John Travolta’s films rated …
Having made his directing debut with ‘Propeller One way Night Coach’ based on his own 1997 book we thought we would take a look at his films as an actor. Over the 50 plus years of his career it’s been an eclectic back catalogue with some terrific films that’s taken in two Oscar nominations whilst at the other end there has been film that should be buried in a lead lined coffin and dropped at the bottom of the Arianna trench (yes, Battleship Earth, we are looking at you!). But we’re here to celebrate the best of his films working up to the absolute very best. So here’s John Travolta’s films rated ….
- Saturday Night Fever (1977)
So whilst in the UK the Sex Pistols were ripping up the music scene with notoriously rowdy gigs, hyped up publicity stunts by their manager the late Malcolm Maclaren and culminating in the seminal album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, the USA was still in the thrall of disco which was encapsulated with the release of Saturday Night Fever. Travolta had already caught the eye with his bad guy role in ‘Carrie’ the year before but this good looking guy had star quality and the Saturday Night Fever caught it quite brilliantly. Right from the famous and much imitated close up shot of his feet walking down the street and then the dance routines as he burnt up the illuminated dance floors in a white suit it was a very different scene to the start of rave culture some 12 years later. Coupled with a career defining and iconic sound track from the Bee Gees the film was a huge success despite being an X certificate (the now 18 certificate ) earning $237m worldwide and getting Travolta the films only Oscar nomination (though he would lose to Richard Dreyfuss for The Goodbye Girl). Travolta was now a bona fide star.
- Get Shorty (1995)
Travolta’s career had been given a much needed boost by the time he made Get Shorty arguably one of the best big screen adaptations of an Elmore Leonard novel (along with Out of Sight & Jackie Brown). The film saw him Chilli Palmer, a loan shark who works for the mob who travels to Hollywood to collect a debt and finds that the film industry is as corrupt as the underworld he knew. He wasn’t the usual violent mobster usually seen in such films but instead was a likeable tough guy confident in his own persuasive verbal skills and able to meet like with like if it came to violence. It’s one of his best roles and he was surrounded by an equally good cast that included Danny DeVito as an egotistical actor and Gene Hackman as a seedy producer along with a load of stand out smaller roles filled by Dennis Farina, James Gandolfini, David Paymer and Rene Russo. The success of the film led to a sequel ‘Be Cool’ where he his character went into the music business. Still fun but not as good as Get Shorty.
- Grease (1978)
Having become a star with Saturday Night Fever he went on to make the musical Grease. It might surprise that he would be singing in this but his ability in the role had already been proved when he had played the role of Danny, leader of the T-birds, and could hit high notes (‘those sum-mer ni-I –I-IIIIIIIIIIGHTS!!!!) in the stage version with the clips of him belting out the song now all over youtube. Playing the leather jacketed 1950’s bad boy besotted by the virginal good girl Sandy ( a career defining role for the late great Olivia Newton John). They made a beautiful on screen couple and a banging soundtrack with a load of killer tracks that included Summer Loving and Greased Lightning amongst others made this one of the biggest musical hits ever earning $396m off a meagre $6m budget.
- Face / Off (1997)
So as we continue with John Travolta’s films rated we go to an all out action film this would see Travolta pair up with Hong Kong director John Woo, one of the greatest action directors ever. They had made Broken Arrow the year before after the director had moved to Hollywood from Hong Kong and ‘Face Off’ was and remains one of the great action films of the 1990’s with Travolta as a cop and Nicolas Cage as a villain who, and suspend your disbelief for this one, have to swop faces. It’s as hugely enjoyable a watch as each actor adopts the acting traits of the other as it is for Woo’s insane bullet ballet and incendiary set pieces. As an action film it’s an immense crowd pleaser but for both director and star it would draw an end to a period of great success for each. After ‘Face Off’ Travolta would go on to make a series of hugely variable films with far more lows than highs that continues to this day. For Woo too it would be a Hollywood career high because though he would land the gig to direct Mission Impossible II ( generally seen as the worst in the franchise) he would soon return to his native Hong Kong.
- Blow Out (1981)
Having already worked with director Brian DePalma on ‘Carrie’ the pair would reunite for the conspiracy thriller ‘Blow Out’. Inspired by the 1969 Chappaquiddick tragedy where Ted Kennedy skidded off a bridge into a deep river but managed to swim free and save himself. Unfortunately Mary Jo Kopechne who was also in the car with him was not so lucky and tragically died. Kennedy’s involvement in the following investigation left his reputation in tatters and open to all manner of conspiracy’s that have continued to this day. The film Travolta as Jack a film sound recordist out capturing sound effects one night when he unwittingly records a tyre blow out that causes an accident. But he soon finds that what he has recorded was actually a murder and his own life is in danger. The film is full of typical DePalma trademarks – brilliant constricted set pieces, split screen, long tracking shots, slow motion and of course nods to Hitchcock. It’s an excellent film and Travolta is superb albeit very much another element for the director to use along with a likeable Nancy Allen (who was also Mrs DePalma at the time) and John Lithgow who would play villains in several of the directors later films. Blow Out is an often overlooked film but is well worth seeking out and ends with an unforgettable and emotionally downbeat ending.
- Carrie (1976)
So maybe this is a bit of a stretch as being a John Travolta film as his role is one of only two supporting roles but it is the film that really bought him to film goers attention. Prior to this he had been in a handful of TV series but his good looks were cast against type as the bully boy who plots the humiliation of the title character at the school prom night and in turn sees Carrie unleash Hell. It was the first time Travolta had worked with director Brian DePalma in what us a typically Brian DePalma film with all his rapidly emerging trademarks and the great shock ending that still has first time viewers jumping out of their seats.
Related feature : The story behind the shot……. Carrie (1976)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
What other film could it be? Prior to this Travolta’s career was in the doldrums. The 1980’s had seen him in a poor Saturday Night Fever sequel, music videos and a trilogy of talking baby movies which had been financially lucrative but little else. It was Quentin Tarantino who had been such a huge fan of his and especially of the film Blow Out and wanted him in a good film and wrote the role of Vincent Vega specifically for him. After reservoir Dogs A-listers were clambering to be in Tarantino’s next film and the studio were very much opposed to the casting of what they regarded as a has been. But as the director proved them and many times since he could write the most fantastic parts for under rated and out of favour actors to Oscar nominated effect and that was the case here with the actor nominated for Best Actor but eventually losing out to Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump. He was not they only one with a barnstorming and career defining performance from Samuel L Jackson famously losing out to Martin Landau in ‘Ed Wood’ proof is any was ever needed that the Oscar rarely goes to the right actor, technician or film. The films huge critical and commercial success rejuvenated Travolta’s career and put him back on the A-list and a flurry of decent films followed but by 2000 when he appeared in the box office bomb that was Battlefield Earth it torpedoed his career in terms of decent roles in good films. And though he has every year since he’s never had a role or a film as career changing as Pulp Fiction.
….and those are John Travolta’s films rated!
Here’s John Travolta and his daughter talking about is directorial debut …..
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