THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY [1978 / 2018] [40th Anniversary Edition] [Blu-ray] [USA Release] The Disco Classic that will make you want to put on your Boogie Shoes and Dance the Whole Night Long!
Set amongst a single night at the hottest disco in town, ‘THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY’ is the hilarious story of a disco diva trying to get the DJ to play her demo, two underage disco queens out to show their stuff, a good girl looking for Mr. Right, a sleazy owner that will do anything to get a girl, and a bigger-than-life dance contest capturing the great music, dancing, fashions, and delight of the disco craze!
The film stars include early performances by Jeff Goldblum and Debra Winger and feature an amazing soundtrack with the Queen of Disco herself Donna Summer singing the 1978 Academy Award® Winner for Best Original Song “Last Dance,” as well as from the one and only The Commodores “Too Hot To Trot.” From the second it starts ‘THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY’ will make you feel like disco lives again!
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1979 Academy Awards®: Win: Best Music and Original Song for Paul Jabara For the song “Last Dance.” 1979 Golden Globes: Win: Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for Paul Jabara for the song “Last Dance.”
FILM FACT No.2: ‘THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY’ film opened in New York City on May 19, 1978 and grossed $752,000 from 85 theatres in its first week, which made it second for the week at the U.S.A. box office behind ‘The Greek Tycoon.’ The film production occurred in summer or autumn 1977 at the building at 333 S. La Cienega Blvd (around the corner of that street and San Vicente Blvd) of Los Angeles, California. The building was formerly called the Millionaire’s Club, which was closed several years prior to the film. Within those several years, the building underwent “a series of disco and restaurant attempts,” including one named Cabaret. It then was reopened as the nightclub Osko’s in December 1977, several months after the filming. The club had four dance floors and “the Cave” an ice cavern-themed room as seen in the film. Osko's was also a filming location of the horror film ‘Jennifer.’ Club owner Osko Karaghossian had a role as a bouncer in the film. Osko's nightclub was completely demolished by the early 1990’s and was replaced by a large Loehmann's dress store.
Cast: Valerie Landsburg, Terri Nunn, Chick Vennera, Donna Summer, Ray Vitte, Mark Lonow, Andrea Howard, Jeff Goldblum, Robin Menken, Debra Winger, John Friedrich, Paul Jabara, Mews Small, Chuck Sacci, Hilary Beane, Otis Day, The Commodores, Phil Adams, Judith Brown, Marianne Bunch, Tony Cacciotti, Jacqueline Carlin, Linda Cremeans, Gregory V. Karliss, Wade Collings, Cosie Costa, Christine De Lisle, MacIntyre Dixon, Michael Durrell, Al Fann, Harry Gold, Heidi Gold, Nanci L. Hammond, Luce Rains, Howard Itzkowitz, Osko Karaghossian, Solomon Karriem, Sheila MacKenzie, J.W. Bear Martin, Shelly Parsons, Nicholas Shields, Vaya Warren, Richard Weinberg, Sandra Will, Jonathan Wynne and Lionel Richie (Himself/ The Commodores)
Director: Robert Klane
Producers: Anthony Masters, Lauren Shuler Donner, Neil Bogart, Phillip M. Goldfarb and Rob Cohen
Screenplay: Barry Armyan Bernstein (written) and Robert Klane (uncredited)
Music: Giorgio Moroder
Costume Design: Betsy Jones
Cinematography: James Crabe, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Anamorphic)
Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 89 minutes
Number of discs: 1
Region: Region A/1
Studio: Columbia Pictures / Mill Creek Entertainment
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: The film ‘THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY’ [1978] was brought about by the classic and brilliant disco record label of Casablanca Record’s and showcased this film so brilliantly and gave us a sitcom pilot, especially with Jeff Goldblum as an oily club owner, with a scenario about the seventies disco scene that plays up everything very cheesy and was at the time at the height of the exploiting every aspect that related to the disco scene, in other words, everything was explicitly for sale at very popular prices. The film was here represented by their very own Casablanca’s “Cinderella” in the guise of the wonderful disco singer Donna Summer and performing her Oscar-winning “Last Dance.”
The scene is set one Friday night; everyone is in town in going to the latest popular new disco venue. If Floyd [Otis Day] arrives with the instruments as promised, and find The Commodore's will be playing at the venue. Nicole Sims [Donna Summer] is hoping to fulfil her dream of becoming a disco star, some are going to try to win the evening's big dance contest, others are going to celebrate their fifth anniversary and others are hoping to get the partner of their dreams.
