top of page

Saturday Night Fever:           Director’s Cut

                       review Bobby Blakey

I will admit that I have never been that big a fan of Saturday Night Fever or its sequel, but when they announced the release of the Saturday Night Fever Director’s Cut I decided it was important for me to revisit the film and see if this version does anything something for me that the original cut didn’t.

​

If you have never seen the iconic film it follows nineteen-year-old Brooklyn native Tony Manero who 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. The film features a great cast including John Travolta, Donna Pescow, Barry Miller, Joseph Cali, Paul Pape, and Karen Lynn Gorney who all give great performances and give this film everything it needs for you to really buy into these characters.

​

While they are all important there is no doubt that the soundtrack is the real star bringing the music of the time from the BeeGees that tells the story just as much as the actors on screen. There is little overall point to the film as a whole and still doesn’t do much for me and I didn’t get all that much more from the director’s cut than I did from the original, but it could have been so long since I have seen it that it just didn’t have the expected impact. This release looks excellent and the sound quality is amazing. In addition to the film this release includes pretty much the same bonus features from previous releases but also both the theatrical and director’s cut of the film.

​

Grab your copy of Saturday Night Fever: Director’s Cut available now on Blu-ray from Paramount Home Entertainment.

bottom of page