained one of my least-liked movie stars. If you enjoyed it, more power to you. The more you find to like in this world, the better. But for me this remains one of my least liked major films of the 1970's. I respect your persnicketyness. I've only seen it once, when it was THE ABC MONDAY NIGHT MOVIE or something like that...I remember the black underwear and the guy falling off the bridge. I WILL NOTE that the director of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (John Badham) followed it up with a big remake of DRACULA in 1979; that- while it got a lot of things right, especially with general look of the film- has some SERIOUSLY GOOFY love scenes with bats and lasers and swirling, lava-lamp visuals that would seem more at home in FEVER. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 I WILL NOTE that the director of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (John Badham) followed it up with a big remake of DRACULA in 1979; that- while it got a lot of things right, especially with general look of the film- has some SERIOUSLY GOOFY love scenes with bats and lasers and swirling, lava-lamp visuals that would seem more at home in FEVER. Lol...that's why I've always called the Langella film Disco Dracula. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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