MovieChat Forums > Saturday Night Fever (1977) Discussion > How it should have ended

How it should have ended

posted 10 years ago by Legendary_Badass
18 replies | jump to latest

I only saw this film for the first time last night on Netflix, and felt it was much darker than it's legacy, which paints it as this disco tribute crowd pleaser. Ultimately I didn't care for it as the characters outside of the dance floor were unsympathetic. What bothers me is the lack of consequences. They have a fight with this Baracuda gang for the sake of shoehorning in a prerequisite fight scene. No retaliation whatsoever! Tony should have been stabbed to death on the subway.

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[–] YankeeDood 10 years ago

Correction, you should have been stabbed to death on the subway.

"How can you tell your wife, with a full heart, you love her and forget to wash ya ass?"

- Redd Foxx

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] jefgg 9 years ago

I just wish the weak 1983 sequel "Staying Alive" had not been made.

[–] jessefresh73 9 years ago

YOu have a point on that. How I would have ended the film would have started with Bobby C not dying, but being saved at the last minute. It would have still given Tony the shakes, and after making peace with his friends, leaving for Manhattan, and meeting Stephanie at a coffee shop.

[–] balboa76 9 years ago

Wrong ending! Booby C dying was a perfect ending, it was the seminal moment in time when Tony finally realizes that his life is heading nowhere if he keeps the same dead end loser friends and stays in the neighborhood.

Btw the friends he has, aren't really his friends, and Tony finally realizes this when they show their true fake colors when they congratulate him for winning the dance contest when it's crystal clear that the Latino couple won hands down.

[–] jessefresh73 9 years ago

Maybe if Bobby C had ended up like Gus, I hated to see that dude die like that.

[–] balboa76 9 years ago

He dies in a terrible way, but he would have committed suicide sooner or later, he was a guy with very low self esteem and he needed his friends to show him attention and approval to be happy, it was very sad. Those guys probably mourned his passing for around 2 days, if that.

I always thought that the way Bobby passed should have been explored as part of the story line for Staying Alive, it would have been interesting if Tony had flashbacks/nightmares of his death and had to some how find a way to deal with it and finally move on. SA could have had a lot better story, Stallone and Wexler dropped the ball on that script.

[–] Milkdoesabodygood 9 years ago

It was years later and Tony moved on in life, couldn't dwel on the past which pushed him into the present,

Spoiler alert for them spoil sports out there! Y'all like spoiled milk, stop crying over it!

[–] strntz 9 years ago

What bothers me is the lack of consequences. They have a fight with this Baracuda gang for the sake of shoehorning in a prerequisite fight scene. No retaliation whatsoever! Tony should have been stabbed to death on the subway.

Why? Nobody was killed in the fight. Do you think the Barracudas were angels?

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[–] Crystal (534) 6 years ago

It would not had been popular if it was considered light and cute.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

On the contrary, this movie was popular for all the wrong reasons. People glossed over its overall message and became obsessed with the dance numbers, soundtrack and costume design.

[–] TheArgentinian (7072) 4 years ago

good point.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 5 years ago

That unfortunately wasn’t the point of the film

[–] modica (4169) 4 years ago

Exactly. It was about Tony leaving behind the life he didn't particularly care for to find his dream. The OP just didn't get what the movie was about. It just wasn't capitalizing on the disco fad.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 4 years ago

Exactly and surprisingly a lot of people don't seem to understand what this movie was about. It was about breaking away from what society expects from you and living the life you want for yourself. The Barracuda subplot was simply emphasizing how awful Tony's current life is and how he's hanging out with trash and when you hang out with trash trashy things happen to you.

A lot of people also seem to miss the point of the scene where Stephanie accidentally runs into Jay in her apartment, they think it's about how Tony was acting like a jealous boyfriend and was "slut shaming her", or how the scene in the coffee shop is about how Tony is learning how to "respect women". The entire subplot of Stephanie's tragic past and her insecurities about how she had to "do things" to get to where she was was the point of those scenes.

[–] Callahan7 (1158) 2 years ago

I just saw this again. I haven't seen it in many years. I'm not sure the Amazon Prime version is the same (completed) version that was released in theaters.

Good points MovieChatUser497.

A lot of people think Karen Lynn Gorney was miscast. I thought she was good. Perhaps they could have found a New York actress with an authentic accent. That is my only complaint and it is a minor one. I am not from New York but I have heard that New Yorkers thought her accent was not good.

Her character is older than Tony and is not a professional dancer. The contest is a neighborhood event. There is enough prize money that couples from other boroughs came to compete. This was not a competition for a Broadway play.

In that capacity she could dance well enough. She is not naturally a great dancer but they practiced and looked good together.

[–] daveyh (625) a year ago

I would have rolled the credits as Tony's leaving the dance contest in disgust and Staying Alive's playing - the whole story was building up to this, and on the surface it appears to be a "happy ending" - he won the competition he was working all movie towards, it's celebration time etc - yet it's anything but.
Would be a metaphor of the film's legacy as a whole - on the surface, most people think of it as a fun movie about disco dancing, yet it's so much deeper than that.
In addition to Bobby's death, we'd also be spared Tony's attempt to force himself on Stefanie - always uncomfortable viewing.
It would also bookend the film nicely - it starts with him strutting to Staying Alive, it can end with him walking away to that - the camera could even zoom in until all you see are his feet hastily walking.
Only problem is there'd be no place for How Deep Is Your Love, unless it's played during the extended credits after Staying Alive has ended.