Last Blood (2019) hits theatres today, and while Rambo obviously kicks ass, I’d like to take this opportunity to shed some light on a film Sly Stallone directed back in 1983 that often gets neglected. Not only is it a magical motion picture in and of itself, but it just so happens to be the follow up to the legendary Saturday Night Fever (1977) – Hell yeah, I’m talking about Staying Alive!
You might’ve heard of it, it has definitely made its way into a few ‘100 of the Worst Movies Ever Made‘ lists that have been heavily circulating. With this knowledge, you may be asking yourself “Well, is it good?” I can only speak for myself when I say that I totally dig it. Honestly, I’ve watched it twice in the last couple months but I’ll have you know that Grease 2 (1982) is in my top 3 films of all-time, so make of this what you will.
So, what is it all about? Imagine Showgirls but instead of an influx of tits and female empowerment you have Tony Manero cheating on his girlfriend and continuing to be the shitty person he was five years prior when all the gnarly events of Saturday Night Fever went down (For those of you who haven’t seen SNF I’ll briefly summarize – Accidental drug-induced suicides, sexual harassment, rape, etc). All that has truly changed in Manero’s world is location, location, location! Instead of railing cocaine and hitting the floor of the local disco, he decides its time to explore his potential to be a broadway dancer.
Normally I’d leave it up to y’all to explore the contents of the film to discover how successful our leading man is in his endeavours, but I’ll spell it out for you – He nails it. Of course he does, he is a goddamn dance prodigy, even if he is a garbage human. I’m not even slamming this movie either, Tony Manero is as Tony Manero should be. I love this character, he has a head full of rocks yet he moves like a gazelle and somehow manages to nab Cynthia Rhodes (who will forever be known to me as the super babe in Dirty Dancing) despite cheating on her and being negligent as all hell.
Why do I like this movie so much? Well, it is stupidly fun, has a killer soundtrack (on par with Rocky IV in this department, bravo!) and it just works for me. I’ve seen a shitload of complaints online claiming that there is no plot, that it is boring – Like said, it is essentially Showgirls with no real message, which would still undeniably be entertaining. The dance in the third act is unreal good, too. Y’all remember how Manero had a tendency to shove disco babes aside on the dance floor and gloat on his own in SNF? You bet your sweet ass he does it here too, basically injuring his dance partner on stage in front of a massive audience in order to do so.
If that isn’t bonkers enough, let me tell you all about the ultimate cliffhanger ending: After shining brightly thanks to literally destroying his only counterpart in the dance act, Manero is emotionally high after nailing his debut broadway performance. He makes out with his shamefully subservient girlfriend (Cynthia Rhodes) while locking eyes with the woman he injured/cheated on her with (Finola Hughes), following this he exclaims exuberantly “You know what I wanna do? You know what I wanna DO?! Strut.” – Manero forcefully pushes open the exit doors as the Bee Gees ‘Staying Alive’ kicks in and he does just that. Credits roll. End scene.
Honestly, this is exactly why I think Sly should consider revisiting this very brief moment in his filmography. I dig the hell out of The Expendables, and I know Last Blood is going to kick as much (if not more) ass than all the other Rambo films, but I just have so many questions. What happens to Tony Manero? Where does he strut to? Does he ever learn how to not be a completely terrible person? DISCO OR BROADWAY? I need answers!
Written by Breanna Whipple