Product Description

Moving from his rural Texas home to take an oil refinery job near Houston, young hardhat John Travolta begins hanging out at famed honky tonk nightclub Gilley's. In this world of country music, "weekend cowboys," and fast women, Travolta falls for feisty Debra Winger, but their romance has more bumps than a ride on the mechanical bull. Scott Glenn, Madolyn Smith co-star, with appearances by The Charlie Daniels Band, Bonnie Raitt, and others. 134 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Surround, French Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese; outtakes; behind-the-scenes footage.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2086 in DVD
• Brand: Paramount
• Released on: 2002-10-08
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 132 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
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--and while it's silly, it's certainly not disagreeable. --Tom Keogh