I finally got around to seeing this. While I enjoy the soundtrack immensely, I just don't get this flick. I can't figure out why it's so highly regarded. It reminded me of a TV movie of the week. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a :crap:. Being a JT fan, I don't regret buying it [especially for the price I paid], i'm just wondering what i'm not getting...
Thanks.
Captain Harlock
12-05-02, 04:33 PM
You're not alone.
:whofart:
gutwrencher
12-05-02, 05:05 PM
Some films just dont hold up very well over time. some "date" harder than others. this is the first time you ever saw it, right? well, thats part of the reason. if you saw it as a teen or pre-teen back in the 70's, you might feel different. keep in mind i said "might". i saw it at 14 years old and i got alot more out of it then than i do now. things change. the movie just does not hold up well and anyone seeing it for the first time now, depending also upon the age, just wont get anything out of it. at one time, disco was king, and anything to do with disco did very well. it was just a different feeling back then. here i saw it in the theater back then but still dont have it in my collection. it's just not a priority film any longer, but it still has alot of fans.
Gut's Films (http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=gutwrencherdvds)
Static Cling
12-05-02, 05:12 PM
Moving to Movie Talk.
shanester
12-05-02, 05:20 PM
If you didn't grow up in the "disco" era you wouldn't get it..
I did and I love it!!...It always bring me back to that time
It's a cultural thing like Rebel Without A Cause in the 50's or
Easy Rider from the 60's
ckolchak
12-05-02, 05:33 PM
i saw this in '78 w/ two other friends when i was 11 yrs old. this was the original R rated cut.
we lived in a small town and the theater owner just didn't give a **** & our parents were pretty clueless as to the movies tone and content.
i hated the movie.
the attitudes, the language, everything about it turned me off and made me never want to become an adult.
flash forward 25 years later- i now see the film as a character study. and in this regard, it is superb.
JT is absolutely amazing, giving a measured, dimensional performance of the kind of character that could easily descend into parody (and has).
i've always 'liked' Travolta. he always seemed charming enough on and off screen, but here i was stunned to see how enormously talented he was.
as for the story, you have conflicts of values, generational/social- male/female.
it's also a serious/ non-cute/ non airbrushed snapshot of a specific time and place.
but like i said, its strengths lie in the way it delineates its characters.
people watching it for the first time now are more than likely going to be a little thrown.
they are so conditioned to seeing plot #3 ( hot shot romances babe while studying to win dance contest/top gun status- after a major set back in act 2 he comes back and in act three saves the day/ wins the prize/ gets the babe), but this film, while covering some of the same ground, is operating with a different agenda.
i was way impressed watching it again.
djones6746
12-05-02, 06:52 PM
Originally posted by shanester
If you didn't grow up in the "disco" era you wouldn't get it..
I did and I love it!!...It always bring me back to that time
It's a cultural thing like Rebel Without A Cause in the 50's or
Easy Rider from the 60's
Ditto... Great movie!!! :)
shanester
12-05-02, 07:27 PM
well said ckolchak
Travolta gives a very subtle but fantastic performance!
His character is really a total d*** in all honestly but he plays him in such a way that he's kind of likeable
PS..And that opening scene with the paint can as he's walking down the street grooving to the Bee Gees camera following his feet...
Come on people that IS one of the all time great openings ever in a movie IMO!!
JimRochester
12-05-02, 09:47 PM
I was 18 in 1977 and that was the story of our social lives. Getting slicked up in our silk shirts, dancing with girls, trying to get some afterward, friends doing stupid things while hammered out of their minds. Kind of like today but now you wear condoms and the music is tougher to dance to.
Buy: