Urban Cowboy

Production year: 1980

Drama PG   Running time: 2:14 

IMDB rating:   6.2     Aspect: Wide;  Languages: English, French;  Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese;  Audio: DD 5.1

John Travolta traded in disco duds for a cowboy hat in this corny love story about a working man who breaks up with his girlfriend (Debra Winger), then plays out their relationship's turmoil inside a huge honky-tonk called Gilley's. The story essentially parallels Travolta's prior hit film, Saturday Night Fever, in its blend of ordinary life, incomplete relationships, and personal pride channeled into niche stardom at a neighborhood club. But for all its regional flavor, Urban Cowboy never enjoys the immediacy and urgency of Fever, and after awhile you can't help but feel bemused by the macho silliness of ongoing "mechanical bull" competitions (basically a faux rodeo device only brave men can master at great chiropractic risk). The Travolta-Winger relationship is pure soap, as well. But this film really is a kind of time-capsule piece on a lot of levels--notably Travolta's career and late '70s Western kitsch.

Director

Features

Deleted/extended scenes
Featurettes/Behind-The-Scenes/Documentaries
Gag Reel/Bloopers/Outtakes

Special features

Rehearsal Footage
Good Times With Gilley: A Look Back At Urban Cowboy

Keywords

Urban Cowboy