54 (1998)

The famous 1970s New York City nightclub seen and told through the eyes of a young employee.

Director:

Mark Christopher

Writer:

Mark Christopher

Stars:

Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, Neve Campbell

9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryan Phillippe	...	Shane O'Shea
Salma Hayek	...	Anita Randazzo
Neve Campbell	...	Julie Black
Mike Myers	...	Steve Rubell
Sela Ward	...	Billie Auster
Breckin Meyer	...	Greg Randazzo
Sherry Stringfield	...	Viv
Ellen Albertini Dow	...	Disco Dottie
Cameron Mathison	...	Atlanta
Noam Jenkins	...	Romeo
Jay Goede	...	Buck
Patrick Taylor	...	Tarzan
Heather Matarazzo	...	Grace O'Shea
Skipp Sudduth	...	Harlan O'Shea
Aemilia Robinson	...	Kelly O'Shea

Storyline

An anthology film retelling the story of the famous Studio 54, a hot disco hangout for the social elite of New York. The movie follows several characters at once, some of whom are in desperate straits and on the verge of crashing.

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Plot Keywords:

disco | new york city | quaalude | angel dust the drug | reference to the village people | 

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Taglines:

Sex. Drugs. Disco. Everything was in excess.

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexuality, drug use and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Studio 54

Filming Locations:

Casa Loma, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,611,532, 30 August 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$16,574,731, 27 September 1998

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dollface, FilmColony, Miramax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 100 min (extended cut) 106 min (director's cut) 121 min (workprint)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ryan Phillippe was not a fan of the film, as he didn't like the way the producers gutted the film of the bulk of its sexual and drug-taking content.

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Goofs

On the invitation for the New Year's Eve party, the date is incorrectly typed as "the thirty first of December Nineteen seventy-eight..." The date should be Nineteen seventy-nine.

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Quotes

Shane O'Shea: [voiceover] A guy named Steve Rubell had a dream: To throw the best damned party the world had ever seen and to make it last forever. He built a world where fantasy was put up as reality and where an 80-year-old disco queen could dance till dawn. Where models mingled with mechanics, plumbers danced with princes. It was a place where all labels were left behind. A place where there were no rules.

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Crazy Credits

There is an additional take of Neve Campbell after the credits.

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Alternate Versions

A 40 second scene at 1:46 on the DVD showing Ryan having sex in a car was not seen on the PPV telecast nor in theaters but was on the DVD. A promotional clip showing Shane and Julie discussing her status as his girlfriend was edited out of the film after the line where she says "You're Sweet". Another promotional clip had Bell & James "Livin' It Up (Friday Night)" playing when Shane was trying to get into 54. In the film no song was playing at the time.

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Connections

Referenced in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

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Soundtracks

Knock On Wood
Performed by Mary Griffin
Written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper
Produced by Harry Wayne Casey & Bob Parr
Mary Griffin appears courtesy of Curb Records

User Reviews

Director's Cut review - an originally disappointing film reborn into something worthwhile

The studio executives who ruined the first release version of this film in 1998 have a lot to answer for, but the director has had the last word and proved he was right all along, with the new Director's Cut (which I saw at the Sydney Film Festival tonight), which is an ENTIRELY different and improved experience. From now on, I don't think there should be any reason for anyone to watch the original release version again, the improvement is that dramatic. The one aspect that may irritate some viewers is that a few of the 'new' scenes have slightly lower image & sound quality than the rest of the film, as they obviously weren't able to find perfect quality footage for every restored scene, and the editing between some scenes doesn't always feel entirely smooth. And some weaknesses in the film still remain - such as Ryan Philippe, who is a bit limp despite being more than pretty enough for the role. But in so many other ways this is a far far better film, taking a film I'd only have rated maybe a 4 in the past, to at least a 7 now. About 40% of the film feels entirely changed, all for the better. There's a lot more life to the nights at the club, now that they've been able to put back the sex & drugs the studio removed (no movie about 1980-era disco makes any sense once you remove them). The parties are wild and bisexual and very disco. And the whole direction of the drama has been altered, now that the dull studio-imposed romance with Neve Campbell has been removed. Neve is still there in a small role, but the film now focuses on Ryan's love triangle with Salma Hayek & Breckin Meyer instead, which is far more interesting. Everyone who worked on the film should be happy with the Director's Cut, which proves they were making something pretty decent (until the studio stuffed it up).