We also get the appearances of Jennifer [Debra Winger] and Tony [Jeff Goldblum[ before making it to their known status and we get to see them in their own goofy dilemma, but throughout the film it is never taken too seriously and I would dearly love to know where that Zoo Disco establishment is today. The film itself is 90 minutes long and goes by very quickly and it is all predictable and also done in the best possible taste, and definitely does suspend the disbelief scenario and after all it is just a disco film we really love and we know that nothing in this film would ever happen in real life, and I say it is fun, fun, fun all the way through the film and it was very interesting to see how it looked in those heady days of disco fever, and for people who have never seen this film before, it will show you what a big deal when the film was released in 1978, especially with the dancing Columbia Pictures lady at the beginning of the film.
‘THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY’ takes you behind the synthetic velour of a tacky-trendy new disco, owned by Jeff Goldblum because, as he oozes, and he had a premonition that disco was a trend just waiting to happen and he intended to milk it dry. Joining him in a mass quest to ask what disco can do for them. There is a married couple approaching their seven-year itch and looking to inject a little spice into their relationship, even though the husband seeks nothing more potent than ground peppercorn; the rapacious Jeff Goldblum sets his sights on the wife.
There is a transvestite who takes about eight hours in the men’s bathroom to electric shave his chest, making him the only gay in this disco. About the only halfway likable character in the crowd is a leather-clad disco addict dancer, Marv Gomez [Chick Vennera] with the same exhaustive Latino who provides the film with its only reasonable approximation of what actual disco dancing is all about, so check him out.
‘THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY’ crams in countless plugs for its sponsors, Motown and Casablanca and its classic disco sounds of that period in the seventies, but it is also very, very funny film and the jokes are strictly main stream, of course, but the fact that most of them are anti-sexist and anti-racist distinctly helps, as does the freshness of the splendid cast. Most commendable of all is the fact that no one feels the need to moralise or get serious, especially in the closing scenes of the film, especially with the running gags keep right on running, and they are strong enough to give you a fixed grin throughout the film.
Otherwise, the film’s tone can be gleaned from one telling scene in which a number of the film’s female characters are shown in the ladies powder room, especially with a PG film, and handing each other tissues as they share a good cry. They are not shedding tears over the petty bumps in their hedonistic film genre. They are not even crying because they know disco is dying. No, they are crying out of guilt for actually having a hand in agreeing to appear in the film ‘THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY.’
Nevertheless, it’s the same clichéd laughs that repeat themselves at least three times but this viewer can’t help but get lost in the routine of this very amusing trip down memory lane of a time when the disco dance was king and the disco ball was queen. And look out for “Last Dance” that was written by Paul Jabara, as one of the young guys that needs glasses, but brilliantly performed by Donna Summer. One key thing that drives the disco film is of course the absolutely brilliant disco themed soundtrack of the music from that era that doesn’t give the film a silent moment from start to finish. It’s always there and one that’s high on this viewer’s favourite soundtrack list, that is a must purchase for me now, to take me back to the time I was really into this type of music and especially when I hit the dance to move to my groove.
So come on your disco divas, get down and boogie, but despite the film seems like a made for television film, it still celebrates the classic disco sounds of the seventies and something to really enjoy because of all the disco dancing you get to view and even though it has very cheesy dialogue, but to my mind it is still a really total guilty pleasure for me personally and it brought back so many happy memories of that seventies disco period of classic disco sounds I use to love and enjoy!
THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY MUSIC TRACK LIST
AFTER DARK (Written by Pattie Brooks) (uncredited) [Performed by Pattie Brooks]
FIND MY WAY (Written by Johnny Melfi) (uncredited) [Performed by Cameo]
IT’S SERIOUS (Written by Gregory Johnson) (uncredited) [Performed by Cameo]
LET’S MAKE A DEAL (Written by Michael L. Smith) (uncredited) [Performed by G.C. Cameron and Syreeta]
BRICKHOUSE (Written by Shirley Hanna-King) (uncredited), (Written Lionel Richie) (uncredited), (Written Milan Williams) (uncredited), (Written Walter Orange) (uncredited), (Written Ronald La Pread) (uncredited), (Written Thomas McClary) (uncredited) and (Written William King) (uncredited) [Performed by The Commodores]
EASY (Written by Lionel Richie) (uncredited) [Performed by The Commodores]
TOO HOT TA TROT (Written by Lionel Richie (uncredited) and (Written by The Commodores) (uncredited) [Performed by The Commodores]
ROMEO & JULIET (Written by Alec R. Costandinos) (uncredited) [Performed by Alec R. Costandinos]
YOU’RE THE REASON I FEEL LIKE DANCING (Written by Harold Johnson) (uncredited) [Performed by The 5th Dimension]
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (Written by Giorgio Moroder (uncredited) and (Written by Pete Bellotte) (uncredited) [Performed by Giorgio Moroder]
DANCE ALL NIGHT [Performed by Cuba Gooding Jr.]
