Staying Alive Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Staying Alive Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 5, 2023

Sylvester Stallone's "Staying Alive" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Paramount Pictures. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new program with actress Finola Hughes; exclusive new audio commentary by critics David Del Valle and Ed King; and vintage promotional materials for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Sylvester Stallone’s Staying Alive is defined by its excess. Some of it is good, some of it is bad, and some of it is so utterly ridiculous you can instantly tell that it is a product of the 1980s. This excess is what makes and breaks Staying Alive, too. If you lived through the cultural euphoria that produced so many good and bad films, music albums, and fashion trends in the 1980s, and you had some sort of connection with it, you will get why Staying Alive exists. Of course, it is not a great film that was somehow misunderstood and now deserves to be reevaluated and rediscovered, but it is absolutely not the giant turkey the ‘serious’ critics described either. It is a big, unleashed film, a unique cinematic kamikaze that self-destructs in spectacular fashion. I enjoy these types of films a lot. The ‘serious’ critics do not, but it is not because they cannot. It is because admitting that they enjoy them too is a very, very serious liability.

Since Staying Alive was heavily promoted as a sequel to John Badham’s Saturday Night Fever, you would think that the two make a pretty decent double bill, correct? It may seem so because Tony Manero (John Travolta) is back, dancing again, and the girls are still chasing him, but if you choose to see Staying Alive immediately after Saturday Night Fever, I guarantee you will have an underwhelming experience. You should see Staying Alive on the same night you have the time to revisit Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls. Start with the former and end your night with the latter. These two films have so much in common it actually makes perfect sense that the ‘serious’ critics had to smear them with bad reviews and shame them with Razzie awards. There is too much excess in them and some of it is so unleashed it becomes revelatory.

Verhoeven conceived Showgirls to be that kind of outrageous and revelatory film but Stallone’s plan for Staying Alive was different, and this is why I think that the former is a much more effective film. In Showgirls, Verhoeven dispatches Nomi Malone to Las Vegas and as she evolves into a professional dancer her failures and triumphs expose a ruthless business selling kitsch as art. In Staying Alive, Stallone dispatches Manero to Broadway where his transformation into a star exposes another ruthless business selling kitsch as art. Manero has many of the same experiences Malone does but is not as cynical -- or is he? In the final act, during the massive performance, which looks every bit as outrageous and tasteless as the ones Verhoeven shot for Showgirls, Manero humiliates his partner (an outstanding Finola Hughes), and over the course of a few minutes, feeling emboldened, conquers Broadway. While impressive, his evolution is largely unimportant, but there is a message behind it that is as brutally honest as the one that emerges at the end of Showgirls. Unfortunately, instead of making this message the centerpiece of Staying Alive, Stallone instantly moves away from it and forces the audience to conclude that what mattered the most in it was Manero’s triumph on Broadway and meaningless romance with a fellow dancer (Cynthia Rhodes).

The soundtrack features several outstanding tracks by The Bee Gees, including the superhit “Stayin’ Alive”, “Life Goes On”, “I Love You Too Much”, and “Someone Belonging to Someone”. Also, Stallone’s brother, Frank, can be heard singing the terrific “Far From Over” and “Moody Girl” as well as the “I’m Never Gonna Give You Up” with Rhodes.

Staying Alive Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Staying Alive arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from a recent 4K master that was prepared after the film was fully restored in 4K by Paramount Pictures. The restoration is available on 4K Blu-ray as well. You can see our listing and review of this release here.

I viewed the film in native 4K and then sampled numerous areas of the 1080p presentation. The issues that I highlighted in our review of the 4K Blu-ray release are frequently even easier to recognize in 1080p. For example, a lot of the smearing is more prominent and depth can be very, very underwhelming. Also, in select areas, you will recognize sharpening-like effects that are introduced by the digital corrections that were applied on the master. Again, I do not wish to speculate why these corrections were made, but it is very easy to tell that currently the restored visuals do not have proper organic qualities. My score is 2.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Staying Alive Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the entire film in native 4K and only sampled the 1080p presentation. I used the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, which I thought was excellent. Clarity, sharpness, and stability were definitely better than those on my old R1 DVD release of Staying Alive. Dynamic intensity is greatly improved as well, so the final act and all areas where music is used sounded great. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Staying Alive Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics David Del Valle and Ed King of the Irish Film Institute.

• Alive and Kicking - in this exclusive new program, actress Finola Hughes recalls how she became involved with Staying Alive, what it was like to work with Sylvester Stallone and John Travolta, the type of look that the film tried to get right, the reception of the film, the 'honor' of winning a Razzie award, etc. In English, not subtitled. (15 min).

• Promotional Materials -
  
  1. Original trailer
  2. Teaser trailer
  3. Home video trailer/VHS years
  4. TV spots
  5. Radio spots

Staying Alive Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A few strategic tweaks easily could have transformed Staying Alive into a very effective satirical film. I still like it quite a lot and very much disagree with old claims that it was a giant misfire but its finale was unquestionably mishandled by Sylvester Stallone. Staying Alive was recently restored in 4K at Paramount Pictures and the new makeover is available on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray. Unfortunately, at the moment the film does not look as it should.