Gottseidank, es ist Freitag

THANK GOD IT'S Friday was released just as the disco craze crested, when anything and everything might happen during a night on the town, when sex was casual, and drink and drugs were still regarded in a lighthearted manner, and music wailed and blared with the likes of Gloria Gaynor and K.C. & the Sunshine Band. Within a few years Disco would be publicly declared dead--but it still lives on in the recordings... and in Donna Summer's screen image of the Disco Diva, shimmering in the spotlight beneath the mirror ball with a hibiscus tucked into her hair as she belts out her megaton hit, "Last Dance."

TGIF is best regarded as a cultural artifact, an attempt to show everything that was shiny about the Disco world without any reference to its down sides of sexually transmitted diseases, next-morning-hangovers, and serious drug addictions. The story is slight: a disco is hosting a big dance contest, and every one arrives at the door with personal ambitions. There is, of course, the singer who hopes to hit it big; two underage teen girls hot to be Disco Queens; a sweet young thing who hates polyester and is looking for Mr. Right in the wrong place; and a ladykiller looking to score his next victim. The film is most memorable for the look of the disco, which is the real star of the film, and the cast, which includes several performers on their way up: Jeff Goldblum as the lady killer; Deborah Winger as the anti-polyester good girl; and of all people a very, very young Terri Nunn, who would later score big as the front singer for the band Berlin.

There are all the usual running gags, and as a whole the film is only mildly entertaining. But then Donna Summer steps into the spotlight--and for a few moments everything that was magic about Disco lives and breathes again. For what it is--an incredibly light, mindless bit of tinsel--the film is well done, but it has an extremely limited appeal for a contemporary audience. Unless you were actually part of the disco scene and want to revisit old memories, you're better off catching it on the late-late show. But my oh my... wasn't Donna Summer something special!

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

This is an easy movie to laugh at. It is very into it's time and it's music, fashion, the whole nine yards. This movie came out in 1978 when disco was at it's most popular. DJs who a few years later would get on the "Disco Sucks" bandwagon were still wearing their polyester suits and wearing gold chains, playing the soundtrack of "Saturday Night Fever" over and over again. It's easy to forget how big disco was and how serious it was for a brief span of time. This movie attempts to portray in a humourous way, a night at a very "cool" disco, presided over by a very "cool" owner and DJ, who played " cool" music all night long. It shows how a night at the disco affects several different kinds of people, from a couple whose marriage is on the skids to two underage girls trying to sneak in to enter a dance contest. The music is pounding, the drug use blatant, the clothes were wild, yes this was 1978. This was all a clever package, of course, to market the movie's fantastic soundtrack. Like the SNF soundtrack, this movie sold their double LP soundtrack like hotcakes. Live performances by Donna Summer and The Commodores add to this movies appeal. Recommended as a double feature with "Detroit Rock City" to show that there was two very divergent musical tastes amoung white kids in 1978.

This is about the only "disco" movie that I have ever liked. To me, it really captures the time & spirit of the late '70s disco craze. Everyone from Debra Winger and her co-worker looking for guys that don't wear polyester, to the great music of the Commodores and Donna Summer make this a nice slice of '70s nostalgia. Everything '70s is represented in this movie: 8-tracks, platform shoes, bell-bottom pants, leisure suits, I think there is even a Ford Pinto in the parking lot of the disco. I feel that this movie never got the recognition that it deserved. It seemed to be drowned out by "Saturday Night Fever" and "Can't Stop The Music". If you are looking for a movie that will bring back the feeling of the '70s, this one is a great choice.

THANK GOD IT'S Friday needs to be reissued in Dolby digital and promoted like the GREASE 20th anniversary was in 1998. TGIF is a very funny film with an very recognizable cast - Jeff Goldblum even still looks the same! Does he have a painting in a cupboard getting old instead? Debra Winger, (the late great) Paul Jabara and Donna Summer and all those brown clothes and hideous cars! It was released with 4 track magnetic sound in 1978 and became quite a hit with all us flared up dance pants disco moviegoers. It is not Paul Jabara's only film appearance, he turns up in drag in DAY OF THE LOCUST the dark and scary look at 30s Hollywood. There is a place for this film in 2005 and I hope Columbia see the value. They also have a lot of other great music/concert films of the 70s that deserve another cinema reissue because of the sensational music content: WATTSTAX, FILLMORE and maybe the Fox doco CONCERT AT BIG SUR. If THE LAST WALTZ and GREASE can get out again to new audiences, so deserves TGIF and those others mentioned above. It is a very entertaining musical for lots more reasons than in 1978. The world of 1978 is almost enough alone.

OK, true, it's dated, and shows its age, and this movie is far from a classic. What the hell?, see it anyway!!. This movie took place at a long gone disco in Los Angeles (Osco's), a favorite hangout of mine back when I lived in L.A. Even though the story is a bit far-fetched, its the DANCING, and MUSIC that brings this movie alive.

This is a fun movie, about a fun almost hedonistic period (remember, this was pre AIDS), when pretty much life was about just having a good time.

The one thing I remember most about the disco period is this: There seemed to be very few lines that divided, the rich, poor, black, white, latin..you name it... we all went to the same clubs, and listened to the same music. This is something you'll see represented in this movie, this cast was about a group of people that in todays society, would hardly be seen on the same street.

The group I'd recommend seeing this film now? young people around 15 to 25, maybe give them a little more focus as to why their parents are so weird!!!