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]
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger 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.
83
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Travolta molds what could have been an equally obvious character into a substantial, tragic figure.
80
Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
A small, solid film, made with craft if not resonance.
80
TV Guide Magazine
TV Guide Magazine
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.
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.
30
Variety
Variety
The clumsy story lurches forward through predictable travail and treacle, separated by phonograph records (or vice versa).