LOVE MASTERPIECE [Performed by Thelma Houston]
I’M HERE AGAIN (Written by Art Posey) (uncredited), (Written by Josef Powell) (uncredited), (Written by Hal Davis) (uncredited) [Performed by Thelma Houston]
DISCO QUEEN (Written by Paul Jabara) (uncredited) [Performed by Paul Jabara]
TRAPPED IN A STAIRWAY (Written by Paul Jabara) (uncredited) and (Written by Bob Esty) (uncredited) [Performed by Paul Jabara]
DO YOU WANT THE REAL THING (Written by D.C. LaRue) (uncredited) and (Written Bob Esty) (uncredited) [Performed by D.C. LaRue]
YOU CAN ALWAYS TELL A LADY BY THE COMPANY SHE KEEPS (Written by D.C. LaRue) (uncredited) [Performed by D.C. LaRue]
THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY (Written and Produced by Alec Constandinos) (uncredited) [Performed by Love & Kisses]
YOU ARE THE MOST PRECIOUS THING IN MY LIFE (Written and Produced by Alec Constandinos) (uncredited) [Performed by Love & Kisses]
I WANNA DANCE (Written and Produced by Pete Bellotte) (uncredited) [Performed by Marathon]
MECO’S THEME [Performed by Meco]
FLOYD’S THEME (Written and Produced by Dick St. Nicklaus) (uncredited) [Performed by Natural Juices]
DOWN TO LOVETOWN (Written by Don Daniels) (uncredited), (Written by Michael Sutton) (uncredited) and (Written by Kathy Wakefield) (uncredited) [Performed by The Originals]
LOVIN,’ LIVIN’ AND GIVIN’ (Written by Kenneth Stover) (uncredited) and (Written by Pam Davis) (uncredited) [Performed by Diana Ross]
SEVILLA NIGHTS (Written by Jean-Claude Petit) (uncredited), (Written by Nicolas Skorsky) (uncredited), (Written by Jean-Manuel de Scarano) (uncredited) [Performed by Santa Esmeralda]
LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY (Written by Donna Summer) (uncredited), (Written by Giorgio Moroder) (uncredited) and (Written by Pete Bellotte) (uncredited) [Performed by Donna Summer]
WITH YOUR LOVE (Written by Donna Summer) (uncredited), (Written by Giorgio Moroder) (uncredited) and (Written by Pete Bellotte) (uncredited) [Performed by Donna Summer]
JE T’AIME (MOI NON PLUS) (Written by Serge Gainsbourg) (uncredited) [Performed by Donna Summer]
LAST DANCE (Written by Paul Jabara) (uncredited) [Performed by Donna Summer]
TAKE IT TO THE ZOO (Written by Donna Summer) (uncredited), (Written by Bruce Sudano) (uncredited) and (Written by Joe Esposito) (uncredited) [Performed by Sunshine]
IN HOLLYWOOD (Written by Jacques Morali) (uncredited), (Written by Henri Belolo) (uncredited) and (Written by Phil Hurtt) (uncredited) [Performed by The Village People]
I AM WHAT I AM (Written by Jacques Morali) (uncredited), (Written by Henri Belolo) (uncredited), (Written by Victor Willis) (uncredited) and (Written by Peter Whitehead) (uncredited) [Performed by The Village People]
LEATHERMAN’S SCENE (Written and Produced by Arthur G. Wright) (uncredited) [Performed by Wright Brothers Flying Machine]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Mill Creek Entertainment brings us this wonderful disco film in a glorious 1080p image presentation, and is also presented in its first widescreen presentation of an anamorphic 1.85:1 aspect ratio and the film after all these years actually looks outstanding than the first time around I had seen it at the cinema. But the picture quality so much better than I had expected, especially with the wonderful colours are bright and looking just about right with sadly a few small speckles or two, but there is no major colour bleeding to report and is definitely a good nice clean up job done by the people at SONY and Mill Creek Entertainment, so well done.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Mill Creek Entertainment brings us this wonderful disco film with just one 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio experience. The film definitely makes great use throughout the soundtrack and even most of the effects ran mostly through the middle but being that this film is certainly not made for the dialogue, effects were minor and the music lead the way even if the film’s key song sounded better towards the end than when it’s performed in the film. The audio sound track continues with its solid build-up of classic disco music and remained that way all the way through the majority of the film making for a decent sound experience and you will not be disappointed.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras: Sadly there is not a single featurette or even the original film trailer, just the film itself and nothing more. Although it would have been nice to see how the original film trailer would of looked promoting this classic disco film back then, and it was such a shame they could not of been some hope with this Blu-ray release to have Special Features and Extras added to enjoy with this wonderful 1978 film.
Finally, ‘THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY’ is a great big fun filled cheesy ride into the disco sounds of the seventies with a film that is one of a few that was able to secure two 1979 Academy Awards® for two classic disco hits that has these two song included in the film, that you always heard at the end of any celebrated festive parties and discos that has rightly been included in this brilliant classic disco film, that will bring back many fond memories of anyone being around at the time when these disco hits were released. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
