Although the traditional cinema musical, generally based upon a successful Broadway show, went into something of a decline in the late seventies and eighties, this period saw the rise of a new musical genre based around dance and pop music. Like "Saturday Night Fever", to which it is a sequel, "Flashdance", which also came out in 1983, "Grease", which also starred John Travolta, and "Dirty Dancing", Staying Alive is an example of this trend. The title comes from the Bee Gees song which was used as the theme song to Saturday Night Fever and is also played during the final scene here, although the name of song is always spelt as "Stayin' Alive". Doubtless that apostrophe looked a bit too slangy and colloquial for someone's liking.
The story takes place six years after the events of "Saturday Night Fever". The hero of that film, Tony Manero, is still an aspiring dancer, although now his aspirations are focused less on the disco dance floor than on Broadway. After working as a dance instructor he wins a part in a Broadway dance show with the unpromising title of "Satan's Alley". (Think of something like "Goddess" from the film "Showgirl", but without the restraint and good taste). The plot is essentially a love-triangle in which Tony cheats on his girlfriend Jackie with the show's English leading lady Laura and then has to try and win Jackie back when Laura dumps him after a one-night stand.
My main problems with this film are that the characters are all so damn unsympathetic and that the acting is so poor. John Travolta's boyish charm and rueful grins cannot hide the fact that his character is a cheating rat. For all her good looks and undoubted dance skills, Finola Hughes gives a woeful performance as Laura, a character who is so obviously a complete bitch that I cannot fathom why Tony ever gave her a second glance; he must have been seduced by those cut-glass English vowels. Both Travolta and Hughes earned well-deserved Razzie nominations (he for Worst Actor, she for Worst New Star). Rather surprisingly, neither won, Travolta losing to Christopher Atkins for "A Night in Heaven" and Hughes to Lou Ferrigno in "Hercules". I have never seen either of those films, but if they contain worse acting than "Staying Alive" I can't say I'm in a hurry to do so.
Cynthia Rhodes as Jackie is, technically, not quite as deficient as Hughes in the acting department, but she makes a rather colourless heroine and never makes us understand why Jackie is so forgiving towards her faithless boyfriend. Rhodes does come to life in the dance scenes, where she shows a liveliness and charisma lacking elsewhere, but as Jackie is a lowly chorus girl she does not get as much chance to show this side to her talents as does Hughes, who plays the star of the show.
"Staying Alive" is frequently regarded as an inferior sequel to its predecessor, a verdict from which I would not dissent, even though "Saturday Night Fever" is far from being my favourite movie. It has some energetic and well-choreographed dance sequences and those who are into eighties disco music will enjoy the songs, although I must admit that I don't really like that style of music, and certainly not the falsetto warblings of the Bee Gees, who provide much of the soundtrack. ("You can tell by the way I use my walk, I'm a woman's man, although the way I use my voice might give rise to some doubt on that point"). Despite its name, "Staying Alive" never stays alive for long enough to arouse much interest. 4/10
The story takes place six years after the events of "Saturday Night Fever". The hero of that film, Tony Manero, is still an aspiring dancer, although now his aspirations are focused less on the disco dance floor than on Broadway. After working as a dance instructor he wins a part in a Broadway dance show with the unpromising title of "Satan's Alley". (Think of something like "Goddess" from the film "Showgirl", but without the restraint and good taste). The plot is essentially a love-triangle in which Tony cheats on his girlfriend Jackie with the show's English leading lady Laura and then has to try and win Jackie back when Laura dumps him after a one-night stand.
My main problems with this film are that the characters are all so damn unsympathetic and that the acting is so poor. John Travolta's boyish charm and rueful grins cannot hide the fact that his character is a cheating rat. For all her good looks and undoubted dance skills, Finola Hughes gives a woeful performance as Laura, a character who is so obviously a complete bitch that I cannot fathom why Tony ever gave her a second glance; he must have been seduced by those cut-glass English vowels. Both Travolta and Hughes earned well-deserved Razzie nominations (he for Worst Actor, she for Worst New Star). Rather surprisingly, neither won, Travolta losing to Christopher Atkins for "A Night in Heaven" and Hughes to Lou Ferrigno in "Hercules". I have never seen either of those films, but if they contain worse acting than "Staying Alive" I can't say I'm in a hurry to do so.
Cynthia Rhodes as Jackie is, technically, not quite as deficient as Hughes in the acting department, but she makes a rather colourless heroine and never makes us understand why Jackie is so forgiving towards her faithless boyfriend. Rhodes does come to life in the dance scenes, where she shows a liveliness and charisma lacking elsewhere, but as Jackie is a lowly chorus girl she does not get as much chance to show this side to her talents as does Hughes, who plays the star of the show.
"Staying Alive" is frequently regarded as an inferior sequel to its predecessor, a verdict from which I would not dissent, even though "Saturday Night Fever" is far from being my favourite movie. It has some energetic and well-choreographed dance sequences and those who are into eighties disco music will enjoy the songs, although I must admit that I don't really like that style of music, and certainly not the falsetto warblings of the Bee Gees, who provide much of the soundtrack. ("You can tell by the way I use my walk, I'm a woman's man, although the way I use my voice might give rise to some doubt on that point"). Despite its name, "Staying Alive" never stays alive for long enough to arouse much interest. 4/10