Foreword- This is not a complete summary of the events that occur in ‘Saturday Night Fever,’ only the events that a modern filmmaker would have to be quite bold to dare include and the key information to understanding those events.

Tony Manero, played by John Travolta, is a 19 year old Italian American from Brooklyn. During the week he spends his time working at the local hardware store, but his mind is in a different place – in 2001 Odyssey to be specific. That’s the name of the local disco. Keep in mind that Saturday Night Fever was released in 1977… at the time it was groovy and futuristic.
Tony meets with his group of friends before going to the discotheque, but when he arrives he surpasses their dancing skills immensely. Many of the girls at the disco are infatuated with Tony. One of them, Annette, sometimes hangs out with Tony’s group and asks to be his partner in an upcoming dance competition. While he initially agrees, he immediately finds a better dance partner in Stephanie Mangano.

Throughout the movie, Tony attempts to court Stephanie. You can tell by the way he uses his walk, he’s a woman’s man, but unlike the other girls at the disco who fawn over Manero’s funky moves, Stephanie is reluctant. They grow closer leading up to the competition, after which occurs the first rape scene… Yes, Saturday Night Fever features two rape scenes in addition to the general sexism, homophobia, and racism that pervades throughout. After the dance competition concludes, Tony is left in a dismal mood – he believes that the Puerto Rican couple who came in second place should have won instead of himself. For the record, this moment of him recognizing racial biases came after a scene where he and his crew assaulted an innocent Puerto Rican gang. Regardless, he decides to turn his anger towards Stephanie and attempts to rape her. She resists the assault and is able to escape.

Mere moments later, an extremely drunk Annette is brought back to the crew’s car by Tony’s friends who insist she has consented to having sex with all of them. The rest of the scene is hard to stomach as she protests loudly and cries while being raped multiple times all the while being driven away from the disco.

Where were they going? To the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, a favorite spot among the group to fool around. Drunk and depressed, however, Tony’s friend, Bobby, rants at Tony for not being a good friend before slipping off the bridge and falling to his demise. So much for ‘stayin’ alive.’ But wait, that’s not how the film ends. Tony meets with Stephanie again the next day and she agrees to be his friend. The same Stephanie that less than 24 hours earlier he sexually assaulted, of course!

Despite its flaws, including the offensive scenes above and the offensive acting (sorry Travolta) the movie was a tremendous success. At the box office it raked in $237 million with a budget of just $3 million. Its Rotten Tomatoes score is an impressive 82% and it is beloved as a classic. Does it deserve the critical acclaim it has received? It honestly might. Saturday Night Fever is the epitome of 70’s disco vibes, from a soundtrack blessed by the Bee Gees, to the style that Tony rocks on the dance floor, to genuinely hilarious lines (even if they weren’t meant to be). I would recommend watching Saturday Night Fever, but I would also suggest that you turn it off about 20 minutes before it ends.

You can stream it for free on HBO Max

You could also rent it on Amazon Prime Video if you don’t have HBO Max

Or you can find any number of websites to watch it for free