Staying Alive (1983)
It was supposed to be a sequel to the energetic party that was Saturday Night Fever. Most fans would have pulled the plug on this movie before its release if they’d known it would be a miserable watch. We appreciated Saturday Night Fever for its dramatics, triumphant climax, and overall depth. On the contrary, this movie lacked all the elements which made the first movie great. Variety had this to say, “The bottom line is that Staying Alive is nowhere as good as its 1977 predecessor, Saturday Night Fever.”
Considering Sylvester Stallone directed the film, as well as co-wrote and produced the original film which was celebrated, this movie failed the original fanbase. Sean Collier of Box Office Prophets understood this when he wrote, “The production as a whole is too disjointed, repetitive and flat to really hang together.” Despite the negative reception, it was a box office hit. Final domestic box office numbers indicated the film raked in $127 million.