Skatetown USA

Skatetown USA along with Roller Boogie is a celebration of that brief time that roller disco was ruling the youth culture. Unless you like the music scene, rollerskating, or want to see this variety of current and former performers from television stroll on the screen and do their bit one better avoid the film.

But the music and the choreographed skating numbers are the thing here and the plot such as it is just gets in the way. Scott Baio from The Valley is manager of skating brother and sister Greg Bradford and Maureen McCormick and he's brought them to that Mecca of roller disco palaces Skatetown USA to take on the champ Patrick Swayze who has a large and menacing posse. In fact Swayze will do just about anything to win so Baio has to be on his toes.

Flip Wilson owns Skatetown USA along with Billy Barty and Flip has some scenes as his drag character Geraldine. A whole lot of other familiar TV faces make an appearance and hopefully their paychecks cleared the bank.

Greg Bradford was and remains the ultimate surfer boy. He and Swayze are both talented dancers and the competition is fierce. This was Swayze's film debut. His acting chops were displayed later in his career.

Unless you are nostalgic for the era, Skatetown USA is not your film.

Skatetown, U. S. A. Is a nostalgic trip to the glittering world of 1970s roller discos, where style overshadows substance. The film follows a dreamer drawn into Skatetown's vibrant skate scene, including a gang led by the charismatic Ace (a young Patrick Swayze). While Swayze and the era's disco-inspired visuals add charm, the plot is predictable, characters are underdeveloped, and dialogue feels cheesy. Early appearances by future stars like Scott Baio provide intrigue, but the film lacks depth. Best enjoyed as a campy, retro time capsule, it earns 4/10 for its kitschy appeal and historical value.

Well as a former U.S. Marine and roller-skater myself, this film has considerable interest for me. I saw it twice when it first came out. After that, it was about 28 years, until I got my 16mm transfer DVD. Quality isn't the greatest but its good enough to bring back those memories, at least until it comes out on DVD or Blu-Ray DVD. Colors on the transfer are rather muted but I'm sure a Blu-Ray transfer from the original masters will really make this movie sparkle.

Of course those of us who saw Skatetown remember how cheesy this flick was. I won't repeat most of what already has been written but will post a few of my own observations.

One of my favorite sequences was the performance by a skating group known as the "Jerry Nifta Skaters", probably due to the cool remix version of the Jackson's "Shake Your Body" used for their performance (which played quite a bit at the Roller City 2001 rink in Riverside CA back then). Great skating but I kept wondering about the really gorgeous blonde girl in the group. She looked great, mostly a nice figure and wore a rather revealing top. Problem is she had almost nothing to reveal leading me to wonder if she's a he, or is she a tall 11 year old girl? Regardless, they put on a good show.

Of course Patrick Swayze does miracles for any film he's in, even this one in the role which can best be described as a cross between a tough gang leader and a totally gay male ice skater (no prejudice against gays here, just describing the point). But as a lot of us would say, c'mon now, a skating gang?? I see a lot of us Skatetown "fans" are wondering about the rink itself and did this rink really exist. I've seen comments that the rink was actually a specially constructed studio set and doesn't really exist. But some folks have stated that some scenes were filmed in a actual rink, including one claiming to be a extra and stating that a rink in Sherman Oaks, CA was used. Another stated that the Hollywood Palladium was used and from the interior shots I've been able to find, this makes sense. Hopefully if it ever comes out on DVD, the DVD will have some extras to tell us more about where this was filmed (unlike "Thank God Its Friday" DVD which had NO extras).

As for musical rights maybe holding up any DVD release, I'm not sure what to believe. Makes some sense but then again, "Saturday Night Fever" and "Thank God Its Friday" both had a lot of hit songs on their soundtracks and would have the same problem with musical rights. Yet both are out on DVD, albeit TGIF took a while.

When this movie first came out, no one knew that disco was only a few months (if not weeks) away from heading over the cultural cliff into total cultural disrepute. I'm sure the movie makers were disappointed that the accompanying roller disco "craze" was so brief and their movie didn't do so well at the box office.

To sum up, this movie is a definite 1979 time capsule with everything from disco music, to sparking white-afro'd DJs, feathered hairstyles of the day, girls in outfits that would have them barred from the rinks that I frequented in my youth, even in 1979 (I'd swear that a couple of those outfits were predecessors to Victoria's Secret skimpy 1-piece swimsuits), and a overabundance of pink and purple but that might be the muted colors on the DVD transfer.

Fair to say, Skatetown USA is becoming a true "cult classic", much like "Rocky Horror Picture Show" or "Night of the Comet" which leads to hope that it will eventually be out on DVD/Blu-Ray.

This is the very definition of a guilty pleasure film.

Teenage blondes in hot pants and mini skirts, Scott Baio, Marcia Brady, stoners, food fights, midgets, cross dressers, and "Introducing Patrick Swayze" it all takes place within one night within the wall of Skatetown USA!

The plot: Yes, there actually is a plot. True to the Greek unity of time and place the entire film is set in one night inside a roller disco which appears to be the space ship from 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' only BRIGHTER!

The night starts with Scott Baio placing huge bets that his rookie friend Stan can sweep the roller disco competition. But there are troubles in techno paradise as Patrick Swayze and his Ron Jeremy look alike gang arrive on scene and black mail Flip Wilson (no puns intended) Skatetown USA's owner into rigging the contest.

Swayze's performance boldly says that no closet can hold him. But Stan's puts John Travolta performance in 'Staying Alive' to shame.

All in all this is a fun film that never takes itself to seriously. There's some good music which is difficult for the 70s and some really impressive dance scenes. There's also plenty of PG T&A.

I know this isn't saying much, but after Saturday Night Fever, this was the best of the disco themed movies. Unlike SNF, this movie took the tact of most other disco films and tried to capture the "fun" side of disco, and greatly succeeds where many others of this type failed.Although most of the skits are only mildly amusing, the characterizations are on the money and work well.As with any musical, the dance numbers and songs make this movie and really make you want to dance and sing along with it(if you know how to roller skate)Once again, if you want a semi-historical document that seems to capture the tone of disco, this is a classic.