BLU-RAY REVIEW

Saturday Night Fever Director's Cut 40th Anniversary

Featured In Issue 234, December 2018

Picture	3.5
Sound	3.5
WSR Score	5

Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.

(Studio/Distributor):

Paramount Home Entertainment

(Catalog Number):

2073559

(MPAA Rating):

R

(Rating Reason):

Strong language, sexuality/nudity, and some drug content.

(Retail Price):

$$16.99

(Disc Type):

Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)

(Widescreen Edition):

Yes

(Full Screen Edition):

(Running Time In Minutes):

118/122

(Color Type):

Color

(Chaptered/Scene Access):

Yes

(Closed Captioned):

Yes

(Regional Coding):

A

(Theatrical Year):

(Theatrical Release):

Yes

(Direct-To-Video Release):

(Disc Release Date):

4/11/2017

(THX® Digitally Mastered):

(Director):

John Badham

(Screenplay/Written By):

(Story):

(Music):

(Director Of Photography):

(Production Designer):

(Visual Effects):

(Costume Designer):

(Editor):

(Supervising Sound Editors):

(Re-Recording Mixers):

(Executive Producers):

(Co-Producers):

(Producers):

(Academy Awards):

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(Principal Photography):

(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):

(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):

(Disc Soundtrack):

Dolby TrueHD 5.1

(Theatrical Sound):

(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):

(DTS Bit Rate):

(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):

(Additional Languages):

(French Language):

(Spanish Language):

(Subtitles):

Saturday Night Fever is a classic that captured the angst and brio of the time and had an indelible impact on popular culture. The story is about a Brooklyn teenager (Travolta) with no prospects who lives for Saturday night as he dances through the night and hangs with his friends. This is Director John Badham's definitive representation of his original vision. (Gary Reber)

The 1.85:1 1080p AVC picture is dated. A film production, grain is evident throughout. The color palette is pleasingly natural with warm saturated hues throughout. Reds and blues are rich and vibrant. Fleshtones also appear natural. Contrast is generally decent with at times solid blacks and shadow delineation. Resolution, however, is poor with a soft compressing appearance, which unfortunately really dates the visual experience. Still, the film is 40 years old and there is a 4K Ultra HD restoration in the works, which hopefully will greatly improve matters. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1-channel soundtrack is compressed generally and mostly dialogue focused except for the terrific music and is the life of the movie. Atmospherics are frontal focused throughout. Occasional sound effects, such as passing trains and the car Tony's friends drive around in, are aggressively directionalized in the surrounds, but the effect is not terribly refined. Dialogue is intelligible throughout with decent spatial integration. The Bee Gees disco music is uptempo and driving with an upbeat feel that energizes the story. Fidelity is decent and the bass is tight and punctuating. The music occupies a wide and deep soundstage that extends aggressively to the surrounds. This is a really entertaining revisit to the 1970s. (Gary Reber)

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Tom Smith

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