Saturday Night FeverMovie Reviews


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Avg. Critic Score: 77 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 Iffy for 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 88
    Chicago Tribune | Gene Siskel

    One minute into Saturday Night Fever you know this picture is onto something, that it knows what it's talking about. [15 Oct 1999, Siskel Years, p.6] Read full review

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    It's also interesting to see how little screen time the final disco competition really has, considering how large it looms in our memories. Read full review

  • 83
    Entertainment Weekly |

    Travolta molds what could have been an equally obvious character into a substantial, tragic figure. Read full review

  • 80
    TV Guide |

    The story here is really secondary to character and milieu, as director John Badham and his actors create a convincing portrait of frustrated 1970s working-class youth and the escape offered by the swirling lights and pulsing rhythms of the disco. Read full review

  • 80
    Chicago Reader |

    A small, solid film, made with craft if not resonance. Read full review

  • 70
    The New York Times | Elvis Mitchell

    Fever beings to flag when, after an initial hour filled with high spirits and jubilant music, it settles down to tell its story; the effect is so deflating that it's almost as though another Monday has rolled around and it's time to get back to work. [16 Dec 1977] Read full review

  • 30
    Variety |

    The clumsy story lurches forward through predictable travail and treacle, separated by phonograph records (or vice versa). Read full review

View more reviews for Saturday Night Fever on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Disco drama is not just daaancin' yeah!
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that two versions of this hit were released on home video, one a PG-rated (more deserving of a PG-13, really) edit, mainly on VHS, and a later R-rated DVD that put back a lot of the original theatrical film's harshest gutter language and vibes. Both detail urban gang-style behavior by the characters – even by nominal hero Tony Manero -- with much swearing, fighting, casual and/or animalistic sex (the most disturbing being a gang-rape at the end), and ultimately deadly mischief. Though Tony ends up seeking a healthier path, his family's Catholic religion has nothing to do with it; in fact, his brother, a priest, quits the clergy, declaring that he has no faith anymore.
  • Families can talk about Tony's finding value and self-esteem on the discotheque floor (and in a small raise he gets at his paint-store job) that he says he doesn't receive at home, where he's considered the black sheep. It's interesting that Stephanie, the love interest who helps Tony see the error of his ways, isn't the proverbial "uptown girl" outsider, but someone from his own neighborhood who is trying to actively better herself after "crossing the bridge" into Manhattan society. You can discuss how much of this storyline is specific to New York City and its social classes, and how much is universal -- especially the similarities to other films about at-risk youth, from Rebel Without a Cause to 8 Mile. Also, why do you think this film and its soundtrack are still so popular today?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Tony Manero goes from a delinquent with racist and sexist attitudes to a more mature guy who realizes there are better things and more admirable ways to behave. Along the way there's plenty of bad behavior: cruising for fights with rivals, meaningless sex, drug connections, and nocturnal mischief that eventually kills one of them. The Catholic religion followed closely by Tony's joyless, stifling (somewhat stereotypically Italian-American) family isn't shown to be a positive thing, or even relevant in their lives, and Tony's brother leaves the priesthood because he no longer has faith.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: The worst is saved for the end of the movie: a gang-rape (though the camera is an anguished non-participant the whole time). Tony and his gang have a streetfight with Puerto Ricans that results in lots of bruises and bandages. Another fight (off-screen) puts one guy in the hospital with broken limbs. One of the characters dies in a fall off a bridge.
  • sex false5 Sexy stuff: Even with sheer disco-dance outfits and leotards, men show more flesh than women: Tony flexes before a mirror in briefs, some of his buddies are pantsless while having sex in the back of their shared car. A near-naked go-go dancer is in the background of one scene. Plenty of sexual remarks and challenges ("Are you as good in bed as you are on that dance floor?"). Talk of pregnancy (and marriage) as an unhappy consequence of sex.
  • language false5 Language: In the R version: frequent F-words and C-words, plus racial epithets for African Americans and Latinos. The racial stuff is still there in the PG version, but the S-word is more common.
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: The car Tony and his friends share has a prominent STP sticker, Trojan-brand condoms make a significant appearance, and there's a dialogue reference to Polaroid cameras (and Polaroid's now-forgotten ad campaign featuring actor Laurence Olivier). But it's the soundtrack, practically quadraphonic in its '70s disco-palace tunes that heavily pushes the Bee Gees and other artists.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Lots of social drinking (including while driving) and some drug use, with much talk of "getting high."
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Saturday Night Fever Movie Reviews + Ratings

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